I’m regularly asked by readers and local business owners for assistance in helping spread the word out about any number of things: a store event, an item for sale, a found pet, etc. And while I do my best to announce as many local events as possible, I don’t always have the time or space to post everything that comes into my Inbox.
So, for the past couple months I’ve been working diligently behind-the-scenes to create a brand new resource on the site: Decatur Metro Classifieds.
I’m hoping this new page will complement the main page, serving as a go-to spot for learning about local store events, browsing a neighbor’s items for sale (Beer Fest tickets perhaps?), perusing local real estate, or scoping out the area’s garage sales.
Posting a 15-day text ad costs only $10, while a 30-day text ad costs just $15. You can add up to 4 pics to either the 15 or 30 day ad for just $5 more. I’ve also included a dedicated “business announcements” section for local businesses trying to get the word out about a new product or upcoming event ($30 for a 30-day ad with up to 4 pics), along with a dedicated real estate section with room for extra pics ($40 for a 30-day ad with up to 6 pics). There’s also a free 15-day lost-and-found option with up to 2 pics for lost pets and other items. All ads are submitted to me for approval and a credit card payment is easily processed through PayPal.
As an added bonus, not only will your ad appear in the Classifieds section, accessible in the toolbar at the top of the page, but will also be featured for a time on DM’s main page under in the “Latest Classifieds” section (found in the left sidebar just underneath the “Recent Comments”). The other cool feature is that unlike Craigslist or your local newspaper classifieds, you’ll actually be able to view, in real time, how many times your ad has been clicked-on by readers.
At present, Decatur Metro averages over 1,600 visits and nearly 4,000 pages views a day. And with over 80% of those visits coming from Decatur, Atlanta and DeKalb, DM Classifieds really allows you to target a local audience to get your message out.
Why charge for this new service? Two main reasons…
First, if successful, I believe that charging a fee for classifieds can make this section more valuable to general readership by limiting the service to only those who are serious enough to pay to list their offerings. Free classifieds like Craigslist are great for a lot of reasons (OK, mostly because its free), but any reader that ventures over there must also tolerate all garbage posts that comes along with “free”. And there are lots of folks out there, myself included, who don’t want to skim through the rubbish, and are missed as potential buyers.
The other reason for the charge is that DM Classifieds is just the first step in my initiative to determine whether this local news site could ever sustain itself financially. There are some examples of other financially successful local news “blogs” in other U.S. cities, but none yet in Atlanta. This is my first way of testing the waters.
I firmly believe that a site that is able to support itself financially is an even greater asset to the community than one that it is held up solely by one individual’s part-time passion/obsession. The former is a much more durable and formidable model than the latter.
Anyway, even if you don’t have an dusty, antique dining table waiting to be sold in your attic or an upcoming event to announce, please take a moment and check out the new classifieds page. I’ve even provided a few example posts for your perusal.
Happy browsing!
Another great benefit: Maybe people will stop littering the neighborhood with leaflets.
One can hope…
will there be any erotic services advertising opportunities? (wink!)
LMAO! Nicely played, Brad Steel.
Good luck on making any money with a blog,
much less turning some kind of profit. A business
where everything’s free is a tough biz model.
Not as tough as some make it sound hack. There are a bunch of really strong models out there…just none in this city.
It’s all about eyeballs and an underserved market.
But isn’t this (more or less) the same business model that newspapers and broadcast TV have now? I don’t recall having to pay to watch CSI or America’s Next Top Model, nor have I ever paid for a copy of Creative Loafing (insert obligatory joke about getting what you pay for) . It’s true that most major dailies charge for a copy, but it’s a pretty nominal amount, certainly nowhere near the actual cost of the content. Anyway, free, or nearly free content, subsidized by paid advertisers is a tried and true business model.
I found a beautiful set of imaginary end tables at the Garage Sale in Made Up Decatur neighborhood!
OK, what the heck? I’ll give it a shot!!!
Thanks for being the first classified poster sleight! YOU ROCK!!
I just added a “Wanted” category to the Classifieds section per a reader’s suggestion.
Also, a couple other general notes.
1. I forgot to mention another nifty feature: all ads can be edited by their creator after they have been posted. Upon payment you will receive an email that gives you a key code and instructions on how to make any needed edits.
2. The classifieds do accept html, but if you want to include a link to a website you MUST include ” http:// ” at the beginning of your URL for it to be recognized by the software.