Inexpensive Advertising With Craigslist
By Steve Mount

The fact that most of postings on Craigslist are free makes advertising about as cheap as it can get. At its origin Craigslist was a non-profit service. This changed in 1999 when they made the switch to being for profit. Craigslist's overhead is covered with the small fee it charges for employment postings made in eight U.S. cities. Also a fee is charged for some real estate in New York.

With upwards of 450 sites, the overwhelming bulk of people can, amazingly, post free of charge. Viewing it financially it makes a lot of sense to post ads on Craigslist. Even though it's free to post ads on Craigslist, you need to be careful that you make postings wisely. While there may be no evident financial loss improper posting can be a concern. There's no real profit potential if you misuse time and other resources.

How Can Craigslist Be Free?

Craig Newmark, the 'Craig' in Craigslist, had bids from advertisers to post banner ads on the site as far back as 1997. Even though this could have been profitable for him, Craig decided to keep the site noncommercial. Eventually Craigslist switched to being for profit, yet commercialization has been kept in check. This may be due to the following factors.

Although all of the 450+ sites have 'craigslist' in the address, each has its own distinct community. There isn't the feel of a corporate dictator telling those who post what to do. Craigslist is firmly planted in everyday things. It is laid out in an uncluttered easy to use format. Allowing people from many backgrounds to discuss, share or meet.

Craigslist Or Affiliate Marketing?

Another way to sell is with affiliate marketing. Business owners often find this to be cost effective and advantageous. The main appeal to business owners is that their affiliates only get paid when they produce the desired result - income, website traffic, customer leads, registration or filling out a form are some examples of desired results.

The many advantages of affiliate marketing can make it a good choice. Still, there are a couple of reasons why Craigslist may be a better option. The two main reasons are the (usually) free posting and the large amount of traffic the Craigslist community gets. Again, when done right this will save time and money.

There are, however, certain instances when free advertising on Craigslist isn't the best choice for your marketing campaign. If your offer does not fit into the appropriate category on Craigslist for example. When that happens posting on Craigslist probably won't be worth the effort. The ad may not cost you any money, but chances are that it will not get the full attention of your target buyers. Obviously this would be a waste of time and resources.

The other instance where Craigslist is likely not the best option for advertising is in a category saturated with ads from your competitors. The reason this is not ideal is that you will have to expend more time and resources to overcome your potential customer's loyalty to a competitor. It may make more sense to purchase ads in a less saturated market.

Did you find this article useful? Steve Mount is the author of three best selling Craigslist Marketing Guides which can be found at his website http://www.ebookaddict.org Receive 5 eBooks absolutely free just for stopping by!

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Why Should You Advertise on Craigslist?
By Steve Mount

Just about any business that would like to* sell numerous services or products will find Craigslist a useful tool for advertisement. It makes no difference if these are currently being sold online or in a physical location. Appending Craigslist to an advertising budget supplies a different source of potential earnings.

One of the outstanding appeals of Craigslist, compared to other advertising, is the low risk related with posting. This is because it is free to post on Craigslist (real estate and job listings are the exceptions). When you post ads you have to follow the proper guidelines. Because listing on Craigslist is free, the business owner doesn't have to worry about the return on their investment. Any sales can be considered pure profit.

Finding Your Customers on Craigslist

One other fact why posting ads on Craigslist is such a good idea is the existence of numerous potential customers. According to its own reports Craigslist pages have about four billion views every month. The figures are ten million monthly visitors. It's obvious that ads shown on Craigslist are going to get some notice from potential buyers.

With such a big amount of people visiting Craigslist every month the possibilities for advertising are virtually unlimited. Of course, this doesn't guarantee that the visitors will automatically consider what you have to offer. The rules of effective marketing still apply on Craigslist. Your ads have to create curiosity, convey the right information and be in the right place for your prospective customers to see it.

Connect With Your Target area on Craigslist

As mentioned, their are millions of visitors to Craigslist every month. But you have to use targeted advertising to make the most of those numbers. If you use a scattershot approach your results will suffer. In simple terms, anyone who's an interest in what you are offering is your target.

