Craigslist - Personal Trainer Community - Forum

[Aurelian]

Anyone post an ad on Craigslist? What kind of interest did you receive?

[Dinah]

Oooh, I'm glad you posted this question! I was thinking about doing this, but some people have scared me with stories about unsavory characters answering the ads and committing unsightly acts.

[Aurelian]

you meet them at a public location to size them up!

[ptjustinbowers]

Anyone post an ad on Craigslist? What kind of interest did you receive?

I receive 40% of my clientell from Craigslist. Most of my business, however, comes from search engine results to my webpage.

I must say-- I've had to weed out the shady characters, but I look at it as part of the job. If I were to open up a studio, I would sometimes get less than ideal people walking through the door. It's a chance you have to take in order to find the great clients.

I've had one client for FOUR YEARS now, and he found me on Craigslist. He's a three day a week client and has always been great. Wouldn't have gotten him without posting an ad on CL.

Go for it-- what have you got to lose? In my experience, listing a phone number is a no-no on CL. Instead, redirect the ad to your web-page. This way, you can filter out potentially odd folks from getting your contact information. Those that are serious about personal training will put forth the effort to go to your web-site.

Also, this is a very controversial topic but in my experience advertising on CL for PT, (more than 5 years)... list your prices. I know a lot of trainers live by the code "Don't tell them the price until you get them in front of you" but CL is a different animal. People shopping on CL are looking for a deal-- and if you don't list your price up-front on CL, they will ignore your ad and move on to the next trainer.

Go for it-- what have you got to lose? It's all part of the business. If you don't want to take chances on something as simple as whether or not to post to a classified site, you'll never take potentially life-changing decisions down the road.

Do it! Take chances and risks! That's what being a personal trainer and eventually setting your own goals is all about!

-Justin

[Christina]

Good stuff, Justin. Thanks for all the info! I chuckled when you said that people on Craig's List are looking for a deal. Have you tried to sell anything on there besides personal training? Those people are hard core! LOL!

For the record you guys, I know Joe Cannon has gotten clients from Craig's List. I'll drop him a line with a link to this post. Maybe he can add a few things as well.

Christina

[Joe Cannon MS CSCS]

I have used craigs list with good results. here are some tips

1. look at the others who post in your area. what area are they posting in (many trainer post in sporting good or health and beauty)

2. make up another email (yahoo gmail etc). don't list your primary email or you'll get spam sent there. if you have a website, just list he website and make them go there. that may cut down on spam robots.

3. don't give your phone # (or cell) or you'll get calls and goodness knows who collects your phone # and uses it to send you spam texts etc..

4. when you write your email look how others are doing it - and do the opposite. Use good spelling and punctuation (write your post in MS word and copy to CL). I write my posts in bullets which seems to get more attention -and is easier to read.

Here is an example of the CL listing I usually post Personal Trainer & Exercise Physiologist

5. add a picture to your post. it can be of you but it doesn't have to be. it can be your company logo or it can just be one of the stock pics that came with your computer. people click on ads that have pictures more.

I hope this helps
Joe

[ptjustinbowers]

I agree! I've found that I can put my phone number on my CL posts, decrease spam, and have a picture-- all at the same time. What I do is open up Microsoft Paint and create a small picture with my phone number in it for people to call. Since it's not text and is in image form, those pesky bots can't read it. When I post it to CL, I just add that as my picture and VOILA!