I must say I get traffic from paid directories some give me 2-3 a month others 1-3 a day so it’s good.
I think to get to even tiny income from directories , like 30k$ a year you'd have to work really hard and probably could have invested your time better. Maybe it's smart to promote a directory heavily and then just sell it.
Who on earth is going to waste his time for tiny tiny $30K per year? Even Bill Gates wouldn't consider it.
Only quality directories have sales of $30k year, even them have low profit margins. Directories are like any other business, risky, to say the least.
Lesson One in the directory (or any business): don't ask your competitors for advice about whether you should get in the business.
I think if you have a high PR (PR6 +) web directory, it can have great potential to earn you $$$. But the major problem with web directories is how to get a decent PR, without having to spend $$ for buing ads and links
Find a niche ... some topic area where there is no other directory. Start with free submissions, and move to paid once you get traffic. Market the directory to its niche audience. I don't think yet another general directory is likely to make much money ... need to specialize.
My directory is lots of work and a little income. But seeing all the new sites come in is a real eyeopener and worth the effort--at least for now.
Success for a directory: - TIME! Make sure people know you're still there doing something with your directory. - GET A PR5 or PR6!!!! - Buy beers and get inspired for the design of your directory
If you're a very hard worker and you can afford to invest and reinvest all the profit [at least] in the first year, go for it! There is money in the top directories.
Branding - I agree w/ this. I don't expect income from directories, there's a thousand or more of them right now on the web. Unless you have a branded one , good promotion (avivadirectory and alivedirectory), good community support. You'll probably earn right on directories. But for me, directories are just for links. I'm no good at it.
well, I have a free directory I manage in part time, own it for about 7 months.. now brings me arround 1500 visitors/month from google and 4000 uniques/month, 50 submissions/day. only once or twice I spent time on submissions.. the only income is from google adsense since it is only PR3. I get arround $1/day . but for half of hour of work/day (approving or denying links) or sometimes even less, since the hard work passed.. I'm satisfied with it. so make your own conclusion how it would be if you'd work like 8 hours/day at submissions and bringing traffic.