This is the part where I expose a “twist” on the affiliate marketing model that literally “unlocks” virtually unlimited, low-hanging traffic in every imaginable niche…
…even the hyper-competitive ones.
And contrary to what you may think – this is NOT the “go sell your SEM services to Ma’s Diner” approach. That’s chump-change. Plus, they won’t appreciate a damn thing, anyway – because they don’t understand our business (and likely not their own, either).
And it’s also NOT the “convince/beg local clueless business owners to buy leads from you when most of them barely understand the value of a client base” approach. That’s a painful, uphill battle that you will eventually lose due to the sheer naivity of the business world at large when it comes to metrics, lifetime-client-value and the fundamentals of marketing.
(You could offer the majority of local business owners a literal bar of gold and they’d probably say “not interested”.)
No… what we’re doing is something far easier, simpler – and downright clever.
I’ve been getting a few emails (and the occasional blog comment) telling me to shut my trap. That should tell you something right there.
So without any further buildup – this is what I’ve been up to the last 6+ months, and why I’ve diverted basically all my time & energy into building “LOCAL” empires…
——————————————————————–
Regular Affiliate Marketing = 1 Offer in 1 Major Market
REGIONAL Affiliate Marketing = 1 Offer in 276+ Major Markets
Here’s how this works…
Let’s say you want to promote a CPA offer for Auto Loans. That’s wonderful.
So you go and do some keyword research, narrow down your main target, some article topics and plan your 20+ page site (for starters). You focus on mid-tail keywords because you know that, at least in any kind of realistic budget or time frame, there’s no way in hell that you’ll compete with the Fortune 500′s and the bazillion other affiliates in the top-level keyword categories.
So then you build some links and see what happens.
If you’re smart, you’ll have integrated some of the “Conduit” process in order to siphon in some ultra-targeted product-focused traffic by creating profiles on your site for at least 10 or 20 well-known insurance services in the niche.
At the site’s capacity, you’ll probably see maybe 100 – 200 visitors a day and likely a lead or two a day. Not bad, probably enough to cover a car payment each month.
You call it a day and either hold the site or sell it – and then move onto the next niche. Make no mistake – you can earn a very good living doing just this, but over time the sites will fade due to lack of activity (linking) and encroaching, competing sites.
Now let’s take a look at the “LOCAL” strategy for the exact same offer:
You don’t even bother with keyword research (yet), because the first step is to build a directory of EVERY used car & car loan office in your target area (statewide or nationwide), with your leadgen offer as the top-fold offer.
The site is categorized by City (and State if nationwide). Every office/business gets its own listing page – much like Yelp.com, or more relevantly, MortgageLoan.com’s directory area.
This is going to build you a site with targeted, useful content in the neighborhood of anywhere from 100 – 50,000+ pages deep. (Um… longtail, anyone?!!)
It’s kind of like the Conduit Method, times a thousand.
(Oh, and in a short while from now I’ll be explaining how to build absolutely massive directories like this with UNIQUE, NON-SPUN content for as little as $0.06 per page. And I’ll also be showing you how to build a professional directory like this in about 20 minutes. Just thought I’d throw that in there for good measure…)
You’ll market the directory using white-hat SEO, which will be easy to do since it will actually be something of value – not just another affiliate site.
Now – additionally (and optionally) – you can scale this up at the same time and go after the “faster” traffic in the local categories by creating as many as 276+ sites that specifically go after city based keywords for your offer.
Why 276?
Because that’s about how many cities in the US have a population of 100,000 or more.
And you certainly don’t have to create anywhere NEAR that many. But you can, and then some. Even 5 cities will likely keep you busy enough.
These “city sites” are nothing more than a targeted mini-site (with unique content) about 3 – 5 pages deep, where the home page features the leadgen offer front-and-center, and all the other pages have it displayed top-fold.
You use largely automated and formulaic SEO processes to rollout these “mini city sites”, since the competition will largely be next to nothing. For example, “Billings Montana Car Loan” (or whatever) will probably have about 3 viable competitors that might have a clue what they’re doing.
It’s a cakewalk (currently).
So… what kind of results can you expect?
Well, that’s hard to determine. To put it in perspective I have one “local” site that does about $400 a day in revenue and it only has 130 or so pages indexed in Google (and about 200 pages total).
But let’s say that in 6 months time your directory site is rolling over at least 500+ visitors a day (especially if it was nationwide). That’s very plausible.
And let’s say that each of your city-sites is bringing in maybe 15 – 20 visitors a day. And you’ve built “city sites” in 10 different cities, which brings your total traffic to around 650 – 800 visitors a day.
Even if just 1% of your traffic converts into a lead – ONE PERCENT – that is 6 to 8 leads per day. And in that market you could probably find offers paying around $10 – $20 a lead. Let’s say $15. For a lot of people reading this – that’s a full time income. An actual job replacement.
And guess what? If you want to drive 60 leads a day instead of 6… just keep building more “city sites”. In the meantime your directory will become more and more established, better-indexed…
…and your revenues growing week by week.
The beauty of this is that you can SCALE. To virtually any level of traffic you want.
In fact, to make this process a little easier to “see”, I’ve put together a quick visual:
As you can see, I’ve included other traffic sources (above) to market the city sites.
SEO is the only one you “need”. (I only listed PPC & Facebook because it’s definitely viable if you’re comfortable with tracking paid traffic.)
Classified Ad sites are a GOLDMINE of traffic when it comes to promoting specific, city-targeted sites, but it has to be done correctly (and ethically), which I don’t have room to cover in this post. Needless to say, that is a HUGE source of leads and revenue. Just ask “Realtor Rick” from the previous post. (I’ll be covering how to drive traffic effectively from those sites to your City-Sites in a later post).
What this does is it opens up HUNDREDS of “traffic pools” that you can scale into with your existing affiliate campaigns. Now that’s what I call a Lazy Marketer version of “LOCAL” marketing 
This isn’t about “partnering up with good ol’ Pete who owns the local bakery”. Nor is it doing “IM” for John the Struggling Roofer.
It’s about TAPPING 276+ additional traffic sources for literally ANY affiliate offer where traffic is easy and rankings are swift.
What I’ve just handed to you is a million-dollar-business on a silver platter.
And I’m not done, either…
Stay tuned for Parts 3 & 4:
* How to circumvent the CPA bastards (er… I mean networks) and sell leads for WAY more directly
* Who will buy your local leads without batting an eye or requiring “convincing”
* Specific Networks whose SOLE FUNCTION is to broker lead sales
* Using Classified sites (LEGALLY) to generate thousands of leads a month – leads that can be sold
* How to structure your leadflow so that you’re building your own business/list simultaneously
* How to build a 50,000+ page directory site in less than 20 minutes
* How to build UNIQUE content for as little as $0.06 per page. (1000 pages of unique content = $60)
* And more…
——————————————————————————-
How’s that for “yet another Guru pushing the offline business model, whaaahh….” ?
