Free is probably the most important word in the Internet's vocabulary. So much of the medium is based on obtaining information without charge that Ann Arbor-based RentLinx would be remiss if it didn't take that lesson to heart.

Good thing Craigslist came along to blaze a profitable path, providing the business plan for little start-ups like RentLinx. The multi-list website for rental housing provides free listings for apartments, involving 65 different websites. The Ann Arbor-based company makes its money (and that pile of cash is nothing to sneeze at) by selling extra services to property managers.

The website has exploded since it started as a project for then-U-M-student Jeremy Schneider in 2005. Traffic and listings have doubled every six months for the last two years and his firm currently employs two people and is looking to add a third.

"We have more work than we can handle but we just want to add the right person," Schneider says.

The company is quite ingrained in Michigan is now looking to spread throughout the U.S. It hopes to invade the Maine market in July.

For a more detailed feature on RentLinx that previously ran in metromode, click here.

Source: Jeremy Schneider, president of RentLinx
Writer: Jon Zemke