Ask an Expert: Craigslist can build business
— -- Q: Would you know of any cheap and easy ways to get more business? My tried-and-true strategy seems to have hit a dead end and I cannot afford to spend much time or money figuring out something new. — Peter
A: I do, and let me share a little story first by way of background: In 1995, Craig Newmark created an email distribution list in order to share local goings-on in the San Francisco Bay Area. It proved popular, and before long, Craig found that people liked to use the distribution list for things other than social event posting, specifically, they would use it to post job listings. No dummy he, Craig soon added the category "jobs" to his email list. Soon thereafter, Craig decided to take his popular list to the nascent Web.
Craigslist was born.
By the year 2000, the site had grown so rapidly that Craig had a team of employees working on it with him and today, according to the web site www.Craigslistme.net, "Craigslist is responsible for getting an amazing 20 billion page views each month. That is good enough to crack the top 25 (sites) worldwide and the top 10 in the United States."
So I have one word for you if you want a cheap, easy, and effective way to build your business: Craigslist.
There are many ways the site can be of use to you, but here are a few of the main ones:
Sell: I have a pal who recently started a mobile notary business. He gets all of his business by listing his service every three days on Craigslist. That's it. (Tip: Because there are so many ads on Craigslist, redoing your ad with some regularity keeps it near the top of the listings.)
Think about it: Who reads the classifieds? Right, people looking to buy stuff right now. So list your service or products and get in front of that valuable audience.
Get Gigs: There is a small category listing, almost easy to miss, under the major "Jobs" listing, called Gigs. Gigs list people looking for help in a variety of categories: Labor, talent, creative, writing, computers, etc. By scouring this listing regularly, you can find work. (Note: Gigs listings are free to post, so it may take a bit of work separating the wheat from the chaff in this area.)
Respond to proposals: When I was looking for a Web developer to develop a new site for my business, the first thing I did was place a Craigslist ad in the Jobs section under the Web/Info Design category. I received a slew of qualified developers wanting my business. When I needed an assistant, my first stop was a Craigslist ad (Note: four years later, I am still working with my incredibly talented Craigslist find, Vivian.)
So if you need work, if you want to find proposals to respond to, if you need business, then the first place you should look everyday is the appropriate Craigslist listing.
By the way, that word "appropriate" is critical. You may think that the right category listing to find work for what you do is, say, Marketing and PR. But it may also be that your gig is waiting for you under Administrative, or Media, or TV and Film. Be expansive in your search.
Get Help: By the same token, finding qualified people to help you complete your projects and thereby help your business grow is easily done via Craigslist. Yes, a job listing cost $25, but that is a bargain compared to the many qualified applicants you will encounter as a result. Also, because t does cost to post here, the posts tend to be legitimate.
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