Category:
Summary & Overview
Classified advertising is usually text-only and can consist of as little as the type of item being sold and a telephone number to call for more information. It can also have much more detail, such as name to contact, address to contact or visit, a detailed description of the product or products (“pants and sweaters, size 10” as opposed to “clothing”, “red 1996 Pontiac Grand Prix” as opposed to “automobile”). There are generally no pictures or other graphics within the advertisement, although sometimes a logo may be used.
Classified advertising is called such because it is generally grouped within the publication under headings classifying the product or service being offered (headings such as Accounting, Automobiles, Clothing, Farm Produce, For Sale, For Rent, etc.).
Like most forms of printed media, the classified ad has found its way to the Internet. Internet classified ads do not typically use per-line pricing models, so they tend to be longer. They are also more readily searchable unlike their offline brethren, tend to be local, and may foster a greater sense of urgency as a result of their daily structure and wider scope for audiences.
Because of their self-policing nature and low cost structures, some companies offer free classifieds such as Craigslist, Kijiji and Gumtree internationally. Other companies focus mainly on their local hometown region, while others blanket urban areas by using zip codes.
Craigslist.org was one of the first online classified sites, and has grown to become the largest classified source, bringing in over 14 million unique visitors a month according to comScore Media Metrix. A number of online services called aggregators such as Trovit and sumavisos.com crawl and aggregate classifieds from sources such as blogs and RSS feeds, as opposed to relying on manually submitted listings.
Additionally, other companies provide online advertising services and tools to assist members in designing online ads using professional ad templates and then automatically distributing the finished ads to the various online ad directories as part of their service. In this sense these companies act as both an application service provider and a content delivery platform.
As the online classified advertising sector develops, there is an increasing emphasis toward specialization. Vertical markets for classifieds are developing quickly along with the general marketplace for classifieds websites. Like search engines, classified websites are often vertical in nature with sites providing advertising platforms for niche markets of buyers of sellers
Alexa Traffic Rank
#32 - Craigslist.org
The rank is calculated using a combination of average daily visitors and pageviews over the past three months. The site with the highest combination of visitors and pageviews is ranked #1.
Setup Time
Less than 1 Hour.
Ongoing Maintenance
Most free classified ads expire in 30 days. We suggest using an excel spreadsheet to track the site name, your login information, the section where your ad was placed, your ad copy and the expiration date. This will assist you in keeping track of when your ads expire and will streamline your renewal process.
Cost
Free with the exception of a small fee in some metro areas.
Speed of Results
Fast.
Basic Use
What's better than free traffic? Free traffic that converts into sales! Free Classifieds are an excellent way to generate profits without spending a single dime. Your only investment is time and creativity.
There are thousands of free classified sites online. We’ll focus on a few high-traffic sites to get started but as you master this avenue continue to expand your advertising on the free sites.
It’s entirely possible you can begin generating leads within 24 hours just by placing a few simple ads immediately. There are associates who have generated 50+ leads a day with just this one *FREE* marketing method.
Basic Action Steps
- Choose Your Site
Start with these high-traffic sites:
• www.inetgiant.com
• www.ecki.com/links/advert.shtml
• www.usfreeads.com
• www.boconline.com
• www.craigslist.com (post ads on “Business For Sale”, not Biz Opps)
• www.kijiji.com
• www.backpage.com (post ads on “Business For Sale” and “Jobs”, not Biz Opps)
For a list of many more visit www.thedataprogram.com/list1.htm
- Choose the City
Choose a city you’re familiar with that has a high volume of traffic. Later on you’ll want to test out different cities but in the beginning stick with high volume cities you know.
- Choose the Section
This will vary by site but using Craigslist as an example you should consider (1) Service Offered > Small Biz Ads, Financial, Real Estate or (2) Jobs Offered> Sales/Biz Development, Real Estate, Business Management.
- Write Your Ad
While these sample ads are a good starting point for writing your own ad copy, this is really a chance to be creative and set yourself apart from the masses. Keep in mind the #1 objective with your ad copy is to generate curiosity so your reader is compelled to take the next step, be it clicking on a link or calling your telephone number. Don’t sell. Don’t explain. Generate curiosity.
Sample Ads:
Entrepreneur Alert
Leave Your Boss For Good
Make It Look Easy
MyWebsite.com
Serious Entrepreneur?
Find A Better Way.
To Earn What You're Worth
MyWebsite.com
Simple Home Biz
Huge Potential
For The Chosen Few
MyWebsite.com
- Post Your Ad
Proof your ad copy and post your ad.
- Repeat, Repeat, Repeat
Generating a substantial number of leads from free classifieds requires massive action, but the pay-off is worth it!
Basic Tips & Tricks
• Free classifieds are a great testing ground to see if your ad copy is effective and pulling a response. Even as you expand your marketing campaigns in to more advanced avenues such as Google Adwords you should consider testing your ad copy in a free campaign first to see how it pulls.
• While it’s a relatively simple process to post a single free classified ad, your goal should be to have a ton of these ads out there on a multitude of sites. As such, organizing your site information (logins, passwords, ad copy, renewal dates, etc.) will allow you to quickly and easily renew your ads rather than wasting time re-inventing the wheel every month. We suggest using an excel spreadsheet to keep track of your free classified database.
