Using Craigslist

Using Craigslist for local small business advertising is something that every small business owner should be interested in. With hundreds of thousands of searches being performed daily on Craigslist for products and services, establishing a presence for yourself could increase your sales with only a little effort. You should consider using Craigslist in your daily routine - even 15 minutes every morning to refresh your Craigslist ads could really benefit your ROI.

Using Craigslist For A Service Industry

When using Craigslist to promote your service (landscaping, painting, trash removal, appliance repair, etc) it is a good idea to always post in the proper section. One of the biggest complains when using Craigslist for small business is that the user's ads get ghosted or flagged. Most times, this is because the person is using Craigslist the wrong way. Here are some tips to make sure that your ads go up and stay up:

Tip #1: Always post to the sub-category under services where your small business serves. Even though landscaping is a creative process - it doesn't belong under the creative sub-category. Remember, the goal here is to start using Craigslist correctly so that you can make more money.

Tip #2: Avoid over posting. As soon as a beginner starts using Craigslist and understanding that it's free - they typically try to post as many ads as possible. Hey, it's free - right? The Craigslist community is quick to point to that user and say, "Hey, he's using Craigslist to spam!" and they'll flag your ad for removal.

Tip #3: Run a variety of ads. Running the same ad every time may cause consumers using Craigslist to click it and say, "Really? This ad again?" You want to keep your ads branded for your business and interesting to your potential customers. This includes your ad titles, the images you use and the message that you're displaying in the ad. Craigslist ad design can be as low as $25 per ad - so getting multiple ads done makes sense for marketing and your finances.

Sell A Product Using Craigslist

Selling their products and services make up a huge part of the small business population that is currently using Craigslist for advertising and marketing. The question is - are they using Craigslist correctly? Yes!

Craigslist offers a "For Sale" section that allows private individuals the ability to sell their local wares to their local consumers. Your small business can also use Craigslist to sell your products - provided it doesn't break Craigslist's ToS.

For example: If you search Atlanta's furniture section - you will find private owners selling tables, chairs and dressers. This is a perfectly fine way for using Craigslist. You will also find small businesses selling pieces of furniture from their showroom. Provided they're not spamming and offering individual pieces, the community will typically let these businesses slide.

Tip #1: Always include pictures of the products that you're selling on Craigslist. Clear pictures allow your potential buyer the ability to inspect what it is you're selling.

Tip #2: Be descriptive and use your vocabulary (and your spell checker). If you're selling a dresser like in our example above - you can talk about spacious drawers and an exquisite mirror that can make any bedroom brighter! Anything you can add to the description that helps portray the product in a "must sell" position is great.

Tip #3: Consider a professional to design your Craigslist ad. Sure, you'll have to pay a small fee to get a Craigslist ad design - but your ad will look fantastic and you'll be able to feature more photos of your product than the standard Craigslist template allows.

Don't forget - Craigslist is mostly community policed. It can be just as easy to tick off the community for using Craigslist the wrong way - so always try to make sure you're using Craigslist in a fair and honest way!

Have fun using Craigslist and good luck advertising your products and services!