Populating a new directory based site (not looking like a spammer!)

[Alien]

Hi guys,

I'm in the process of building a new directory-led site that I'll have a lot of professional expertise with, so I will be able to use that to best advantage.

However, I don't fancy spending time manually entering in thousands of related business services in the directory script for the initial listings (and I can't launch with none!); I wanted to bulk e-mail or individually e-mail businesses with an invite, so hopefully they come and do this and register, etc (it will be free).

I don't want to look like a spammer though and invite a bad reputation - so, any advice on the best way to do this over e-mail without looking annoying, etc?!

Thanks all.

 

[Edwin]

It is probably worthwhile adding the first thousand entries yourself, manually. That way, you can ensure a uniform quality level (tip: make them good!) which will show a good example when you reach out and invite businesses to list themselves. Plus you will seem MUCH more credible when they visit as a result of your invitation.

If you set yourself a goal of 33 listings/day that shouldn't take more than a month. And if you have time and focus, you can probably add in excess of 100 listings/day if you really put your mind to it.

 

[Alien]

Thank you Edwin, good tips there.

 

[Frog]

Put a job on one of the freelance sites, make sure to hire someone with good English though. It'll cost you $50-100 to have 1000 added. Just have them trawl through appropriate botw.org/business.com/yahoo Dir/dmoz categories, copy the url's and rewrite the descriptions.

How many you need will all depend on how many categories you have. I'd aim for at least 10 listings in each category if its a general directory type site.

There is no realistic way that its worth doing this yourself. Its monkey work and can be outsourced for next to nothing. You should do that and spend the saved time working on promoting the site.

 

[Alien]

Put a job on one of the freelance sites, make sure to hire someone with good English though. It'll cost you $50-100 to have 1000 added. Just have them trawl through appropriate botw.org/business.com/yahoo Dir/dmoz categories, copy the url's and rewrite the descriptions.

How many you need will all depend on how many categories you have. I'd aim for at least 10 listings in each category if its a general directory type site.

There is no realistic way that its worth doing this yourself. Its monkey work and can be outsourced for next to nothing. You should do that and spend the saved time working on promoting the site.

Thanks Frog, I never considered a freelance site, never used one before.

Can anyone recommend a good one they've used please?

 

[Frog]

I've been using rentacoder, but to be honest the results are getting worse and worse. I guess we need to be more careful about who we work with, or just block India/Pakistan.

I was so annoyed with one this week I wrote a rare blog post about it.

We've got another job in dispute there too, I hired someone to compile me a list of 100 video game blogs. He sent back the list with the Financial Times, Flippa.com, Digital Point and a whole load of other nonsense in it.

But we've hired some great people there also, so it can be luck at times.

 

[Alien]

Thanks Frog.

Just found http://www.freelancer.co.uk - anyone used?

 

[Alien]

Thank you Ben, also dropped you a PM.

 

[Alien]

Thanks Frog.

Just found http://www.freelancer.co.uk - anyone used?

9 bids on my project since yesterday already, ranging from £50-£250, save me some time this, as long as the work is good.

Lots of bids from freelancers in Sri Linka, India, Phillipines, etc - very interesting.

 

[Frog]

Going on my experience of outsourcing hundreds of jobs, if all else is equal take the Philippine bid over the Indian one every single time. I'm not joking when I say the Indian one is 10 times more likely to turn out badly. Not sure whether its language issues or a different work ethic/culture, but Philippine workers I've hired have a massive completion rate in comparison to Indian and Pakistani workers.

 

[bensd]

I've used freelancer.com with a pretty good success rate.

Have also heard good things about odesk.com

 

[fish]

oDesk I've used with good results

 

[Sussexite]

I agree with Edwin.

Do it yourself, only include good quality sites, link to them. Write nice things about them if this is part of your plan. Write well.

Make a note which sites link out and ask them for a link back when your directory looks professional enough.

Some of them will give you a link back and give you a kick start.

 

[Edwin]

Some of them will give you a link back and give you a kick start.

Yes, they definitely will. But hold your fire on requesting a link until the site is READY - it's a waste of energy trying to persuade people to link to a half-finished site (plus worse than that, you're actually burning up opportunities since they won't care if you email again in a couple of months saying "actually, we're ready now...")

 

[Alien]

Thanks guys, very helpful info.

Got a freelancer working on adding around 20,000 entries now before I launch, save me loads of time!

 

[Frog]

20,000 is an awful lot. How many categories does the directory have?

 

[Alien]

20,000 is an awful lot. How many categories does the directory have?

About 80-90 categories at the mo, more in future - it needs to have this amount due to the particular sector it's aimed at.

 

[GordonL]

Would you mind letting me know how you get on Alien? I normally use VWorker (formerly RentACoder and have had some amazing work from Romainian and Bulgarian workers. The last couple jobs I've posted have only attracted bids from the subcontinent who have often barely read the spec let alone have the skills to do the job properly!

 

[Edwin]

If you're just "seeding" a directory, then a dozen decent listings per category (which in your case would be around 1,000) should be plenty to encourage others to follow in your footsteps and submit their own info - not sure it's a good move to start with as many listings as you're planning to, especially as the quality will inevitably be lower than you could do yourself.

 

[Alien]

Would you mind letting me know how you get on Alien? I normally use VWorker (formerly RentACoder and have had some amazing work from Romainian and Bulgarian workers. The last couple jobs I've posted have only attracted bids from the subcontinent who have often barely read the spec let alone have the skills to do the job properly!

No probs, will let you know!

If you're just "seeding" a directory, then a dozen decent listings per category (which in your case would be around 1,000) should be plenty to encourage others to follow in your footsteps and submit their own info - not sure it's a good move to start with as many listings as you're planning to, especially as the quality will inevitably be lower than you could do yourself.

Yikes, hope I'm not overcooking the pudding! I have lots of other plans for the directory development, so this will be my base start.