This is the latest installment in the gripping serialization of promoting my Devon directory. You know, when I started putting this journal online I was worried it might catch up with me – no chance, it seems to be getting further behind all the time!
In any case, this entry sees more of the earliest listings going in, and the arrival of my free promotional T-shirts from .
I got the T-shirts from , and I actually think they look quite nice – very appropriate for the country-ish / green theme! (more…)
Diary from Thurs 4th Oct 2007: Read some directory related threads on Webmaster world – looks like many people have a hard time with these, but it was comforting to read these posts from people further down the road…
Background: I’ve been launching and promoting a Devon directory, which promotes arts and environmental concerns alongside general clubs, blogs and business listings.
23/9, continued: Postcard advertising
Having ordered a load of free postcards and business cards from , I was ready to start some more intensive offline advertising.
Decided to start with Totnes, as I feel more nervous in Exmouth with it being my current home town, and also more importantly, it’s nice going there: Totnes is Devon’s most new age and hippyish town, chock full of artists and environmentalists (surely!). Even a newsagent’s in Totnes is probably well-targeted advertising for me.
Once the site was ready enough to go online, I added Statcounter code and set it up to send me weekly summary reports by email. I’ve also written about each week’s triumphs and mishaps in more detail, to be serialized here in this blog (woohoo, exciting!) – just choose the ‘Launching a local directory’ category of posts to read all of them.
As a brief summary to anyone reading this post first, the website is a Joomla / Sobi2 based local directory for the county of Devon, which accepts family friendly free listings with a focus on arts and environmental groups, and offers paid-for extra features such as maps, galleries, ecards etc (some of which are free for artists and environmental groups). (more…)
Background: I’ve been working on a Devon directory with a focus on promoting arts and environmental concerns alongside general clubs, blogs and business listings.
Summary: Once the website got to the point of being presentable enough, I started gradually making it more available, while continuing to work on the site, and beginning to actively promote it. This is how I did that and what happened. (more…)
It took a village to make this (Devon directory) and it took me several months to complete it.*
I’d been experimenting with Joomla! and Drupal, and one of the first things I found was that Joomla! has several options for purpose built business directory extensions, and Drupal doesn’t have any (at least it didn’t at the time). Joomla also seemed a lot more user friendly. So I went for Joomla. (more…)
I’d had the plan of launching a web directory for about a year, and bought the domain name a long time before I got the chance to work on it. The idea was that a directory would provide the following benefits:
Advertising opportunities, with special features to offer to my customers
A chance to increase my skills, resulting in a new site to add to my portfolio
Something to test out various advertising and marketing strategies with
The possibility that it could make some money
And of course the possibility of it bringing me more work in web development via links on the site
I got the T-shirts from , and I actually think they look quite nice – very appropriate for the country-ish / green theme!