There are some tricks to posting on Craigslist when you are posting ads in multiple cities:
- Use a unique headline for each ad you post
- Use unique text in each ad you post
- Consider using image ads (a picture with verbiage rather than searchable text)
- Use one account for 5 to 10 cities. Create additional accounts as necessary. For additional free email accounts go to www.gmail.com.
- Only post 10 ads (or less) per day in the beginning. Going overboard too quickly on Craigslist before you learn the ropes will get your ads flagged and your accounts banned.
Paid Craigslist Tips
(I didn't see a spot for paid ads..)
Now it's important to understand that there are 2 kinds of Craigslist ads PAID ads. You can find the cities and fees here http://www.craigslist.org/about/help/posting_fees most of the cities cost $25 per ad and I would recommend starting at that level.
I like PAID ADS for these reasons.
1) Less competition means a higher response rate.
2) It's simple and easy.
3) Instant gratification.
When I got started, 95% of my lead generation was coming strictly from this method. Here's exactly what I did.
I posted heavily in the job section - sales/real estate/marketing categories and occasionally in hospitality/film/education/sm biz/retail. I just wrote different ads for different categories. However Internet MLM is not a job so technically we should not be posting in that section as this is a game of cat and mouse… You will be playing the mouse.. Your ad can get flagged by craigslist, a civilian, or even a competitor. On the bright side you may have already gotten a large percentage of leads and once your ad is removed Craigslist should refund your account. I've posted ads at 11:30PM made a sale overnight and my ad was flagged by morning, that stuff happens, but it won't if you don't put any ads out! The bad news is that after you get flagged you are now under watch and these are the things that can happen to you and how to get around them.
Canceled account - start another under a new email address.
Blocked headlines - get rid of them or change them around.
Blocked IP address - If you can start with a rotating IP address from the beginning do it. If you don't know what I'm talking about do what all others have done before you - visit www.whatismyipaddress.com. A common solution is an Internet card (Broadband, 3G, ect. ect.) before I could afford one I would post in coffee shops, hotels, libraries, and sometimes even street corners.
Blocked domain name - buy another one from go daddy.com ($10)
Blocked phrases in your ads - change them
Block your credit card - This one stumped me for awhile. You can get an “All Access” pre-paid credit card you can use. (google it). ALL OF THESE THINGS HAPPENED TO ME! By the end of my Craigslist posting career I was sitting on corners outside internet coffee shops at 11:30 at night using borrowed credit cards. I can say this; If it didn't drive leads I wouldn't have been doing it.
Tips to increase your response rate:
-Post late at night, ideally 11:50 PM. This is extremely important so you get top positioning, you'll have less chance of being flagged and your ad will get play for weeks instead of days.
-Don't write BS; be able to back up your claims.
-Crappy weather keeps people in and on their computers so I check the weather before I post; rain = more leads = more apps = more sales
Tips to help from getting flagged:
-Don't make your headlines too attractive because you'll attract the wrong attention and get flagged by other people posting that don't want you as competition.
-Don't flag your competitors, it's bad karma!
-If an ad does get flagged then don't post on that account for at least 3 days.
-you cannot use replicated web page, you have to use a forwarded domain.
-Don't be greedy, you can quietly post 4 - 6 ads a week and generate over 50 leads.
Technical Tips: -DO NOT post in Chicago. IL does not issue licenses for direct sales businesses.
Tips for writing the ad:
-Ask for what you want, define the person you want on your team, what's their big question? Then answer it.
-When in doubt, do without. Less can be more just sell the click and let the capture pages do the rest
==?SAMPLE AD ONLY?==
Sales Professionals (Title)
-start ad-
Are you willing to be trained, aggressive, determined, responsible, hard working? If so you must be tired of dead end low ceiling sales jobs?
Thanks to the Internet you now have options and they are better and more accessible than ever before.
Enter into the now, with automated sales engines, and turnkey pipeline management systems.
No more selling and telling, never cold call again, choose your team, start working on your own personal wealth and stop working on the clock.
Enough is enough the time to recession proof your income is now
This is a long-term solution complete with training-support-virtual office. No g.t r.ch quick seekers please, only serious professionals need apply.
-end ad-
Don't expect to be an expert with this on your first shot but you should be generating at least 10 leads per ad.
Final Clarification:I post only in the [$25 paid cities]. ex: Seattle, Los Angeles,Boston, DC ect., ect… I only post in the [job section]. ex: Real Estate, Sales, Marketing, ect. ect… Your number one objective it to sell the click and let the system go to work for you.
Disclaimer: Michael Wyrosdick is committed to providing you with the highest quality tools and resources to support your business. You should, however, conduct your own due diligence before purchasing any products or outsourcing any projects as Michael Wyrosdick cannot guarantee the services or products as provided by third party vendors.
Related Marketing Strategies
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Directories
• Ezine Marketing
• Google Adwords
Questions, Comments, Feedback & Suggestions
For questions about Free Classifieds, please send an email to resources@michaelwyrosdick.com with “Free Classifieds” in your subject line.
