Craigslist Craigslist Videos The Craigslist Community If you are not part of the Craigslist community, you may be missing out on a wealth of financial opportunities as well as the opportunity to learn more about the happenings in your local geographic community, the chance to debate important issues, the opportunity to meet potential friends or romantic partners and the ability to buy or sell items. Each month, Craigslist receives over four billion page views making it abundantly clear that the Craigslist community is an extensive one with many members around the world. This article will focus on just a few aspects of the Craigslist community including finding jobs, meeting friends, buying or selling items and discussing important issues. Finding Jobs on Craigslist One of the most well known uses of Craigslist is to find a job. These jobs can be permanent full time jobs, temporary jobs, contract positions and even telecommute positions. Those who are interested in finding a new and exciting career opportunity can browse through Craigslist and search for potential matches in a number of different categories and locations. In addition to browsing through the different categories included on Craigslist, job seekers can also use the search function to search through all of the categories for jobs which may have been placed in categories the job seeker did not consider browsing. Community members can also find potential jobs by posting their resume through Craigslist. There is a section dedicated to resumes in Craigslist and those who are interested in posting their resume can do so for any desired location. One secret to posting a resume that will gain attention is to include a descriptive headline for your resume. For example an administrative assistant looking for work in the medical field might consider posting a headline that reads, "Administrative Assistant in Medical Field" as opposed to "My Resume". This is helpful because those who are browsing the resumes in search of an administrative assistant are more likely to click on the first resume than the second because the aforementioned headline is more descriptive. Meeting Friends on Craigslist Craigslist can also provide a great opportunity for networking. Whether individuals are looking to meet a platonic friend or a romantic partner or simply looking for a roommate, there is a place on Craigslist for them to post an appropriate advertisement or view existing advertisements. Advertisements for roommates can be placed in the housing section of Craigslist while advertisements seeking friends or romantic partner may be placed in the appropriate category of the personals section. As with any posting on Craigslist, care should be taken to follow all guidelines and restrictions when posting in the personals section of the community. Buying or Selling Items on Craigslist Those who are looking to buy or sell items may also turn to Craigslist for assistance. Craigslist has a for sale section which is divided into sections such as bikes, furniture, musical instruments, computers, clothes, household items and even motorcycles and boats. There is even a section for those who are offering items free of charge and those who are seeking the opportunity to barter with others. There is also a wanted section for those who are seeking a specific item they cannot find offered for sale elsewhere on Craigslist. Care should be taken when purchasing any item online to ensure the item is in the condition reported in the advertisement. Craigslist offers a page dealing with scams to provide users with useful information which can help to ensure their transactions operate smoothly. Discuss the Issues on Craigslist Members of the Craigslist community can also discuss important local and national issues with other community members. There is a discussion forum with a number of different categories for users to exchange information or debate important issues. When participating in these forums it is wise to follow the guidelines set forth by Craigslist. Additionally, there is a category in the personals sections called rants and raves for community members to sound off about issues which they feel are wrong. This section is restricted to community members over the age of 18 and all other visitors are cautioned that this section may contain offensive or otherwise objectionable material and should not be visited by those who are easily offended. The Benefits of Advertising on Craigslist Savvy businesspeople and Internet marketers who market on Craigslist are able to gain a great deal of benefits from this advertising option. Craigslist is an online community where users can exchange information, buy or sell items, seek jobs or even find friends or romantic partners. There are a number of benefits to advertising on Craigslist. Two of the most important benefits are the affordability and the ability to reach a large audience. This article will focus on these two benefits and will also offer advice on ensuring your advertising is not just reaching a large audience but is reaching your target audience. The Price is Right Consider the cost of advertising on Craigslist versus advertising on other websites and there is simply no comparison. The vast majority of Craigslist postings are available free of charge to those who use the website. Only a limited number of advertisements including job advertisements in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York and brokerage listings in New York are charged a fee for posting advertisements. Even these advertisers are only charged a nominal fee for their advertisements. This means all commercial advertisements for products and services are posted free of charge. Affiliate marketing, which offers business owners the ability to only pay the affiliate when the