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Posting Craigslist
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Posting Method #4 - Posting to Craigslist Directory
| Destination: | Craigslist classified directories |
| Result Time: | Instantly after email verification of submission |
| Posting Frequency: |
Post each company to 5 location |
| Follow Up Posts: |
Re-post same company every 30 days to this posting tool. (optional) |
How to post to Craigslist Classified Directory
We have separated Craigslist from the other free classified directories for a few reasons. Craigslist is one of the simplest ways you will find to post your data submission ads. Craigslist is also the largest free classifieds on the Internet, and receives over 15 BILLION page views a month from over 40 million users. Imagine the results with this many readers; it is pretty amazing.
There is another benefit of posting to Craigslist besides getting quick results; the data submission ads you post can get indexed by the search engines. If you go to Google.com and type a search for various items, you will see that Craigslist ads actually get indexed on the first pages of Google. So you could have your data submission seen by millions of people doing searches on Google as well. Even when your submission ad expires on Craigslist, it will stay active for months on Google. These are great reasons to use Craigslist to increase your income potential.
We are going to show you some tips to assure you get the best results in a short amount of time. Craigslist does not allow you to use your pay code links/hoplinks for it is against their regulations. We are going to show you a way you can still post to this classified monster and how you will be able to get your pay code links to all the readers.
We will start you out by getting you signed up with a free Craigslist account. We will then show you how to select locations, and what category to post data submission ads for your companies. We then will show you how to create and submit your data submission ad on Craigslist.
Craigslist Overview - VIDEO
Cant see video? CLICK HERE to view video in external link
Basic rules for Craigslist
There are a few basic rules that you will need to keep in mind when posting to Craigslist.
1) You can only post one data submission ad to one location. You can post as many data submission ads as you would like, but not the same data submission ad to more than one location. Once your submission ad expires you can re-post it to the same location, or to another location. So if you want to post the same company to more than one location, you would have to type a completely different submission ad to post it to another location.
2) You will NEVER post to the "Jobs" section of Craigslist, because 1.) it costs money and 2.) there are strict regulations to meet to qualify for posting to the "Jobs" category.
3) You cannot make false promises in your ads. For example, if you type "Join today and get a free DVD player." We will show you some features that will get the readers attention without being deceptive.
4.) As we have previously mentioned you can't post your pay code link/hoplink in your classified data submission ad directly. We are going to show you an alternative that works great and is very simple to do that will allow you to get your pay code link/hoplink to the readers of your data submission ads.
SIGN UP FOR CRAIGSLIST ACCOUNT
If you don't have a Craigslist account we will give you instructions on how to set up a free Craigslist account. If you do already have a Craigslist account you can skip this sign up process section.
Step 1
Go to CRAIGSLIST by clicking HERE
Step 2
You will need to select your country and/or city from the list on this home page. You can start by clicking your region in the top menu, or scroll down the page and locate your country, then city if listed. If your city is not listed click the nearest city listed to your location.
Don't try to fool Craigslist and select a country you are not located at. Craigslist will be able to determine your location by your IP address. It will not matter which city you choose in your country, just the country will be able to be determined by Craigslist..
After you have selected your country and if available city or nearest city, click on on that location:
Step 3
For our training we have selected our location as Chicago. On this page you will click on the "MY ACCOUNT" located in top left column of page.
Step 4
Click on the "Sign up for an account" link on this page.
Step 5
On then next page you will enter your secondary email address you will use to log into your account as well as for your contact email for the responses to the submission ads you post. This is why you will use your secondary business email address.
You will then fill in the confirmation code, and click "Create Account"
Step 6
Craigslist will send you a confirmation link to your email address to confirm your account. Click on that confirmation link and you will be prompted to choose your password for your account.
Step 7
You will then need to accept the Craigslist agreement. After you accept you will be brought to your newly created account home page.
YOUR CRAIGSLIST ACCOUNT - HOW TO SET UP YOUR SUBMISSION ADS
You Craigslist Account - Setting Up First Submission Ad - VIDEO
Cant see video? CLICK HERE to view video in external link
Your Craigslist Account Home Page
After you sign up for Craigslist and set up your login you will then login to your Craigslist home page. This is what your home page will look like:
A. This will be where you click to start your submission ad posting on Craigslist. This is the easiest way to select location and category you will be posting your submission ad to.
B. The "New Posting" is another way you can start a submission ad posting but will take longer to go through all the steps. This is why we will suggest to use option (A.) when you create your submission ad postings and as we will show you in this tutorial.
