Craigslist - Get Paid to Promote Your Society

• Introduction
• Getting Started
• Filling out the Post Form
• Create a Hyperlink
• Example Posts
• Notes
• Article For Your Society Newsletter
• Advertise Upcoming Meetings
• Conclusion

This is the webpage companion for an article that I wrote on how plant societies can benefit when members sell their extra plants on Craigslist.

Craigslist has quickly gained in popularity as an easy to use website where plant enthusiasts can sell or trade their extra plants for free.  There is no need to worry about shipping because everything on Craigslist is local.  With so many gardeners and plant lovers in one central place, plant societies should be aware of the potential publicity benefit of encouraging members to sell their extra plants on Craigslist.  The publicity is generated when society members mention that a generous discount is available for other society members.   Doing so would help local plant folk...

1. learn about the society
2. have an incentive to join

This guide is oriented to my society, the OSSC, so certain items will need to be adapted for other societies.

 

Visit http://losangeles.craigslist.org/ and navigate to the posting page... post to classifieds > for sale > farm & garden > choose the area closest to you

 

• Posting Title - The scientific or common name of the plant offered for sale
• Price -  Generally, people on Craigslist are expecting prices lower than Armstrongs or the Home Depot garden center.  Even if your plant is rare, unusual or exotic people only have a one week window of opportunity to visit Craigslist and search for your plant...unless they subscribe to a Craigslist search for that plant via RSS.
• Specific Location - Your city/town/area...ie Hollywood, Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, Eagle Rock, Mt. Washington, Los Feliz, Silverlake, etc.
• Reply To - Your e-mail address will not be displayed if you select anonymize.  Instead, Craigslist will display an anonymous e-mail address for people to reply to.  If you select hide then you will have to include some other method of contact.
• Select anonymize (default)
• Posting Description -  Write a short description of your plant and mention that a discount is available for members of the OSSC flickr group or fans of the OSSC page on facebook.  To add hyperlinks to your description use the hyperlink creator tool.  
• Add / Edit Images - You can add up to four images.  Members of flickr can easily display their photos in the Posting Description section by copying and pasting the html for their photos which is found on the "All Sizes" page for the flickr photo.

 

Craigslist allows basic HTML in the posting description area so you can create hyperlinks to the OSSC flickr group and the OSSC facebook page.  Here is a simple tool to create the html for the links.  Be sure to include the http:// prefix for all page URLs.  A preview of your hyperlink will be displayed for you to click on to verify that your link works.  If it works then copy the code and paste it into the Craigslist posting description section.     

 

Here are a few of the posts that I have made on Craigslist.  A few of these were posted prior to the start of the OSSC facebook page.  Even though the facebook page was only recently created, it seems that it is by far the most accessible method for Craigslist folk to connect with the OSSC.

• Aglaonaria robertsi
• Dendrobium secundum alba
• Goldon Lotus Banana
• Epiphyllum oxypetalum and Epiphyllum strictum
• Manihot esculenta - Tapioca Plant
• Monstera deliciosa

 

If the plant you are selling is not an orchid then only mention the society's acronym...OSSC...NOT the entire society name.  Generally, people aren't too happy to find non-orchids when they conduct a search for "orchid".

Do not overpost...some people post the same plants week after week and often get flagged for overposting.  However, it's perfectly ok to post a new plant every day.  If a plant you posted doesn't sell the first time then wait a couple months, lower your price and try again.

When somebody visits be friendly!  Offer them a tour of your garden and especially of your orchids.  Have some OSSC flyers on hand to offer them.  Be generous!  Offer them some cuttings or seeds of plants that they show interest in.

Try and delete your post as soon as somebody picks up your plant.

I highly recommend not including your address or e-mail in your post description.  Read this...please return the Cymbidiums...Craigslist post as an example of why you should not include your address.  That doesn't happen too often but just in terms of opportunity to promote your society,  it's better to schedule a time to meet the person even if you are just giving away some extra plants.

