There was a very interesting article about Craiglist and how it has more traffic than Monster, CareerBuilder, Yahoo's HotJobs combined. Thus, despite Craigslist now having stricter posting policies, it still seems like a good place to help grow your online community, or not? What do you think?

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Short answer: Craigslist can still work, but only if it matches the buyer or candidate profile and you treat it as a measurable channel, not a cure-all. Several members in this thread (for example , , , , and ) have already shown why—results vary wildly by offer and audience—so run a small, instrumented test before committing budget.

A practical testing checklist:

  1. Post one clear ad in the single most-relevant city/category (don’t cross-post everywhere).
  2. Send replies to a tracked landing page (use consistent UTM parameters) so clicks/leads show up in analytics.
  3. Use a disposable alias or a unique reply address and a dedicated tracking phone number so you can tie each posting to leads.
  4. Run each test for a fixed window (7–14 days), calculate cost-per-lead and conversion, then iterate on title, price, images, and category. ()

Safety, moderation and longevity tips you won’t find in a quick post:

  • Use the site’s mail-relay and insist on meeting locally for goods or in-person interviews for jobs; never accept upfront wire transfers or gift-card “payments.”
  • Avoid overposting or posting in the wrong category (those are the common triggers for flagging and automated removal).
  • If a posting is abusive or fraudulent, flag it and follow the platform’s reporting steps rather than engaging. (craigslist.org)

When to skip Craigslist: for specialized hires, long-term staffing, vetted freelancers, or customers who expect premium service. In those cases use niche job boards / marketplaces and freelancer platforms (LinkedIn, Indeed, Upwork and similar) and compare their CPA to your Craigslist test before scaling. This keeps expectations realistic and avoids competing on price alone. (upwork.com)

Summary: try a small, tracked experiment; measure real costs and lead quality; stop if your CPA or close-rate is worse than alternatives.

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My clients, based on their product offerings, are not good candidates to use facebook beyond it being another avenue for them to advertise openings for staff. Having said that, I could definitely see it as being a valuable alternative for some companies.

We just put our second ad on Craigslist today. It makes sense for a writing business because that's where people advertise for freelancers. Not everyone's target audience would be visitors there though, of course. Whether or not it is going to pull in orders remains to be seen. The first ad didn't produce many results.

We just put our second ad on Craigslist today. It makes sense for a writing business because that's where people advertise for freelancers. Not everyone's target audience would be visitors there though, of course. Whether or not it is going to pull in orders remains to be seen. The first ad didn't produce many results.

You might want to check out elance.com if you haven't already. For Freelancers of all types, it is ideal.

You might want to check out elance.com if you haven't already. For Freelancers of all types, it is ideal.

For my own freelancing, I won't use bid sites to get jobs, I'd starve to death. Do they sell ad space? I'll have to check that, although I'm not sure that the clientele there would fit into our (the company name in my sig) demographic.

Thanks for the tip, though.

I do use craiglist if I was trying to clean out my garage I would probably place items on Craigslist. However, when it comes to my business I want to make the maximum amount of income and bargain shoppers are not the ideal clientele.

I personally have placed several ads on different categories of Craigslist to find business related clientele. Has it helped? Though I have not received a single valuable lead, I have been entertained with a few offers from Nigeria.

I have seen a couple of interesting opportunities on Craigslist but usually I have been able to track down the same job listings in the more traditional job boards. It seems that some companies post on Craigslist simply to cover all bases.

I totally agree. I also have seen the same job posted on Craigslist but on CL - the job may not state the potential employer while on other boards it does. I used CL to cross reference.

I totally agree. I also have seen the same job posted on Craigslist but on CL - the job may not state the potential employer while on other boards it does. I used CL to cross reference.

Same here. As I have learned some of the pitfalls of submitting resumes direct through Monster/CareerBuilder (if you don't meet all of the qualifications in the ad you resume gets dumped I have been told), cross referencing allows me to identify the company and go to them directly.

Yes and I also found out through experience that I had better call back rate applying through Craiglist than through Monster and other job sites.

Yes and I also found out through experience that I had better call back rate applying through Craiglist than through Monster and other job sites.

Great tip!

I tend to cross reference to get all the info, although I don't always do it. On the job boards that require a fee to get the company info, I just take part of the job posting and put into a search. Nine times out of ten, I find the same ad for free somewhere else, usually on CL.

Yes, I actually done the same thing myself. Remember that by doing this way, your resume may not end up in the filter box if it does not fit. Also, make sure you try three different combination of the keyword phrases when you search on craigslist, just in case....

Also, make sure you try three different combination of the keyword phrases when you search on craigslist, just in case....

Great advice, thanks!

I have seen ads for something called Angies List. Does anyone know anything about that site and how it matches up to Craigs List?

I have seen ads for something called Angies List. Does anyone know anything about that site and how it matches up to Craigs List?

I've not heard of it but I'm going to check it out, thanks.

Angie's list is consumer reviews of home improvement contractors, not the same thing as CL at all, by the looks of it.

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I have been using craigslist for buying and selling stuff. I sometimes browse for hiring writers on craigslist and khrido but do not trust to find many from there. I post my writers positions on elance though, and get pretty good responses. It works for me as someone seeking service, but may not suit somebody offering services, because as someone pointed out earlier, bidding can go to any level.

I have been using craigslist for buying and selling stuff. I sometimes browse for hiring writers on craigslist and khrido but do not trust to find many from there. I post my writers positions on elance though, and get pretty good responses. It works for me as someone seeking service, but may not suit somebody offering services, because as someone pointed out earlier, bidding can go to any level.

Yes, it is definitely a buyer's market on the bidding sites like elance. It would be pretty hard to earn a living there.

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