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You are here: Home / Business / It Doesn't Have to Be Modern to Win – The Works

It Doesn't Have to Be Modern to Win – The Works

chrisbrogan · August 24, 2012 ·

I need to get a cleaning service in to give my place a really thorough cleaning. I decided to check on Craigslist, and came across this headline:

RE:”The Most Thorough Maid Service EVER Or you Pay $0″ Marli (Last 2 Spots On My Schedule For Friday M)

It was utterly unlike the rest of the ads in the whole section of Craigslist. If I’m lucky, it’s still up and this link will let you look at it yourself. If not, I have to paste some screen captures of some of Marli’s brilliance:

This is the first thing you see in the ad:

a list of reasons why she is worth it

If I had any worries, that list pretty much covered the major ones, and I felt willing to proceed. But this page was super long and filled with more information like this:

an ad graphic for the cleaning lady

This is visually a bit cheesy, and yet, I see a human face, I see information I need to proceed, and I have even more sense that this woman should have my business.

And more?

one of several testimonials

The post is steeped in lots of yellow highlighter, just like every bad sales page you’ve ever seen. But she’s using it with tons of testimonials. And in every testimonial, she has either a picture of herself, a picture of the people she serves, or both! This testimonial says “over 2 years” on it, showing that she has longevity.

Marli has serviced this customer for over 2 years

Next to last, it was interesting that she had lots of pictures of her cleaning. It was like, “This is what it will look like when I’m working with you,” though she never says that.

marli is cleaning

And lastly, she had some really old timey SEO-ish links at the bottom of the post like this:

a huge list of html links

Ugly? Yes. Better for search results? Probably.

So Why Are You Highlighting and Praising This UGLY Page on Craigslist, Chris?

Because Marli got me to take an action. I contacted her via email. Immediately, I got two auto responses back saying that I’d been received and that they hoped I included my phone number (as had been requested several times in the copy – I did!). It felt very pro to me.

Now, furthermore, it’s important to realize that there are plenty of “typical” plain text ads before and after this. Each of them have their merits and detractions. But Marli? She BURIED me in testimonials. She answered several questions before I even contacted her. She provided me with phone numbers, email addresses, websites, and much more. She gave me everything and asked for my business. She even had a special offer!

You don’t have to be some Pinterest guru to do business. You have to work. You have to put your information out there in a way that will ensure a buyer will take an action. You have to follow up. Marli did all this in spades. And for that, she wins my business.

How are you working to win your buyer’s business?

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