advertisement generates web traffic, a sale or a lead is an excellent bargain but even that is no match for the free advertising offered on Craigslist. Advertising on Craigslist becomes even more financially appealing in comparison to other advertising option where the business owner is charged for each time the advertisement appears whether or not it results in a sale being made or even a lead generated. Reaching a Large Audience with Craigslist In addition to affordability another benefit to advertising on Craigslist is the potential to reach a large audience. Craigslist receives approximately four billion page views per month from approximately ten million website visitors. This is appealing because it allows users to reach a large audience with only minimal effort. Craigslist already has a large following and many Internet users already turn to Craigslist for whatever they are looking for before searching other resources. Having such a large audience means half of the work is already done for advertisers. They already have high traffic to the website, now they just need to write an eye catching and engaging advertisement that will attract customers. A Large Audience is Not Necessarily a Target Audience Craigslist certainly has a large pre-existing fan base of regular users but this large audience does not necessarily ensure advertisers will have a target audience just waiting for them to post their advertisement. Craigslist is an extensive online community and finding members of the target audience is more important than reaching the entire community. Business owners can certainly invest a great deal of time and effort placing their advertisement throughout the different sections of the website but this is not likely to be effective. Craigslist is divided into a number of different sections and categories for a specific reason. This is to make it easier for users to find the information they are seeking. For this reason business owners should focus on placing their advertisement in sections which are likely to be visited by members of the target audience. Additionally, placing advertisements in multiple sections may result in the moderators of Craigslist interpreting the advertisements as spam and deleting them. Whether the advertisements are deleted as spam or rendered ineffective they are not likely to convince members of the target audience to purchase products or services. Understanding Craigslist Many people hear the name Craigslist and know it refers to some sort of website but many are still unclear about the different ways in which Craigslist can be used. However, Craigslist receives over four billion page views per month so there are obviously many people who have a better understanding of the services offered by Craigslist. Essentially, Craigslist is similar to the classified section of a newspaper where individual can either post advertisements or respond to existing advertisements. There are a variety of different advertisements offered online and presented in a group of different categories to make it easier for users to find these advertisements. Whether you are new to Craigslist or a veteran of the online community this article may offer useful information about some of the uses of Craigslist. This article will discuss the following ways visitors can use Craigslist: * Promote your business with Craigslist * Find a job with Craigslist * Sell items with Craigslist * Meet dates with Craigslist The above are just four of the most popular options for using Craigslist; however, these four options do not cover the vastness of Craigslist. Readers of this article are encouraged to investigate Craigslist on their own to learn more about what this online community has to offer. Promote Your Business with Craigslist One of the most popular uses of Craigslist is for business promotion. Both small businesses and large corporations can take advantage of the free advertising offered on Craigslist to promote their business and attract new customers. Business owners are free to place advertisements on Craigslist in the section for services offered. This section is broken down into a number of categories to allow business owners to place their advertisement in the most appropriate location where it is likely to reach the target audience. There is also a section for small business advertisements but it might be more worthwhile to place advertisements in one of the appropriate categories because it is more likely to be found by interested individuals. Participating in the discussion forums and providing insightful comments and accurate answers to questions while also placing a link to a business website can help to drive traffic to an ecommerce website. However, when doing this, care should be taken to avoid making posts which will be perceived as spam. Find a Job with Craigslist Individuals can also use Craigslist to find jobs. They can either browse through the listings available by selecting a location and a general category. Additionally, the search feature can be used to refine the search for a job. This may include using search criteria such as whether or not the position is a telecommute position, a contract position, an internship, a part time position or a position with a non-profit organization. Conversely business owners and human resources representatives can use Craigslist to solicit resumes for open positions. Those who post job openings in an appropriate category on Craigslist are likely to receive a large number of responses. Sell Items with Craigslist Individuals can also sell new or used items through Craigslist. Here individual can post a host of items which they are offering for sale. These items can be posted into different categories and the user supplies a description of the item as well as a desired price. There