4 ms·

I'm doing something similar with http://www.desertdrinks.com http://www.desertdrinks.com, and I like your site. However, unless the dollars start flowing in rat

by apowell 17y ago

I'm doing something similar with http://www.desertdrinks.com http://www.desertdrinks.com, and I like your site. However, unless the dollars start flowing in rather quickly, you're going to find it difficult to keep the data current. Once you appear in Google for some local terms (perhaps some specific bar/restaurant names), business owners will seek you out. Are you prepared to monetize that? Your "advertise" page suggests you're not serious about monetizing this site, which means it's likely to be dead before summer. Regardless, I wish you the best and I'll bookmark it so I can watch it develop.

proexploit 17y ago
First off, love your site. Great stuff. I have a small monetization feature built in (homepage featured and search results featured). I really want to stay away from Adsense and other "annoying ad" type income generating. I am offering web design service to all the locations in my "welcome packet" in an attempt to generate some recurring income (offering sites for $99/month. Minimum 1 year contract). May I ask what you do in terms of advertising / featured listings etc? If you don't want to share the details, I'd be happy to have you email me as well. I acknowledge that monetization has been one of the overlooked parts of the website, as I wanted to create a resource first, make money second. Your post gives me second thoughts about that.
- apowell 17y ago
  Desert Drinks is a side project for me -- an experiment in the potential of a focused local directory. Right now, I have a single sponsor (the tall banner on the right). I plan to more aggressively market and monetize the site this year (I just left my day job last month, and I have a to-do list a mile long). Even in the best-case scenario, I think it would be very tough to make a living on Desert Drinks alone. I can see it generating ~$1000/mo in this market of about 400,000 people. I think the key is to figure out the formula and then build nationally market-by-market. In my opinion, that's how I think an individual could bootstrap this sort of business.

by apowell 17y ago

proexploit 17y ago

First off, love your site. Great stuff. I have a small monetization feature built in (homepage featured and search results featured). I really want to stay away from Adsense and other "annoying ad" type income generating. I am offering web design service to all the locations in my "welcome packet" in an attempt to generate some recurring income (offering sites for $99/month. Minimum 1 year contract). May I ask what you do in terms of advertising / featured listings etc? If you don't want to share the details, I'd be happy to have you email me as well. I acknowledge that monetization has been one of the overlooked parts of the website, as I wanted to create a resource first, make money second. Your post gives me second thoughts about that.

apowell 17y ago
Desert Drinks is a side project for me -- an experiment in the potential of a focused local directory. Right now, I have a single sponsor (the tall banner on the right). I plan to more aggressively market and monetize the site this year (I just left my day job last month, and I have a to-do list a mile long). Even in the best-case scenario, I think it would be very tough to make a living on Desert Drinks alone. I can see it generating ~$1000/mo in this market of about 400,000 people. I think the key is to figure out the formula and then build nationally market-by-market. In my opinion, that's how I think an individual could bootstrap this sort of business.