One of the main features of Craigslist is the fact that it has different categories for posting. Think of it as a super-powered version of the newspaper's classified section. After determining the people who would most likely have an interest in your product you need to find the corresponding category on Craigslist. If you are offering guitar lessons post in the music area, as opposed to automobiles. There may be times when posting in more than one category makes sense, as long as they're relevant you should be okay. If you overdo it, it could be considered spamming.

It's possible that your offer will not fit into a specific section. If that happens you can post in the small business ads section. And you can hope it will be spotted by anyone searching the same category. Another option is to suggest new categories by contacting Craigslist. This isn't a sure bet, but if they see value in it they may add a category.

Advertising vs. Spamming

You may be thinking it would be a good idea to place your offer on every regional Craigslist page to reach as many people as you can. It is not a good idea. Placing ads in too many categories or many different cities can get you in trouble for spamming. Follow the terms of service carefully and you will have very few problems. Keep in mind that spamming not only can get you banned from Craigslist, but it can also alienate potential customers.

Did you find this article useful? Steve Mount is the author of three best selling Craigslist Marketing Guides which can be found at his website http://www.ebookaddict.org Receive 5 eBooks absolutely free just for stopping by!

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The Benefits Of Advertising On Craigslist
By Christopher Curtis

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 for any smart business people or Internet marketers to take advantage of on Craigslist. Two of the most important benefits are the afford ability 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 options 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 that 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.

With a little bit of research an advertisement can be placed in a category that will reach a large section of Craigslist’s audience thereby increasing the chances of acquiring more sales for little or no cost to the advertiser.

After an injury to his back Chris returned to college and began taking computer programming classes. He has been doing web design and development since 1997, and in 1999 he started his own web hosting and web design business called C-Double Web Development.

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Craigslist Marketing 101
By Shanon Lewis

Since its launch in 1995 Craigslist.org has quietly become the largest online classifieds website in the world with a regional presence in 190 cities, across 35 countries. Each month over 10 million people log on to the seventh most popular website to buy and sell just about everything. From real estate to furniture, promoting services such as contracting, house cleaning and even babysitting – Craigslist is the one spot where anyone can connect regionally to fill a need.

As its popularity has continued to increase, so have the possibilities for vendors large and small to market their wares on Craigslist. What’s the big attraction? For the most part Craigslist is 100% free to post and search. Only do job postings in San Francisco, L.A and New York City cost a small fee to post. Otherwise, Craigslist is an open free source for new targeted customers, ripe for the picking, just waiting for your business to give them what they want.

Craigslist is regionally based website that truly promotes community involvement. However, you can post in any of the available metros and multiple metros as well. The trick is in designing an ad that gets people attention, getting on a regular posting schedule, following the rules (or at least not overtly breaking them) and searching for new customers daily.

Simplicity in ad design is paramount and it matches the vibe that Craigslist likes to attract – peer-to-peer, real human interaction. It lacks the commercial aspects that add fluff and confusion in exchange for simple ads, most posted by real folks. Design your ad to fit into that scheme is key to a successful campaign.

Get into the habit of posting often on Craigslist and hit multiple metros with different ads to get more reach (if you business can support it). It’s free to post so what do you have to lose!

Understanding Craigslist rules are fairly simple as they are openly published. They are super picky about what you can post, but there are exceptions like livestock and anything illegal (drugs, guns, etc.). One of the major rules that I see as a marketing rule more than a terms of service rule is to post in the category that best corresponds with your product type. This ensures your ad will reach the best target without adding to useless clutter.

Over 8 million people post monthly on Craigslist and that number grows every day. Don’t just sit back and post ads, answer ads seeking your products and services as well.

Craigslist is one of the best ways for every business, large and small to find a new voice online for little more than elbow grease.

Shanon Lewis is a web marketing expert and the author of “The Unofficial Craigslist Book” the first and only book that features detailed tips, tricks and guidance showing every business how to succeed on Craigslist.org. For more information, visit http://www.craigslist-book.com

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