Far from it. Hopefully this was a pleasant surprise
Now go forth and profit…
-Chris
141 responses so far ↓
1 Make Money Online // Jun 23, 2010 at 5:41 am
That is pure genius making directory sites for individual cities. I can see how this can be very lucrative I am gonna try this thanks for the tips. Very well laid out and easy to follow.
2 Andrew Peacock // Jun 23, 2010 at 5:42 am
Chris,
Good to see you back on the scene, and coming out with some very valuable info – for free. And I can’t wait to see how the sites are generated. I think you’ve got yourself a future customer.
Regards,
Andy
3 Daniel // Jun 23, 2010 at 5:44 am
Damn! =O
That was a surprise. It all seems quite simple in terms of what to do and what to publish etc. I’m going to have to try this out. I guess I could whip up a bunch of “city sites” to test this out; it shouldn’t be too much bother.
Wow…just wow. Any chance when you’ve finished all this you could bundle it all into PDF for us all? It would come in handy =)
No wonder people were telling you to put a lid on it, even I would say that now. Can’t wait for the next installments…
- Daniel
4 Mike // Jun 23, 2010 at 5:45 am
I tried your last technique about going after cities for the divorce records etc and the competition is huge! I’ll never get anywhere near the top for them!
But hopefully if I can build 1000 pages for $60 (0.06 x 1000 = 60) then I can build a big authority site that gets longtail traffic
5 Robert // Jun 23, 2010 at 5:46 am
Wow! Thanks for sharing this system. I’m surprised you are parting with this info for free. You have got me thinking about the possibilities and dusting off a project that I started a year ago but dropped after losing the client. Top stuff!
6 Lynsey Pat // Jun 23, 2010 at 5:49 am
This gets better and better, last time I tried something similar, I got it all wrong and still made money !
Thanks so much Chris,
Lynsey
7 andrew zubriczky // Jun 23, 2010 at 5:51 am
Chris,
Thanks for all the vital info. You make everything so simple and crystal clear.
I applaud your efficient laziness…and eagerly look forward to parts 3 and 4.
8 Abhik // Jun 23, 2010 at 5:54 am
Very exciting Chris! But…
will you be offering a walkthrough course or site creation software or what have you to implement this strategy?
I “get” what you’ve described conceptually, but have elements which are missing for me on an implementation point of view.
I really hope you’re going to come up with a full system and blueprint for creating this kind of local site directories.
Can’t wait!
Abhik
9 jeremy // Jun 23, 2010 at 5:56 am
hey Chris,
that’s great, 1000 content pages for 6 cents,
I can afford that easily.
let’s say one chooses car insurance, why not put all the sites on one site, or is it better to have individual city sites.
10 Robertino // Jun 23, 2010 at 5:56 am
Awesome.
I was already playing with Forum Generator and Link Farm Evolution to build a small empire. And this will come in as a handy alternative or enhancement.
Bloody Hell Chris, you sure now how to build up the tension. Pull up that curtain!
Pretty please? With powdered sugar and whatever you like on top.
11 jeremy // Jun 23, 2010 at 5:56 am
woops I meant put all the cities on one big site.
12 Jeff // Jun 23, 2010 at 6:16 am
Go on…
13 Nick Brighton // Jun 23, 2010 at 6:17 am
Chris,
You are one of the few marketers that truly delivers original, smart and working systems that hold great potential.
Ever since Confessions, I’ve read your emails and blog posts with serious attention to detail.
I wasn’t so hot on a few recent products you had, but that’s just a personal preference.
When I read your emails and these two blog posts, my eyes bolted open.
This could be huge… and has given me a ton more ideas beyond what you’re talking about too.
My only concern is despite huge markets, if several hundred marketers get hold of this and start spitting out these directories, it’s gonna get a bit “sardines in a tin” syndrome again when it comes to competition.
…what do you think?
14 Simeon // Jun 23, 2010 at 6:24 am
Chris,
Wow,thanks for the great tips! Your method is way easier and makes way more sense (as always) than the “gurus” making a killing off of crap methods and services… Thanks and my hat’s off to you
15 Mikael Rieck // Jun 23, 2010 at 6:29 am
Hi Chris,
I don’t get why you would want to build a directory AND the smaller city sites? Why not just build the directory website and focus your seo on that one site?
Thanks,
Mikael
16 John // Jun 23, 2010 at 6:39 am
Wow! This is great info. Thank so much. I’d love to see a sample site. Or is that asking for to much?
17 Alex Miller // Jun 23, 2010 at 6:40 am
I really dislike reading your posts Chris because whenever I do….I LOSE sleep for at least a week! Your ideas are killer and I’ve been meaning to target local rankings for a long time…this has certainly been a wake-up call.
Great info as always.
Alex
18 wil // Jun 23, 2010 at 6:40 am
50,000 pages in 20 minutes?
Huh! I’d like to see that.
19 Ziah J // Jun 23, 2010 at 6:45 am
Another awesome post, thanks Chris
20 jeremy // Jun 23, 2010 at 6:54 am
whoa, yelp.com is way ahead of us at 6.7 million pages
21 Janina // Jun 23, 2010 at 7:07 am
How much is the full course?
Lots of great ‘what to do’ stuff…really awesome but hopefully this isn’t going to be priced so high that the average Joe or Jane can’t get in on it, as usual…in order to find out the nitty gritty ‘how to’.
22 Susan // Jun 23, 2010 at 7:15 am
Hi Chris
Thanks for the informative break down on the local marketing field. This is a nnice twist to local marketing and I’ve heard about it but not implemented as yet.
I’ll look out for your other parts to come especially the one on building the site in 20 minutes and the unique articles at $0.06 :p
Thanks
23 Earnie // Jun 23, 2010 at 8:04 am
Chris,
When will you have the offer ready for us to buy it? Give us parts 3 & 4 and the offer NOW! I an hyperventilating…
24 Stuart // Jun 23, 2010 at 8:05 am
Sound interesting Chris.
But like all these things the devil is in the details.
There are a ton of IM courses where the guy talking about the method (usually selling, but you don’t appear to be doing that here) makes fortunes.
And yet when anyone else tries to replicate it, they can’t seem to make $50 a month at it. Yet alone $400 a day.
I am still no clearer to be honest how you would practically go about this in terms of a step by step.
Maybe you will discuss that later, but without that it is totally dependent on the experience of whoever is implementing it.
So no wow from me until I get my head around what this means in a physical sense of “Ok. I am at my desk on Monday morning. What do I do next?”, but sounds interesting.
25 Vince Adams // Jun 23, 2010 at 8:18 am
Chris my head is about to explode! This sounds like a solid business plan and I like others am hoping for some sort of blueprint or guide to setting it all up. Can’t wait!
26 Roland // Jun 23, 2010 at 8:18 am
Hi Chris Its funny you should mention it I have toyed with the idea for my local city, this is the way to go thanks a lot, great stuff
27 Terry // Jun 23, 2010 at 8:36 am
Let me at it right now! Do I really have to wait for parts 3 & 4?
I’m already in the local market as a print broker because it’s an evergreen market that local businesses and business people want and heed in order to do business no matter what the economy is doing.
