Need help with BrilliantDirectories.com

[PaulDirectory]

It's most likely script :

purelocal.com.au/robots - fast TTFB <0.50
purelocal.com.au - very slow TTFB > 5 seconds

 

[PaulDirectory]

The BrilliantDirectories shared server does not work very well , now I'm confirming that changing server type will be a "cure all" for the issues on PureLocal.com.au ... I did a spot check today and the server is entirely non-responsive :

https://www.webpagetest.org/result/170409_ND_RK/

Very concerning.

 

[PaulDirectory]

Being nosy but, have you made much money from the directory?

The initial cost was $2000USD for the BrilliantDirectories.com "lifetime licence" - I thought this would cover me as their website states that 95% of users don't need more than 10GB of bandwidth. After a while they said I was going over usage and required $125 USD per month for 80GB bandwidth allowance. The total revenue over the last year is about $1600USD so I'm down about $800USD.

 

[PaulDirectory]

Which tool are you using to measure this? Do you have a favourite?

I use the firstbyte website , the simple white page one....PureLocal consistently has TTFB's above 5 , sometimes 14 seconds.

 

[PaulDirectory]

To quote :

Hi PureLocal,
Thank you for your message.
The quote was $499 USD /month + $250 Setup Cost for tjhe following:
Intel Xeon 1270v3
8 GB RAM
1TB SATA drive (not SSD)
Dual Redundant Gigabit Network
It will be in the Dallas, TX location as that is where our rack is with SoftLayer. Unfortunately it cannot be hosted outside of this location at this time.

I believe this cost per month is for their dedicated server + their management , maintenance , software etc.

 

[PaulDirectory]

However , while saying that I'm currently paying $125 usd for their bandwidth but aren't getting any form of support as to why the website is so slow and what is wrong with their database , coding , scripts etc...

If I'm going to pay $499/month for the server+management then I'd expect to receive answers about what the core issue is.

 

[PaulDirectory]

It's interesting because they sell the "lifetime plan" for $2000USD , but currently this month I'm about 2 days away from exhausting my bandwidth usage (80GB). If I don't pay them they'll suspend the website , so how does that work in terms of the original $2000USD paid to them for the "lifetime licence" ?

 

[PaulDirectory]

I've contacted SoftLayer server and hopefully they can moderate the migration.

 

[PaulDirectory]

Latest test - 10 second TTFB :

 

[PaulDirectory]

SoftLayer the server of website aren't getting involved with their resellers transactions.
Argh.

 

[martin-s]

If your total revenue to date is $1600, don't pay $500/mo.

 

[PaulDirectory]

I either stay on shared server and pay $375USD per month for bandwidth costs with BrilliantDirectories.com OR move to dedicated for $499USD per month and get 1TB bandwidth

 

[Edwin]

If your total revenue to date is $1600, don't pay $500/mo.

Best advice in this thread by far.

If you give up now, you've wasted $800. If you give up a year from now you'll potentially have wasted many, many times that.

If B.D. isn't doing the job, then choosing shared or dedicated is like choosing drowning or hanging - you're still going to die!

In other words, they're false choices if you don't include the other options. It's not an either-or. Your REAL choices look like this.
A) Shared
B) Dedicated
C) Move to a different platform
D) Give up

What I think pretty much everyone who's contributed to your thread is saying is that either of C) or D) will still be a much better option than A) or B) based on everything you're told us.

You can choose to follow that advice or ignore it, but I doubt anyone here cares beyond that. Nobody uses the software. Nobody other than your dev team knows how it's configured. So our input is limited and we've exhausted the topic.

Sorry, that's blunt - but it's true.

 

[PaulDirectory]

yea it needs to be more montised to justify spending that much.

question now is : if I dont keep paying them for server costs , they will delete my site and keep the $2000 "lifetime licence" ?

 

[monaghan]

yea it needs to be more montised to justify spending that much.

question now is : if I dont keep paying them for server costs , they will delete my site and keep the $2000 "lifetime licence" ?

With a moderator's hat on...

We can only help with your generic questions, specific contract related questions will have to be between you and your providers otherwise it is only guess work on our part at best which is not the way to be running your business. You have your business accounts, you have your business plan, you need to make the decisions based on this and not rely on the generic answers previously offered.

 

[martin-s]

question now is : if I dont keep paying them for server costs , they will delete my site and keep the $2000 "lifetime licence" ?

It doesn't honestly matter. That money is spent. The site isn't generating enough income to justify further investment at the level needed to make things better. Why throw good money after bad?

If your annual revenue is $1600 and you're planning to grow organically, your total budget for costs should be $133.

This values your time at zero.

Either change your platform to something lower cost, or shut the website down.

 

[keys]

if I dont keep paying them for server costs , they will delete my site and keep the $2000 "lifetime licence" ?

A crucial rule for gambling is NEVER chase losses. Your view of this situation seems to be blinkered by a poor choice of provider, and accepting the consequent write off/loss. To increase spending on the same setup makes no sense at all. Sometimes mistakes or failure can be a useful lesson.

 

[DomainM]

I operate a niche directory and use PHPMyDirectory. While it has it's limitations it only involves an affordable yearly cost for access to updates and I host it on a shared server without issue. If you are making $1600 per year you have at least developed an income stream. Congratulations!

If you move your website to an effective platform you can offer your advertisers a better experience and further develop your directory.

Many business directories fail due to the lack of a sustainable cash-flow, but if you have managed to generate a modest income at this point why let the directory software limit your business. I would suggest dropping your existing provider, cut your losses and move the website to alternative technology.

 

[PaulDirectory]

I paid BrilliantDirectories.com $1997 for the "lifetime plan" , details here :

http://www.brilliantdirectories.com/online-directory-pricing

The advertisement+checkout boldly state "never pay again" after paying the "lifetime plan".

However , within months of paying this "lifetime plan" they began asking for $125/month to cover their server costs. Now it is looking like they'll want $250USD per month in order to cover their bandwidth costs. An email has been sent to their webhost "SoftLayer" with a request for more information.

I wonder why I'm the only one bringing this up...or does no-one use BrilliantDirectories?

 

[PaulDirectory]

Sorry , duplicate post. *Remove This*