A Free Internet Tool That Can Add
Thousands to Your Bottom Line
By Larry Fredericks
Imagine a "magic" well that you could tap
into any time you wanted -one that would
make it possible for you to simply drop
a bucket into it and pull up any of the following:
- New customers for your company
- Excellent employees
- Skilled consultants in almost any field
- People with cash who want to invest in your business
- Buyers or renters for your real estate
Well, this is not a fairy tale.
With the CraigsList website, you can
do all of the above and a lot more.
And you can do it for free!
CraigsList was founded in 1995 by self-described
"computer geek" Craig Newmark when he started
using a list server to post notices about events
in the San Francisco area.
People eventually began using his site to post notices
for job openings, cars for sale, apartments for rent,
and even personal ads.
The site grew by word of mouth,
and now serves 450 cities worldwide,
gets more than seven billion page views each month,
and ranks with Google, Yahoo, eBay, AOL,
and Microsoft as one of the top 10
most-heavily trafficked English-language websites.
Here’s how to harness the power of CraigsList:
CraigsList Is a Fantastic Place to Find
Job Seekers in Practically Any Industry
If you’re looking for someone to do just about
any kind of job - mow your lawn or refinish
your cabinets, for example - you will probably
find a qualified candidate on this site.
I posted an ad for a Web page builder in the Miami area.
Within 24 hours, I was inundated by over
50 applicants, most of whom were offering
their services at very reasonable rates.
With a little effort, I was able to find a
qualified individual who was willing to do
the work from thousands of miles away for
$12 an hour.
And he built a site for me that had quite
a few complicated features, such as:
- An automated shopping cart for my customers
to place credit card orders
- An automated product-delivery system that
instantly delivers my product(a book)
as a PDF file to the customer
- A number of links and pages that incorporate
quotes, photos, and other graphics
This very sophisticated website cost me
approximately $120 - total - to construct.
But CraigsList can offer you much more
than access to Internet webmasters.
You can use it to recruit full-time or
temporary employees for any business.
It costs nothing to post job-recruitment ads
for all but a few cities (including New York,
Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Boston, Seattle,
San Diego, and San Francisco).
You Can Create Income With CraigsList, Too!
There are several ways to generate income with CraigsList.
If you are seeking new clients, you can place your
own advertisements in the Services section.
You can also scan various forums on the site for people
who are looking for the kind of services you provide.
If you have something to sell, you can do it
on CraigsList via its Classified section.
This is a great way to make a few extra bucks
the next time you clean out the attic.
And you could conceivably make substantial profits
by selling high-ticket items like houses, cars,
or furniture, just to name a few.
5 Steps to Getting Started:
1. Go to CraigsList.org and select the city where
you’ll be conducting your buying/selling/hiring/etc.
2. Choose an appropriate category.
For example, if you wanted to sell a computer,
you’d go to the For Sale section of the site.
Then, within that section, you’d click on the Computers category.
3. Write a catchy headline and copy for your advertisement.
(You can choose to let people see your e-mail address or
have CraigsList forward all the responses to you…
anonymously and for free.)
4. Post your ad by clicking on the button in your
selected category that says "Post."
5. Your ad will run for 30 days before it automatically
terminates, but you can have it removed at any time.
(When you place the ad, you’ll get a confirmation via e-mail
with instructions how to edit or pull your ad.)
A word of caution:
As with all classified-style advertising,
keep in mind that you’re dealing with
strangers on CraigsList.
So protect yourself by thoroughly checking
references for the people who respond to
your job offers.
And if you’re selling something - especially
a high-priced item - ask for payment via a
cashier’s check or money order made out to you.
CraigsList is an enormously popular website
that offers many ways for you to benefit -
both in business and in your personal life.
Taking advantage of free Internet websites like this
is just one of many "street smart" tactics every
small-business entrepreneur should be engaging in.
[Ed. Note: Larry Fredericks has owned and operated
over half a dozen highly successful small businesses.
Learn more money-making strategies for your small
business with his "Street Smart Business" program.]
This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise,
the Internet’s most popular health, wealth, and
success e-zine.
For a complimentary subscription,
visit http://www.earlytorise.com.
Mike Stokes
Baton Rouge, LA
