How much success is available for you with your own online classified advertising business?
The best way to start is probably to review one of the most successful
online classified advertising websites today at craigslist.org. Started by Craig Newmark in 1995 for the San Francisco Bay area, they feature
free advertising in all categories except in some towns they charge a $75 fee
for employers to place help wanted advertisements.
Craigslist.org is currently the 9th most visited website in the United States,
according to alexa.com.
Ebay.com recently purchased 25% of the stock for a rumored 100 million dollars,
and business reports say when Craigslist.org opens in a new town the newspapers
lose 20% of their paid classified advertising business.
Craigslist.org is currently operating in 200 cities with a total staff of 24
people.
So why is Craiglist.org so successful? Lets examine and see if we can figure it out.
1. Is Craigslist.org success based on the fact they have free classified advertising?
Consider: This does contribute to their success, but by itself it is not enough. If you do a search
for "free classifieds" on the internet there are 2.7 million search results. There are tens
of thousands of different websites offering free classifieds, yet a very small percentage of them
are considered successful.
Answer: So on this one we will say yes, it is part of what contributes to craigslist.org's success,
but by itself is not enough.
2. Is Craigslist.org success based on their use of the community to help monitor the classifieds?
Consider: Craigslist.org spends a lot of time monitoring their classifieds to try to keep
the quality up, which is pretty amazing considering they are free, but they also use the
community that uses the classifieds to help them monitor abusive ads or ads that violate
their Terms of Service, (TOS). I am sure this makes people feel the classified system
is "theirs" and that they have control, or at least some control. When people contribute
to help the quality of a service they are more likely to use it and recommend it to others.
Answer: Yes, this does add to their success, and I would say it is much more a reason for
their success than the ads being free, but again by itself is not enough for their success totally.
3. Is Craigslist.org success based on its simplicity?
Consider: Craigslist.org is very simple to use. Their program does not put you
thru a lot of unnecessary steps in order to get an account to post classifieds, albeit
they do require you to respond to an email to activate your account, and only allow
you to have one account per person. This is very reasonable. In addition, the site is
fairly easy to navigate and find what you are looking for with fast search functions.
Answer: Yes, this is a very important part of Craigslist.org. People like the
easy user functions, search functions, and quick links. As the previous answers, it
is an important part, but not the entire part of their success.
4. Is Craigslist.org success based on the user's ability to read classifieds from
local towns instead of the entire world?
Consider: The majority of the classified websites take ads for any area
of the world. If you are looking for something that you want to buy from a LOCAL
person, normally you do not look on the internet, you go to your local newspaper.
The reason for this is that it is hard to find any place on the internet that lists
just your towns classifieds.
Answer: Yes, this is a biggee. A lot of people use Craigslist.org because they
are looking for local things to purchase, or want to sell to local people. I would say
this is probably one of the top 3 reasons people use Craigslist.org
5. Is Craigslist.org success based on the information local residents can find out
about their local community, activities, trends, opinions, etc?
Consider: People like to know what their neighbors are thinking. Many are
interested in opinions of people around the world, but in most people's mind that
is just politics. When you find out what your neighbor next door, or in your town
is thinking, it is good old gossip.
Answer: Yes this is a very very important part of the success of craigslist.org.
6. Is Craigslist.org success based on word of mouth?
Consider: People like using Craigslist.org and they talk about it.
Everywhere, almost anytime. I am sure you have heard about Craigslist.org
from a friend at some point.
Answer: Yes, this is a very big part of Craigslist.org's success.
7. Is Craigslist.org success based on the lack of banner advertising
on the classifieds?
Consider: People tire of having pop-ups and banner ads flashing in
their face when they just want to read content. I am sure you feel
the same way. Classifieds in newspapers are mostly just text and that
is what people like in their classifieds.
Answer: This is an important part, but probably not one of the
top reasons. However, I do believe if Craigslist.org had popup ads and
flashing and banner ads all over the place they would not be successful.
8. Is Craigslist.org success based on their process of changing the
classifieds according to feedback from their users?
Consider: Most people will use something that is shaped to the
way they want it to be shaped, especially if they feel they had some
influence on the changes. This makes it their personal project.
Answer: Yes, this is very important. Craigslist.org makes the
classifieds to be what their users want it to be, and this keeps the
users coming back.
9. Is Craigslist.org success based on their belief in just wanting to help people?
Consider: When people are getting help they want, they are going to want to use the
service even more and then tell other people about it. Craigslist.org says they just
want to help people sell their products or services.
Answer: Since Craigslist.org seems sincere in wanting to provide a good service people do respond, and this is indeed an important part of their success.
10. Is Craigslist.org success based on results people get from placing their advertisements?
Consider: If you place an advertisment and the result you hope for happens, and happens quickly, that is positive reinforcement that
is going to expand the use of the service. If you want to sell a bicycle or find a job
and you get results, you get it fast, and you got it free, its going to cause enough
good will for you to tell others about it and to give you great incentive to do it all
over again.
Answer: Absolutely, if not the #1 reason, it is definetly in the top 3 reasons.
Call free
1 (800) 399-9251 to listen to Timothy L. Drobnick Sr. on a 24 hour recorded message about becoming a portal
director for your town.
Sales is a numbers game! Pick Your Numbers!
Please note that some of our portal directors with experience in sales get 25% of
the business owners they give a presentation to purchase a premium listing. If you
are new to sales the industry standard is normally 10%. This in no way guarantees
you will have these percentages, but some of our directors report 25% closing ratio
once a business owner has been given a full presentation.
Experienced Salespeople's Chart
# of Free Business Listings Created This Week
# of Businesses Visited in Person
# of Presentations to Owners
$ of Average Sale
% of owners that purchase
Your Income This Week
100
50
20
$600
25%
$3,000
200
100
40
$600
25%
$6,000
300
150
60
$600
25%
$9,000
600
300
120
$600
25%
$18,000
100
50
20
$1,200
25%
$6,000
200
100
40
$1,200
25%
$12,000
300
150
60
$1,200
25%
$18,000
600
300
120
$1,200
25%
$36,000
New Salespeople's Chart
# of Free Business Listings Created This Week
# of Businesses Visited in Person
# of Presentations to Owners
$ of Average Sale
% of owners that purchase
Your Income This Week
100
50
20
$600
10%
$1,200
200
100
40
$600
10%
$2,400
300
150
60
$600
10%
$3,600
600
300
120
$600
10%
$7,200
100
50
20
$1,200
10%
$2,400
200
100
40
$1,200
10%
$4,800
300
150
60
$1,200
10%
$7,200
600
300
120
$1,200
10%
$14,400
Rights for City Portal Director in regards to territory. Portal Director agrees that there is no protected territory for Portal Director. Portal Director may sell advertising for Portal Director's assigned portal to any person, business, or area in the world. Portal Director understands that no other entity can sell premium listings for Portal Director's assigned portal without the permission of Portal Director. Portal Director understands that other Portal Directors may sell advertising to any person or business in the town with the same name as Portal Directors portal. Only one portal will be built per town. Portal director has control of assigned portal.
