How do you contact people looking for offline help on Craigslist

by ronr
7 replies
As a test, for the last couple weeks or so I've been contacting people who posted on Craigslist they need help for various offline services.

I always respond in a personaly way to show them I really did read their listing, that I live in the U.S. (like them) tell a little how I can help them, etc. Sometimes I send them links to my results, or website and other times just invite them to contact me back and I'll send them samples, etc. If the ad requests a phone number I always leave that.

So far I've replied to approx 15 and haven't received a response back.

Is this typical? Do they get so bombarded with responses that they don't even bother getting back to you? Is it just a numbers game?

Thanks, Ron
#contact #craigslist #offine
  • Profile picture of the author StrategicCheetah
    Originally Posted by ronr View Post

    As a test, for the last couple weeks or so I've been contacting people who posted on Craigslist they need help for various offline services.

    I always respond in a personaly way to show them I really did read their listing, that I live in the U.S. (like them) tell a little how I can help them, etc. Sometimes I send them links to my results, or website and other times just invite them to contact me back and I'll send them samples, etc. If the ad requests a phone number I always leave that.

    So far I've replied to approx 15 and haven't received a response back.

    Is this typical? Do they get so bombarded with responses that they don't even bother getting back to you? Is it just a numbers game?

    Thanks, Ron
    Yeah, to be honest they do get absolutely bombarded with offers.

    I have recently started testing Gumtree which is the UK equivalent of Craigslist and what I have found is you have to hit them with detailed info about price and stuff and it has to be the best price out of all their offers.

    As well as that, even if you are offering them the best price and package, there is a chance they might not even see your message. On top of that you have to spend your life sending messages constantly to get any traction.

    This obviously isn't an ideal scenario.

    That being said, I have picked up a few jobs by actually advertising my services a stupidly low price (eg: webdesign for £150 when my usual cost is currently £750) instead of responding to people who are already looking. This has been working so much better.

    The key is a streamlined system. There is virtually no back and forth, I only accept jobs that are ready to go without any messing around. When I take a job I send them a questionnaire which gets all the necessary info and as soon as they make their initial payment, my web designer goes ahead with the job and it is completed within 24 hours.

    The initial profit margin is only about 50% due to the cost of the outsourced web design however there is virtually no work involved for me. I have no qualms about upselling various things immediately after they are happy with the site, so that really increases profit margins.

    Last week I upsold a gumtree customer from a £150 website after the point of the website being completed to the following:

    £50 for professional email (no cost to me) and £20 for a .com domain.

    Then I also sold him a 3 month SEO package at £150 per month which I will outsource to Matt LeClair for $99 in total.

    The best bit about these upsells? They were all done via text message
    Signature

    Precision beats power
    Timing beats speed

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6007083].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author ronr
      Thanks Nick that's helpful
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6007264].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
    To give you a basic idea, the average person that posts an ad for their business on craigslist, gets about 20 emails from people all around the world trying to solicit.

    Send 1,000 and you might get a sale.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6007279].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author ronr
      Interesting. This isn't my normal way of prospecting but I thought it would be worth a test. Maybe I'll list a few of my own ads to see how many responses I get.

      My other methods are working well anyway. Two high end clients in the last week so I'll stick to what's working but always good to test the waters.

      Ron


      Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

      To give you a basic idea, the average person that posts an ad for their business on craigslist, gets about 20 emails from people all around the world trying to solicit.

      Send 1,000 and you might get a sale.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6007350].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author RyanLewis
    My brother owns a daycare and he says he literally gets bombarded with requests for SEO services etc. Everyday a new person reads a guide and thinks of themselves as an expert.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6007357].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Dr Mukherjee
      This is a new idea to me . Craigslist is always great help for offline or online marketing but its better to read all others experience with site like CL. Thank you for this topic. new method application is always good and no risk in this test.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6007445].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author PSinPS
    I tried responding to Craigslist ads. Talk about tedious. I hate tedious. I even had a software so i could filter for my search terms. Still tedious.

    @ronr, so what are your "other methods" that go you two high end clients last week?

    @PositiveVibe, thanks for sharing.
    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[6057093].message }}

Trending Topics