Need ideas to sell my custom online directory software

I have an online directory product which is multilingual and customizable, mobile friendly as well.

I need to find right potentials to sell this product ezyDir.

Post your thoughts and suggestions

Thanks,

 

Selling directory software is going to be a tough sell right now, your a few years late on the scene. PPC advertising on major directories would probably be your best bet.

 

Thanks a ton!! We have that plans as well and thought of going with Google adwords but we need a bunch of genuine clients not by entertaining google internet surfers click on our productad just.

 

You've got a nice site and some very nice templates there. Actually, I think they're among the best directory templates I've seen. The integration of listings, news and blog entries turn your product from a "directory" to a true information portal. Really nice work.

Unfortunately, Stoner is right. You timing isn't that good. There's just not that many folks building directories now. That said, I suspect those that are might be more savvy about things and want a more non-standard look like you offer.

One very big thing I think might hurt you, once you get folks to your site, is that they have to ask permission to see your demo. The other players in the marketplace offer anonymous demos. Your price point is going to limit you to only the serious directory owners. Without better demos, I'm not sure you're going to be able to convince people to invest so much money or convert from another script.

Of the two portfolio sites I looked at - the Christmas one and the Australian one - gotta say those details pages are exactly what the other directory software providers are missing - rich content pages. The hotel one didn't load and the wedding one looks empty - might want to double check those.

All that documentation is wonderful but I really think you might want to invest in a professional writer. Some of the instructions are written as if the writer is not a native English speaker. You have good explanations for things but then leave stuff out like explaining a Time Format of g:i:s A

I think your true competition is the folks building directory software to run on WordPress. Not sure how to approach that from a marketing perspective but it looks like you might offer everything they do with only needing one software product.

Good luck.

 

I take forward the comments and thanks a ton BTW

 

Just taken a look at your site http://www.ezydir.com/

Looks good and agree with YMC, the templates are amazing.

The price is very high compared to all the other directory scripts out there. $500 and $900 is high

You got some tough competition. You could start off with charging a low price and charge for add ons, similar to PHPmyDirectory

Or offer the script for free and charge for addons, just to get your script out there

 

That does seem high unless you are attracting customers that are paying that regularly. We charge $25 right now. We earn a lot of money from work provided by existing customers too and don't depend on the license sales all that much, and good thing as it is quite correct that not as many new directories are being started. I think there have been some similar periods in the past, and often a drop is followed by an increase again.

 

The price is high, you can buy some really nice dir scripts for around $50. that have a reputation of reliability and support. To put one out there that is new for 10times the price is going to be a very hard sell.

You could try giving some away to get a reputation and reviews.

The main thing I look for in scripts is support. Scripts always have bugs and need updates, fixes, etc. Many scripts come out and support sucks, then you are stuck with a buggy mess you can ether toss out of hire a coder. I would rather toss it out and get one with support, much cheaper.. and much less headaches.
I always look for how long they have been around- Are people happy with them- Will support answer questions, Are they there..? For $800 all of that would have to be bulletproof, shining with brilliance and a free x-mas party ?

Just whats in my head hopefully it will give you some consumer insight.

 

Basically we have developed it as a clone of edirectory script and I always agree to the fact that revising pricing strategy is always a good option. Moreover I do think think of giving away some free trial demos online as we also have mobile compatible screens with inbuilt SEO that will reduce the investment cost on URL optimizing and developing native mobile apps with same features

Still, I do not completely accept that the pricing is too high as we have add ons such as Articles,blogs, deals, complete control over directory such as tuning your notifications, enabling disabling admin approval on listings, Paypal gateway, changing UI layout from admin panel. Six months free support on our product and do customizations at a very lower cost. Most important aspect that we pitch for is multilingual support with easy upload of language file in admin panel

We are also developing Augmented reality concept on EzyDIR mobile app that will be soon launched with a combo pricing with EzyDIR directory

To get a better idea check this out
demo.ezydir.com
username:admin
password:123456

Thanks for your suggestions BTW

 

I think you will struggle with obtaining much sales with the prices you are offering the script. But Good luck and hope it goes well for you.

 

Everyone struggles as competition progresses, we have our own niche market where we made several sales out here. The intention was just to make business wider but I wonder how such statements are made with no underlying proof.

 

Oh Philip, welcome to Digital Point. Statements are often made around here, particularly in this and several other topic sections, without underlying proof.