are also categories for individuals to place items they are seeking as well as items they are offering free of charge. There are some restrictions placed on the type of items which can be sold through Craigslist. For example the sale of firearms is not permitted in the sporting goods section and pornographic items cannot be offered for sale in the CD/DVD/VHS section. Meet Dates with Craigslist Craigslist can also be used to find potential dates. There are however a number of strict restrictions enforced in the personals section. Most importantly Craigslist does not allow individuals to impersonate another individual in a personals advertisement. Those who place a personals advertisement on Craigslist have a number of categories from which to choose. They can post an advertisement seeking platonic relationships, seeking romantic relationships, seeking missed connections or other relationship related scenarios. Why Your Business Cannot Afford Not to Advertise on Craigslist Craigslist is not always the best advertising option but there are certain situations in which a business cannot afford not to advertise on Craigslist. For the purposes of this article we will examine two common scenarios where a business owner should definitely consider advertising on Craigslist because failure to do so can be detrimental to his business. These examples include small startup companies without a large advertising budget and existing companies whose direct competitors are advertising extensively on Craigslist. Small Startup Companies Benefit from Advertising on Craigslist Small startup companies often have a great deal of work ahead of them to begin competing with existing companies who are already thriving. These companies may already have established client bases and may have substantial funding budges for the purpose of obtaining new customers. Customer loyalty can be difficult to break and new companies either have to offer significantly better quality products or services, comparable products or services at reduced prices or a slick marketing campaign with consumer appeal. However, smaller companies rarely have the advertising budget necessary to orchestrate an elaborate advertising campaign. This is when Craigslist becomes a necessity. Smaller companies can focus their energy on creating outstanding advertising copy without spending exorbitant amounts of money to run these advertisements in other forms of media such as newspapers, magazines, television or radio. It is important to not that while free advertising is appealing, the advertising should be just as sophisticated as it would in markets where the business owners would be required to pay a fee to run the advertisement. This will help the business to maintain a professional image and will entice potential customer to try their products or services. Don't Let the Competition Corner the Market Another scenario where a business cannot afford not to advertise on Craigslist is when direct competitors are making use of the advertising opportunities on Craigslist. This is important because businesses who do not advertise in the same locations as their competitors are essentially conceding potential customers who peruse those locations to the competitors. Imagine you own a dog walking business in Portland, Oregon. If there are a large number of members of that community using the local Craigslist website to find dog walkers, you will likely miss out on these business opportunities because these individuals will likely select one of the individuals advertising on Craigslist for their dog walking needs. If you were to place a well written advertisement in an appropriate section of Craigslist you may find you are able to gain a market share of the available business. There is, however, one caveat to placing advertisements wherever your competitors are advertising. This practice is not considered worthwhile when the market is already saturated with competition. Consider the above example of a dog walker in Portland. If there are a small number of competitors competing for business on Craigslist it is worthwhile to place your own advertisement here. However, if literally hundreds of dog walkers are flooding the website with their advertisement it is not worthwhile to post an advertisement because your advertisement will likely be lost in the shuffle. It is much more worthwhile to advertise in other locations. Checking Craigslist periodically may still be a good idea because those advertising on Craigslist are likely to not see great gain from this advertising and may resort to other options. When you notice a decline in competitor advertisements, it is a great opportunity to add your advertisement. Advantages Of Using Craigslist.org To Make Money There are many advantages of using craigslist.org to make money. The fact that this website reaches over 450 different communities and that almost every type of ad is free, there is very little reason not to post items and services for sale. Exactly what are the advantages of using craigslist.org to make money? The answer is very simple, it is free and easy to do. That's all good and fine, but we really should elaborate. First of all, anyone who has a valid email address can post an ad. This makes joining very easy. All you have to do is upload a picture if necessary and write a good ad. You can post just about anything on craigslist.org. From services and items for sale, to real estate and cars, and even job postings (although there is a charge for this in 10 cities), you can find anything and sell just about anything that is legal for sale. Selling items and services on craigslist.org is a great way to add extra income. It does not take a lot of effort and you can bring n a decent amount of money selling off your old and unwanted items. Some people