However, this local marketing you have presented to us is a viable stand alone business which will compliment a successful print brokering business and easily expand my reach in the market.
Thanks Chris for keeping me awake with anticipation.
28 Ray // Jun 23, 2010 at 8:37 am
Chris,
I was here yesterday and I was one of the skeptical ones…..
Just want to say my skepticism has now left me completely. This is a great idea and I just wanted to say thanks for sharing this with us.
Can’t wait to see parts 3 & 4.
Ray
29 Larry@Mastering Rates // Jun 23, 2010 at 8:40 am
You have me convinced, been doing this on a smaller scale. But have been doing things wrong. Time to go overhaul some sites
30 Hamant Keval // Jun 23, 2010 at 8:41 am
Hi Chris,
Yes I agree – You sure know how to keep us hanging on – but thanks for at least not leaving the 2nd post for at least a week – that would have menat me not sleeping for a week!
Look forward to your slant on where the real money is in offline gold.
I totally agree what you are saying about all these “bozoz” trying to sell off line products the way they have been doing with really slick sales pages.
Look forward to your next few posts.
I am assuming you will be coming out with a course !:)
Well make it fast and this week !
Thanks Chris
Hamant
31 Greg // Jun 23, 2010 at 8:42 am
Hey Chris,
This sounds like an extended play on what you let us have back in Feb.
I perhaps was one of the 2% to take away and do what you suggested with the city based sites for some of the People Search products.
I am using software to help created, unique content on sites that have about 600 pages.
Each site is taking about 1 hour to produce.
Interested to see what you have to offer here.
G.
32 Carlos Scarpero // Jun 23, 2010 at 8:43 am
Great info Chris. You are the man!
33 Five Star Marketer // Jun 23, 2010 at 8:47 am
Hey Chris,
This really is great information you’re giving us…again. You sent me an email back in March on this subject – (hint – People Search).
I spent the next 3 days looking into this on my own and even started to build my own directory for the Canadian market…manually. Sure is a lot of work, but when you talked about building these sites “automatically”, I got hooked again.
I even emailed you back saying that you should do a webinar on this. I hope you do.
ANYWAYS, one question.
What about the viability of not only building sites for each city but expanding further by building sites for city “districts” or sections of each city…especially for larger cities like New York. I know I wouldn’t want to drive to the other end of my city to visit a business unless I absolutely had to.
Joe
34 Frank // Jun 23, 2010 at 8:58 am
Local lead-gen for CPA offers definitely works. Jack Mize and Eric Louviere have been doing it for awhile. But that’s not how your “Rick The Realtor” generates his 600K from his “dog ugly” site right?
I’m dying to know how he sells or converts his leads without all the usual hassle of selling leads to Mr. local bussinessman!
35 boat auctions // Jun 23, 2010 at 9:08 am
I think the ‘theme’ of 2010 has been LOCAL. I’ve heard it as well from the big guys….actually you’re a ‘big guy’ to Chris.
Would be good to know what CPA offers would work/convert best locally…or at least learn how to spot what services local surfers are searching for.
36 Bill // Jun 23, 2010 at 9:14 am
More great stuff from Chris! Eagerly anticipating parts 3 & 4…:)
37 Andy // Jun 23, 2010 at 9:36 am
Chris,
I applaud you on your skill at building anticipation.
As weird as this sounds, I’ve ALWAYS loved using and looking through directories, online and off. And having written corporate and Federal level policies, procedures and guidelines, I ENJOY organizing and structuring materials in such a way that “the right hand always knows what the left is doing.”
I also think that at some subconscious level, most people really NEED directories, or the structures of directories, so they can get a grip on who, what, when, where, why and how when there’s a problem they need solved.
As you’ve pointed out so far, as I know from my late father having been a retailer, and as I know from the masochism of trying to sell advertising (VERY BIG hyena laugh here, folks) to ANYBODY, if you aren’t a PAYING CUSTOMER WALKING IN THE DOOR–Mom-n-Pop’s Brick-n-Mortar Sales do NOT want to be bothered with ANYTHING you have to offer them. You either buy or you fly.
Also, when one sees Google itself actively offering FREE advertising to Mom-n-Pop’s, internet marketers should have their heads examined for wasting even one more second on local businesses.
For darn sure, what you’ve been describing is probably the most sensible–and realistic–internet business model I’ve seen yet; trying to sell the entire world at the same time is like chasing phantoms.
And it’s a model within which one can plug in their many other i.m. resources, tools, learning and insight.
I’d love to be in the financial position to BEG you not to sell your related resources to anyone but me.
But, Chris, for us Conduit Method and Affiliate Intelligence customers, I’m hoping you’ll consider offering us a special, Early Launch/Lower Price/Thanks for Your Past Business deal. Yes, even if it’s for only 72 hours.
Okay? Pretty please, with whatever your sweet tooth desires on top?
38 Alex // Jun 23, 2010 at 9:37 am
Chris,
Thanks man for sharing such valuable info. Although I’m not residing in North America but its still valuable info nonetheless. Looking fwd to your 3rd and 4th posts.
39 Cool Baby Clothes // Jun 23, 2010 at 9:58 am
Fantastic.
Glad to hear I don’t have to rely on local small business JV’s for this model. Lord knows that would take patience I don’t think I have.
Looking forward to the next installment, Chris. Cheers.
40 Steven Tedder // Jun 23, 2010 at 10:00 am
I am curious now. I am definitely wanting local stuff.
41 Karen // Jun 23, 2010 at 10:04 am
okay, my head is spinning with ideas, now, Chris!
thank you
42 Jorge R // Jun 23, 2010 at 10:10 am
Well, I never saw this one coming… that’s for sure… I thought you were going in another direction, that of approaching local business owners so that they’d purchase leads from you… but this one is really, really smart.
43 Ron // Jun 23, 2010 at 10:17 am
Hey Chris
Great stuff as usual
when are planning on posting part3 &4?
Can’t wait…
44 Knee Rehab // Jun 23, 2010 at 10:26 am
Thank you. I truly enjoy getting an email from you because you give real value to your list.
I am 100% interested in the driving leads w/classifieds and how to get around only being able to post in one city with some of the bigger ones. I want to outsource it and post in as many as I would like. I have a feeling that’s what your eluding too, right?
Thanks, OP
45 Stacy // Jun 23, 2010 at 10:29 am
I agree with Frank -
How did Rick the Realtor generated his 600K from his site. From what you explained in part 1 it was a little website generating most of the money from classified ads traffic into leads.
Please tell us how he gained so much money from his classified ad campaign.
46 PJ // Jun 23, 2010 at 10:39 am
In the domaining world, it has been known for quite some time that ‘Geo’ domains – city, state, or country based domains – can bring in a lot of revenue, far more than a conventional site.
So this isn’t something new. But neither is it as easy as Chris makes it sound.
47 Ryan // Jun 23, 2010 at 10:49 am
What are you selling?
48 Joseph Ratliff // Jun 23, 2010 at 11:10 am
Interesting twist Chris…I’m in to see what you’re presenting here in full-detail.
