Link marketplaces vs direct outreach

Link marketplaces vs direct outreach
Two ways to buy a placement.

— Marketplace (the big aggregators): use when you need volume fast and don't have time to negotiate. You pay a markup — sometimes 2-3x — and the same sites get sold to everyone, so footprints pile up.
— Direct outreach: use when you want a clean site and a relationship. Slower, but you pay the real price and can come back for placement #2 at a discount.

The move: find a site on a marketplace you like, then email the editor DIRECT and skip the middleman. Same site, half the cost. I cut a $300 marketplace quote to $140 going direct on one domain.

Go do it.