Craigslist is an online classifieds site. You can find just about anything on Craigslist, and when you get creative you can use it to help your photography business grow with jobs, photo assistants, props, and, and, and… Craigslist can be a real lifesaver.

A quick explanation of craigslist

This classifieds site separates its listings by city, which ensures your the  listings you see are nearest you. If you happen to need something particular when going out of the area, you can simply navigate to the nearest city or even other countries.

Within a city, craigslist sub-divides the classifieds into particular sections: community, personals, discussion forums, housing, for sale, services, gigs, and resumes, jobs. In most instances, Craigslist is completely free, only charging for job postings (but one-time ‘gig’ listings are free) and car sales.

A post on craigslist is usually anonymous. Craiglist will take care of masking your email so you won’t get spammed or hounded by people should you change your mind and decide not to sell. However, when responding to an ad or an inquiry about your own ad, your email is not hidden. If you prefer, it is socially acceptable on craigslist to require contact by phone number.

When I use Craigslist…

At one time or another, I’ve used nearly all of classifieds sections to help build my business, find additional work, or make my job easier. I suggest that you take some time looking in the different sections of craigslist to figure out how it might be useful. Here are some ways that I’ve used craigslist for my photography in the recent past:

Community > Artists: This is a place where you list events, items, or other requests related to the art community. I have used this posting in a couple ways.

• On a trip to California, I asked for recommended things to photograph near the place I was staying. I was sure to post in the classifieds for the city I was visiting, and I received several helpful responses.
• I have found postings by art galleries looking to feature artists. Some of these postings have led to me having a gallery showing at a new location I didn’t know was looking for artists.
• Under community you might also use ‘classes’ to look for local photo classes or even list your own.

Shot at a location recommended on craigslist. © Lindsay Adler

For Sale> Wanted: I sometimes have required unusual props. The wanted section will help you find usual things. I’ve asked for, (and got) an antique chair, a large wooden framed mirror, and old military memorabilia. People will contact you if they have what you are looking for. Feel free to negotiate. I recently did a promotion event where I used baby ducklings in a photoshoot… and guess where I found the ducklings! I seem to find everything on craigslist.

Jobs> Art/Media/Design: I periodically scan this section to see if there are any creative jobs listed. For aspiring photographers, you might find jobs for photo assisting, working at a studio or photo-related jobs. This section is intended for actual employment, not just one-time jobs.

Services> Creative: This is an area where you can list your photography business. A lot of photographers already list their information here, so you need to be sure to stand out. What sets you apart from the rest? Be sure to include this in the title.

It’s a good idea to use this area to list just specialized services like sports photography for local teams or pet photography.

Gigs> Event: When I opened my studio, life was too crazy to handle all the promotion that was involved. Craigslist solved the problem. I put out an ad in the events section calling for promoters for my event, explaining that I would need people to give tours of the studio, walk around the festival that was taking place the same weekend to bring people into the studio, to approach families with promotional materials, and help organize the duckling photo shoots. In exchange for their help all day (9-4) I provided my assistants with a photo shoot of their choice. They got a CD with 5 retouched images.

The response was overwhelming. In the end, I hired five very nice young women to help me out for the day. The day went much smoother with their help and I know they brought in tons of business from the street/festival activities. Notice that hiring them for the day cost me NO money and I was able to choose from a wide variety of job candidates.

Duckling :) © Lindsay Adler

Gigs> Creative: This is a great area to find short-term jobs. If someone needs a photographer for a sporting event, or local award ceremony, or a few products shots, they will often list the need here. When I am doing model portfolios or fashion shoots, I might also list the need for a hair and makeup artist in this section. Under gigs, you might also check the talent section to find models to practice your portraiture techniques on.

The sections listed above are just the most common sections I browse or post to but I can think of dozens of reasons why photographers might use other sections (consider the photo + video of the for sale section, or the lessons section of services).

*This post is adapted from an article in Professional Photographer Magazine written by Lindsay*