C. When you set up your submission ad posting you will have the option to have it go live, or save it to draft. If you save it to draft this is where it will be located.
D. Here is where any submission ads you have posted will be located. It will list the current status and when it is set o expire.
Selecting Location and Category to Post your Submission Ad
To submit a submission ad on Craigslist, you will need to click the Craigslist (A.) to get started
Selecting Location - As you see on this page in the right column you can select a different location by nearby cities, selecting another state, etc. We will point out that Craigslist will only let you post submission ads within your country or region. So if you are from the U.K, or India, you can't post to the United States, and people from the United States can't post to U.K. or India.
This is never an issue as you will see there are plenty of people in your region who use Craigslist.
You can also just post to your default location you used when you signed up and that will be fine as well.
There are two ways to look at this. First, you can choose a large metropolitan area like New York, Chicago, L.A, San Francisco, etc. The upside to this is that you will get more possibilities of traffic. The downside to posting to large metro areas is you will have a lot more competition with many more ads listed.
Then, if you choose to post to a smaller location, you will not have as much traffic as the larger areas, BUT you will not have as much competition in the smaller areas.
You can experiment with either; the choice is yours. We usually suggest to start off posting in your own location to make it easier.
Selecting Category - Sub-Category - After you have selected your location, you will want to select a category that will best fit the company you are submitting your submission ad for.
For example if you are posting a submission ad for a company selling a hair oil treatment product, then you would select the "For Sale" as main category, then "Beauty + Hlth" as the sub-category.
If you are posting a submission ad for a company offering dog training techniques, then your would select "Services" as main category, then "Pet" as the sub-category.
Unless a physical product is being sold, most of the time you will select "Services" as your main category.
Starting Your Submission Ad Post - For our training we will use our default locate "Chicago," and we will be posting a home business company "Top eBay Seller" so we will select the "Services" as main category, and "Sm Biz Ads" as our sub-category.
After you have been directed to the sub-category page, you will click the "POST" option in top right corner.
That will then send you to this page to select an exact sub-category you want to post to:
After you choose your sub-category, click the "Continue" button and you will be brought to the following page:
Note: Craigslist will post your submission ad to all of these areas by default regardless of the sub-area you pick.
After you select the area, click the "Continue" and you will be brought to the create posting page to start you submission ad post:
This will be the page you will submit your data submission ad post for the company you are promoting. Double check that the location, main category, and sub-category is correct before starting your post.
We will go over details on how to make an effective post in the next section.
CREATING AND POSTING YOUR SUBMISSION AD
Creating and Posting Submission Ad - VIDEO
Cant see video? CLICK HERE to view video in external link
Setting Up Submission Ad
Here we will be showing you how to set up an effective data submission using effective posting titles and posting descriptions. Take a look at the posting screen below:
A. Posting Title: This will be the most important part of the data submission ad because this is what the visitor will see first. The key to a good title is to get the reader's attention in the short amount of text available in the title line.
First thing to point out is that you want to write the ad as if you are the person offering the product or service. So you would use words like "I," "ME," "WE," "OURS," "MINE," etc. You don't want to sound like a third party selling someones product. Look as your self as an employee of the company you are promoting.
Next point is try not to sound like you are selling something. This is hard at times but you want to get the readers attention and simply putting something like "Come buy this product" or anything that reads that way will not get your readers attention.
It is better to present your title that you want to help the person, rather than trying to sell them a product.
Here is a good example. For our title of the Top eBay Seller program we are going to use a title as such:
Sample Title:
"I Want to Show you How to Earn and Income on Other Peoples eBay Auctions" |
Notice we are telling the reader we would like to help them. Also notice we used "I" to show it is us not another company that is going to help them.
Some other great words to use in your title are: " I Want to Save You Money," and the best of all, "FREE." For example on how you could use "Free" would be if the company is offering a free trial.
You must also make sure you get across what it is your company that you are submitting is offering in the title.
As in our title we created we are telling the reader that it deals with eBay auctions. And that they can learn how to make money with eBay auctions.
Another example, if you are promoting weight-loss program, then your title could read:
"I will show you how to lose weight in the next 30 days !"
You will want the reader to know what it is the company is offering that you are submitting. Also again notice we are going to help them lose weight.
You can also use our "Title -Headline Creating Software" to help create your title, which you can use HERE
An important note is when ever you create an ad on Craigslist never use the words "Job" or "Employment" as this will flag your submission ad as a job. Craigslist will require you to pay to post the ad if it relates to a job.
B. Reply To: Always select the "anonymize" option as this will hide your email address and the reader will only see the Craigslist email link. This link will forward to your email address you set up with your Craigslist account.