 

Just to let you all, We are working very closely, targeting eDirectory customers by creating an exact clone with much bigger functions.
http://www.edirectory.com/directory-script-pricing/seo-services/seo-pricing/

They have got a varied pricing structure and we obviously will come up with functional costing, ofcourse with much legible costing

Thanks for your suggestions,

 

Hi

It was my personal opinion based on the directory scripts out there and from what I have seen and read. Personally, I would not purchase such a new script for $900, but that's my thought, but there may be others who are willing to pay that kind of money.

Commonly used Directory scripts are below. There is more out there. Some owners have purchased such scripts and with some customization, have setup to their requirements.

phpLD - $25
PhpMyDirectory - $99.95
eSyndiCat - $97

 

You are asking for advice then trying to chop people down when they tell you are trying to sell your product for too much. So why ask and question you do not want to hear the answer to ?

The "underlying proof" is you can buy a good reputable directory script for less then 1/10 of what you are trying to sell yours for. and yours has no history or reputation compared to many others.

 

Thanks gkd-uk for your explanations its not a script by the way, It is a product which is beta tested

1) Admin panel with custom controls
2)Mobile responsive web design in all pages
3) Adding custom categories
4) Augmented reality mobile app
5) Deals with complete custom control
6) Premium Listings
7) Custom layouts

Its like a portal where all the controls can be done through a webCMS with intuitive usability. There is no bit of programming required to make tweaks. We give you settings to tweak your website from admin website.

@averyz.. Its not chopping people down,Everybody knows that sales will get increased if the price is way-lessened. I don't require this answer in a forum. I seek your expert guidance not about judging the product. sorry if I sounded harsh but it pains if you put hell lot of effort and at the end of the day people say why don't you sell it for $1 rather I would give it for free.

We will definitely come up with a revised pricing strategy and I wonder,who gives a directory with augmented reality for $99, $25?

I appreciate people who really spent time here and gave wise pieces of suggestions.

Thanks,

 

You may be able to make some sales, but you are about one year too late to market with directory software. As gkd_uk said, there are other scripts already out there. And by the looks of how many new directories there are coming to market, or should I say lack of them, it will be hard to sell your software to the masses for a price that is many times more then what is out there already. If you want to sell your software then contact seo bloggers to advertise at since they often run these with their agencies. Look to this thread for places that list directories that may allow advertising. Of course add your software to the big software directories too, especially if you have a trial period.

 

Philip, I understand where you are coming from as you have put lots of effort into your product,but remember it's not about how much time and effort you have put into the product, its your target market. You could spend 10 years on a product, but if it's not right for the buyer and that includes price, it's going to be tough getting it to market and people interested.

You mentioned it's a clone of edirectory script so the product is already out there.

As others have mentioned above, you might be a little late but there is still a market out there depending on your promotion and pricing strategy. Others such as phpld, phomydirectory, esyndicat already have a good reputation.

I know you mentioned you have not come here for advice on pricing, but your price is extremly high compared to all popular directories out there, which may affect getting your directory promoted or out to the wider audience.

The major directory script owners, even though they have a good rep in the market are still offering their product at reasonable prices.

The truth hurts, but the guys offering you advice have owned/managed directories for years.

Take the advice on board and appreciate that there are people here offering their opinion for free.

 

This conversation reminds me of the ones over in the copywriting section relating to price and quality.

When I was just starting my directories, there were really only three choices...eSyndicat, phpLD and eDirectory. eDirectory was like the $200,000 European sports car and the other two were like the $25,000 family sedan. Any of them would get you were you were going but there was a distinct difference for the money. Many said the differences didn't justify the higher prices but eDirectory continues to have many satisfied customers as well.

This product, like eDirectory, caters to different directory owners than the sub $150 ones do. Looking at the themes, ezyDir does them better than anyone else in the directory sphere - they look like feature-rich content sites not "directories". They alone might be enough to capture some customers - how much time and effort have we all spent on customizing the other themes to make them look good? Heck, I just looked at the themes being offered by the other directory companies and they look pretty much the same as they did 6 years ago - a big category list on the homepage with very little other content.

I guess therein lies the answer to the original question asked here...advertise where eDirectory advertises.

And Philip, don't be offended by folks calling your product a script. Every directory product seems to get called a "script". Never quite understood that myself. They run on their own and don't rely upon another product such as WordPress to run. Why they are not called a "program" or at least a CMS has always left me scratching my head.

All that aside, be careful of marketing you product as "an exact clone" of another product. We've all seen "exact clones" that turn out to be outright theft and clones where someone took what worked and made it truly better. Make sure you don't give anyone a chance to lump you in the first group.