Don’t pass up this simple way to generate more sales for your business. Many make a good living generating sales using only classified ads. Classifieds existed before the internet and many today are available in print as well as online.
You would be amazed how many people are addicted to checking their local classifieds. I’ve met many people who are generating sales through classifieds and even more who compulsively check ads. When I worked for IBM and had to eat most meals out alone, the first thing I did was pick up the free classifieds to scan them while I ate.
Back then there was a variety of printed ads such as Thrifty Nickel and Pennysaver plus the local newspaper and local free magazines covering lifestyle, alternative health, real estate, and horses. Local coupon books were also common.
Now those printed ads are also available online. By purchasing inexpensive ads in one edition anyone searching in any edition can see them. In March 2009 I suggested that strategy in Buy 1 Cheap Print Ad – Get Free Online Ads.
Online Only Classifieds
You probably immediately think of Craigslist.org and I have seen strong sales generated there. If you decide to run ads on Craigslist be sure to read up first. There are many users whose life seems to revolve around getting ads taken down for no reason. Look for how-to articles on how to keep your ads live or plan to have to relist regularly.
Craigslist is not the only game online. If what you sell has a niche audience, look at classifieds specific to your audience first. Search online, but also keep your eyes open locally.
Remember that sites that do not charge have less money to promote
and therefore typically smaller audiences.
Many online classifieds sites offer free text ads and charge for upgrades such as images, colored text and borders. This is similar to the way offline classifieds charge.
Focus on your target audience. For example, if you sell horse related products focus on the many sites that are specific to horses and advertise in local free magazines. Also consider breed magazines and those with giant readership such as Western Horseman.
If your niche is auto related, look for classifieds related to car sales, parts and accessories. If it is gardening, focus on garden related sites. You get the idea.
Local Classifieds
Don’t forget to look for local classifieds, especially if you have a strong local presence or it is less expensive to ship locally. Besides the classifieds already mentioned, there are classified sites that are specific to cities and countries. For example, OLX has a presence in multiple countries. Their Bangladesh free ads site and OLX India are strong and they are expanding to other countries.
Look for local print ad opportunities and search online for your niche plus local cities, counties, or geo-targeted areas such as DFW (Dallas Ft Worth) or Waco-Temple-Killeen (three cities that are often mentioned together). In the northeast where states are small, there are sometimes Tri-State groupings.
Advertising Strategy
Consider running free ads on many sites and tracking your results. Use different landing pages so you can track your traffic. In print ads offer a coupon or code so you can tell which ads generate responses.
Once you see what sources generate results, focus on those sources. Test different ad titles and text. If you run images test those, too. We can learn a lot from direct mail marketers whose costs were so high that they became experts at testing their mailings and improving their conversions.
There are still people who generate large incomes by running ads in print classifieds. Many small businesses exist by running ads on niche-specific sites. By using a blog you can easily create new landing pages and run each ad to a different page. That way if one of your ads does well you can use that page and that ad as a starting point to improvement.
Unless you have major traffic, make only ONE change at a time!
Understanding the Basics
If you understand the sequence of events you can create more compelling ads.
- The title’s job is to get your ad read.
- It is your ad’s job to get viewers to your landing page (or to make a call or send an email).
- The title on your landing page must grab their attention and keep them on the page.
- Your landing page’s job is to get the conversion (a sale, a call, a subscriber).
When you write, each sentence must keep the reader’s attention. Success requires learning to test ads and landing pages. Conversion testing is essential to continually increase your sales.
Gail Gardner
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The Advertising strategy is a strong tool for promoting your business! Its awesome how many creative ways their are to promote your business as well! Thanks for sharing this.
This post is really helpful. I could use this to improve my business. I could use some Classified Ads. thank you
Wow, this is certainly some great information that a lot of people may not know about! Anyway to promote your business and draw people in is always a plus. Thanks for sharing!
Seriously at first I thought Classified ads are just useless but then I read articles like these and really got the right information.Thanks for a very helpful and informative article.
Excellent article! Here you have mentioned very useful information regarding how the classified ads are helpful to promote business. You have given idea about the important strategies should follow for promoting business. It was really impressed. Thanks for your valuable tips
Advertising is the best option to promote your online business. one of the best idea I have seen so far. you have done great work.
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I use kijiji alot and it does help with a small amount of local sales which otherwise we would have never gotten in the first place. So it definitely does work and doesn’t hurt to try and post your business and services on classified ads.
Thanks for the tips, I’m so use to only using craigslist. I always forget to use regular classifieds as well.
Thanks Gail!
Very nice tips for small business to grow. I am going to adopt this for my website too.
I am glad to find this site and have to say this is a detail post. I liked it sir. Please continue help people like us.
Some nice stuff i have read through this article though classified helps your business to grow more
We have often used Kijiji and Craigslist, and look more and more at online classified ads. In our area of The Lower Mainland we have a large South Asian population, and ads on sites originating in that area do well for us, too.
Oliver Pusch would love you to read ..Crossdock vs. Transload Services
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Oliver. I should have mentioned that besides niche topic and geo-targeting it is also wise to target your potential customers’ specific demographics.
Gail Gardner would love you to read ..Growing Your Small Business Using a Blog ~ Google Hangout [Recorded]
You are right, With classified ads we can promote our business with free of post. But before using classified ad sites we should learn the technique to promote content on classified sites.
Thanks
Dr. Diana Hardy
Dr. Diana would love you to read ..The Absent Father’s Presence
Great Idea !
Thanks for sharing these tips, Classified really increase Small Bussiness.. It helps alot and thanks for share this site Craigslist.org
It is a such a nice information about seo activity like classified. with help of classified we can growing our business.
Wow… This is a very usefull tips.. I really appreciate..
Thanks for the share
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Great Article!
Advertising is the best option to promote your business.Thank you for all the tips, will try them. Thanks for sharing.
I had actually thought about this. I write for a community newspaper and was going to start offering an online/print combo to my readers. However, I never thought about this for myself but I will seriously consider this.
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advertising strategies referred to herein are not everywhere are a good option. I’m Polish and I see the experience that this market is different and you have to use other solutions
Thanks Sir for detailes explanation. May i ask you one thing ? How to find best classified website to register there.
Use a search engine online. Offline, look at restaurants, convenience stores, fast food places – anywhere there are free classifieds. They are usually located near the front entrance.
Gail Gardner would love you to read ..Highlights from Creating a Content Strategy for Your Blog @JoePulizzi
Never would have thought of this! Great IDEA!!!
Hi Ashley,
Many ignore the obvious and are so focused on Google they forget that businesses made money long before Google existed. Craigslist works well for small farmers I know. Many local service businesses primarily use ads in free classifieds to generate business. Those are really more of a bargain now because your ad is visible online to other areas you service even if you only pay for one of them. (Great tip for cash-strapped local handyman types.)
Gail Gardner would love you to read ..Growing Your Small Business Using a Blog ~ Google Hangout [Recorded]
The process has been explained very nicely! I love the way you have told it step by step
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i started with a small brand and i used the Advertising Strategy…fb ads
it really worked!great tips
started with a small brand and i used the Advertising Strategy…fb ads
it really worked!great tips
As basic as those suggestions are, I second that they may be basic, but will deliver significant improvements to results you’ll see in your classifieds.
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