I can see lazyLOCALmarketer.com coming
49 Chica // Jun 23, 2010 at 11:22 am
Wow Chris,
When you drill down and focus in a market, it pays….keep it coming Chris!
50 Elizabeth // Jun 23, 2010 at 11:23 am
I think this is a great name for this method. lazyLOCALmarketer.com. How do you like it, Chris? Any idea about the price for this course?
Elizabeth
51 Randy // Jun 23, 2010 at 11:33 am
Since I am still some what new to Affiliate marketing and not made much money at all can you help me understand what I am offering? If I am featuring insurance companies locally I am bringing in to the site a visitor from that local area and presenting an insurance CPA offer to them?
How about companies like plumbers, or Dentists, or florists or something like this? What am I offering the visitors that come to the site if I target these types of businesses?
I understand the concept just not sure what to offer these groups.
52 TrafficColeman // Jun 23, 2010 at 11:41 am
Content is king has been thrown around for years now. To be honest with you, content has ruled the net every since the beginning of the dot come era. My SEO company focus on writing good quality unique content for our clients.. Why
Because this is the only way that you will b able to build your house of subscribes. You must have original content to be able to compete with the big dog online. My article I wrote on my blog title
“Content Is King – The Truth About Unique Content” was a rant I was carrying on about unique content is the only way to get to the top..
Not copying someone’s elses work..Thanks For A Nice Post
TrafficColeman Signing Off
53 MilesT // Jun 23, 2010 at 11:46 am
You are one lazy bastard.
54 affiliate marketing // Jun 23, 2010 at 11:52 am
I already work in the offline marketing niche, (as well as affiliate marketing as user name suggests) and so I know first hand how much it takes to get clients on board.
I like your business model and look forward to more gems as they come
Thanks
55 John // Jun 23, 2010 at 12:02 pm
I’d like to echo the question about the point of the directory site built in addition to the city sites.
It seems to me listing the local companies (i.e. car loan companies in targeted city to stick with the example) on one page (in a table perhaps) with the affiliate lead at the top of the page would (1) save the effort of creating a directory, and (2) create plenty of content (i.e. car loan companies) on the main page. In other words, one page is created for one product (i.e. car loans) for one city.
This one page could be optimized for “target city car loans” and with the content (i.e. car loan companies listed all on one page) would be sufficient for organic SEO. I agree doing additional paid advertising could be useful – I’ve had some decent success with Facebook ads. I will have to look into the classifieds ads.
That said, I can see the point of a directory if its creation can be automated – but I have no idea how that would be done in terms of getting all the “car loan companies’ data” for the target city imported into a directory without manually doing it … I guess that info is coming in Parts 3 and 4.
Also, will your directory-building info be compatible with WordPress?
Otherwise, good post and am looking forward to Parts 3 and 4.
56 William // Jun 23, 2010 at 12:04 pm
Quit teasing us and just release the damn product already.
57 vince // Jun 23, 2010 at 12:21 pm
The $600k comes from directing the leads to himself of which he’s a realtor so that when he or another realtor sells the property, he either reaps a 4-6% commission for himself or shares that with another realtor. So on a home that sells for $400k, that’s anywhere between a $8000-$16,000 commission.
Not to hard to figure out folks.
58 Michael Hackett // Jun 23, 2010 at 1:02 pm
I was looking around on the web this morning to see about possible solutions/directions this may take. I found this as a possible wordpress solution – but don’t know if this is the kind of thing Chris is talking about: http://www.directorypress.net
Looking forward to hearing more though. I smell product launch – but that’s OK. I buy nearly everything Chris puts out.
59 Kathee // Jun 23, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Chris, your ideas and grasp of IM are astonishing. Thanks for sharing! I am on pins & needles waiting for more info on this!
60 Jim Curtis // Jun 23, 2010 at 1:16 pm
Wow…what a great new spin on Local marketing that is all the rage now. Quick…tell me more, Chris.
61 Offline Gold Forum - Local Business Marketing // Jun 23, 2010 at 1:40 pm
Another amazing strategy for local business! I’ll be sure to give my forum community a heads up once more details are released!
Keep it up C!
62 admin // Jun 23, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Hey guys, the full exposure on “rick the realtors” leadgen process will be in the next post.
I’m currently on a ferry to Vancouver and typing this from my blackberry, so later tonight I’ll address some of the questions here.
Cheers!
Chris
63 admin // Jun 23, 2010 at 2:28 pm
Hey guys, the full exposure on “rick the realtors” leadgen process will be in the next post.
I’m currently on a ferry to Vancouver and typing this from my blackberry, so later tonight I’ll address some of the questions here.
Cheers!
Chris
64 Trevor // Jun 23, 2010 at 2:30 pm
“This isn’t about “partnering up with good ol’ Pete who owns the local bakery”. Nor is it doing “IM” for John the Struggling Roofer.”
So true…
I’m excited to get started with this.
65 Content Management // Jun 23, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Very interesting. I cannot wait to see what you have to say next.
Over the last few days I have noticed Google seems to be returning more localized results. With Google wanting to make everything more relevant, local is the place to be. 276 cities is huge!!
Looking forward to the next couple of articles!
66 Warren // Jun 23, 2010 at 3:50 pm
Hey Chris, do you believe this would work for any city in the world market?
67 Mike // Jun 23, 2010 at 4:23 pm
Hey Chris,
Is it 6 cents a page or 60 cents a page for articles? Your example of $600 for 1,000 pages would be 60 cents a page…
68 Leo S. // Jun 23, 2010 at 4:53 pm
Amazing post, as always, coming from you!
Probably quite time-consuming…
69 Ally // Jun 23, 2010 at 5:33 pm
Like a lot of the other commentors, I smell a new product coming, and I’m very interested because it does NOT sound like the usual “sell to local businesses” junk that everyone is suddenly pushing. Very intriguing so far, can’t wait for the next couple of installments and then the product. Count me in!!
70 Hosting Unlimited Bandwidth // Jun 23, 2010 at 5:35 pm
Wow! I am in the middle of trying a new SEO method and really have whiplash trying to decide if I stop it and start a new approach. I want to be hitting on all cylinders and really think the SEO thing is going to kill me! Great approach.
71 Stew Kelly // Jun 23, 2010 at 6:04 pm
Hey Chris,
Great information. I’m looking forward to learning more about “super-sizing” the conduit method and building user friendly directory sites that convert.
Lots of drudge directories out there.
72 Jeff // Jun 23, 2010 at 6:17 pm
You’re so right talking to blank faces is not fun – sometimes I feel like that the only way it will work is to own that business – but I know nothing about plumbing, electrics etc…
73 Abe // Jun 23, 2010 at 7:36 pm
Always glad to be a subscriber and a customer.
74 Stephen Bolin // Jun 23, 2010 at 8:33 pm
I first thought – Not another Guru pushing local business SEO, PPC, SMS web help.
But I know you better! That’s why I have continued being on your list and listening intently to what you say.
