How do you test a market via Craigslist??

[SeanyHang]

(Sorry if this is the wrong part of the forum to test this thread)

This is (I'd imagine) a pretty newb-ish thing to ask - but I keep seeing people posting advice saying that in order to test out your product idea or a potential market you could simply post to craigslist. Alright- Awesome.

My question is where exactly do you post your landing page or idea or whatever on CL? Would you just post in the "For Sale- Musical Instruments" section if you were trying to see if there was a demand for an instrument you invented? Do you post in one of the discussion forums? Is there a place to post that would potentially send your product or service idea to EVERY little section on CL? Is there a place to post it to a certain section nationwide?

Thanks in advance for your insight!!
-Sean

 

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[Vigilante]

Can you point me to a few threads where this was discussed? I don't remember people using Craigslist for that. You might also try posting a question directly to whom ever posted that. Craigslist is not a great venue to test new ideas, primarily because Craigslist is geographically limited. The blessing of the WorldWide Web is reach. Craigslist is the opposite of that... localized.

 

[theBiz]

This is simply not true for 99% of businesses.... this may work for an e-commerce site but if your selling a service or specialty product it wont work on craigslist while many are making millions elsewhere... IMO scrap the idea, go test it on a search engine with targeted buyers looking for YOU, not the other way around, that's a poor mans way of thinking, don't be cheap (not saying you are) just spend the money.. it will never be scaleable on craigslist anyway... eventually you will have to move toward paid traffic or affiliates so test it that way and don't even waste time, just a little money... much better trade off IMO.

 

[SBS.95]

Can you point me to a few threads where this was discussed? I don't remember people using Craigslist for that. You might also try posting a question directly to whom ever posted that.

I'm not positive, but I think he might be referring to MJ's post earlier today in this thread.

Try Craigslist ... and then reply that they will receive a FREE copy of the book once published.

However, this seems like a different scenario. The guy in the thread linked above wanted to get some peoples opinion to a straightforward survey question. The Craigslist strategy was to post this survey in various CLs around the country, as research for a book we was working on. You (OP) seem to be trying to almost sell your initial product, or at least see who would be interested in buying it. Craigslist is probably not a good venue for that for the reasons Vigilante already said.

Also CL is pretty much impossible to automate so keep that in mind. It's currently a problem I'm combating myself.

 

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[AllenCrawley]

MJ also mentioned testing demand via craigslist for a two sided market idea he had. He also talks about this in the interview he posted today.

 

[theBiz]

I want to say im not downing it... i had over 1000 emails from craigslist before starting something but again you have to understand whats going on and not be too optimistic if you get responses.


There are variations that need to be taken into account:

If i say im going to come to your house and clean your car for $1.... you will get hundreds of emails: A validation, but obviously useless

I will clean your car for $20 ... and you get a ton of responses: You validated Need for service in general, not useless, shows the market atleast somewhat wants the service

You leave a link to a mobile app in which you state: if you download it, you can put in your zip and have quotes from 20 local mobile detailing companies within 10 minutes who will show up to your door for $20..... If you get a ton of people who try to download this app by clicking a link.... THIS is a real validation you can use from craigslist

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I want to say im not downing it... i had over 1000 emails from craigslist before starting something but again you have to understand whats going on and not be too optimistic if you get responses.


There are variations that need to be taken into account:

If i say im going to come to your house and clean your car for $1.... you will get hundreds of emails: A validation, but obviously useless

I will clean your car for $20 ... and you get a ton of responses: You validated Need for service in general, not useless, shows the market atleast somewhat wants the service

You leave a link to a mobile app in which you state: if you download it, you can put in your zip and have quotes from 20 local mobile detailing companies within 10 minutes who will show up to your door for $20..... If you get a ton of people who try to download this app by clicking a link.... THIS is a real validation you can use from craigslist

Thank you.

Craigslist is great for testing certain ideas without having to create a website, landing page, etc. The test I did had neither -- I just wanted to see if someone would respond to my written offers. Also, for it to be helpful, there needs to be a category that is relevant to your offer.

For example, if you're creating a website on co-ed recreational opportunities, you would post in "Activity Partners". The guy writing the book could post in Community, Volunteers, etc.

On the offer I mentioned in the interview, I was inundated with responses and I only posted in the PHX area, in the relevant category. If I wanted more, I would post in more areas. This simply validated one side of the two-sided market.

If CL doesn't have a good category for the post, then it probably wouldn't be the right venue.

In many respects, I find CL a decent test to run at no cost, just before you throw together a landing page and test further with Adwords/FB ad buys, websites, etc.

Would you just post in the "For Sale- Musical Instruments" section if you were trying to see if there was a demand for an instrument you invented?

If you created a musical instrument, yes, absolutely.

However, you have to frame your offer correctly ...

You just don't post

"Great musical WIDGET for sale, sounds like a cross between a violin and a harp - easy to learn, contact me for more info"

The above would gain no interest.

You have to frame the instrument to your most optimal buyer. Post great pictures. Maybe links to a sound bite. It's really marketing copy 101.

(Pay attention to the AMA "I've made millions" thread -- he repeated numerous times "ITS ALL ABOUT THE OFFER!")

 

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[jeremye]

@theBiz pretty much described exactly how you have to look at CL traffic. But even then... you have to consider the "stupid factor" that plagues the people who use the site. Before you consider your offer ready for search (or any other paid media) based on Craigslist results, you should honestly ask yourself: "is there ANY element to this that would make someone think they were getting something in addition to the offer?"

 

[SeanyHang]

Can you point me to a few threads where this was discussed?

Mj mentioned it in his interview today and I THINK zen******* said that in order to test an idea his friend had they through together a landing page and put it on craigslist (they may have used ppc though).

If i say im going to come to your house and clean your car for $1.... you will get hundreds of emails: A validation, but obviously useless

I will clean your car for $20 ... and you get a ton of responses: You validated Need for service in general, not useless, shows the market atleast somewhat wants the service

You leave a link to a mobile app in which you state: if you download it, you can put in your zip and have quotes from 20 local mobile detailing companies within 10 minutes who will show up to your door for $20..... If you get a ton of people who try to download this app by clicking a link.... THIS is a real validation you can use from craigslist

Ahhhh - yes, this is the type of insight I was looking for ++ speed

If CL doesn't have a good category for the post, then it probably wouldn't be the right venue.

OK- yea thats what I was thinking. I didn't know if I was crazy and there was some button on CL that would allow me to post my ad or whatever it may be that I'm posting onto the site, geared towards the audience as a whole. Thanks!

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Here's a good article about testing on Craigslist

How We Killed A Wantrepreneur

(You need to login to view.)

 

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[AllenCrawley]

Here's a good article about testing on Craigslist

How We Killed A Wantrepreneur

(You need to login to view.)

Here's a great article about how Noah built appsumo for $50. He talks about using reddit and an existing product he didn't even own to do a validation test. Great read.

How AppSumo was built for $50