How to make money using craigslist

This blog is for construction workers can make money on craigslist.  Before I became a full time blogger, I worked in the construction industry for 30 plus years.  I got tired of working for other people and wanted to use my creative talent for building items that would pay me $500+ a week.  I created and used this system and made over $1,000 dollars a week building; Pergolas, Playscapes, Decks, Patio Covers, Outdoor Kitchens and Sun Rooms.

Here's how I did it : )

Since I had never built anything but commercial buildings, I went to Google Images and typed in Pergolas, and saved four pictures that I thought people would like and looked like I took the picture:

I then went to CL and opened my account and selected the area I wanted to work in.  Next I put the text in, which is very important how you word your ad:
"I'm a twenty-five year construction veteran and still love what I do.....build beautiful things for the good people of Austin.  I have some beautiful pergolas for sale and at half the cost of manufactures and contractors, and I can save you thousands when you supply the material.  Please contact me at 888-888-8888 or send me a reply and I'll get back with you as soon as possible.  Thank you for the opportunity to work!  Curt"

As I said before, I had not built a pergola before in my life and I had no idea how much they would cost.  Therefore, I told the customers that my cost was the same as the material, which worked out well because I worked alone. 

You have to put a price on CL when you post the ad, so I did a material take off of a 12' x 12' pergola and went to The Home Depot and priced it out.  Once I knew how much the material would be I stuck only that cost in cost box of the post.  For example: A 12'x12' Pergola will cost around $1,400 in material and that what I listed the price of the item.  Staining was extra and I figured my time at $200 dollars a day and would guess at the time it would take until I had the experience and tools to know exactly how long it would take. 

Your post will get deleted from time to time, because it is viewed as a service, so your objective is to keep posting ads after changing them up a bit.  Oh...post your ad in the "For Sale" and not the "Service".  You can do both, but the Items for sale do much better. 

You can repeat this same process for any item you want to build....and I mean any.  I worked for over two years getting all my jobs from Craigslist and you can too!  I forgot....Green houses are a great seller and you can get very creative with them...fun fun...  My largest contract from CL was $15,000 labor for a beautiful sun-room conservatory. 

Good luck and ask all the questions you want....I'm on-line all day now making money from blogging : ) It's much cooler working in my office and pays much better too : )  I'll write a post on how to make money from my blog next!