thebestof.co.uk

[fastfences]

hi all,
I've recently been introduced to an advertising site www.thebestof.co.uk. Can anyone offer advice as to its viability, referral rate etc? The price seems rather reasonable, but then so did 'The World's Biggest Advertising Space.'
Cheers, Nigel

[creospace]

Interesting franchisee concept on how it all comes together!

[10 Yetis]

a UK directory run by local people for local people

Hmm, should be interesting to see how it goes... the above quote from the site is a bit "League of Gentleman", but I like that in a website...

Are you local?

[fastfences]

Hi Andy,
Yes, I'm local. They have a /evesham page as well as hundreds of others, I suspect. Perhaps it works more from the 'networking' angle than from public queries. For a tenner I may as well give it a go. It may help with ranking of my main site also.
Cheers, Nigel

[10 Yetis]

Nigel... Your in Evesham, I am in Gloucester... a business-match made in heaven!

I can use my PR skills to dig a hole and you can whack a fence post in it. :)

[DuaneJackson]

I think they use KashFlow, atleast one of our registered and active users has that URL in their info.

So based on that, they must be good! : )

[fastfences]

Nigel... Your in Evesham, I am in Gloucester... a business-match made in heaven!

I can use my PR skills to dig a hole and you can whack a fence post in it. :)

'Whack a fence post in?'

That's the problem with PR personnel, they're so keyed up in affixing their own interpretation on things that they forget there's a certain element of finesse, precision, and talent in placing a fence post.

However, if I need someone to 'throw together' some PR for me, I know you're close by! :lol:
Cheers, Nigel

[10 Yetis]

However, if I need someone to 'throw together' some PR for me, I know you're close by!

Unfortunately that is how the PR industry works, damn you and your cross-industry insight.

:D

[DarrenC]

You pay for what you get -- £10 isn't much, and my advice against pixel advertising sites like 'Worlds biggest advertising' is don't do it. Waste of money IMO.

[creospace]

www.wasteyourmoneyonmysite.com

Now thats an idea :)

All the money raised could go to charity I guess!

[webit]

hi all,
I've recently been introduced to an advertising site www.thebestof.co.uk. Can anyone offer advice as to its viability, referral rate etc? The price seems rather reasonable, but then so did 'The World's Biggest Advertising Space.'
Cheers, Nigel

Nigel - how did you become aware of them?

Also I like the franchine concept but for their price of £8k+ to secure the rights to lists of shops in my own town - I'd rather lease a shop in that town...

It does sound a bit high risk and abit spammy though IMO..

http://www.getthebestof.co.uk/

[fridayteam]

Why so much?

Does someone have an expensive divorce to pay for?

I am currently developing local websites and Emagazines all across the UK.

I am not charging for it. I am looking for local people to look after each area.

Obviously a press release is coming to UKBF soon.

Watch the pink star for more information!

[fastfences]

Nigel - how did you become aware of them?

It does sound a bit high risk and abit spammy though IMO..



Was made aware through a fencing client, who may be loosely described as a 'pro networker.' He is also involved in Business Breakfasts here. Not his site though. It looks alright on the surface, and I think that we should all support and participate in 'local' ventures, but the question arises: 'Where do we stop?' Ten here, twenty there and fairly soon you're having to do extra deals just to pay your advertising - assuming the ads don't work!!
Cheers, Nigel

[darren atkinson]

Hi Nigel,

I have been looking at my local one for Hull and I emailed them to ask about their traffic stats. The guy got straight back to me and said they had over 9000 unique visitors last month, and that they would supply me with visitor stats each month, including search results, and visitors to each adverts.

He also mentioned something regarding advertising each ad free on google.

Doesn't sound to bad really for the price. Your local version might not have the same stats though.

Darren

[DotNetWebs]

I have made a post on this is the other "bestof" thread.

Mods - any chance we could merge the threads please

[webit]

I don’t want to get into berating what the guys are doing especially as there is a lot of cross over between our sites and they are much more established than we are. But I just don’t see why you would sign up as an affiliate for that amount. Also, one on the things we’re trying to do with theShoppersBible is to make it a site about shopping, not about the region or what’s on at the local pictures! I’d rather leave that to local site authors with a genuine interest in the subject their writing about.

The affiliate charges are (IMO) way too high but of course the fact that people are happy to pay £120 pa for what costs with us £10 does validate our business model and proves the market exists.

I like the fact that people will pay 10k for there local area, especially when we launch our free to join affiliate scheme.

I am very interested in your comments on this.

DC

[crus]

Hi all,

interesting thread,

we are currently in the final stages of a rewriting our directory engines and will be looking for people throughout the UK, but first throughout the SouthWest to assist in the running of the sites on a franchise basis.

We will be asking for people who have exisitng businesses hich can be leveraged eg local magazine or review businesses are ideal.

an example of the current sites can be seen at

http://www.bristoldirectory.com established

http://www.tauntondirectory.com franchisee needed

http://www.trurodirectory.com franchisee needed

more soon.

D

[fridayteam]

Obviously local based content is very popular and directories are popping up all over the place.

This thread alone will be interesting.

[webit]

I think regional directories are very vital – what I would like to see with theShoppersBible is people who run a regional site working in partnership with us through our affiliate program on very generous terms and relying to us to supply their local retailer’s content. I see that as a win-win for us and the local site as this they can focus on the selling or their service and the ‘localness’ of their own site rather than the mechanics of running a retail directory.

DC

[UKSBD]

I'm slowly turning my directory in to a more regional one,
keeping it business related, but concentrating on
county searches,
i.e.
"name of county" business directory

The template pages have started ranking top 10 for most counties, but most have little content on them yet.
Anyone wanting a listing just PM me, they will be free untill I get more content.
Also interested in anyone who wants to work together on this in anyway,
content with affiliate links is fine by me.

[crus]

Maybe we should put heads together?

I am pushing more towards content based on postcode relevence, ie restaurants, bars clubs casinos reviews then tacking on services so that my users (30K UV a month to BristolDirectory.com) can access this data at will ie club review, quick link to local taxis.

As part of the rebuild we have moved a lot of content into the mobile arena.

D

[fridayteam]

I am up for discussing this more as to how to put heads together on a private forum.

I can do that within one of my sites.

If interested, then pm me and I will instigate it.

The conversation will remain private and confidential.

I am sure we can all help eachother out and possibly save ourselves some work..

[UKSBD]

Maybe we should put heads together?

I am pushing more towards content based on postcode relevence, ie restaurants, bars clubs

D

I've got a few template pages ranking for stuff like that already.
Unfortunately, I must have forgotten about Bristol or Avon :(
Closest to you is probably Somerset?
Try Google.co.uk (pages from UK) searches for things like;

Restaurants in somerset
Guest houses in Somerset
Night clubs in Somerset
Somerset business directory

I'm usually top 10 and the pages haven't even any content on them yet.
Feel free to PM me if you think there is anything we can do together.