Local Business Directory - Selling Listings To Business Owners

I think it looks nice enough on my laptop, but other people with much more experience will likely chime in on those things. The first things that jumped out to me was that some of the writing was either spammy or just not worded correctly. Right at the top, shouldn't "Local Go In San Diego" be "Go Local In San Diego"? Below the search box it should say "Find out where (not what) San Diego blah blah are located". And the San Diego Nightlife section on the home page just seems like it is full of keywords to the point of being spammy and having no flow, but then again I'm no SEO expert so maybe keyword stuffing to that extent is what it takes. I'm sure that you're more successful than I am at this, so I digress, but maybe someone else has a take on that. I didn't look through the whole thing, but those were some items that stuck out to me.

Nice work though. Looks like you've got some Facebook fans already and hopefully that's growing for you.. Best wishes on the project!

Really "directory savvy" design! Looks like a right business directory should look, from first glance. I may chime in later with some thoughts. I guess it's no secret that I have had some experience with selling a ton of listings, but have a meeting to go to now, so I can't. Beautiful work!


Do you have a telemarketing force in place (a couple of callers), or were you going to go with a different strategy?


The first thing you want to do is go to the biggest competitor in the city for each category (like "attorneys") and call them offering a free premium listing in exchange for a testimony So you can use them as social proof that other credible people in the industry take out premium listings with you.

The free listings look perfectly appropriate.

Ps. In agreement w/ UMC, "go local" would still rhyme, and also serve as a call to action.


Also, if you are planning to use email instead of cold calling to sell listings, using competitors name in the subject lines can also be effective. Getting top local competitors endorsements and giving them free premium listings in exchange can be valuable in many ways, and go far in helping you sell listings. Even if you aren't using cold calling as your strategy. A competitors name in an email subject line could really get attention.

What theme are you using (assuming it is wordpress)?

Looks good on my mobile.

You could take a automated feed from your featured / paid listing to update to your social media pages giving more exposure, also in most cases a featured listing also resides above any free listing keeping the listing above any free listing. also you could introduce a slider / image banner to each category & home page that rotates featured listing giving them even more exposure.

Let me know when you are ready to start calling James, I could probably offer a lot of ideas.

In any event, I would make a priority of putting up a couple of free premium listings for whoever it is that all the competition looks up to, on the top of each category. That seems like the next right move from my view.

That way you can say things in your introduction like:

"You have probably heard of us, or some of our clients like Nunu's, or Bubs At the Ballpark?"

This creates immediate prospect engagement in the cold call, as they say "Yeah, I know those guys... they use to be located down here on fifth and main..." or whatever.

Even more powerful is that subconsciously they relate that to a feeling that they may know you as well, or at very least a feeling that they SHOULD know you...

That sense that they SHOULD be familiar with you is powerful on several levels.

Later you can also use the familiarity, and peer pressure angles, when you close the pitch by saying things like "We can create a premium listing for you, just like the one that Nunu's took out, with all the same bells and whistles, for only $49.00... per month" or whatever.

When/if you present them with upsells, you can say things like "Did you want the video upgrade like Bubs At The Ball Park has on their listing...?"

You get the picture. Offering a free premium listing to the big dog in that market may seem like a $49 per month loss, but it can make you a thousand per month or more in that category.

Obviously, the more revered the names that you are dropping the better.

I'm probably not telling you anything you don't know, just reminding you of some sales principles, and bringing them back up to the surface. They will be useful ones to pull out of the closet in this venture.


-John

No prob! Will send you a PM. Always excited to be a part of something that's clearly destined to be great!


You are doing this right!

For these types of businesses have you considered offering up some sort of SMS messaging product? Here's a mock-up I did for a client that might be something that'd fit well into the directory offering you make to prospective subscribers.

Biker Clothing Co.

Basically it follows an email list building approach, except you collect cellphone numbers and can begin to market to them via SMS messages.

That mock up does work if you enter your number into the opt-in box and it will immediately send you an SMS/text with the discount that you'd then bring into that business. In exchange, customers would then agree to receive future offers via SMS.