Thanks again for being on the “edge” of how to make “real” money online.
Stephen
75 My Wealthy Affiliate Bonus // Jun 23, 2010 at 8:40 pm
Chris
UFA, thanks god that this isn’t just “another” Offline gig like all (most) gurus are preparing or already offer.
Most is pure crap and only experienced Offliners who are in the field can give you the ropes to Offline Marketing, all the others are THEORY wannabes.
Your strategy is definitely a good one, great idea and thanks for sharing.
Hope you will keep the “giving value for free” with this, I’m also a disappointed AI customer and this looks like we can get even
Never mind, had a bad day.
thanks
G.
76 Trudy // Jun 23, 2010 at 9:03 pm
Interesting idea…though I’m fighting to understand it completely.
I have some questions which I hope you will make clearer either here or in the next posts. I fugure if I have these questions others may also!
As I was reading through your post these questions came to mind or some more points of clarrifiction.
To be sure I understand is CPA = cost per action? So that action is the website visitor providing their name and contact information, right?
Why would they do this? Obviously the offer but…
Leadgen offer…what type of offer would you make to get them to provide their name and email or phone number? Is this the same as a squeeze page type offer for email marketing? i.e exchange something of value for their contact info.
Are the names stored in an Aweber type database system or something different. If you are going to onsell the contact details then I’m curious how you would do this vs “your email is safe with me” kind of approach.
(sorry I’m not so familiar with the CPA process)
Do you sell the names only once or to multiple buyers? I would think once or you could kill the deal from both the buyer and those providing their details.
The “useful unique content” you refer to is this simply the fact that you are offering the town/city + business name+ type of business = long tail keyword(s). Is this what you are referring to with regards to unique content & targeted?
You mention Directory (of course) which is made up of each city (or large town I would imagine) and then within each town you’d have a seperate page for each business that resides there (the long tail keywords)
…I get that,
but then further down you mention creating separate websites for each City.
To me that seems like you are repeating yourself…or I’ve completely misunderstood what you mean. If you could expand on this I’d appreciate it.
When I look at the diagram I’m confused…are you driving traffic to the directory site (where the lead gen offer is located) fromthe “City Sites” or do you have that offer on each City Site page (the latter I’m guessing).
With the SEO are you getting backlinks to all pages or just to the top page or first level pages? I’m assuming backlinks is what you mean by basic SEO.
So I am I to understand correctly you are looking to drive traffic to your directory site mostly via the search engines? Though your mate used Classified Ads….So where your mate was just targeting his local Realtor area, you are looking to target a wider area but have a seperate page for each business….or sepeate page for each city or large town.
I hope my questions make sense. With answers to these I think I could picture the concept better.
Thanks again Chris for being so open and sharing with us.
77 Kat // Jun 23, 2010 at 11:21 pm
Hey Chris!
As usual you’ve got my attention! Can’t wait to learn more!
78 Mike // Jun 24, 2010 at 12:39 am
Holy crap! You make it sound very simple, but for untechnical people like me, that sounds complicated. I can’t wait to hear more details on how to create these directories and sites. This sounds like it would either take a LOT of time or quite a bit of money outsourcing everything.
I hope this is more simple than it seems…I’ve read through it all twice and still can’t figure everything out. And I hope that it is affordable too, since I am willing to try something “outside the box” but can’t afford to try anything with too much upfront cost.
Anyway, I am on your list to stay. Thanks for all the info so far, and I can’t wait to read the next post.
79 James // Jun 24, 2010 at 1:18 am
Another great idea from you Chris. Since I bought Lazy Marketer a couple of years back you have been one of the few people whose mails I open.
80 Bryce // Jun 24, 2010 at 4:06 am
I can build capture pages and small one to 3 page websites. I have never built a directory site. When will you be exposing how to build one in 20 min. In the meantime is there a place where I could get a template for a directory site?
I’m looking forward to your next blog posts. Don’t wait too long
81 Johnny // Jun 24, 2010 at 4:31 am
I think you should hush up now Chris
Seriously though it seems like some folks need everything spelled out for them before they can move forward..Chris has already given you the broad strokes and if you can’t fill in the gaps from here then god help ya..
82 Chrille // Jun 24, 2010 at 4:55 am
Agree with Bryce – it would be ace if you could post part 3 and 4 within this week. Complete directions how to handle this business model would be highly appreciated as well as I’m sure we’re quite a few beginners here who would really need this in our hands.
Anyway – excellent post Chris. I fuckin’ love you m8!
83 Tom // Jun 24, 2010 at 5:12 am
Can’t wait to see what the next two posts are like. I have been following you for a couple of years now and I sure like the conduit method.
I hope I can get my head around this and hope this doesn’t cost much.
84 Healthy Eating Menu // Jun 24, 2010 at 5:24 am
If you guys are clueless about what Mike is talking about, check out http://www.neworleansbankingrates.com for a good example (no site of mine, just a nicely executed site). I’m not sure how well they rank, but they’re targeting terms like “new orleans banking rates”, “new orleans personal loan rates” and so on. Unique content on every page, but heavily formulaic makes creating this content very easy and outsourcable.
If you click on their sitemap you’ll see links to a large number of sites built on the same template – at least one for each state in the US. They all look exactly the same, built from the same (probably custom made) wordpress theme. This is local marketing on a large scale.
85 Chuck // Jun 24, 2010 at 10:29 am
As a poster above brought up, the last email we got from you a month or two ago exposed the people search/background check niche using directory sites. I spent a chunk of time trying to get that going but determined that it was just way too competitive for me – even with “city” long-tail keywords, the same players with lots of backlinks and age kept coming up on page one.
Unlike you, I don’t have the resources to outsource or devote a lot of effort into an industry that is competitive already and therefore seems overly risky to enter.
The lead-buying company you mentioned that buys and sells local leads deals in the highly-competitive industries as well.
86 Andrew Devore // Jun 24, 2010 at 11:00 am
I hope the next posts will be coming out soon and don’t cost too much as well? I would love to get started.
87 Shawn Buterbaugh // Jun 24, 2010 at 12:42 pm
I currently IM for local business’s and it is laughable on how blind they are about the power of the internet most local business’s say it doesnt work. you hit the nail on the head talking about the local business’s refusing a bar of gold.
88 Dan // Jun 24, 2010 at 12:50 pm
WTF Chris – Just release the damn course already
No more suspense, or pre-launch stuff… Let’s just get down to it!
89 $100 A Day // Jun 24, 2010 at 3:24 pm
Once again can’t wait for part 3 and 4 so I can hurry up and purchase this thing!
90 Jimmy // Jun 24, 2010 at 4:56 pm
Chris,
Thanks for the heads up on this method, I’m already doing my reaserch and can see the possibilities.
For those that need a million questions answered on terminology or how the little details work on this, I have one tip for you, USE google and look up some of the tips already given. You can have many of your questions answered. You really can’t expect Chris to walk you through every single little detail, can you? The guy is gracious enough to provide these tips free of charge. Do a little typing and find out for your self!!
