What Has Craig Done For You Lately?

What has Craig done for you lately?

Maybe the first question should be who is Craig? Is he the latest person to join your sales team? Is he someone that can help you implement your Occupancy Stimulus Plan? Is he someone that can put weekly or monthly business into your hotel? Is he someone that can help you grow your REVPAR through occupancy and increase your Extended Stay Occupancy? I am happy to report that the answer to ALL of the above questions is YES! I have even better news....he is available to work for your hotel 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year (sometimes 366) for FREE!!

Even though Craig is available and willing to sell for ALL of our properties, VERY few hotels are taking him up on his offer to sell for them at all times. Some hotels are using him once or twice a month and then forgetting to "renew" his services. Some hotels have only given him a limited opportunity by not promoting all that he can do to everyone. Some have completely forgotten him since he helped them out a few months ago.

Ok, I am sure most of you "sharp" people reading this ad are smart enough to figure out that I'm not talking about a person but I am referring to a Craig's List ad. A Craig's List ad can give your hotel immediate and long term business if it is thorough, refreshed & reposted every other day. We have literally had hundreds of rooms booked from CL ads and last week we had one hotel post an ad over the weekend, get 15 calls on Monday and book 5 rooms for at least 30 nights! With this kind of success I am surprised more of you "sharp" people aren't taking Craig up on his offer to sell for you at all times by keeping a current ad.

Below are instructions on how to post a CL ad. The instructions are followed by some tips and a Q & A section. Please contact me if you need help with your CL ad...I will be glad to help you.


Steps to post a Craig’s List Ad
(please call Michael Fortner at 919 740-7219 if you want assistance):

1. To place a Craig’s List (CL) ad go to www.craigslist.org.
2. Select your city or nearest city/region from the right hand side.
3. You will need to set up a user name and password. I recommend you use your email as the
user name and a password that is easy for you to remember.
4. Note: once you have an account set up and go to www.craigslist.org , it will bring you directly
to a page that displays the city you chose.
5. To place an ad click on “my account” once you have logged in.
6. Make sure your city appears in the box located at top right of your screen. If not you can click
the drop down arrow to change cities. This is very important to make sure your ad appears in
the right city.
7. Click “go” in the top right hand corner.
8. Then select housing offered to place an ad in the housing/apartment section (also might want
to consider putting an ad under sublets/temporary section and vacation rentals if you are a destination).
9. Note: The FIRST time you place an ad in the housing section it will take you through a
verification process and ask you to provide a number you can immediately be reached at (I
recommend your cell phone). The call is automated and it will give you a verification coed to
enter. Enter code & continue.
10. Click on apts/housing for rent.
11. Start entering your ad.
12. Be sure to put a title and the area you are in. ex Jacksonville/Bay Meadows, Fl
13. Type the content of your ad.
14. Enter a price in the $ section if you choose.
15. You can choose in the middle section to display your email, have a non-disclosed email people
can reply to (they will see your email if you reply back to their email) or not to use email as a
reply option.
16. If you choose to not use an email then BE SURE TO LIST A PHONE NUMBER or there will
be no way to contact you. My recommendation is to use an email that is not disclosed.
17. Click add images if you choose to display pictures of your property (I recommend pictures).
If you don’t display pictures no need to click add images; simply click continue.
18. If you use pictures it is best to resize your pictures to WEB LARGE size as this allows them
to be large enough to be seen but not take so long to load. Once you load your pictures (up to
four) click continue.
19. You will then be asked to enter a verification code and continue then you are done.
20. You can then click continue to craigslist, my account and you will see your ad.

Tips:
1. Put some thought into what you want to convey/feature in your ad. Involve your sales person
or look at other ads for ideas.
2. Show the benefits and features of your hotel and highlight such things as amenities, area
attractions, etc. Also, point out things such as no utilities, no leases, no deposits, no credit
checks, cable included, internet included, etc.
3. Be sure to repost you ad regularly or it will quickly get lost in the shuffle. I recommend you
change it at least every other day if possible. When reposting you ad copy it, paste it into a
new ad and then change the order of several phrases. There is a mimicking program that
won’t allow you to simply paste your ad the exact same way it was each day.
4. Try different types of ad titles/ads.
5. Some property’s like not mentioning it is a hotel until people respond to the ad. Some like to
be emailed. Some liked to be called. Some like to say up front they are a hotel. The main
thing is to place an ad and then see what works for you.
6. If you have a feeder city consider placing an ad in that city.
7. Call Michael Fortner if you have questions or want assistance.


Issues, Questions, Concerns that have come up from C.L. Postings

1. When I try to repost my ad an error message comes up and said a similar type of ad already appears.This is b/c a mimicking program exists that will keep you from reposting the same ad. All you need to do is copy the ad, paste it and then change around the order of words in the ad. EXAMPLE if original ad says “stove, refrigerator, microwave” then change the ad to say “microwave, stove, refrigerator”. Do this in three or four places in your and it will be accepted.
2. I can only load one picture or it takes a really long time to load my pictures. You can put up to four pictures on each ad. You need to open each picture and save it individually to your computer as a “web large” picture or smaller. After it is saved then upload it (call me if you need help).
3. I am receiving spam or scam emails. This happens with most internet ads at some point no matter what web site you use (it doesn’t just happen on C.L.). You can elect to not post your email and only put a phone number but you need to do one or the other (or both) so people can respond to your ad. My recommendation is to do both and just discard any spam or scam emails.
4. I haven’t received any calls or bookings from my ads. Try changing the title of your ad to appeal to a different segment. Try lowering the price on your ad. Try offering a different type of promo (offer weekly instead of monthly). Try adding more pictures of rooms or area attractions. The main thing is to make sure you have as many key words in your ad as possible. Ex. near beach, base, downtown, college, certain military base, amusement park, no lease, no contract, everything included, relocating, etc. Remember the more interest your ad creates the better your chances. Keep in mind there are multiple other ads similar to yours in the same price range so TRY TO STAND OUT OR BE UNIQUE!
5. My ad is no longer on the first page of ads in the housing section. Repost your ad REGULARLY. In some markets over 150 ads per day go up in apartment section. Some markets might only have a few ads per day so you need to repost you ad accordingly. I recommend at least reposting every other day. You can take turns reposting to share the responsibility. This is another reason to list in apartments and sublets/temporary section. This might seem like a lot of work but even if you had to take 10 minutes each day to repost and you get business from it is worth it and you have paid for the cost of your ad.