It looks nice and I liked the "appy hour" idea... that was neat

However....the writing seems to be from a computer/seo guy....just interested in getting listed on google or whatever

I think you need some one who loves eating out, nightlife....real enthusiasm

also some pictures...some "offers' - 2 for 1, free drink etc...

something to make people come back

The writing under nightlife, dining, events was so canned and repetitive - MAYBE GOOD FOR SEO...but not for making people engage or be interested in your site


some of the so called blog posts were sooo fake and generic "confused by your wine choices"?

why not have an interview and pictures with the owner of a popular local wine bar instead? JMO

Great local directory site. Lots of work has gone into it so kudos to you & your team! Suggestion - separate the categories listed as paragraph on restaurant page. Maybe try a 3 column style -- easier to read and still get SEO. Thanks to James for the OP and contributors to this thread. Very helpful info. We're mapping out our new local biz directory site for our area of Houston. Using it as money-maker and door-opener to pitch marketing services and business growth seminars on the back end. Will come back and share when we're ready for public view. Cheers!

I think one thing would keep people coming back is to get some of the "buzz" spots in town on there...and do article on them, video with the chef, pictures of events.....and yes, offers and coupons

Has to be kept up or if people go back and see same stuff they will go away

JMO you should reach out to some local (wannabe?) movers and shakers...people with food blogs, people who post events on facebook....offer them "guest" writing deals...or even gift certs from some of your business owners

Try for real content, local content, not spin/spun generic stuff

Underground -- I don't have that kind of data but I can talk about experiences and the things I've seen happen to my clients regarding SMS list building and push sending...

It falls under the same/similar CAN-SPAM compliance rules. The problem is that often a new customer of mine will already have had a list built and just wants to start sending promo's out before any opt-in process. They typically will get lots of "STOP" replies (or other profanity-laced replies) because of the highly personal nature of sms and not "really" ever have opted in to get those msgs (even though they did provide their number to the business at some point for some reason).

Too high-frequency sends ruins the relationship. Again, it's a hyper-personal form of communication and must be treated delicately. Comes with a higher risk of offending the recipients if overused. Here's what I tell my clients:

1. Use In-store signage with a simple message like "Text deals to 2423 to get an instant free x".
2. Use the opt-in page (like my mock-up above) by linking to it from the various web-presences. It could even be a Facebook group promo to join the SMS list and vice-versa.
3. Employ infrequency into message sends. Don't overdo it unless you are running our system for even reminders (a daily task).

Basically, I think there is just a ton more value in SMS lists compared to email solely for the read rates you get.

I agree that the "backend" system could be a consistent draw for the business owners that join the directory. My clients use the reporting functionality and "replies" tab to see what those prospects have communicated back with. They are really looking for replies like, "Where are you located?", "More details?" or even "How do I redeem this?" --- those are their prospective customers waving their hands in the air.

Not only that, but someone that replies positively to an sms push promo is likely going to be a pretty tech-savvy person, at least very familiar with text/sms messaging and their device. This is a big positive in my opinion because getting THESE prospects to forward the businesses promo's to others is where a viral message can begin to move to referrals.

Get the url and SMS deals in the hands of motels/hotels, visitor centers, town business promotion
groups/chambers of commerce. (not all employees know the local events and activities well, especially dates, start times, deals, and other details such as bands playing....)

As James suggests, in store signage, Table tents, rack cards, ... with exclusive language such as "Guests of x hotel text ...to get your ..."

A model to reverse engineer for getting pro-am content written for you:

Examiner.com - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I think it looks great. I agree the copy is pretty bad. Just seems really unnatural and spammy. Are those really the prices you plan on using? If so I can't see how anybody would purchase it and if they did I can't imagine anybody renewing. I'd reconsider the pricing.

would like to connect with you - i have this one: Sabor de Miami

Here is a Update: We have close to 500+ Listings now and we are slowing starting to rank via SEO on some of our Keywords. Throwing a launch party and putting together a small sales team around June 15th.

Sorry guys (infoseek) , my Dad recently passed away (massive heart attack), I haven't been online much lately. Another tragedy that can be chalked up to obesity. 300 pound people do not live to be 80, I have heard it said on here. So, I wish that I could say it was a surprise, but I saw it coming. Nonetheless trying though. I have a lot going on lately, but will try to get on the WF more in coming days/weeks, and participate.

