Should Your Business Use Craigslist?

Craigslist is incredibly popular by any measure. But is there any way for your business to earn money from it? I asked several industry professionals how and why they use Craigslist and this is what I found out.

Best Taken in Large Quantities

Several responders stated that good results in both hiring candidates or finding contracts could be found but perseverance was necessary.

We use it for hiring, but really, the responses are so poor that our best employees are referrals or people who just contact us out of the blue. [anyone who sits down with a list of software companies and cold calls looking for an internship is at least a self starter].

When we are seeking new business we respond to postings seeking software developers, but we take the approach that we will need to reply to 100 to get 1 decent prospect.

– Brian Begy, Founder, Chicago Data Solutions

Great for the Price!

As previously noted, there is not a very high bar of entry to Craigslist. Still, it is hard to beat free!

I’ve found that Craigslist is effective for B2C type products and services but don’t expect to be overwhelmed with responses for most offerings. For the price, it’s great to get a handful of leads though. For job postings, it’s very valuable and I’ve gotten as many as 100 resumes per posting with great quality versus Monster or other job boards.

– Michael Vanderslice, COO at BizElevate

Automation Necessary

More and more car dealers are seeing the benefit to at least posting their basic info on sites like Craigslist and such. For years eBay Motors has been a playground and trial-by-fire area for a lot of Internet Departments. Some companies have made a good living selling tools and services that allow car dealers to advertise/promote on sites like Craigslist.

 

I tried it a few years back when I was with another company and actually had decent closing figures, although I am not sure the effort was worth the sales. We did it all “by hand” since our GM wasn’t too fond of spending the money on the service offered to automate it. I think it works, though. – Dayn Riegel, Founder, 8 Changes, Inc.

 

So, there you have it. If you are looking for business-to-business sales, to hire, or to contract a job, then Craigslist can work for you. Your next step is to learn how to post an image on Craigslist and write some copy. Then re-post a couple of hundred times!