All I can say is, this is why many people don’t make money no matter what is given to them.
91 Mikael Rieck // Jun 24, 2010 at 9:18 pm
Hi Chris,
I hope my question about why you would want to create both a directory and a bunch of smaller sites didn’t drown in the many comments.
I am really curious why that is?
Thanks,
Mikael
92 Eric Rockefeller // Jun 24, 2010 at 11:31 pm
Too many people overlooking stuff like this!! Lots of money to be made targeting local markets.
93 Hil // Jun 25, 2010 at 3:23 am
I’m with Mikael.
Why would you want to build a directory AS WELL AS the smaller city sites?
Wouldn’t the smaller City Sites be part of the main directory?
If not then what’s in the directory?
Yes, why wouldn’t you just build the directory website and focus your seo on that one site, and have all the “City Sites” as part of that directory along with the list all the Auto loan sharks or what ever under the corresponding City?
OR
If you are targeting LOCAL traffic then wouldn’t you need a directory for each local city?
Then, in that directory for each local City would be the list of Auto Loan companies or whatever?
Unless I have got this all arse about.
Like Doc Hudson said in ‘Cars’ …..”I dunno I’m confused” (I’ve seen that film about 4 million times. I have a 3 year old)
94 Earn Money Online // Jun 25, 2010 at 4:13 am
I agree local markets are way easier to rank for therefore you can receive more traffic, and sales by targeting specific cities, markets.
A very good way to cash in!
95 Andy // Jun 25, 2010 at 10:45 am
It’s been TWO days since Part 2 of 4 has been posted.
So, WHEN will Part 3 be going up?
96 admin // Jun 25, 2010 at 10:59 am
Hey everyone,
Sorry to leave you hanging – I was on a road trip with good friend. We’d been planning it for over a year now…
I’m heading back today, so likely tonight or tomorrow I’ll put up the 3rd installment.
And the next post will directly address the majority of the questions put forward in the comments…
Thanks!
-Chris
97 Frank // Jun 25, 2010 at 11:20 am
Installment four will be a product launch or an affiliate promotion – wait for it
98 Mark Bossert // Jun 25, 2010 at 4:52 pm
Hi Chris,
Fascinating stuff! Came here from Keith Baxter’s latest post and loving this. We’ve been doing the local SEO thing for 8 months and it’s better than you’ve painted it and not as good as all the hype… I’ve also been diligently working on lead gen scenarios with partners so this is timely.
99 Greg // Jun 25, 2010 at 11:58 pm
Very interesting! I’m really looking forward to parts 3 – 4.
I hope you will make the instructions clear and accessible. The relationship between the directory sites and the lead-gen offer in the graphic above is still not clear to me. I’m not new to affiliate marketing but some of this terminology is new to me. Is it explained in detail in one of your products?
100 Glen // Jun 26, 2010 at 3:17 am
Oh Chris your new shiny bait is SO tantalising.
I figure I am about to be hooked yet again.
Ditto many comments on your follow thru and as a past buyer of your stuff, I am glad you say you will be making amends in your offer for yet more ‘great’ stuff.
I to was one of the less than 2% and got strait into the Public Records arena after your, yet again, wise words and laid out challenge.
Yet despite what Johnny said so unkindly about “God Helping Us”. Although maybe you have not been elevated to that status yet by the majority of your rabid followers. Johnny I am a VERY technically capable person and I still don’t get what Chris REALLY means in his brief synopsis above.
I need hands on to understand it, I am a visual/kinaesthetic learner and learn by seeing first and then DOING it as are many others herein judging by the statements.
I am simply not OK with just a direction on the compass and pointing approach by saying “Go That Way And Prosper”. I need REAL details and steps and examples to get my teeth into.
After building a Public Records related site like you said, it raised bucket loads more questions that were answered anywhere as yet. Like Do I build it this way or that? Do I use Keywords with a Landing Page Generator approach? Or Even a Dynamic Landing Page Generator to catch incoming requests and make a relevant page on the fly. Still many questions:
Like SITE STRUCTURE:
When you say “SITES” do mean as in a URL for each one?
then that means $10 (ish) for each 267 large cities = $2670
or a subdomain as in http://www.subdomain.mainsite.com for each one, set up individually will be a real pain, I hope you site generator solutions (instructions) handles all these questions. And ditto the $600 calculation error, Tutt tutt.
Potentially so far we are up for $2670 + $600 and we haven’t even seen as sniff of your new baiting offer yet?
Like FREE CLASSIFIEDS:
As for automating those “CLASSIFIED SITES” forget it, again it get even more complicated to automate, I used some fantastic software for a while ike CLAD etc, but its basically useless as you then need to sort out the multiple submissions from your computers referring URL address. Next solution is to then buy a VPS service and get multiple I.P’s to rotate, more money more problems and again not easy or cheap. Buggered yet again.
This is why I am HANGING like a baited fish Chris for your, SEO only required, solution.
Bring it on Chris I can almost taste the fishbait. CHEERS dude LOL. Glenn
101 Chris G // Jun 26, 2010 at 4:32 am
Chris,
I’m desperate, I’ve searched everywhere to build directory type sites (searched for directory builders) but there either to expensive or not what I need.
I’ve bought many of your products but haven’t gotten anything launched yet !!
I never got my “People Finders” deal up, I didn’t really have time to build the site by hand and was trying to find templates and software to build these sites without costing an arm and a leg.
I own a couple (what I think
are very good coupon site url’s, and only just found a decent WP Coupon theme. Exactly what I’m looking for finally after a couple years looking. (not steady obviously…)
Thanks,
Chris G
102 Di // Jun 26, 2010 at 9:08 am
Hi Chris, The theory sounds good but I would need a step-by-step guide on how to implement it – which is what is on its way, right?
103 admin // Jun 26, 2010 at 2:29 pm
Hey everyone, the 3rd installment (or 4th, depending on how it comes together) will include a video tutorial, as well as a vid that showcases how the directory building process works.
Look for a mailing from me Monday or Tuesday (hopefully Monday).
Cheers,
-Chris
P.S. Yes, obviously this is leading up to something, as Frank so cleverly guessed in comment #94. (Wow, what a big “let down”).
But what’s on offer isn’t going to be accessible to everyone, for a few reasons.
1) The broke newbies can easily take my FREE processes from series 1,2,3 and 4 and implement it. That’s why I’m doing this as a warmup series – so that everyone can benefit.
Of course, that probably translates as 10,000+ or more people reading this that maybe 5 will actually do something and stick with it to get enough traction to see results.
The rest will make excuses or over-complicate it, both resulting in the same outcome (and “income”).
2) What I’m going to be selling won’t be a “course”. It’s literally what we’ve spent months developing to roll out our own local campaigns, and to be totally transparent – we don’t want that much competition.
Therefore access will be limited and not accessible to those who don’t have the resources to use it properly.
That’s why I’m revealing the process in its entirety for free, first.
From a marketing perspective, this will show you the true power of what we’ve developed.
But from an educational perspective, there will be MORE than enough from these blog posts to take and build a massive local-targeted affiliate income.
