Any ideas how to get businesses to add their business to my directory?

[dwhs]

I just finished my directory and it looks great but is like a ghost town. I get maybe 4 businesses a day adding their business.

Any ideas how to get a lot businesses to add their business for free or cheap?

The business directory is a free service that is why I can't afford to spend a lot on it.

[itsnotsobad]

Go to Facebook and LinkedIn and contact businesses.

Tell them of the benefits of putting their business in your directory. You can tell them that every month/week, you feature a business and you submit the content to social networks thereby increasing their business exposure.

If you don't already, you can have several ad packages the business can upgrade to.

You have a lot of options.

[leaprock]

I'm not sure about the nature of your directory, but at first with any community you have to put in a lot of effort to building it yourself.

Add as many entries to your directory manually as you can: use yelp, facebook, other websites, etc. to find their info and enter it by hand or use a virtual assistant.

Noone wants to be on an empty directory, cause no visitors want to go to an empty directory. You'll need to manually reach a critical mass before the directory will be self-sustaining with new signups and a significant amount of traffic. Maybe after you get to that point you could charge for premium listings.

I've found this article to have really good advice about this topic: http://paulgraham.com/ds.html

Hope this helps, and good luck!

[Virtual Office SOS]

Social Media is a great way to get your directory noticed and all it takes is time, remember no business was built in a day it takes time.

[HARR]

Create a limited time offer, such as register in next 7 days for free or else pay $10. This trick always work. Then post this on facebook, twittwer etc.

[Margaret Spencer]

How about you send out a Newsletter about your free listing Directory? A lot of businesses will benefit from it and they would be willing to sign up or include their business in your listing... However, you would need an Email List to do so... Why not try our services?

[cirmel]

I'b be more than happy to add my business to the directory and spread it to friends if the directory niche matches. Just send me the site so I can check it out. Otherwise, use social media and SEO to boost your site's presence on the internet.

[Geethan]

I think you might be searching for a software, directory website builder applications, something that seamlessly fulfill every single requirement. But believe me there are several ways to get your directory published:-

You can create your directory website on the WordPress.
You can also use Joomla web application.
For the best templates or extensions you can also use Joomla directory. I have built my business directory using Joomla platform.

How to create directory on Joomla:-

Create a database.
To create a MySQL Database, go to the control panel and find the icon called MySQL Databases.
Start with the Joomla engine.
Simply upload this zip package to your site's root folder and unzip it there.
Set up your website.
Press the Install button.

[master64]

Wasting money on ineffective marketing is easy. Seek out low-budget, high-impact marketing strategies to improve your small business. Test one or two new tactics and see which perform best before adding them to your marketing mix. Social media is an excellent low-cost and low-risk way to promote your business.

[fredhopper103]

Custom Scapes is a Landscaping and Property Maintenance Company based in Wrentham, Massachusetts. We are dedicated to customizing the Landscape Experience. We focus on the individual needs of our clients. We always provide consistent, prompt, dependable service at a reasonable rate.