C. Posting Description: Here is where you can go into more detail about what it is the company you are submitting is offering.
Using much of the same thought we mentioned for your title, you will do the same for your description. Again, it is "I" or "We" offering this product or service not "Them" or "Theirs," etc.
You will want to continue to explain how you want to help the reader. Just now you will give a little more detail on how you are going to help them.
Sample Posting Description:
| "I have a program I am willing to share with you that will teach you exactly how to make money on other people's eBay auctions. What I will show you is 100% legal and is backed by eBay. All you need is an hour or so a day and you can make a good income with all the techniques I will show you. You can start a work-at-home career in a brand new field few know about. Only a few people know of this income opportunity and have all the details. When you have some spare time respond to this ad and I will get you some more details." |
Take a look how this ad was written short and to the point, as well as being personable by using the word "I." and it was an ad that will help the reader
You always want to point out the good selling points from the company's Web site you are submitting. We used the fact this is a rare program that few know about.
Also you want to tell the reader how they can benefit by the product or service. In our ad we pointed out they can work-at-home and make a good income.
If you can remember these few things when posting your submission ads you will do fine and get many inquiries about your ad posting.
D. You never want to check this box to allow marketers to contact you. Leave unchecked
After you have completed filling out the submission ad form, you will click the "Continue" button
Adding Photos to Submission Ad
After you have entered your ad posting you will have the option to add photos to your ad listing.
You can now add some images if you choose. We always will suggest to add at least one image if possible. You can get any images pertaining to the company directly at the company's Web site. Try to find the best pictures that explains the product or service and try to keep the images around 150px x 150px or smaller.
If you can't find a good picture to add then don't worry about it.
After you have added your image or images, then click the "Done With Images" button.
You will then be able to view you completed submission ad:
Here is the last time you will have a chance to edit your submission ad before it goes live. If everything looks good, click the "Continue" button
You will now need to go to your email and verify the posting. In your email will be a link for you to click or you can copy and paste the link in your Web browser.
The link may require some additional verification such as verifying a phone number as you see in this verification:
This is a very easy process and you can request a verification code by phone (voice) or sms (text message).
Enter your phone number and select your option for phone verification and click the "Send The Code" button.
You will then be sent a code you will need to enter to verify your posting. After you have verified the posting your ad will be live and a link will be presented for you to see your live ad.
If you have any issues verifying your phone, click the help page as shown in the blue text above.
HOW TO RESPOND TO INQUIRIES ON ADS YOU POSTED TO CRAIGSLIST
Because Craigslist will not let you put your affiliate pay code link in your submission, the reader will send any inquiries to your email address through Craigslist. We will explain a simple solution on how to respond to any inquiries you may get directly through your email account.
If this happens we have a real simple solution that works very well and is simple to do to assure that you pay code link is used to go to the company's site you submitted.
Setting up Drafts to Email Inquiries - VIDEO
Cant see video? CLICK HERE to view video in external link
You will set up email drafts in your email account for every company you have submitted through Craigslist.
In your draft you will use the company's name that you submitted as the email/draft subject. This will allow you to quickly be able to identify the draft in question.
In the body of the email you will put a simple response such as:
"Hello,
Thank you for your inquiry and I would like to tell you more about the program. I will give you a link directly to our Web site that will allow you to get more information or answer any of your questions.
Here is the website: ***HERE YOU WOULD PUT YOUR PAY CODE LINK or SHORTENED LINK***
Thank You,
Your First Name"
As you see the response draft is simple and to the point. You will need to always make sure you include your pay code link/hoplink or the shortened Tiny URL link which we suggest to use over your pay code direct link.
When ever someone inquires about the company you submitted to Craigslist, you will simply go to the draft, copy and paste the draft in the inquiring email, and click send. You are done!
The person will then go to the company's website and you did your job!
You never need to answer any emails, sell the company's product, offer customer service, etc. By directing the inquirer through your pay code link, the company will do the rest and you get paid.
Posting Frequency
You can do as many data submission ads as you would like through Craigslist, as long as it is not the same exact posting running at the same time. Once your data submission ads have expired you can re-post them as you choose.
If you are having trouble getting your data submission ads posted because of double posting, a little trick is to sign up for another Craigslist account using a different e-mail address. Still, you should re-create your data submission ad; do not use the same submission ad twice in a different location while your current submission ads are active.
Craigslist has made a lot of people rich who did exactly what you are doing here. For a 100% free method you cannot lose anything by using this service Craigslist offers.