Update of my Directory Site - What I learned
My Directory site is still up and running....but I have paused working on it. With having an event page and so many businesses closing and opening, its pretty much a full time job to keep it current and useful. I also realized to get paying business owners, I am going to need either a call center or outside sales person. I am estimating paying someone $3K to $4K a month to manage/oversee this site for me. I am looking to hire that person after the holidays and really blow this thing up in 2016. I will report back in a few months.

I've been following this thread with interest and have some questions below:

I have started a Local Service Business Directory targeting all cities in my country.

Q1) Would you recommend that I pre-populate the directory with Free listings to get it started, or is it better to contact the biz owners first?

Q2) If I was to include say, 3-5 well known brand businesses as Premium paid listings for Free, to give my site credibility (like JD suggests), should I ask them first, or should I just include them without their knowledge and follow them up later?

Q3) To upgrade all the Free listings to Paid, I may consider hiring an outsourcer from the Philippines to call each business to offer them a special deal if they upgrade. Is there any good call script you can recommend that I can give to my outscoucer?

Here's how I would personally do it Zoro.

1: Hire 2 low cost telemarketers from classified ads (Not foreign).

2: Have them do the pitch for me.

3: Transfer the closes to me.

You can pay outsources to pitch for you... but dont ask them to close. Just hire them to run through the numbers and say your pitch to as many people as possible. They can do that like robots... but most cant go the distance and close after pitching.

Note: I say "outsourcers" loosely. They should be your own remote telemarketers. Not from a BPO company. They should work exclusively for "You".

MONITOR THEM. Do it on a dialer whereby you can manage their activity level... basically manage them yourself, remotely. Doesnt take 100% percent of your attention, just a glance here and there, and reloading the dialer with leads, making adjustments where necessary and making sure everyone is talking. You can see all of this on the screen, and even listen if you want.

Telemarketers will suck if you dont manage them. That's why they aren't entrepreneurs. Keep a window open with the dialer on it, and manage them yourself. Doesnt take much effort.

Make sure they are pitching consistently... Thats all. If they are doing that, then you will get transfers.

At the end of their pitch, if the prospect is interested and wants to go for it, have the telemarketers say " Im not authorized to collect your billing information, I am going to go ahead and transfer you to our processing department. Please hold.", and then I would have them transfer it to me personally. I have a little live transfer closing pitch that works like a charm for a minimum of 2-3 out of five live transfers... to collect the billing information.

If you can afford three telemarketers, then hire someone else to say your processing pitch verbatim. As long as the formula is followed, then anyone can close the desired amount of transfers. Thats not the same as one person pitching and closing.... Make it easy on your telemarketers, and you will get more out of them. If they think they dont have to close they will pitch more. After that transfer the closing pitch is only like 60 seconds... it's the easy part.

Note: You may not want to be the person who does the closes , but thats the money, and a few closes per day adds up to alot of residual income quickly... without taking up your whole day on the phone. I would do it myself, and be the closer for awhile, personally...

If you could do 3 closes per day for 30 days, out of 10 live transfers per day, you are adding about 100 customers per month.

Let's say at $97.00 per month?

Do the math

This can be done with quiet force. What I mean by "force" is" Running the numbers consistently every day". With your remote crew.

That takes 2 consistent part time telemarketers, a dialer, and a damn good pitch for them repeat like machines....

Bingo... Now you can sell any kind of subscription you want to.

Directory listings? Advertising space on a website or print rag....? This gets it done. It's just plowing through all the BS and making it happen every day with quiet force...


As far as your other questions go?

As many listings as you can have are great, you can always go back and upsell any of them to paid status. However if you even start with a few credible listings in each category its workable. Credibility goes a long way.

I would definitely contact the credible listings first.... you will want their testimonial, or for them to say a good word about you in exchange.... and that will take you a long way. Asking them first kind of obliges them in a sense... because they agreed.

However, even if you dont have the testimonial, there is a certain power to having them featured on your site anyway.... A good way to call them is to tell them you are giving them a free listing, and you want to make sure its the way they would want it before you upload it , out of courtesy, and let them have some input and take partial ownership of the creation.

That featured spots tab on the front really blares at me like a wall of text. Shorten, stick a small thumbnail on them, and introduce a "continue reading" link. JMO

As far as getting a featured listing, I would want proof to buy into that. Something along the lines that the featured listing would somehow get me to the first page above the fold of the google search results for the intended keywords. More SEO for the money I guess - which all points back to your site anyway.