Is Craigslist dead...Did I miss the funeral?

Hey, your biggest fan Steve here with a killer guest post from my private coaching client Jonathan Acosta from Get Sexy Boot Camps in San Antonio Texas.

You may remember Jonathan for being the dude who got 1255 NEW CLIENTS in one day from Groupon.com.

Well, he's also getting a ton of new clients from Craigslist.

And when you read his guest post, you'll understand why Craigslist is DEAD to some fitness professionals and kicking ass for others.

So without further ado, Here's Jonathan Acosta

In the beginning, Craig Newmark created Craigslist.........

In year 2009 Craigslist was pronounced DEAD!

The next year, on the 3rd day It rose again!

After that there was one person who was CHOSEN. The prophet Jen (my awesome girlfriend) was given 10 commandments to revive the way trainers advertise on craigslist.

Here are the scriptures of Jonathan:

( Ha ha that was pretty cool huh! Any way here are the 10 craigslist commandments)

1st Commandment -Have an attention getting subjectline

I know a subjectline is important as everyone already knows but, most trainers are doing it completely old school.

Heres an example:

Come join our #1 bootcamp..... Or you've seen, Best personal trainer in town.

That's way better than some other ones that are plain like personal trainer or affordable bootcamp, but its still old school.

(The headline should be the number 1 reason why people click on your ad)

Try using whats hot right now, heres an example of some of our best ones:

Get A butt like kim kardashian in 30 days!....or another of our best, How Michelle Obama got those amazing arms (what 93% of trainers don't know)

Those have been some of our highest clicked ad titles. Play with some headlines and find out what works for your area.

2nd Commandment -Once you have their attention then you have to deliver the content!

There's nothing worse than having someone excited about your Subjectline only for them to click and get disappointed.

That'll leave a bad taste in their mouth and anytime they see your posts they'll automatically associate crap with your name.

Explain the title. Just in a few short sentences explain why your services differ from the others out there or address their problems.

Heres another example:

"Attention your city ! At the moment hundreds of you are annoyed by the way you look and feel, well I'm here to ask you, if given the chance would you be willing to trust me as I help you achieve all your weight loss goals?"

3rd Commandment -Let then know it's all about THEM.

People dont care if you're NASM certified or were in the army or a pro bodybuilder.

They wanna know if you care about their goals and their results, so for once dont talk about yourself.

4th Commandment - Have TESTIMONIALS!!!!!!

With all the scams out there most people need to see proof.

Your testimonials are going to be your biggest tool to getting new clients.

Before and after pics are awesome, its hard physical evidence that you know your sh*t!

Even if you dont have any before and after pics use written testimonials and just put a pic of your client next to it.

I know its not a before and after pic but it takes the whole scam aspect out of prospects mind, theyre able to put a face to a testimonial.

5th Commandment - Know your ideal client

It sounds rough but sometimes this really works. Point out some of your prospects insecurities or flaws. If you know your target market is self concious about their butt then address it.

Write something like "ever wonder why your butt doesnt look like kim kardashians? Wanna know how yours can look the same without cosmetic surgery and at a fraction of the cost?"

It hits their hot buttons. Thats where you wanna be.

6th Commandment -Have a CALL TO ACTION

You have to have a HUGE call to action. Preferably something low barrier like a FREE week trial or Try a week for only $1 call now.

Put your phone number down and have them call you instead of email, it makes it way easier.

Also give them the option to text, lately what we've found is alot of people are more comfortable texting to find out info. Youd still wanna set up a phone call but its all baby steps.

7th Commandment -Use Scarcity

Create scarcity. Now this can work awesome for you if you do it right, or it could backfire if you do it wrong.

Ive seen so many other trainers ads who put the same boring "call now our spots are filling up fast". Or "hurry only 7 spots left", and that same trainer puts the same ad a week later.

It makes it look like nobody wants to join your program.

At least if youre gonna do that change the number the next time you post the ad.

Try to make your reason relatable like saying hey my facility only holds 13 people (15 max but it gets crowded) so this program is only for the next 13 people.

Then it gets your prospect to think your in demand and people are crowding to work with you.

8th Commandment - Use subliminal images

Subliminal images! They work.

A lot of people overlook them and dont see them as a big thing but they are important. Put a picture of a beach as your background if your prospects are looking to get fit for summer.

Or a finish line if your prospects are marathon runners. A good one that has worked for us is if you target moms then put a background image of women playing with their kids and having fun.

It automatically gives your prospect a need to become healthy to keep up with their kids.

9th Commandment - Keep your ads related to the place you post it. If youre facility provides FREE childcare then post on childcare and put something like "FREE childcare, now you have no excuse!"

Or one of the best ones Jen created was "A,B,C,D,E,F, G, We offer childcare all for FREE!" Then the rest of the ad said something like Q,R,S,T,U,V, come workout and you will see!

If you post under vacations then post something like "So your going on vacation huh? Is your body ready?".

10th Commandment -Post your ads like a mad man! You have to create a couple of accounts to do this but it helps. Keep posting multiple times in the day.

It always helps to be the first one your prospect sees.

BONUS: The 11th commandment is to make sure your ad is an image. It makes it easier to post multiple times and not get flagged.

If you can't make an image ad, then find someone who makes them.

This is one of the most important things.

Hey, Steve again...

The most killer info in the world doesn't mean squat unless you take massive action on it.

And to be SUPER COOL, Jonathan has offered to give his personal email to you if you have any questions...

You can email Jonathan Acosta at jacosta_fitness@hotmail.com and be sure to leave him a comment about what you thought about his post.

This entry was posted on September 4, 2010 at 8:43 pm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Posted in Uncategorized by Steve Hochman | 6 Comments