Marketing On Craigslist 101

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.

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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 www.craigslist-book.com.

Article Source: http://www.marketingarticlelibrary.com

How To Reach More Customers Online

Many coaches, consultants, virtual assistants, solopreneurs and online business owners only offer two different items to their clients. One is a free subscription to their newsletter where they share tips, articles and business news with their subscribers. The other item is one-on-one coaching or consulting service offered at the regular hourly rates.

If you only offer a free newsletter and a one-on-one service to your clients, you are losing customers. Some people simply can't afford your one-on-one services at this time, while others may want to get exposed to your expertise at a cheaper rate, before trying your more expensive services.

So, how can you reach the people who are not ready for the one-on-one service, but are still interested in your expertise? You do that by creating products that you can sell in addition to the services that you already offer. Here are several different products you can create for your business:

- Digital products. As a professional who works with customers, you already know what your customers are interested in. You know what problems they want to solve, and since you are the expert, you know how to solve these problems.

Turn this information into a marketable digital product by publishing and selling it. Depending on the topic and the information, you can create digital products of various lengths.

- Audio products can be delivered through two different channels. They can be instantly downloaded from your web site in a popular audio format (MP3, Wave, etc.), or you can burn them onto a CD and physically ship the product to the customer.

- Teleclasses and Teleseminars. Teaching classes over the phone is an excellent way to demonstrate your expertise to many people at once and to offer your coaching or consulting sessions at a lower price point.

Teleclasses are a great example of repackaging your knowledge and selling it over and over again. Material taught and discussed during teleclasses can be reused to create special reports, e-books and audio products.

- Workshops. Workshops (teaching classes in person) can be used to teach to many people at once, instead of doing one-on-one sessions.

Start a list of products that you can create for your business. These products will help you reach a wider audience, increase your revenue and promote your expertise. Your products are also a vehicle for landing speaking engagements, cross-promotional opportunities and press spotlights, which in turn results in additional promotion to your business.

Reach More Customers Now! Biana Babinsky is the online business coach, expert and author who teaches business owners how to make money with their products. Get her Complete Step By Step Information Products Guide at http://www.avocadoconsulting.com/rlinks/zinfo to learn how to create your own products and use them to reach more customers online.

Get Ready For Online Christmas Marketing

If online christmas marketing is important to your business you need to know when to start. Waiting too long to market your products or services can have a negative effect on your christmas sales.

For most businesses on and offline, October through to mid January is the months that generate the most revenue. This is because these months represent the christmas season; the biggest worldwide shopping event. Thus, if you want to be like other knowledgeable retailers, you need to take advantage of the ever expanding online users who use the internet as their shopping tool.

What can you do to make the most of online christmas marketing and increase your chances of success? Essentially there are two strategies you need to employ:

1. Marketing early 2. Effective keywording

Here’s what you need to know:

Marketing early – The best time to begin the christmas marketing season for your business is in the early summer months. This is because it takes an average of three to four months for a well established site to reach a top ten ranking in search engines. Therefore, it will take even longer for a smaller, newer and less recognized business site to make it in the top ten placements.

Hence you need to start your campaigning early, so you have the chance to appeal to customers when they are searching for the right products to buy. Your website needs to be developed effectively so you can achieve the christmas season revenue you desire for your company.

Effective Keywording – You need strong keyword phrases if you want online christmas marketing to work in your favor. The keyword “christmas” is searched by online users in astronomical numbers by the time the month of November comes. However, the search for “christmas” really begins to take off in as early as May.

There are two types of search engine advertising that you can use to prepare for christmas marketing and they are:

1. Organic advertising – These ads are free, and are ranked 1 – 10 under keywords or keyword phrases they are related to. Most business owners tend to choose organic advertising. This should come as little surprise as it is no secret that earning a spot among the first top ten placements is imperative for anyone who wants to be noticed in the upcoming christmas season.

2. Paid advertising – These ads are usually placed above or to the right side of organic search results. They are also dispensed across networks of millions of web pages. Paid advertising also gives you the chance to appear under keyword phrases you have selected to bid on. Moreover, once you enter your ad copy and place click-through bids, your ad will begin to show up on search results.

The vast majority of expert search marketers believe that it’s a good idea to use both search engine advertising options, as this is a way to raise the bar of competition during the high online christmas marketing season.

Online christmas sales have increased every year over the last five years, and so have holiday-related keyword searches. Thus, knowing the online christmas marketing trends, and how to effectively use them, is how you will achieve success.

Itay Paz is the founder of Internet Marketing Hype, an online newsletter that discusses the insights and excitement of today's internet marketing including: affiliate marketing, advertising, conferences, seminars, workshops, ebooks and other information products. Itay Paz is now sharing his knowledge with other Internet Marketers through his new Internet Marketing Hype Ezine. Itay’s online magazine will provide you with exceptional insights of Internet Marketing in a simple and easy way. Sign up for Itay Paz’s Internet Marketing Hype Ezine by visiting his website at http://www.internetmarketinghype.com