On this week’s episode of the Niche Pursuits Podcast, Tim Stoddart and I discuss what happens after selling a business and how he thinks about directories today. Tim also shares why the best online opportunities often come from a combination of media, services, and lead generation.
Tim has a way of making business less abstract. It starts with Stodzy sales, moves into what Tim is currently building, and then gets to one of his favorite topics: directories. Learn the things that helped make Tim’s agency marketable, why he’s now focusing on Quantum Leads and Healthcare AI, and how directories can become part of a larger lead-generation system.
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The story behind Tim’s Stozzi exit
One of the most useful parts of the conversation focused on Tim’s exit from Stodzy, the marketing agency he created and later sold. Selling an agency is not as simple as finding a buyer and signing the papers. Tim explained that a business needs to be structured in a way that gives confidence to the buyer.
Quantum Leads focuses on helping businesses generate more leads. This aligns closely with Tim’s long-standing interest in SEO, content, directories and customer acquisition. All the new ventures seem to be linked by a clear theme:
- Create assets that attract attention
- Turn that attention into leads
- Use those leads to generate revenue
- Keep the model simple enough to replicate
That topic came up again when Tim talked about directories. He doesn’t see them as isolated websites that only make money from ads or affiliate links. He sees them as part of a larger business machine.
How Directly.app came from Tim’s directory work
One of Tim’s newer projects is Directly.app, a tool he created with his friend Chase (Poirier) to make building directories faster and easier. That project came directly from Tim’s own experience building directory sites.
In the past, creating a directory often meant dealing with disorganized spreadsheets, database imports, technical errors, and time-consuming setup work. Directly.app aims to remove most of that friction.
For Tim, the fun isn’t just in the software. It’s also about using the tools to build his own directory in the healthcare sector, where he still sees the same opportunities he discussed in his first Niche Pursuits interview.
A few things make the project a natural fit into Tim’s larger strategy:
- This supports their continued interest in directories
- It helps creators move on to directory ideas faster
- This is linked to their health care-focused directory work
- This reinforces the idea that directories can become lead-generation assets.
At the time of the interview, Tim said the product was doing about $2,000 in business per month. He also said that Directly.app is one of the most fun projects he has worked on recently.
Why is Tim Simplifying Healthcare and AI?
Having gone through several projects, Tim made it clear that Quantum Leads is where most of his attention is going now. He also shared that he sold 70% of Copyblogger to his longtime partner Darrell Westerfelt, who now runs it.
The move fits into a big theme in Tim’s current season: simplification. Tim said that over the past six months he has been simplifying almost every part of his job. This includes their team, their projects, their personal brand, and the markets they want to serve.
His focus now focuses on healthcare and the intersection of AI and operations. Some areas are coming together under that focus:
- Quantum Leads is their main agency
- Their directories are geared towards healthcare sectors
- Their AI work is tied to health care tasks
- His personal brand is moving towards the same category
That focus matters because Tim isn’t treating AI like a shortcut that eliminates the need for work. He sees it as an operations tool that can help health care companies deal with messy systems, paperwork, departmental silos, communication gaps and repetitive processes.
In his view, AI cannot eliminate work. It can create more systems, more workflows, and more decisions for managing people.
That’s why healthcare is so interesting to them. The industry offers high-value services, complex operations and many opportunities to develop better systems that create meaningful business value.
For Tim, it’s not about chasing another trend. It’s about aligning their agency experience, healthcare background, directory strategy and AI interest into a single, focused direction.
Life after a big entrepreneurial win
One of the more interesting parts of the episode wasn’t about strategy. It was about what happens in the founder’s mind after the sale. When you sell a company, you may gain independence and capital. Plus, you lose the structure that shaped your days, goals, and sense of progress.
Tim talked about needing to find his drive again after exiting. This is a side of entrepreneurship that people don’t always talk about. There were some changes in mentality during the conversation:
- After exiting, money may not be the only motivator
- A founder may need a new challenge to feel connected again
- The next business may feel different from the last business
- Identity may be associated with the company more than expected
That part of the interview adds depth to the business advice. This reminds us that selling a company isn’t always a clean finish line. It may also be the beginning of a new season that requires fresh clarity.
Tim’s Directory Strategy
The big question was simple: Do directories still work? Tim’s answer was yes, with one important caveat. The old version of the directory, where one publishes a list of companies and waits for traffic, is no longer the full model one is interested in.
