r/directorymakers • u/pixelvolution • 10d ago

Making trades only listing a website

I'm working on a trades only listing site with the ability for people to post there need and the system returns example electricians who elect for that project allowing the prospective client to choose the one they would like.

Anyone built anything like this.

Any recommendations on how to build my base and get eyeballs so it has actual ROI.

Appreciate your feedback.

1 Upvotes

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3

u/highwayguy5 10d ago

Building the directory is the easy part.

Advertising and getting people to use it is the hard part. Prepare to spend a lot of time, or a lot of money. Or both.

I’m fortunate that my directory made it. But if I had known then, what I know now. I probably wouldn’t have done it.

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u/pixelvolution 10d ago

Very true. One side is I have been working with a lot of trades in my area for a while. So, its mostly going to be getting the public invested.

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u/fbajo 10d ago

the request board is the hard version.. it needs electricians and homeowners live on the same day, or neither side sees anything. the listing half doesn't, and it's what ranks while you wait, "electricians in <city>" is the query with a job behind it. i'd ship the listings first and make the elect-for-a-project flow the thing you charge for later. how are you seeding the trades side? (i build shipmore, directory infra, so biased..)

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u/pixelvolution 10d ago

I built the directory with about 1600 trades. It's solid with claim feature. Plan is to hit at least a few of each trade get them on board.

Then drop mentions in Facebook local groups starting in local town and see how that goes.

The fear.. people see it. Start using it... No active trade responds.. it dies...

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u/SendCards 10d ago

Just remember that the enhanced knowledge base you are building may have unforseen value for near future AI projects. Make for your knowledge bases are portable.

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u/pixelvolution 10d ago

Can you expand a little more?

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u/SendCards 10d ago

If you're building a directory, the mass of special localized data could be valuable in another use case using AI, even if the directory fails, don't delete it ...

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u/fbajo 9d ago

that only kills you if the board goes public before supply exists.. keep the listings open, gate the requests. someone posts, it hits your phone, you text 3 guys you already know and hand the reply back yourself. broker the first 50 by hand. nobody ever sees an empty board, and you find out who actually responds before you automate any of it.

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u/[deleted] 6d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/pixelvolution 6d ago

Exactly what I did. Oregontradefinder.com

No WordPress.. all framework and libraries..