I wouldnt personally buy links from directories, I would spend the money by buying links on high traffic sites that are related to your niche.
I would buy a tank full of gas, a case of beer, and gamble the rest at the poker table. But.. if you really want to blow it on your site I've had some luck with a guy on here that goes by sharepro who can do 500,000 forum posts with a backlink to your site for $200. You'll get a bit of traffic out of it also if you create your message well. Then blow the other $100 at the poker table.
To sum up my first thought when reading your post: Dont invest in directory listings. Maybe you can stretch the money out if you plan a very very targeted Adwords campaign or use the money to pay people to add your link to their sig lines here on DP or to insert links to your site on their sites/blogs that are related to your material on the site.
precisely, I totally agree on that. spend on some articles writing or services that will keep yoursite update.
I can write myself articles, as well as forum post. I want to use the money on something I can't do, and that's what I'm going to do.
Forget about directories - do the on-site optimization and outsource some link popularity building services
Blackhat! That's deadly stuff. In any case, I suppose I could seek out a reputable link building company. I already have one in mind.
yes i'm aware you can write articles yourself, but 2 writers are better than one. Pay someone or two who are very good in writing, have them write SEOd article and put them in top notch article directories pointing to your site. Or maybe you can have several blogs (free or self hosted) link to each other and to your site. Stuff them with articles you and the others write. You said earlier that there's little competition. So that means people looking for information will most likely to find your articles and if they're really good, they'll link to the articles. More incoming links to the article, the better rank it has. If the high ranked article points to your site, your site's rank will go to the moon and that makes you authority of the niche and you can have like all the traffic in your niche. With that in hand, it's not hard to get more than $300.
My advice: save money. To optimize your site do the following: 1. Ask Google 2. Read what others have to say 3. Don't buy anything 4. Try to apply some SEO by yourself 5. Promote your site, don't be aggressive 6. CONTENT IS KING 7. Analyze your visitors, what they are looking for - do you have it? 8. Do not try to fool search engines
You seem to be hell bent on buying links. As you have said that you command a decent SEO knowledge you should be well aware of the fact that buying links are frowned upon by search engines. If caught you could lose everything you have achieved so far with your website. Basic SEO is DIY stuff and therefore you could very well save your money for the future. You are bound to face bottle necks and you could use that money to consult a SEM professionals.
Google doesn't seem to have a problem with paid directories. That is where I would be putting my money. I am aware Google frowns upon link buying but it is a difficult thing to track, especially since I wouldn't buy links in a traditional manner. I need to spend this money, to people who say "save it", this is money I must spend, I don't really have a choice. The only thing I can do with it is buy links; I don't need more articles, I don't need consulting.