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| Saturday, March 24, 2007 |
| How to Market Your Business on Craigslist (for FREE) |
Craigslist.org is a very powerful marketing tool for both online and offline ventures. If you have a new or existing business that you will like to get more exposure and bring in customers (or website visitors), this is a great option. Craigslist.org gets an estimated 10 million unique visitors per day and uses a online classifieds ads format to connect buyers and sellers. The best part is, that unlikely those that came before you, you don't have to pay high prices to get a 25 words
blurb. You can post for free!
Quick Facts:
- Online Classified Ads service
- Extremely popular (10,000,000 vistors/day)
- Posting is free
- Organized by either region or city (great for home-based businesses)
- Your ad will expire in 30 days
- The flagging system puts the power of spam control into the hands of the users.
If you have a product or service that can use a marketing boost, here are some tips on how to utilize the site.
Most Popular Services
- Real estate (I actually found my real estate broker there a few months ago.)
- Tutoring
- Car repair
Most Popular Products
- Wholesale furniture
- Consignment goods
- Retail e-commerce
Attention Webmasters
This is a great way for webmasters to reach out to new customers. You
can promote:
- your website store
- your eBay store or item listings
- a referral partner
Step 1: Determine Your Market
You need to figure out which cities you're going to post an ad. If you are providing a service, obviously you need to post locally. If you a selling products, it's depends on where your target audience is based.
You shouldn't spam users by over-posting and, even if you try, Craigslist is one step ahead and has rules in place to prevent it. Doing so may get you flagged &/or blocked. But, you can still get fantastic exposure.
Step 2: Building Ads
- Make unique ads for every city you post in.
- Set up a rotational schedule for the products you will be promoting
- Never post the exact same ad within 48 hours (spamming)
- Delete old ads
Your ad can be as simple as plain text or you can have images and html. Be direct and get to the point quickly but be sure to include key search words in addition to regional identifiers including a ZIP code, city or community name. This way, users who search for specific items find you in the search results. There's no algorithm with Craiglist's search; it's sorted by Date and then by Keywords. So, choose your words carefully!
Use your own discretion when deciding if to include images. They do enhance to the ad and many users search for results with pictures only. (Note: Large or multiple images will need to be hosted on your own server.) But, many of the best performing ads on Craigslist use just
text ads. Again, it's your call.
Step 3: Tracking Your Results
Unlike eBay, Craigslist doesn't provide any data on demographics but it is important to track which of your ads produce the best results. Craigslist does allows you to track your ads by e-mail, phone number or website referral. Also, make sure to pay attention to the general demographics of the city you post in. You can get this information online. Is it a high income area? young residents or retirees? and so forth. For example, you should sell a snow blower in California.
Step 4: Keep Your Friends Close and Your Enemies Closer
The most trafficked area of Craigslist is the forums so use them to communicate with potential customers and also to establish an active, ethical voice for your business. Similarly, mingle with the other players in your cities or categories. Be aware of the prices others are offering for comparable items as well as the d. If a particular product is selling like hot cakes, focus on something complimentary that you can sell. For example, if the is a new, hot phone in high demand, you can start selling accessories.
Step 6: Bring Home the Bacon
Sadly, fraud exists anywhere money is involved so use your best judgment when closing a sale. Phone numbers are the most verifiable and best way to contact a customer. The way you choose to collect payment is up to you but I recommend that you only ship items after you receive payment.
Every day, millions of people from all around the world are on Craigslist, looking for rare items, good deals and unique services. You would be remiss if you don't take advantage of it to enhance you profits.Labels: free marketing, online marketplace, serrvices
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posted by thinketh @ 12:53 PM   |
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| 8 Comments: |
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