Two years ago I decided to move from Russia to New York City to pursue the American dream. Back then I had to save every dollar that I had because my future was unclear. As a foreign citizen, I also didn’t have a work permit so I couldn’t have a work permit so I couldn’t be officially employed. That being said – there was no use for my degree in economics and finance. Passionate about entrepreneurship ( and having a huge ego ), I refused to take odd jobs or work as a waiter.
But I still had to pay my bills every month. I had to borrow money, month after month, until my debt reached over $5K. I needed to come up with an idea to not just make ends meet but to also get out of that miserable lifestyle.I recalled how I once fixed the broken screen on my Nokia cell phone. I decided to give it a try and started fixing electronics.
By watching YouTube, I learned how to fix iPhones and iPads and was ready to start helping humanity with their gadgets. The only problem was – where do I get customers?
The competition for electronics repair in NYC is rigorous. It isn’t a new niche and old established companies have been advertising in newspapers, magazines and online for years. How could I possibly compete with their marketing budgets? I had to act smart and apply some guerrilla marketing strategies.
I knew Craigslist as a website where you go if you need to find an apartment or a room to rent or if you want to buy something used but don’t have an eBay account. I tried to search for "IPhone repair" and found many different ads. If there was a supply, then there was a demand.
I posted a couple of ads offering cell phone repair. At that time I was just starting and didn’t know all the ins and outs of Craigslist posting.
All I had was three lines of ad copy and a stock picture of a cracked iPhone. Four ads resulted in 3 customers who weren’t even scared to meet with me on the street and go to my apartment where I fixed their iPhones( of course,I didn’t have money to pay for an office). Just a couple minutes of my time posting those 4 free ads resulted in hard cash. As an entrepreneur , you may be familiar with that feeling of making your first buck. I knew that I was into something big. Craigslist… Read more…
