How to Build an Online Business Directory
Do you want to build a successful online business directory business?
I have real life experience building a directory business - I built & launched Fleurieu Wedding Guide, a local wedding business directory.
I’m going to teach you how to build a profitable, passive income business.
Why Build an Online Directory Business?
The whole idea behind a building an online business directory, is to build a passive income.
This way your directory generates income, whilst you can get busy living.
Of course you will have to put in a lot of initial time to get the business up & running.
I’ll be explaining the whole process in this guide.
Fleurieu Wedding Guide is the directory I built in early 2010 to service Brides & Grooms.
What is an Online Directory?
An online business directory is often a website, where you can discover business, properties for rent, events or any other type of category.
In my case, Fleurieu Wedding Guide is for local wedding businesses.
But an online directory can be for anything… I suggest you be creative to find your niche.
Online Directories for Passive Income
Online directories are great source of passive income.
The video below outlines how much money Fleurieu Wedding Guide makes for me.
Overall after 1 year, my online business is going quite well. We're currently sitting at 38 paying customers, each who are paying $200 AUD per year. This equal approximately $7.5k in annual revenue and $7k in annual profit. Which I'm stoked with, as a passive income.
Do you want to learn how to build an online directory business?
How to Build a Listing & Directory Website with Wordpress
If you haven’t built a website before, I recommend starting with Wordpress. It’s robust, gives you great freedom & is cheap as chips.
Wordpress is built on “themes” these are almost templates for website. So you can quickly drop a directory theme into your Wordpress website, and you’ve got a functioning listing & directory website.
This means you don’t need to be a website coding expert, all you need to do is have a basic understanding of technology.
If you can create a Word Document, then you can create a Wordpress website, trust me.
This video introduces you into how you can build an online business directory with Wordpress.
The Best 3 Wordpress Directory Themes
You need to carefully consider what Wordpress theme you choose, because they’re all different.
And once you choose one, it’s very hard to swap to another.
I recommend these three themes, they all have great reviews, great support & are a reasonably priced.
ListingPro
The easiest theme to get started with. This theme comes with a heap of pre-built theme options, so you can launch a directory website instantly.
This theme suits someone who is looking to quickly create a directory website.
Example of ListingPro
Wilcity
By far the most advanced & aesthetically pleasing Wordpress listing theme. It's an extremely powerful theme, with lots of capabilities.
This theme suits someone who is looking to build an extremely unique Wordpress directory website.
Example of Wilcity
MyListing
The simplest & cleanest Wordpress directory theme. This theme is beautiful because of it's simplicity. Where other themes jam in features, this theme is quietly confident with it's simplicity.
This theme suits someone looking for a simple & clean listing theme.
Example of MyListing
If you want to see an in-depth preview of these themes, I filmed a video about them!
How to get Clients for your Online Business Directory
Theoretically, if you were following along. You would now have a functioning directory website.
The next step is to get some clients for your directory.
The first listings on your directory are always the hardest to get. But once you gather momentum, it becomes easier & easier.
I’ve got 3 proven strategies for getting clients for your online directory. 2 of them are free, 1 is paid.
Cold Email Marketing
This is one of my most successful B2B lead generation strategies. It's entirely free & extremely fast to do.
You want to make a list of your ideal customers, start with 20 businesses. Collect their emails & design a template email you will send to them.
My biggest tip is make sure that your email has an offer that will excite your customers. I think offering a free trial on your directory is a great offer to start with.
If you don’t get any replies, then you might need to increase the value of your offer.
But, if you send 20 cold emails, I guarantee you’ll get 4-8 responses & 2-3 people who join your directory.
Guest Posting or Publication
Another free strategy, this is a more challenging strategy, but in the long term it can be the most successful.
You need to find an industry leader & offer to do a guest post for them. This means you write a blog article for their website.
In exchange you receive a link on their website. This is great for referral traffic & SEO.
Facebook Ads
This is the only paid advertising strategy in my arsenal of weapons.
However I have used this to great success, so I couldn't leave it out.
You need to design an attention grabbing Facebook Ad, that you will target to your ideal customers. If you need help, I have produced a heap of Youtube videos on Facebook Ads.
How to Sell your Online Business
Once again, if you were theoretically following along.
By now you would have a successful online business directory.
But… what if you wanted to sell your online business directory?
This might sound crazy, after you spent on that time building up the business. But there are plenty of reasons you might want to sell the business.
If you want to sell your online business, you need to use Flippa. It’s the best online business market place online.
I hope you guys got value from this guide! If you want more content, I am constantly producing more digital marketing & business content on my Youtube Channel.