He sees directories as one piece of a larger offering. This means that a directory can still be valuable if it does at least a few things well:
- organizes a specific market
- Helps people compare options
- Attracts search traffic with purchase intent
- Generates leads for companies that want those customers
- Creates authority within a narrow range
Tim also talked about structure. A directory still needs clear categories, useful pages, and a layout that makes sense to users. The domain name also matters, although that’s not the entire game. A good name can help with trust and positioning, while the business model behind the site matters more.
Three-Part Trading System
The episode’s most useful guide idea was Tim’s three-part system. Instead of creating a directory alone, he talked about combining:
- one dir
- offer a service
- A media asset, such as a newsletter
That combination creates more ways to win. The directory can attract people looking for solutions. Service offerings can directly monetize demand. Media assets can maintain attention over time and convert one-time visitors into repeat viewers.
This is where the directory becomes more than a content site. It can become an engine for relationships, deal flow and service revenue.
For example, a directory may list service providers in a particular area. The owner can then use the site to collect leads, publish useful content, build an email list, and provide related service to the same market.
Each part supports the other. Builds directory search visibility. Newspaper creates trust. Service turns that trust into revenue.
examples of opportunity
Tim also shared a specific example from a call that demonstrated how this model can create opportunities. The issue wasn’t just whether a directory could rank in search. The big takeaway was that a focused online property could open doors to conversation, partnerships and client engagement.
That’s why Tim’s approach seems different than just building a niche site. He is thinking about what could happen with the property. A directory can help identify:
- who are the buyers
- who are the sellers
- where gaps exist
- What services are people already paying for?
- Which companies need more leads
This is a powerful way of looking at a topic. Instead of just asking, “Can this rank?” The better question is, “Could this create business opportunities?”
Tim’s Perspective on Directory Niches
Tim shared a specific directory location that he believed had promise. The logic behind this idea was more important than itself. A good directory sector usually has clear demand and a segmented market.
This means people are searching for providers, and those providers want more customers. When both parties have a reason to care, the directory is more likely to be useful. A promising directory area often contains:
- multiple providers
- clear intention of the buyer
- Local or category-based searches
- high-value leads
- Existing information poorly organized
- Businesses are willing to pay for visibility or leads
This is why directories can still work in the right markets. They solve a search problem. Someone needs help finding a provider. The directory makes that search easy.
Why does lead quality matter more than traffic alone?
Quantum Leads closely aligns with this thinking. Lead generation is nothing new, and Tim is not treating it like a trendy idea. He’s leaning toward an enduring business need: Companies want more qualified prospects.
That’s why the directory model and the agency model can work together. A directory can create demand. An agency can help monetize or meet that demand. In the meantime, a newspaper can keep the relationship alive.
That structure gives Tim more than one avenue for revenue. It can create proprietary assets, serve customers and collect market feedback from the same ecosystem. Each part provides him with more information about what buyers want and what companies are willing to pay for.
Big achievement for online business builders
This conversation is especially useful for people with service skills, SEO experience, or an interest in specific websites. The main lesson is not that everyone should create a directory. Simple online properties can become more valuable when paired with a clear business model.
Some ideas worth taking seriously:
- Build with the buyer or customer in mind
- Don’t rely only on traffic
- Think ahead about the lead
- Add media when trust matters
- Use services to quickly monetize demand
- Keep operations clean from the start
Tim’s exit from Stodzy also adds an important reminder. If you want the value of a business to exceed your workload, build it that way from the start.
Systems, finances and team structure matter. They may not feel excited day to day. They can make a big difference when it’s time to sell, scale up or move away.
final thoughts
This episode with Tim Stoddart covers a lot: selling an agency, finding a new sense of direction after an exit, building quantum leads, and rethinking directories for today’s online business environment.
The strongest view is that directories should not be viewed as standalone websites. They can be far more useful when linked to services and media. That three-part model gives entrepreneurs a clear way to think about an opportunity. A directory can organize a market. A newsletter can build trust. A service can convert attention into revenue.
Tim’s story also shows that business success comes with personal questions. Selling Stodzi gave him a big win and forced him to think about what kind of work he wanted to do next.
For anyone building online, this conversation is a reminder to create a property that serves a clear market, generates leads, and holds value beyond the founder’s daily effort.
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