4 Ways for Your Local Business to Benefit from Craigslist

Craigslist has been steadily gaining in popularity since its inception.  Most business owners are aware of the help wanted section on Craigslist and many have even hired an employee that way.  There is more to Craigslist than just help wanted ads, though.  Here are a few ways to use Craigslist that you might have thought of.

1. Posting your business’s products or services in the “services” and “for sale” sections:  Let’s face it, this isn’t going to have clients beating down your doors, but it will almost surely get you enough customers to make it worthwhile.  It’s free and it’s something that you can have your lowest paid employee do.  (Or outsource it).  In the services section, try to capture prospect’s contact information by offering a free report that your ideal client would be very interested in.
   

   Did this proud American just get a new client from Craigslist?

2. Purchasing materials on Craigslist:  In many cities you can buy just about everything on Craigslist, often at a large discount.  Every business needs different materials, and there is a good chance that you will at least occasionally find something that you need in the “for sale” section.  But the good stuff usually goes fast, so what I like to do is this:  Start looking early, to give yourself time.  Use notify.me to set up a Craigslist alert.  I make it specific rather than general and only search post titles.  You can set it up to email, text, or instant message you when something appears on Craigslist that meets your criteria.  You can set it and forget it until you get a message informing you that exactly what you’re looking for showed up on Craigslist minutes ago.
3. Hiring freelancers:  Do you want to hire a freelancer that you can actually look in the eye?  If so, Craigslist might be a good place to look.  Calling a company out of the yellow pages can get expensive quickly.  You might be able to find a professional who works for a company but also does freelance on the side.  Beware, though, if you don’t know enough about the field to properly evaluate candidates.
4. Selling old office equipment and other materials:  Depending on what industry you are in, you could be missing an opportunity if you are throwing away things that you could sell on Craigslist.  For example, I know a kitchen renovation company that takes client’s old kitchens and sells them on Craigslist.  They break them down into their components:  faucets, countertops, cabinets, fixtures, etc.  Is there a market for something you might throw away?  You can’t know for sure unless you post!

Craigslist posting can get tedious, so if you do a lot of it, consider outsourcing.  Only you know what your time and the time of your employees is worth.  If the cost-benefit is in your favor, put Craigslist to work for you!