I just finished watching a conversation between Tim and Frey on building directories, and let me tell you—Tim is one of the OGs in this space. He’s not spinning up AI-driven super systems. He’s not reinventing the wheel with every new tool that drops on Product Hunt. The man is still building on WordPress with the same plugins he’s been using for years. And guess what? It works.
The One Question That Makes or Breaks Your Directory Business
But here’s the part that stopped me in my tracks:
When asked how he chooses which niche to build a directory in, his answer wasn’t about passion, industry expertise, or following trends. It was one brutally simple filter:
Do rich people do it?
If the answer is yes, build a directory. If no, move on.
That’s it. That’s the tweet.
Because here’s the truth: if wealthy people are already spending on it, you can build a lean, profitable directory around it without needing a 100-person operation. On the flip side, if you’re chasing high-volume, low-ticket niches, you’ll end up grinding like Yelp—burning out while fighting for scraps.
Real-World Examples That Prove the Point
Take Frey’s Porta Potty Match directory. Yes—porta potties. It’s a DR0 site with lorem ipsum still sprinkled around, but it’s already generating leads. Why? Because when an event organizer or a local government needs a luxury restroom trailer for $2,000 a day, they don’t mess around. They’re paying big money, fast.
Tim himself is leaning into even more lucrative categories: stem cell treatments, ketamine clinics, and plant medicine. He’s not just building directories—he’s layering on media and agency models to serve the same customer base. That’s how you take one wedge and turn it into a moat.
Outreach: Don’t Be Spammy, Be Smart
Another gem: Tim doesn’t play the “Yelp game” of cold-spamming businesses to claim a $500 listing. Instead, he invests in real relationships and makes his directory the best damn resource in the niche. That quality-first approach is the moat.
The kicker? He and his team do this outreach manually. In an age where everyone’s looking for the AI shortcut, his edge is doing the work others won’t. AI makes “creating” easy, but creating things that are truly good? That still requires sweat.
Link Building in the Hardest Niches
Directories live and die by authority, and health is a brutal niche for links. Tim broke down three of his strategies:
- Sober Stories – publishing personal recovery stories that go viral and attract organic backlinks.
- University & Government Outreach – tapping into institutions with recovery directories that actually matter to them.
- Community Leverage – trading backlinks for exposure on his Facebook page with 1M+ followers.
Notice the pattern? No hacks. No gimmicks. Just high-value plays that most people don’t have the patience for.
The Future of Directories
Tim’s bullish that directories and Google Business Profiles will be thriving for the next decade. He also doubled down on newsletters being the most defensible business model—an asset no algorithm tweak can strip away.
What stood out here is how he framed directories not as just “sites” but as platforms. Pair a directory with content, community, or even an agency, and you’re no longer just running a list—you’re running the ecosystem.
Key Takeaways
- If rich people do it, you can probably build a directory around it.
- Don’t chase high-volume/low-ticket niches unless you want to burn out.
- Relationships > spammy outreach.
- Do the work that others avoid (manual outreach, quality-first execution).
- Think beyond the directory: pair it with media, community, or services.
- Directories + newsletters = a future-proof combo.
I walked away from this convo thinking: directories aren’t dead. They’re just misunderstood.
The opportunity is still massive—if you’re willing to niche down, play the long game, and put in the work where others cut corners.