also run their own business off of craigslist.org. Are you creative? Can you fix cars? Cars are bought, fixed up, and sold for a profit. Creative people sell quilts, crafts, and other items they have made. Yard sale junkies sell this weeks finds. It is all free, fun and profitable. This is the main advantage of using craigslist.org to make money. Another advantage is that it sure beats having a yard sale. With a yard sale you are stuck there all day, the weather may or may not cooperate, and you might have undesirables shopping around in your front yard. With craigslist.org, you can be contacted via email. You choose who you wish to deal with. Your personal email address can be hidden and there is an option to have all inquiries go through a craigslist.org email address that gets forwarded to you. Protecting your privacy is important and selling through craigslist.org is more private than holding a yard sale. Safety is another consideration, especially for single women, single moms, or women whose husbands may be out of town for extended lengths of time. Holding a yard sale can put you at risk if there are no other adults around. You do not want to broadcast the fact that you are there alone or alone with kids. Craigslist.org removes that situation. Only people that you invite come to your home. You can even agree to meet them at a local McDonalds or some other public place, thus keeping your actual residence private. This is a huge benefit over a yard sale. Personal safety should always be a primary concern. Safe and almost anonymous versus having droves of people come to your home. That is one of the many advantages of using craigslist.org to make money instead of a yard sale or classified ad. Craigslist.org is free to use for buying and selling items and services. Online auctions sites cost you money. So does posting an ad in the local newspaper. Anytime you can promote a business or sale for free it is a good thing. Now that you know about the advantages of using craigslist.org to make money, why not give it a try. Pad that bank account and start saving for a better car or perhaps just keep it for a rainy day. Whatever you use it for, you should consider giving craigslist.org a try. Advertising on Craigslist Advertising on Craigslist is worthwhile for just about any business offering products or services. Whether these products are offered through ecommerce websites or physical stores, the business owners can see financial gains through advertising on Craigslist. Firstly unlike other advertising opportunities there is very little risk involved in posting on Craigslist. With the exception of job postings and housing postings in specific markets, advertising is free on Craigslist. Users are asked to agree to the terms of service of the community and are expected to follow specific guidelines when posting advertisements but there are no financial obligations to those placing advertisements on Craigslist. This means those who post advertisements do not have to be concerned with whether or not the advertisement they place will meet their expectations in terms of sales generated. Reaching Potential Customers on Craigslist Another reason why posting advertisements for products or services on Craigslist is so worthwhile is the likelihood of reaching a large audience of potential customers. A review of the Craigslist fact sheet reveals pertinent information regarding the amount of traffic the website receives. According to this information Craigslist receives approximately four billion page views each month with ten million people using Craigslist each month. From these statistics it is clear that advertisements placed on Craiglist are likely to receive at least some attention from potential clients. With so many visitors using Craigslist each month the advertising possibilities are limitless, however, there are no guarantee any of these visitors will be interested in your products or services. Like any marketing campaign, your advertisements on Craigslist must be intriguing, informative and in a location where you will reach your target audience. Finding Your Target Audience on Craigslist We've already discussed the number of visitors using Craigslist each month but the key to taking advantage of these numbers is to target your advertising in a way aimed at reaching your target audience as opposed to a wide audience of individuals who have no specific interest in your products or services. It is much more worthwhile to reach a small audience of those with a keen interest in your products or services than to reach a much larger audience of those who are not interested. Those who have an interest in your products or services are your target audience. The key to reaching your target audience on Craigslist is placing your advertisement in the most appropriate locations. Craigslist has a specific section for businesses to advertise their services. This section is broken down into a number of categories. Those who are in the business of computer repair would be wise to place their advertisement in the computer section as opposed to the automotive section because individuals looking for computer help will naturally migrate to the computer section. It may sometimes be appropriate to place an advertisement in more than one section. This is acceptable as long as it does not cross the line to spamming the section. If there is not a specific section for the products or services offered by your business there are a couple of options. Business owners can place an advertisement in the section for small business advertisements where it might be found by those doing a search in this section. Alternately the business owner can contact Craigslist to suggest the addition of a new category. They might be willing to oblige if they believe this category