Open classifieds friends,
Evaluate your strengths first, before starting a Classifieds Website
The classifieds business is not the most complicated business in the world. Someone wants to sell something that he owns, to someone else. This might be physical product, but can be a service too. Also companies that need to hire staff can use a classifieds website. It is an exchange of something.
There a two different types of markets that have been proved to work good: high volume markets where many people have a lot to trade and niche markets which are focusing on a single category or even a single product. The latter is especially very useful for products that are hard to find and very specialized. Examples of markets that are called high volume markets are jobs, cars or housing. There is a big group of people offering these products or services and on the other side there also is a large group that is in need for the product that is offered. These markets will always exist.
Next to that we have the niche markets. An example could be a market for 2CV parts. This market has less buyers and sellers than a high volume market and is more specialized.
To evaluate your opportunity in a classifieds market, you first need to evaluate your strengths and compare those to the competition in the online classifieds market. We can assess the following points:
1. Existing Business
Do you or your company operate a marketplace offline? If the answer is “YES”, and you already have a shop where you sell goods or services offline, then you can use this to build your online classifieds business. This will help you to support your new online classifieds website and compete with already existing business that have an online marketplace.
2. Audience
Next is your audience. That are the buyers that you need to attract to your website. Ask yourself the question if you can provide more potential buyers to your online classified site than your competition? And how will you reach those buyers. Do you have access to media, where you can advertise yourself and make your classifieds website known for the public. In case you already have an existing offline business you can use that as a start for your audience. If your competition does not have this, you already have a competitive advantage in the pocket.
3. Sales
Can you provide more potential sellers to your classifieds website? In case you are a real estate agent you will have an advantage as you already know sellers who want to advertise on your site and publish their properties on your classifieds website. This will have benefits from both sides, as you as site owner will have ads on your website. The sellers will be able to reach a bigger audience when also advertising online.
4. Technology
Technology is another important aspect with which you can have a competitive advantage. You need to have a good understanding on how you can use technology to provide the best product? Perhaps your competitors are focusing on building websites that are made for viewing on a desktop computer or laptop. If your audience on the other hand prefers to use their mobile devices like a tablet or smartphone, you will have a competitive advantage when offering a responsive website or native app. Open Classifieds provides the possibility to create your classifieds with a responsive design and soon there will be native apps available too for both Android and iPhone.
5. Reputation/Brand
Does your company already have a good reputation or do you have a unique brand? Use this reputation and brand then! It will be great benefit for your online classifieds site, as buyers and sellers will be more likely to trust your website than other sites which don’t have that reputation.
6. Unique Knowledge
Last but not least we have unique knowledge. Is there something special about your market that gives you unique understanding about how buyers buy and sellers sell their products? The internet has created completely new markets over the past years, markets that didn’t exist offline. For example websites where people offer their services to do a small job. Those people are working freelance and without internet they would never had the possibility to sell their service to almost everyone. An example of a very successful new classifieds site that is offering this is Fiverr.com.
Got inspiration after this article? Think of your possibilities and start your own classifieds website with Open Classifieds!
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