Stay tuned.
-Chris
104 admin // Jun 26, 2010 at 2:49 pm
Re: “Step by Step” guide needed…
——–
I can certainly understand that it’s always good to see examples and more information to truly “get” a strategy, which is why I’ll be providing these in the later installments.
BUT…
You need to be careful that you don’t fall into the “step by step” mindset.
As usual, it’s not about the EXACT process. There is NO “exact” process in this business. People will say there is, because it helps sell their courses.
But in reality, aside from the fundamentals – there’s a thousand different ways to do things and STILL SEE RESULTS.
Don’t get stuck thinking that you need to see every last detail of what someone else has done.
You don’t.
In fact, I’ve made a LOT of money just by seeing what products in our industry are being promoted, I take a look at the salesletter and simply see WHAT they’re doing (ie. continuity, product launching processes, SEO stuff, etc.).
From that “big picture” view of the thing, whatever it may be, I can just do my own filling in the blanks, roll stuff out and see results.
I’ll usually end up buying the course or whatever later on anyway, just to see if there’s stuff I can implement for more profit.
THE POINT IS THIS:
Nobody in this business fails because they didn’t follow the “exact” process, or because they didn’t have the right “step by step” guide.
People fail in this business because they don’t see it as a BUSINESS.
They see it as some kind of magical “web alchemy” process that has to be obtained from the masterful elite who dispense it in the form of step-by-step courses.
(Again, this is why most people who really make it online are ex-business owners. Because they understand that it’s really just about getting stuff set up, promoted and sold).
The problem will ALWAYS be “how to implement”. I face that problem every day as well. There’s tons of stuff I need to learn all the time.
But my goal isn’t to “find the elusive answer”.
It’s to simply get things running semi-acceptably so that I can add to my online empire and see results.
So please guys… don’t think that you need to read into things so much.
You truly don’t.
This is something that works very well at “face value” BECAUSE it’s simple. That’s why it works.
So don’t complicate things – it’s unneccessary.
And don’t make the mistake of thinking my way, or Mr. Guru’s way, or whoever’s way is the “ONLY” way.
This is business – not religion.
Many paths lead to results and eventually success…
…for those willing to travel down them and navigate their way to their desired destination.
(And just like “real life”, you don’t need your nose glued to a map or a guide to hold your hand the entire journey).
Fundamental Process + Basic Problem-Solving + Action = Success
It’s that simple.
-Chris
105 admin // Jun 26, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Re: $0.06 per record:
—————————
Yeah, you’re right, my math was wrong.
It would cost about $60 to have the framework for building a 1,000 page deep site.
-Chris
106 Daniel // Jun 26, 2010 at 3:02 pm
I suppose that’s what you meant when you said “there’s a limit to how many people will get in on this” in your email from Tuesday?
I need to restrict my expenses to just the essentials at the moment (domains and hosting), but I will be implementing this process as soon as I can. What you’ve provided already is awesome, and while I understand “how it works” so far, I’ll wait for parts 3 & 4 to get a more complete picture.
- Daniel
107 Mary // Jun 26, 2010 at 3:32 pm
Chris, thanks as always for your insight.
Won’t we see thousands of duplicate directories once this process is automated? How about the software footprint in terms of Google ranking?
108 admin // Jun 26, 2010 at 3:34 pm
@ Daniel,
What I meant by limit was on a city-level there’s a quick saturation point for each industry.
But yes, we will also be limiting how many people will get our developed solution for automatic local marketing.
Cheers,
-Chris
109 admin // Jun 26, 2010 at 3:39 pm
@Mary,
I don’t intend on ever building a duplicate directory. All mine implement unique content.
If other people do, then they’ll have trouble getting indexed, let alone ranked.
As for a software footprint – that only means something if you’re doing blackhat stuff or MFA.
Think about the “footprint” of WordPress blogs, Joomla sites, etc.
I don’t see Google penalizing those “footprints” anytime soon.
Google’s main issue is actually with scraper sites that pull Google’s OWN search result snippets and use those as content.
Building a useful, relevant directory is anything but blackhat.
-Chris
110 Gina@HomeBasedBusinessForum // Jun 26, 2010 at 3:54 pm
Wow Chris great post. As you can see you have most of us on the edge of our seats. We can’t wait for the next installments. Thank you so much for this information.
Gina
111 Mark // Jun 26, 2010 at 4:40 pm
Well just a hint? WP with free plugins?
112 Chrille // Jun 26, 2010 at 4:45 pm
Is there any chance Chris that it would be possible to use affiliate genie in this local business model? Another thing I’m wondering – even though we’ll all surely get that later – is how much this offer of yours will cost – are we talking hundreds of dollars here or something below the $100 mark?
113 snugla // Jun 26, 2010 at 6:11 pm
He just told you up in comment 103 that you won’t be able to get in on this product if you’re broke.
So from that clear admission you can take it that this will be a fairly costly product…not something inexpensive.
114 pecq // Jun 27, 2010 at 6:53 am
will your script “automatic local marketing.” work for other countries like Germany, France etc…
115 Hil // Jun 28, 2010 at 12:24 am
Hey Snugla, Johnny and others this whole post is starting to sound like it has been read off the script from the movie “It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad, world” the way people are sniping at others’ comments on this blog
116 NIck Johnson // Jun 28, 2010 at 4:13 am
Hi Chris,
This looks like a sound idea espcially if it can be automated for a reasonable fee…..
I am also not convinced saturation will be hit that quickly given the number of shops and traders in a city… Remember how thick the yellow pages used to be???
Regards
Tanksalot
http://www.gourmet-dogtreats.com/
117 snugla // Jun 28, 2010 at 9:02 am
Comments are moderated, so there’s no sniping on here.
Chris is obviously working hard to get out info that will answer the most detailed questions…so some have stepped up (ala The Warrior Forum) to answer a few obvious questions.
This is a great topic! All the comments reflect that.
118 Mark G. // Jun 28, 2010 at 10:53 am
Has anyone found any additional info on the internet about what he is talking about here? I have heard about people who buy used domains that are valuable in previous traffic and then some how they build directories that auto-generate themselves and are monetized. It’s a huge business that seems to be ran by a few people. Maybe what this is is something like that!? This could be really good even at the free content level here in this blog. It sure makes sense, because people are looking for physical products all day long at a local level within driving distance to purchase, and by having an info product up at the top of the directory that stays put like on the Affiliate Genie sites might work out great!
119 Steve // Jun 28, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Good stuff. It seems like you are just going long tail while using cities as part of the keyword. If the traffic is good, I could see how it would work well.
120 Robert // Jun 28, 2010 at 2:49 pm
CPA Bastards, haha, good one. Anyone that tells you to shut your trap doesn’t understand why you have so many loyal followers, and they’re as selfish as those CPA turds you refer to.
Looking forward to learning how to build these directory sites and willing to buy any software you might design for it! AffGenies big brother?
Offtopic, Oilers looking pretty sweet now hey?
few more years and they’re going to be whooping some ass!