warrants an addition. The Difference between Advertising and Spamming Advertising on Craigslist is one thing but spamming is quite another. Placing an advertisement in an appropriate section of Craigslist is acceptable; however, placing the same advertisement in nearly every section of Craigslist websites for a number of different geographical regions is considered spam. Spam is ineffective for a number of reasons. First of all potential customers who see a particular advertisement in a number of different locations are likely to recognize the spamming techniques and be less inclined to patronize this business. Also, if Craigslist detects the practice of spamming they may delete all of the postings and could potentially ban advertisements from the individual in the future. Can Craigslist Improve Your Business? The answer to this question is yes and no and maybe. It all depends on the way in which the business owners utilize Craigslist. Savvy Internet marketers who are able to identify the target audience and create sales copy which entices the reader may find advertising on Craigslist to be incredibly profitable. Conversely Internet markets that do not do their research and take a spamming approach to advertising on Craigslist are not likely to see significant financial gains. There is certainly an opportunity to gain financial benefit through advertising on Craigslist. Advertising for all products and services is free on Craigslist making it cost effectively. Additionally, Craigslist already receives extensive traffic with approximately ten million visitors generating four billion page views each month so there is no need to drive traffic to the website. While Craigslist offers so many advertising benefits, these benefits may be wasted if the advertiser does not do his research or evaluate the competition. Research before Posting on Craigslist Advertising on Craigslist is similar to advertising in other forms of media. Despite the existing heavy traffic flows to the website, successful marketing campaigns require extensive research. This research should provide the Internet marketer and his staff with insight into where post the advertisements to most effectively reach the target audience, how to word the copy of the advertisement to make it most appealing to the target audience and which relevant keywords should be included in the advertising copy to make it likely for members of the target audience to find the advertisement easily when searching for products and services offered by the company. Research of this capacity can be conducted either online or offline. One of the most effective forms of this type of research is to have members of the target audience fill out market surveys. The answers provided by the participants should give the marketer a good idea of what the target audience is seeking. Incorporating this information into the marketing campaign can make it noticeably more successful. Evaluate the Competition on Craigslist The search feature on Craigslist gives an Internet marketer an excellent way to evaluate the competition. Studying the competition is important because it can help you to learn how you can be more successful. This increased success can be a result of determining successful aspects of the competitor's marketing strategy and implementing these strategies as well as determining faulty aspects of the competitor's marketing strategy and avoiding these strategies. To get a good idea of the competitors who are advertising on Craigslist, use the search feature to search for keywords relevant to your own products and services. You will likely receive search results including advertisements from competitors. Next, carefully analyze these advertisements to determine how your can not only create better products and services at more affordable prices but also write more engaging advertising copy. Many wise Internet marketers have the reasoning skills necessary to properly analyze the advertisements for competitors but they often falter when taxed with the dilemma of creating better advertisements. This is when the services of a professional sales copywriter with search engine optimization (SEO) skills becomes a vital part of the equation. This writer can use his SEO training as well as his knowledge on the subject of writing advertising copy to effectively entice members of the target audience to either purchase products or services or at least investigate these products or services further. Can You Make Money On Craigslist.org People ask the question all of the time "can you make money on craigslist.org"? The answer is you can. All it takes is some time and ad management and you can make money just like anyone else. Here are some tips that you may not be aware of. These should help you to make money if your ads were not as effective as you would have liked them to be. Your ad is good for 45 days. Everyday that your ad appears it is listed lower on the page. This is because new ads get top priority. In some categories, a single vendor will post multiple ads. This is fine as long as they are not for the same business, product, or service. If they are, mark them as spam. It is the only way that you will get it to stop. If you sell jewelry, you can post an ad for a bracelet, a necklace, a ring, a pendent, a brooch, a watch, a jewelry box, earrings, and an ankle bracelet all in the same day. They are all different products. You will have close to the top nine spots on the page the day you enter them, especially if you add all of the ads one after the other. Now you wait two days, delete those ads and re-enter them. They are returned back to the top positions. You cannot do this any more frequent than every 48 hours. If you do, you will run into problems, so no sooner than ever two days. Add a picture or multiple