The blueprint for building cash flowing online directories

October 21, 2024

AI Summary

5 min read

The Blueprint for Building Cash Flowing Online Directories

John Rush believes we're entering a "golden era of directories." As more content floods the internet, quality curation becomes more valuable. People are outsourcing decision-making to directories because they trust well-curated collections with reviews and ratings. The result: directory owners are making $5K, $10K, even $20K a month from what are essentially side projects.

In this episode, Rush walks through the entire lifecycle of a directory — from ideation to building to growth to monetization — using a live example.

Finding the Right Idea

The best way to find a directory idea is through keyword research. Rush spends hours in Google's Keyword Planner, throwing random ideas into the tool to see whether people actually search for them. The key insight: just because you think an idea is great doesn't mean others will search for it. The data tells you.

He demonstrates with a live example. Searching "business ideas" shows nearly one million monthly searches with low competition. The domain "businessideas.com" is taken, so he gets creative — trying "small business ideas," "tiny business ideas," "micro business ideas" — until he finds "minibusinessideas.com" available for $9. His rule: never buy expensive domains. Just be more creative.

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What you'll learn

1 (01:05) **Why Directories Are Entering a Golden Era** - John Rush explains that as the internet grows, curation becomes more valuable, and directories solve the problem of low-quality search results by offering trusted, curated content.
2 (03:09) **Step 1: Finding a Directory Idea via Keyword Research** - The best way to start is by using Google's Keyword Planner to validate that people actually search for a topic before building anything.
3 (04:00) **Live Demo: Validating a Directory Idea** - John walks through a real-time example of finding and validating a directory idea for "mini business ideas."
4 (08:48) **Step 2: Building the Directory with No-Code** - John argues that even experienced developers should use no-code tools to build directories because it enables faster marketing and iteration.
5 (11:56) **Live Demo: Building the Directory with AI** - John uses his own platform (Unicorn Platform) to quickly generate a directory for "mini business ideas" using AI.
6 (14:43) **The "As Little as Possible" Validation Approach** - John explains his core philosophy: do the minimum to validate assumptions, then double down on what works.
7 (19:55) **Step 3: Initial Promotion (Reddit, Directories, Social Media)** - John shares his four-step promotion strategy for getting early traffic and validation.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Join me as I chat with John Rush, a serial entrepreneur, as we dive deep into how to build and scale directories. John shares his strategies and frameworks to for how to use AI and SEO to build and scale cash flowing directories.

Episode Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:12 Why directories
02:59 How to find directory ideas
08:43 Building your directory
19:47 Promoting your new directory:
23:27 SEO for Directory
29:53 Data/Content for Directory
34:25 How to monetize Directory
42:29 What are the multiples for Directory
45:20 How large can a directory became

1) Why directories are hot right now:
• More content need for curation
• People trust well-curated directories
• Less SEO competition than other niches

2) How to find directory ideas:
• Use Google Keyword Planner
• Look for high search volume, low competition keywords
• Find available domain names that match or are close to target keywords

3) Building your directory:
• Use no-code tools (like Unicorn Platform) for speed
• Start simple - focus on listing items, not features
• Use AI to generate initial content and structure

4) Promoting your new directory:
• Share on relevant Reddit threads (carefully!)
• List your directory in other directories
• Engage on social media, especially Twitter
• Focus on SEO after initial validation

5) SEO strategy for directories:
• Start with ~10 high-quality articles
• Use tools or AI to generate SEO-optimized content
• Focus on internal linking and site structure
• Add trending items quickly to capture search traffic

6) Monetization strategies:
• B2B sponsorships and featured listings
• Affiliate links (especially for high-ticket items)
• Sell anonymized data or insights
• Charge for premium listings or access
• Brand sponsorships for established directories

7) The power of directories for SaaS:
• Easier to win SEO traffic than direct SaaS marketing
• Use directories to funnel traffic to your main product
• Consider buying relevant directories for instant traffic

8) Realistic expectations:
• $5K MRR achievable as a side project
• Up to $20K MRR with focused effort
• Million-dollar potential exists (but rare)

9) Why start with directories:
• Lower failure rate than SaaS
• Faster dopamine hits (traffic, first sale)
• Great way to learn digital product development

Pro Tip: Don't fall in love with one idea. Launch multiple directories, see what sticks after 30 days, then double down on winners!

Want more free ideas? I collect the best ideas from the pod and give them to you for free in a database. Most of them cost $0 to start (my fav)

Get access: https://www.gregisenberg.com/30startupideas

Work with me and my team: LCA — world’s best product design firm to build apps, websites and brands people love. https://latecheckout.agency

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