by Christopher Jay

I am sure you like the word “free”. Getting more business to your restaurant 100% free has got to excite you. Maybe you don’t know much about how to use the Internet to get more patrons to eat at your establishment. Maybe you think it’s difficult.

Well, after you read this article you will learn that using the Internet is very easy to quickly increase your restaurant business. Not only is what I teach you free, the best part is you can see a quick “bump” in business to your restaurant in the next 30-days or less. Just use all the tools I mention in this article and watch the revenue of your business jump.

In Part 1 of this two part series, I will discuss the 5 major online classified sites that get a massive amount of traffic and you can post your simple ad to each of them 100% FREE: craigslist.com, backpage.com, pennysaverusa.com, epage.com, and ebayclassifieds.com.

In Part 2, I will discuss how to use one particular website (the name being withheld to compel you to look out for the second part of this series) – to post your classified ad to MILLIONS of online viewers with one click of a button. Don’t worry, this isn’t some spam website or a website I own or a website I get paid to promote. The site is 100% free to use and is used by major real estate brokerage firms like Re/Max, Long & Foster, Keller Williams, etc.

Let’s get back to how to use free online classified ads to get more business to your restaurant in the next 30-days. Before you start posting your ads, you need to know how to quickly write a classified ad. Most classified ads I see online stink. Yes, they stink, and therefore they don’t get a lot of attention. Your ad needs to leap off the page and scream, “Look, I have benefits for you, click on me!”

There are 3 main parts to a good classified ad: Headline, body, call to action.

I don’t have lots of room in this article to expand all the ins and outs of writing ads, but let’s keep this simple and stick with the basics so you don’t feel too intimidated about writing your own ads.

Headline

The headline of your ad needs to draw the reader to click on the ad. To accomplish this task, the ad must show a benefit. For example: “Get Your Dinner 50% Off This Friday Only!” or “FREE Childs Entrée When You Order 2 Adult Entrees!”

Think of 5 or 6 great benefits or specials you can offer patrons to get them into your restaurant and use that as your headline.

Body

The body of your ad should quickly expand on the benefit mentioned in the headline. List all specials your restaurant offers. List drinks specials, meal specials, etc. Give the days and times you are open. Mention where they can park and list the address and phone number of your restaurant. If you have a website, great, list the website here.

Call To Action

This is the part of your ad where you tell your reader what they should do next. People are like sheep, they need someone to tell them what to do. Use phrases like: “Visit our website at YOUR-RESTAURANT-WEBSITE-NAME  right now!” or “Go to YOUR-RESTAURANT-WEBSITE-NAME  to get more details on our entrée specials NOW!”

Now that you know how to write a classified ad, you need to start posting your ad on the various free classified ad sites. For each site you need to first register. Once you register, you should post your ad in the proper category. If you post your ad in the wrong category, you will get zero new business.

Craigslist.com

On craigslist, I would post under “Services” in the “Household” category. Women normally look in this category and women make the food decisions in the house. Your restaurant should be mentioned in this category so that women know what specials your restaurant offers.

On craigslist, you can post 3 ads per day. You should develop three different ads, changing the headline/title and the words preceding your website address. This will cause craigslist to see each ad as different. You should post one ad around 9am, your second ad around 1pm and our third ad around 6pm. Then, you should re-post 3 days later.

Backpage.com

On backpage, you can post under “Services” in the “Cleaning” or “Health/Beauty” category. The food at your restaurant is healthy, isn’t it? Give your ad a slight health benefit angle to justify posting in the “Health/Beauty” section. Women are constantly looking in these sections. You should only post one ad a day on backage because your ad will stay on the front page much longer. Re-post your ad 3-days later.

Pennysaverusa.com

This site is unique for restaurant owners because they have a “Restaurant” category you can post in. The sections are American, Chinese, Pizza, Mexican, etc. You can even post in multiple categories if your restaurant serves Mexican/American food. I recommend you also post a nice photo of your restaurant at this site because most ads have no photo, therefore, your ad will stand out and get more attention. Post to this website once a week.

epage.com

At epage, look for the “Services” section and post in the “Home” category. Post to this website once a week.

ebayclassifieds.com

At ebay classifieds (the old “Kijii” classified site), look for the “Services” section and post your ad in the “Beauty & Health” section. Remember, give your ad a healthy eating angle to post in this section. Post to this website once a week.

When you follow all the tips in this article, you should see a slight bump in the number of patrons who frequent your restaurant, and best of all, it costs you nothing to post to these websites. It will take some time to post on a regular basis. You should make it a goal to post your ads on a regular basis to these sites. Don’t make one or two posts and claim it doesn’t work. Post to all of these sites for the next 30-days according to the schedule I gave you.

When patrons visit your restaurant or call to get more details, ask them how they found your restaurant because you need to know how well your postings are working. Make sure you visit this website or read this newsletter next time to get Part 2 of this series on using online classifieds to get more business to your restaurant in the next 30-days…100% free.