rcjordan - 5:37 pm on Oct 23, 2002 (gmt 0)

I have some experience with this. IMO, those advising caution or offering a reality check on the likely outcome being (much) less than expected are giving very sound advice.

>How viable is this profit wise? Anyone have any experience? I know that I've been working on building links to a site that would fit in a directory like this and would easily drop $20-$100 for a yearly listing if the directory was focused and well linked itself

I've been using a static directory system (Links2 with several custom modules) to categorize/manage my sponsors for 3 years or more, prior to that I used a dynamic database-driven directory. It's been my experience that small businesses really don't understand (or care) about the directory itself, they just want to buy an ad/link. The price point I chose begins at $150/yr. --less than that isn't worth the effort.

My original "vision" is still pretty much intact, but when I first started, the concept exceeded my programming capabilities or those of off-the-shelf scripts. I chose to plow ahead with the dynamic version and then address the shortfalls later. I closed most of the concept holes with the move to Links2, but had to spend many, many days hacking the code (with help, I don't code Perl) to get it where I wanted it.

My #1 mistake had little to do with programming. To lighten the administrative load I chose to bill annually. That worked fine until time for renewals, then I found that (A) no one remembered that they had subscribed and/or (B) my contact no longer worked there. We moved to monthly billing last year. Even when they ask to prepay for the entire year we send them a quarterly memo billing marked "Paid" just to keep the contact list fresh.

As for the directory itself, one of the earliest problems I had was ~you can guess this~ RANKING. While SEO (benefits of going static) was a key reason for making the conversion to Links2, the A#1 reason I changed was to be able to control the positioning within the categories. Now, rank is based on a sponsor's total monthly ad dollars spent with us. This setup also allows me to populate the categories with free, unranked listings as backfill.

My directory's Must-Have features:
* Logos in the listing
* 2-step submittal (submit, confirm --stops spam)
* Ability to alter the template for a single, specific listing
* Handle multiple related categories
* Ability to have hidden categories