Using Craigslist as a virtual storefront is only one of many, many different ways you can get the service to make you money. Offering your own services is a great way to get freelance-style contract work and earn extra cash. There’s a lot of money to be made in service fields like computer repair and tutoring.
What You Can and Cannot Offer
Obviously there are some services that you are not allowed to offer on the Craigslist website:
1) Prostitution: This sort of goes without saying but you’d be surprised how many people post listings for it anyway. This is dependent on your state and federal government’s laws but is generally frowned upon by the people of Craigslist.
2) Bullying/Violence: This seems silly as well but it’s not lawful to advertise any service that promotes violence. A bodyguard service would be okay but advertising that you’ll beat up other people is not.
3) Illegal Services: Dealing drugs, buying alcohol for minors, theft, scamming or any other illegal activity is prohibited.
The main types of services people offer are in repair and general freelance work.
Popular Areas of Service
Here are some popular, lucrative areas of service you can post advertisements for:
Computer: Repairing and servicing computers is one of the most popular service categories on craigslist. If you’re good with computers you should definitely try this one out. Millions of people have computer problems every day and a great deal of them would prefer to pay a local person to come fix their computer than get charged ridiculous amounts of money at a big chain computer retailer.
Creative: This is another big category. With this you can do just about anything art related such as: creating business cards, designing tattoos, building web pages, doing album artwork, photographic events, writing speeches and videotaping weddings. The creative category is very broad and encompasses a lot of different skills that people need every day.
Lessons: This category is used extensively by people who can’t afford high- priced tutoring centers. Those well-known institutions can charge people as much as $3,000 per semester! If you’ve completed highs school or any amount of college you should have no problem helping kids in the K-8 grades with homework etc. This category is also a good place to find adult tutees who are seeking training in computer programs or refresher courses in college subjects like math and English.
Pet: People love to take care of their pets but paying $250 to get Fluffy’s hair trimmed and claws painted is usually out of most people’s budgets. If you have any experience taking care of animals or grooming them, this can be an extremely lucrative category for you. You can charge half the price of a local dog or cat groomer and still turn a hefty profit because the number one resources required for pet care are time and patience.
Automotive: Garages and mechanics charging people too much is even more ubiquitous than overpriced pet care. A lot of people know how to fix cars but have no desire to be mechanics professionally. If you’re one of those people who just has a penchant for replacing radiators and silencing squeaky belts then this is the category for you. Car repair isn’t the only thing you can offer. If you have equipment for custom paint jobs or if you own a transportation vehicle like a bus or limousine then this is where you’ll want to advertise for yourself as well.
Farm + Garden: This can be a difficult category to get hits on but only because it’s absolutely flooded with qualified people posting advertisements. After all, it’s not exactly rocket science to be able to pick up basic gardening tools and work on beautifying people’s yards. Despite how rudimentary yard work really is, you’d be surprised how many people are just unwilling to do it themselves and would rather pay someone else to pull their weeds.
Household: This is sort of a generic, house-related category. Anything from plumbing and carpentry to carpet cleaning and maid service can be found on this page. This is also where you’ll want to post if you’re looking to be a babysitter or a nanny. Weather conditioning and cooler repair also fit into this category.
Skilled Trade: This is a more specific category where you’ll want to post if you are a professional or have a lot of experience in a particular trade. This could include things like: Carpentry, Plumbing, Electrical, Masonry, Furniture Making, Painting or Tile Installation.
Writing/Editing/Translation: This is an extremely useful place to post and look for services. If you know how to speak more than one language you can post advertisements for translation services; people generally prefer human translations because they tend to be more accurate and less formal and automated. If you’re a decent writer or editor you can consult people on their writing assignments or offer to write résumés or college admission letters.
When your posting an advertisement about a service you’ll perform it’s important to remember that you’re essentially selling yourself. You can make up your own template but a good format to start with is one as follows:
The first thing you should mention briefly is what service you’re providing. It should be short and concise. Remember from earlier sections that it’s important to use keywords in your titles. Consider the following examples:
Mediocre title: “Got a leak? I can fix any sink and patch any pipe!”
Effective Title: “Experienced Plumber: I can fix any sink & repair any pipe”
The second title is more effective because it uses more key words (plumber, experienced, fix, sink, repair) than the original title. More people are likely to find this post because the title describes what they are looking for.
The next thing to worry about is what experience you have. It’s pertinent to mention how many years you’ve used this particular skill and whether or not you have a degree or certificate in the field.
If it’s applicable you should provide people with examples of your work. This can be a link to an external website that features your work or just pictures that you upload to Craigslist.
Lastly you should provide your contact information. In a résumé it’s important to have the contact information at the top but this is an internet sales ad and they’re read completely differently.
Avoid putting your full address or cell phone number in your contact information. It’s probably best to just leave your business e-mail and it’s completely acceptable to use the anonymized e-mail that Craigslist provides; just mention that so people know they can reach you that way.