Is Setting up a directory still a viable way to make money online

Discussion in 'General Marketing' started by staffjam, Nov 5, 2010.

  1. #1
    Directories such as Business.com, pr.com and others have done very nicely in the past, but is this now an outdated way of making money online?

    The reason i ask is that i am faced with a bit of a dilemma:

    I have a website in the energy finance area – it gets about 6,000 visitors a day on average – the majority from the US and Canada.
    I’ve got to take the site in a direction and i’m really not sure which could be the most lucrative.

    I could team up with some good fund managers and produce an investment newsletter (it would be a good one – not one of these churn and burn ones the majority of publishers put out)

    Or

    Create a directory site – where companies, services pay to be listed.

    There are pros and cons to both of these options – the membership site means even more content needs to be created and subscribers are a demanding bunch - also there are the added issues of working with partners.

    Directories have been done to death – are they past their prime and is it still a viable way to make money?
    I could cover a lot of sectors though – all of the commodity from oil and gas to gold and minerals + Finance – so hundreds of thousands of potential customers.

    I was wondering which path you would go down.
    Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
     
    staffjam, Nov 5, 2010 IP
  2. Toon-c

    Toon-c Well-Known Member

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    #2
    I don't see why you can't make the two at the same time ..
     
    Toon-c, Nov 5, 2010 IP
  3. rahman_abrar

    rahman_abrar Active Member

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    #3
    If you know the pros and cons of both very well then you should check your pocket. Whatever your pocket allows you should go for it also you could check the analysis reports on the internet for better decision making.
     
    rahman_abrar, Nov 5, 2010 IP
  4. iloveRP.com

    iloveRP.com Peon

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    #4
    Yes, you can make money with a directory website provided that it has a high PR, which is the most important reason why website owners would pay you so that their sites would be listed in your directory.
     
    iloveRP.com, Nov 6, 2010 IP
  5. Sweely

    Sweely Well-Known Member

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    #5
    You can make money with a directory provided that you're in the right niche. It's as easy as that... :)
     
    Sweely, Nov 6, 2010 IP
  6. LinksAndTraffic

    LinksAndTraffic Peon

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    #6
    People are not going to pay to list, unless you have great traffic already...

    So free directory is the obvious first step...

    If you set up your directory in a nice way, one that appeals to a specific marketplace, then yes, you can make money with it...

    Paid-to-List is only one way to make money with a directory of some sort...

    But at the end of the day, the one thing you will always need for your directory to be successful is a lot of traffic...
     
    LinksAndTraffic, Nov 7, 2010 IP
  7. Bunchie

    Bunchie Peon

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    #7
    Yes I know a few people who are banking hard with directories - you just need to have a good method of getting traffic to them.
     
    Bunchie, Nov 7, 2010 IP
  8. kwyser

    kwyser Peon

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    #8
    Yes, it might be more difficult than others, but set up a good one and send some good traffic to it and you'll be making some good money.
     
    kwyser, Nov 7, 2010 IP
  9. desperateboy

    desperateboy Peon

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    #9
    If you can attract to get huge traffic then you can through directory and website owners will pay to list in directory.
     
    desperateboy, Nov 7, 2010 IP