Wednesday Wink - Free Ways To Market Your Business: Tip #2

Posted by Maryann Matykowski on July 25, 2017

4 Comments

When I started my business years ago things were much different. Newspapers, Yellow Pages, flyers, and door-to-door sales were the most popular marketing methods. Most people don't source their information that way anymore. Times have changed, and we have to keep up with the latest marketing tools - that just happen to be at our fingertips! For most business owners - big or small - marketing is critical in order to get your message out there, to the masses. In Tip #1, we talked about FREE ways to market your business through the power of Instagram. Today, I want to delve into another online marketing space that I have personally used many times in the past to get the word out about my business and services...

Craigslist

You may or may not have used this platform to advertise your business or services before. Well, I do... And, I get at least two new clients per month from free advertising on this site. There is a science to this method, and I will share it with you:

• First, you should have four or more email accounts to use.
• Create an account on Craigslist for each email.
• Choose the area you are in to market to your desired clientele. It probably won’t help to market 200 miles from your business.
• Craigslist will allow you four posts from each email account. Make sure you have plenty of photos ready to be uploaded to your ad posts. Nothing attracts new clients like fresh photos. I use my own work along with “stock” images I get from the internet (please do not use others' work).
• Headline your posts with what you are advertising. For example: LASH EXTENSION ARTIST.
• Note the price and the location.
• Create catchy content about who you are, what your services are, and what sets you apart from your competitors.
• Include your contact info, and a link to your website, Google, Yelp, and/ or Instagram. Anywhere you have a presence.
• Add about five or more photos to your ad, and post.

Make sure when you are creating your ads that you change the cover photo and the headline just slightly so you aren’t posting the exact same ad on every email account. If you do this you will have 16 ads from four email accounts.

Bonus Tip

Make sure to renew your posts approximately every six days to keep your ads at the top of the list. Let me know your results using this excellent free marketing tool.

Always Be Safe

This type of advertising is meant for lash technicians who work out of a salon, or public place. Here is some safety advice from Craigslist.

When meeting someone for the first time, please remember to:

• Insist on a public meeting place like a cafe, bank, or shopping center.
• Do not meet in a secluded place, or invite strangers into your home.
• Be especially careful buying/selling high value items.
• Tell a friend or family member where you're going.
• Take your cell phone along if you have one.
• Consider having a friend accompany you.
• Trust your instincts.

Please always follow the personal safety procedures suggested by Craigslist: https://www.craigslist.org/about/safety Good luck and happy posting!