Craigslist has come a long way since it started out back in 1995, and continues to thrive today despite competition from sites like Gumtree and eBay.

(*Note to reader, as you read this series please understand you can adpt the same methods with Backpage.)

 

Craigslist is not as fancy or complicated as eBay, it’s easier and quicker to use.  You don’t even have to “join” to post something for sale, although there are some advantages to “joining” including being able to “repost” an ad (which may save you time later).

 

Craigslist also has an active “community” who connect in the “discussion forums”, and anyone can join those communities to discuss like-minded issues and topics.

 

The number one top benefit of Craigslist, is that it is “Free” to buy and sell from.  Unlike eBay, there is no “payment” processor like “Paypal” built in, Craigslist expects you to actually meet your buyer in person for hand over and payment.

 

There are many other advantages to using Craigslist to buy and sell.  As a buyer, you remain anonymous until you decide (if ever) to reveal your details.  Because you don’t pay online, you normally agree to meet the buyer in person (usually in a public place if possible) to complete the purchase.  If you are a seller, you don’t have to divulge anything about yourself or your contact details until “after” you have a buyer you are willing to sell to.

 

For online marketers, business people and product creators, the benefits of Craigslist are huge, but it is tricky building up a large volume of sales due to their “no spam” policy, and how digital products and website hyperlinks can be viewed as “inappropriate” for Craigslist.

 

This press release series will show you how to:

 

• Publish your sales ads for digital products, your business opportunity, and/or brick and mortar business

• Avoid being closed by Craigslist/Backpage because their “spam filter” weeds your classified ads as inappropriate for Craigslist

• Repost your ads over and over within the Craigslist terms and conditions to avoid having your account closed

Backpage v Craigslist

 

Essentially, Backpage have copied most aspects of Craigslist, it even looks like Craigslist when you visit their website.

 

You should definitely advertise on Backpage.com as well as Craigslist.org if this is a successful way for you to generate traffic and sales of your digital products.

 

However, it is worth noting the difference in potential buyers is far greater with Craigslist, so start with Craigslist. Also, you should under stand that Craigslist does not allow hyperlinks in their free ads. For this reason it is essential that you have a strong call to action with in the ads you place. We will dig more into this in later.

Why Craigslist’s “no spam” policy may affect a You

 

To understand how to post ads about your business on Craigslist, it is easiest to first understand how Craigslist works.

 

Craigslist is a free classified ad website, where you can sell something to someone else locally in person.  Craigslist is not designed to sell your item or service globally, and if you want to sell something in two locations (eg. Los Angeles and London) then you would need to actually list it separately in both areas, you can’t create one listing and have it sell in both areas (like you can on eBay).

 

Craigslist has a “spam filter” that may remove your ads if it believes you are trying to sell something in more than one area.  Therefore, you need to list your digital products carefully to avoid the spam filters, and ensure you don’t breach Craigslist terms and conditions, whilst still achieving your digital product sales in more than one location.

 

Besides the spam filter, other people who view your ad can easily mark your ad as “spam” and therefore have it suspended until verified by Craigslist staff.  This is very easy for people to do, and some people believe viewers have marked their listing as “spam” for frivolous reasons, like a jealous competitor, but fortunately we have a way to avoid to slow them down or stop them completely.

 

The key here is to keep you Craigslist ad professional, relevant to the category in which you have listed it, and not make “mass produce” it all over the different Craigslist locations around the world, otherwise it looks like spam.

 

There is also another problem with Craigslist that is well known, which is referred to as “ghosting”.  This is where an ad is posted by the seller, and appears to the seller as real, but is actually not live on the Craigslist website live (ie. No one can see it except you).  This is because the spam filter has marked it as suspicious, and it has to be reviewed by Craigslist staff before it is published.

This is just Part One of this series. In Part Two we will be looking at:

• Ways to avoid the Craigslist Spam Filters
• The crusical steps to take when using pictures in your ads (you don’t want to miss this tip)