How To Use Craigslist as an Internet Marketing Strategy
Table of contents for Internet Marketing Strategies
- 7 Basic Rules for Internet Marketing
- Free Internet Marketing Strategies to Avoid
- How To Use Craigslist as an Internet Marketing Strategy
- Is Ezine Advertising a Hidden Gem for Internet Marketers?
Are Free Classified Ads Effective for Internet Marketing?
I received a spam email today promoting an ebook about Craigslist that described the free classified ad site as a "hidden goldmine."
I had to laugh. While some marketers have had success with Craigslist and other high-traffic classified ad sites such as USFreeAds, keep in mind that with any free advertising on the internet:
- you have to work hard at it
- you have to post a lot of ads on a daily basis
- you have to write effective ads
- you need to follow a strategy or system
If you are on a tight budget and have lots of time, try this strategy for Craigslist:
For affiliate and network marketers, the main challenge on Craigslist is preventing your ads from being flagged/deleted. Craigslist uses ebots that scan ads for similar text and when they find one, out it goes!
One way around this is to create ads as images. Craigslist ebots cannot see text saved as an image.
Here is a link to a "confidential" video that shows you how to create image ads and post them to Craigslist:
Video: Craigslist Power Posting
Additional Tips for Craigslist
- I don't think it's necessary to register for an account with Craigslist which means that you'll just have to click a confirmation link sent to the email address you used when you placed the ad
- open up a free image hosting account at Photobucket as described in the video above
- you can convert text to an image file (jpeg) at http://convert.neevia.com
- write 30 subject lines (headlines) for your ad. Tips: avoid using words like “click here”, “look at”, “check out”, “go here”, go to”. Craigslist doesn't like these words and may block your ad. Put different symbols, numbers or characters (such as: ###; ***) before or after your subject lines to make each one look different.
- using a different IP adress will prevent Craigslist from bumping your ad. Your IP Address is a string of numbers based on the exact location of your computer and internet connection. You can always check to see what your IP address is by going to www.whatismyipaddress.com.
- a convenient way to hide your IP address is by downloading the software at http://www.change-ip-address.com
- post exactly 10 ads per day to Craigslist using different email accounts, subject lines, and ad content (unless you use image ads as described in the video above)
- you may be able to get away with posting more ads if you change your IP address
- follow this format:
Day 1 - Post 10 different ads to 10 cities
Day 2 - Post 10 different ads to 10 cities
Day 3 - Post 10 different ads to 10 cities
Day 4 and on - Repeat the above sequence (you can repost the same ad(s) every 48 hours, hence the 3 day sequence).
- here are the best cities and countries with the most traffic to place ads:
1. San Francisco
2. Miami
3. Los Angeles
4. Chicago
5. Washington DC
6. Phoenix
7. Toronto
8. New York City
9. Seattle
10. Houston
11. Boston
12. San Diego
13. Dallas
14. United Kingdom
15. Australia
- post your ads mid-day if possible
The best categories to place your ads are:
Jobs Offered - Sales
Jobs Offered - Real estate
Jobs Offered - Marketing
Services Offered - Small Biz Ads
Services Offered - Real estate
For Sale - Businesses
Discussion Forums - Jobs or Money
The key to this whole process is writing ads that will get noticed.
This will be another topic in this series.
However, for now, I suggest looking at current ads for similar products and opportunities on Craigslist, USFreeAds, and Google Adwords.
Notice what perks your interest and would make you want to click on the ad.
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January 18th, 2008 at 6:39 am
Hi there!
Thanks for the great information. I really need this guide. I browse on the internet, suddenly, I found this great information that I find recently. Thanks once again for providing
this info for free. I am newbie and glad to learn more from you.
Thanks.
Asian Newbie
February 2nd, 2008 at 9:24 am
Great info Mark. I think the most important thing you pointed out is ad copy: Adwords will always have the best converting adcopy around.
Just as an FYI, this info is sold as a $19.95 ebook
It just confirms my theory I preach on my blog: all information can be found for free and there are no "secrets"!
February 2nd, 2008 at 11:31 am
@Bryan - "secrets" has become such an overused word in IM - but I have used it recently to provide info as opposed to selling it…..
February 28th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
you may use automated craigslist search tool
http://www.craigspal.com
It is developed to provide craigslist feed on demand. With gazillion of features.
March 2nd, 2008 at 11:41 am
This is really so great.
I've read so many tutorials about how to use Craigslist that just didn't work.
This video is right on workable.
Thanks so much.
Bob
http://www.4-ideal-health.com
March 2nd, 2008 at 12:09 pm
@ Bob - Yes, I think this is very workable as well. I like using systems like this. Thanks for your response!