Be safe when visiting people to check out their plants for sale.  Always let somebody know where you are going and if possible bring a friend along.  

 

Newsletter editors are welcome to download the article I wrote on this subject and publish it in your next newsletter.  I recommend reading through the article and customizing it for your location and society...

Get Paid To Promote Your Society (Microsoft Word)

After the article is published in your newsletter it's probably a good idea to think about modifying your visitor sign in sheet to keep track of how many visitors heard about the society through Craigslist.  For example, here is the OSSC sign in sheet...

OSSC Visitor Sign In Sheet (Microsoft Word)

 

If there is one thing that orchid people love...it's buying orchids.  People will drive for hours to attend shows to have the opportunity to purchase a wide variety of orchids.  Does anybody drive for hours to participate in the raffle drawings that they sometimes have at shows?  Not sure how it happened but, even though our auction is our most well attended event (we don't have an annual sale) and even though the raffle table consistently loses money...the raffle table is considered sacrosanct.   Well, at least in my society.

The only possible explanation that I can think of is that the raffle table is the orchid society equivalent of bingo.  And if there is one thing that older people love...it's playing bingo. 

So if you present the following ideas to your orchid society board and encounter an unusual amount of resistance...you won't be scratching your head in confusion.  Actually, it's a pretty quick way to differentiate the bingo people from the orchid people.  To review, bingo people love playing bingo while orchid people love buying orchids.

Here are two ways to help get Craigslist green thumbs to monthly meetings.  The first way is, instead of having the Craigslisters go to your home to see your extra plants, they can go to your next society meetings to see your extra plants.  To help you decide where it's more likely that the Craigslister will contract orchid fever, consider the following questions...

1. How interesting is the next topic?
2. How interesting is the next speaker?
3. Are you friendlier than most of your society members?
4. Will there be more orchids in bloom at your house or at your society meeting?

From the Craigslister's perspective...somebody who is shy is probably more likely to prefer visiting your home versus having to walk into a room full of strangers.  On the other hand, somebody who lives closer to your society meeting place or would feel safer meeting in a public place is more likely to prefer meeting at your society. 

Hopefully your board will appreciate that attracting plant loving visitors to meetings is priceless and will not vote against offering companion plants such as Tillandsias for sale at meetings or ask for a percentage of sales revenue.   Orchids and other plants for sale at meetings provides value for members just like having a speaker does.  It's self-defeating for a society to tax things that add value for members.  Even if somebody does not find a presentation topic interesting they will be more likely to attend a meeting if they can find good deals on interesting plants.  Increasing value for members yields higher retention rates and encourages people to join the society. 

The second method of attracting Craigslisters to meetings is to encourage speakers to 1. bring a wide variety of orchids for a sales table and 2. send an approximate list of those orchids at least a week in advance.  The society's publicity chair can then post that orchid sales list on Craigslist a week prior to the meeting to help encourage Craigslist orchid people to attend the meeting.  The society benefits by having more visitors and the speaker benefits by having more customers.

 

A few days ago I posted 3 of my extra Apple Bananas on Craigslist.  The first lady to pick one up was in her early 30s, the second lady was 20 and the third guy was 17!!  Two of them became fans of the OSSC facebook page.  If anybody says that younger folk do not have the time or interest in plants then they probably haven't sold many plants on Craigslist. 

The trend seems to be that technology is moving at a lot faster pace than most societies can keep up with.  It's survival of the fittest time where societies either adapt and survive or stagnate and go extinct.  Orchid forums and websites such as flickr, facebook and craigslist are facilitating the creation of connections between plant enthusiasts.  These modern networks are forming all around plant societies but there are precious few bridges connecting the two.  There is a lot of value stored in plant societies and it can be saved by society members making the effort to help create bridges between the two groups.  Hopefully this guide and article will help provide straightforward instructions on how Craigslist can be used to connect the knowledge and experience of the old with the youthful enthusiasm of the new.  

If you have any questions, corrections, comments or suggestions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Carlos Cruz

21 August 2009