Creating a local portal

What do you consider "success?" Is it cash flow? Or are you just looking to help out some friends?

The reason I ask, is that I decided to put together a local directory of professionals - sort of as an online "friends of John" referral directory. I thought the inbound links could help everyone out, plus I had some ideas I wanted to play with. So, my concept of success was somewhat limited.

Here's the link to the site, but don't go there yet: http://www.SDProfessionals.com

I started the site in January of this year; and did a soft launch in February. I haven't put a dime into the project beyond securing the name.

Now, here's a test, and it may or may not work depending on the state of the Google dance. Go to Google (click on the link and it'll pop up in a new window), and type in as a search phrase "san diego business transaction attorney directory" without the quotes.

The #1 listing (as of this week, and it seems like it may actually settle there) is my little directory. There is only one business transaction attorney listed, by the way, and it's my friend Chris.

Drop the word "directory" in the search phrase, and the website ranks #2.

I consider that wildly successful, especially considering the speed with which it happened. Right now, my attorney friend is paying for Overture clicks for those terms, but he's essentially getting a #1 or #2 Google ranking for the same terms, free.

To be honest, I thought I'd be one of the bigger "winners," but there's a lot more competition for my keywords than his.

Anthony's link, above, is truly inspiring, and I can see that my ideas are neither new nor unique. I may start trying to convert www.SDProfessionals.com to a paid listing model after it achieves more penetration and better stability in the search engines.

But, as I said, making money wasn't my objective; helping some friends and proving a point were.


Tightwad Marketing: free advertising and marketing advice and resource reviews for small business