pictures to your ad. Pictures tell a thousand words and this is true. You will get more interest if your ad has a picture of the product. Use an actual photograph of your product, not some stock photo off of the internet. This will build trust in the potential buyer and it will generate more interest. Respond to all inquiries promptly. Even if you think that the person is not really interested, you never know for sure. Follow up with everyone who responds to your ad. The one person you decide not to get back to is the one who will actual want to buy your item. Write a clear and concise advertisement. Your headline should have the keyword for what you are selling. The body of the ad should be very descriptive and easy to read. If you use html to enhance your ad, do not go crazy with font colors and weird background colors. Red on blue is horribly difficult to read, people who are color blind cannot see that color combination so the text and the background will merge together. Orange and purple or yellow and purple are not good either. There is nothing wrong with a plain white background. Add a border if you want to make it fancy. Text can be changed from black however keep these things in mind. Bright colors like shocking blues and greens are hard on the eyes. Yellow can be difficult to see on a white background. Red makes you appear untrustworthy. Dark green and dark blue are good choices, but stick to forest green or navy blue. Dark brown is also a good choice. Finally you want to promote your ad. Have a link to your ad in all of your email signatures. Tell everyone about your ad. The best ad in the world cannot sell a product if nobody sees it. Yes you can make money on craigslist.org. It takes a talent for good ad writing, good photography, and some planning. Making sure that your ads are managed well and that they are posted, deleted and reposted every two days is critical. Having a good looking ad is also extremely important. If your ad is difficult to read or understand then nobody is going to buy from you. Make sure that your photograph portrays your item in the best possible way. Combining all of these items into a single ad campaign is important to getting your item sold. Can You Make Money On Craigslist.org People ask the question all of the time "can you make money on craigslist.org"? The answer is you can. All it takes is some time and ad management and you can make money just like anyone else. Here are some tips that you may not be aware of. These should help you to make money if your ads were not as effective as you would have liked them to be. Your ad is good for 45 days. Everyday that your ad appears it is listed lower on the page. This is because new ads get top priority. In some categories, a single vendor will post multiple ads. This is fine as long as they are not for the same business, product, or service. If they are, mark them as spam. It is the only way that you will get it to stop. If you sell jewelry, you can post an ad for a bracelet, a necklace, a ring, a pendent, a brooch, a watch, a jewelry box, earrings, and an ankle bracelet all in the same day. They are all different products. You will have close to the top nine spots on the page the day you enter them, especially if you add all of the ads one after the other. Now you wait two days, delete those ads and re-enter them. They are returned back to the top positions. You cannot do this any more frequent than every 48 hours. If you do, you will run into problems, so no sooner than ever two days. Add a picture or multiple pictures to your ad. Pictures tell a thousand words and this is true. You will get more interest if your ad has a picture of the product. Use an actual photograph of your product, not some stock photo off of the internet. This will build trust in the potential buyer and it will generate more interest. Respond to all inquiries promptly. Even if you think that the person is not really interested, you never know for sure. Follow up with everyone who responds to your ad. The one person you decide not to get back to is the one who will actual want to buy your item. Write a clear and concise advertisement. Your headline should have the keyword for what you are selling. The body of the ad should be very descriptive and easy to read. If you use html to enhance your ad, do not go crazy with font colors and weird background colors. Red on blue is horribly difficult to read, people who are color blind cannot see that color combination so the text and the background will merge together. Orange and purple or yellow and purple are not good either. There is nothing wrong with a plain white background. Add a border if you want to make it fancy. Text can be changed from black however keep these things in mind. Bright colors like shocking blues and greens are hard on the eyes. Yellow can be difficult to see on a white background. Red makes you appear untrustworthy. Dark green and dark blue are good choices, but stick to forest green or navy blue. Dark brown is also a good choice. Finally you want to promote your ad. Have a link to your ad in all of your email signatures. Tell everyone about your ad. The best ad in the world cannot sell a product if nobody sees it. Yes you can make money on craigslist.org. It takes a talent for good ad writing, good photography, and some planning. Making sure that your ads are managed well and that they are posted, deleted and reposted every two days is critical. Having a good looking ad is also extremely important. If your ad is difficult to read or understand then nobody is going to buy from you. Make sure that your photograph portrays your item in the best possible way. Combining all of these items into a single ad campaign is important to getting your item sold.
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