121 Make Money Online // Jun 28, 2010 at 4:35 pm
Absolute genius – thanks for the business on a platter Chris!
Can’t wait for Parts 3 & 4.
Cheers,
Keith
122 Alex // Jun 28, 2010 at 4:48 pm
Chris, will it be possible to use your tool and outsource creation of these directory sites?
123 mig // Jun 28, 2010 at 4:56 pm
Just a little confused at how we can compete with companies with millions of dollars getting into this space like yext.com
124 John // Jun 28, 2010 at 5:12 pm
RE: These “city sites” are nothing more than a targeted mini-site (with unique content) about 3 – 5 pages deep… I have one “local” site that… only has 130 or so pages indexed in Google (and about 200 pages total).
————————————————
So you are claiming you have one local site with 200 pages, yet you recommend building city sites with only 3-5 pages?
I really can’t understand what you’re doing at all. Build a directory site on 1 domain, then buy more domains for each city (276+ domains)?
Why even bother with the directory site?
It’s also extremely difficult to get local organic traffic in big cities, since Google Maps will show up at the top for virtually any local business search result, which will take 99% of the traffic.
125 Free MLM Tips // Jun 28, 2010 at 5:39 pm
Great stuff again Chris! You always manage to put a nice twist on the things that all the other “guru’s” are talking about. I look forward to getting the rest of the story in the next couple of posts. And then I’ll be working on trying not to get to caught up in the step-by-step, and just get some things going.
Keep up the great work. It’s always inspirational to me to come read your blog. The way you break things down to the simplest path always helps get me on track.
Thanks,
Greg
126 admin // Jun 28, 2010 at 5:47 pm
Working on putting up Part 3 as we speak.
It will probably be live on the blog later tonight, and I’ll mail it out first thing tomorrow AM.
——————————————-
As for those confused about why I build a central directory as WELL as focused city-sites, there’s a few reasons:
1) More sites = more traffic. That one’s pretty basic.
2) It’s easier to rank the root domain of a small site for a target keyword than it is to rank the inner page of a larger site. It comes down to relevancy and “purpose”, or so it seems with Google’s algo.
3) For other methods (PPC, Facebook ads, using Classified sites) having a themed, relevant city-specific lead gen offer on a domain specific to that city is going to be far more effective than pointing back to a big generic site.
Both in terms of conversions and legitimacy.
So, that’s why.
-Chris
127 Mark // Jun 28, 2010 at 8:35 pm
John your missing the point! It is easy to clean up on longtail keywords for a directory of this type. It is also fairly easy to create a directory of this type once you have the proper tools. Where most people mess up is marketing it! Not all those long tail will show up as a top 7 local G. I thought about releasing something like this as a WSO but I think Chris may have this nailed. So we will see how he delivers and I suspect it will be good!
128 Andy // Jun 28, 2010 at 10:14 pm
Okay, Chris, methinks I’m getting the right “bead” on what you’ve described in Post 126.
“IF” I’m understanding your angle in 126, let’s say I have either a full-fledged or add-on domain that’s something like http://TextbookTightwad.com, which will have quality context about all the crafty ways of keeping green IN your wallet AND not disturbing the moss growing on the North side of that same wallet.
Then, I could have smaller-page-count SUB-domains for each individual metro area I’m targeting: such as…
http://NewYorkDeals.TextBookTightwad.com
http://AtlantaBargains.TextBookTightwad.com
http://DallasBuckGrippers.TextBookTightwad.com
Am I in “the right church?”
If so, am I in “the right pew?”
129 admin // Jun 28, 2010 at 10:52 pm
Hi Andy,
You could do sub-domains for sure, it’s just that the content on the main entry pages may be quite repetitive.
Also, it’s still easier, in my opinion, to rank a root domain than it is to rank a subfolder or subdomain.
It also lends to the cred factor a bit more if there’s a dedicated URL for the city.
But for a testing campaign or a market that’s not really a major focus – go for it.
-Chris
130 Mikael Rieck // Jun 29, 2010 at 2:50 am
Thank you for answering my question Chris. I’m sure someone can handle +276 sites if they have the right system and team but I’ll personally jump on the directory thing and see where that takes me.
Thanks
Mikael
131 John // Jun 29, 2010 at 12:16 pm
But how are you getting any organic traffic to a directory when Google Maps pops up for every single local search, and takes up the whole screen of results?
132 admin // Jun 30, 2010 at 3:54 am
John – the Google Maps effect is NOT “across the board”.
If you search for an actual business *name* – not “realtors in Vancouver” or whatever, but “John Smith Realty Vancouver”, you’ll get regular results.
This is the long-tail.
This is where your traffic comes from.
-Chris
133 Purushyottam Ghosh // Jul 2, 2010 at 2:31 pm
I purchased your conduit ebook sometime ago and loved it to bits. I expect nothing but the best from you, and feel that if one does not read your awesome blog posts after reading that report then his knowledge would certainly be incomplete.
I love all the parts, thanks
134 Luke // Jul 3, 2010 at 2:49 pm
Jaysus! This is really powerful info. An incredible variation of the Conduit method. Brilliant.
135 Kathee // Jul 7, 2010 at 7:56 pm
GOOD DIRECTORY SCRIPTS
Hi all,
I tried to build a local directory a couple years back but as a non-programmer & somewhat newbie, could NOT get phpLD working and didn’t know of any other scripts.
I’ve seen a lot of posts, some here & many elsewhere, on how to find a directory script and which one to choose.
So I started a new site to address this need – it’s called DirectoryScriptReviews.com. It may be of help to anyone looking for & trying to evaluate directory software.
Hope it’s helpful,
Kathee
DirectoryScriptReviews.comj
136 Brittany Andrews // Jul 10, 2010 at 6:48 am
Thanks alot for this excellent information. I can’t believe that it never even occured to me but that’s why you make the big bucks—thinking outside the box.
I do have one question though. For some local searches those Google Top 10 boxes show up, are these guys any real competition if they show up above all the regular search results?
137 faye // Jul 10, 2010 at 8:51 am
This really sounds interesting and I knew the local markets would finally get really targeted some day. And I am ready to start the targeting!
138 Mike at Infertility Relief // Jul 16, 2010 at 12:56 am
These kinds of ideas take some time to sink in, especially for a site about infertility relief. I’m hoping Chris will offer some additional detail about the directory site and what each individual page looks like. Would be great to see a real live example of the whole system.
Thanks, Chris!
139 MaxR de Maxadi // Jul 18, 2010 at 5:55 pm
This comes close to Shoemoney local business lead generation setup if I understand it well. But it seems there is a twist in your system that makes it look like it’s on steroïds.
I like that !
Thanks,
MaxR
140 Hosting Unlimited Bandwidth // Aug 9, 2010 at 12:36 pm
I get it. It is beautiful and I am working on setting up sites now. Thanks for the insight.
Josh
141 Denver // Sep 9, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Hey Chris,
Great content as usual. You get my mind working overtime with the opportunities you oultine with your unique methods.
Keep up the goodwork,
Regards
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