I'm kicking around the idea of starting a niche business directory. This would be for a high-end industry (think lawyers, accountants, real estate agents, etc.) At any rate, the idea is simple...create a directory that I'll highly promote and charge businesses to be listed in it. For the listing, they'll basically get a full page on the directory - not just a little blurb like typical directories. What could I realistically charge on a monthly or yearly basis for something like this? I know the answer varies depending on how popular the directory is, how much traffic it gets, etc. etc. However, I'm just looking for some ballpark figures here to get an idea of how much I could realistically make pursuing something like this. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Travis
I would charge about $29 a listing but you understand charging something like this means you will promote it.
It all depends on how you advertise and provide a good service in terms of; PR Traffic People will pay you if your directory gives good PR points or traffic.
You can realistically expect to not charge anything at all since you don't have a directory yet. You wont get any link sales if you don't have any traffic.
It depends on page PR, directory structure, category depth, traffic, and a whole bunch of quality-related variables. As a general rule, most directories start charging at around the PR4 mark, but you have to consider how deeply spidered your directory is, and how much value someone is likely to be able to get from each individual page.