Craigslist, the “free classifieds” site that offers community advertising in 570 markets worldwide but charges only for a tiny percentage of its ads, will generate $100 million in revenue in 2009, the AIM Group / Classified Intelligence estimated today.
That’s an increase of more than 23 percent from Craigslist’s estimated revenue of $81 million in 2008, making clear that the company continues to grow significantly while many classified advertising publishers are reporting year-over-year drops of 50 percent or more in certain categories.
This is remarkable, as Craigslist climbs into prominence nationally, not just based on their lean operations (only 30 employees) but also using their own community, unpaid citizens who simply want to interact with each other for free, to build that prominence. I use craigslist often, and am often surprised at the high quality interactions that I have with other people who use craigslist. Typically, they are somewhat well educated, middle class people who are simply looking for a good deal.
From a business perspective, I did not realize that they had incorporated as a for-profit entity in 1999 (back before that when I worked in San Francisco, they were a non profit). As a business, they paint a picture of how to succeed during a recession – give people something they want (product/service listings) cheaper and faster than anyone else. Doing it with a streamlined team doesn’t hurt your bottom lines either.
Posted via web from OverLinked
