A great and proven way to generate revenue and PR (Google PageRank) is to start up a directory. Think that this has been done to death? Then, you are both correct and incorrect. General type directories that imitate the major search engines like Google, Yahoo, and DMOZ have been done to death. Do we really need more? No. Easier to just Google. But it is different story when it comes to niche directories. Directories that focus on specialized type listings. For example, a directory that only lists European cars. Niche directories develop very quickly over time if you actively promote them. They develop not only in raw traffic, but also in loyality. Loyality in that surfers are more than likely to bookmark the site, and to return. But, your directory need not take up a whole domain. Your directory can be a directory or subdomain within an existing developed site - as is the case with the directory on our site.
How can you generate revenue? There are a number of ways. Google AdSense, selling banner ad spaces on your site, offering paid listings, and promoting your existing products (if you have any) to name a few. The possibilties are unlimited. The revenue potential is unlimited. A few years back, we developed a niche directory that was skewed towards webmasters. Within a year, the site was generating between $400 and $500 US per month in ad revenue. Plus, we cross-promoted our products which brought in a similar amount per month. After a few years, we flipped the website for over $10,000 US. Not a bad return on our investment - especially considering the minimal startup costs and minimal time investment ( less than an hour a day). So, as an added benefit, successful directories increase in value over time (often quite dramatically), and often are a solid investment.
There are a number of directory scripts out there. Both good and bad. It can be a hit and miss prospect, unless you got some solid leads. There is one directory script that we strongly recommend. That script is PHP Link Directory (phpLD) at: www.phplinkdirectory.com/. phpLD has both a freeware and commercial version - althought we recommend the commercial version as only $25, and offers a lot of extra functionality over the freeware version. We have been using phpLD for a few years now. We are so impressed with the script that we developed a number of mods for phpLD that we bundled into our phpLD_Vault: www.monster-submit.com/phpld/. Our mods had enhanced functionality and monetization potential to phpLD. And, our mods work with all versions of phpLD, including the freeware and commercial versions.
So, what are you waiting for? Check out phpLD to see if it may be right for you. If it is, then our phpLD_Vault may be the next step in the process.
|
Article Details
