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Generating More Leads With A Simple Business Directory

A bunch of messy cards What do most coffee shops have in common? Other than expensive coffee, fancy muffins and free wifi, they often have a wall of business cards stuck to a bulletin board. Sure, you could put your card up there, but that will most likely generate zero leads. The image to the left was taken from a local business that shares their customers' cards with others. Unless you think of this as some sort of business art, it’s pretty much an ineffective mess.

How to turn this into a lead generator? Go talk to the business owner that has a messy bulletin board and offer to promote them and their customers via what's called an online business directory. Using inexpensive open source software, a directory could be created in about one hour.

(a really good example of a huge open source biz directory would be DMOZ.ORG)

The benefits:

- To the business owner of the coffee shop they have an online directory where they can promote their business and offer to promote their customers as well

- To the customers of the coffee shop (your potential leads) they can self-promote (the directory allows others to add their own content)

- YOU benefit because you own the traffic that's being sent to the site by the now happy coffee shop owner. (you advertise on the business directory, sending traffic back to your website)

The total cost for something like this is tiny! A domain name: $8 and hosting maybe $50. There are free directories like SOBI2 or you could get a commercial one like Mosets that runs ~ $100 (one-time fee). So for about $60 per year -- you could build something that has real value to your favorite coffee shop and that funnels traffic back to you!

Posted by E.Kasey Kasemodel - Dexter, Mi - Tech Advice on 09/15/2007 09:30 AM

Comments (9)

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9 Comments on Generating More Leads With A Simple Business Directory

This is a great idea and I was just talking to a fellow Realtor about the same subject yesterday!

09/15/2007 09:37 AM

by Jon Angevine Calgary & Airdrie Real Estate (Royal LePage Foothills)

Oh wow, I love this idea---can't resist those win/win concepts! I think I'll be using this idea; I can think of a dozen places already in my area with these lovely pieces of business art in their lobbys!

Thanks!

Faith LaRosse

09/15/2007 09:38 AM

by Faith LaRosse (Coldwell Banker Hearthside)

Hi E.Kasey,

Great post and great idea.. have you tried this yet and what results..

Anthony

09/15/2007 09:42 AM

by Anthony Stokes-Pereira (Prudential Rand Realty)

You are a very clever person. Can't wait to see what else you come up with to add to the rain!

Karen

09/15/2007 09:59 AM

by Karen Moorhead Ann Arbor Area Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)

I have built something similar (A2WIFI.COM) that lists all the free wifi places in my neighborhood, basically the same concept but I did all the data entery. This could have been done with a business directory but a year ago I hadn't yet started using biz directory products and I'm not motivated enough to change it now :) A2WiFi generates about 100 visitors per day and has a GPR (google page rank) of 3. I would estimate I spend an hour per month maintaining the data. So yes, it works! The only catch: Data entry and patience.

09/15/2007 09:59 AM

by E.Kasey Kasemodel - Dexter, Mi - Tech Advice (API Network Corp)

Yah, this is a good idea, I have heard of it being done before as well.

09/15/2007 10:01 AM

by New Jersey Real Estate James Boyer Morris, Essex & Union County NJ Realtor (RE/MAX Properties Unlimited, Real Estate)

great idea. I never thought of this one. I love it. Thanks for sharing

09/15/2007 11:46 AM

by Dave Cheatham (Indigo)

Gotta love the image as well.

09/16/2007 08:43 AM

by Karen Moorhead Ann Arbor Area Real Estate (Keller Williams Realty)

Kasey,

You have great ideas and you share awesome information, you are full of knowleadge, keep the good blog / work, :)

Ray Saenz

09/19/2007 03:40 AM

by Aurora Colorado Real Estate Ray Saenz, Colorado Realtor (United Property Brokers, INC)

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