Craigslist Primer

[aliengeek]

Okay, I thought I would do a quck write up on criagslist.
Most of this will apply to any situation where you are given HTML privilages on a high traffic site.

We've already seen some good examples of what you can do with different CPA offers.
I want to first just add on to the craigslist CPA method. Not everywhere, but some locations you are free to post an ad requesting an artist or model. 90% of my responses have been from very real people who actually are hammering out a living responding to casting calls like that. Pretty much do exactly as before but spin it around a bit and modify your template. If you don't have it you need XSite2. It's either that or a CMS. The site its self does not have to be an SEO anything site so flash and pretty sparkles (btjunkie.org if you need templates) are OK. Thats just one variation you could run with.


Now let's cover the basics of article posting.
Step one: Good CL account. A verified account is important. You don't need a ton of them! I've had ONE posting hundreds a day a few months back and that account is still groovy. Infact it only has 37 flagged posts to it's credit. How?

Were my ads appropriate? Did they contain keywords that would be relevant to the posted topic? It is not comfirmed but it is possible that CL can detect if your post is related to the section you are posting under. Obviously we have all seen ads that defy this. I also lean twoards caution.

Did my ad contain real information about the area I am posting to? Meaning, did I offer a partial address or anything else that establishes me as a NON guru craigslist user (we have also seen people post sensitive personal information not knowing any better).
My trick here is I leave out the house number. I just pick a random address from google maps in the area I am posting to. If I use a phone number I will put the first 8 numbers then tell them to e-mail for the last 2.

Was my ad realistic? I'll use a direct example. I was promoteing the Kindle and posted ads offering one for sale. Instead of a low price no one would believe I took $75 off and said I lost the box it came in. When I'd write the ads I would say things like:
"My kids got this for me for my birthday last week and I can't stand it! The battery only lasts 3 hours and I really don't read that much. I'd be willing to trade it out right for some fishing equipment or a desktop computer. Doesn't have to be fast. Just has to run quickbooks."
I used images from ebay to and uploaded them.

Did I post this ad too much? I find that 10 runs of a good ad like the example above will yield over 1000 visits. Not all of them are going to be worth anything. Some are scrapers and some are just bots. I tested this by running XAMPP and calling an image from a dyndns hostname. Every ad I posted where I took my time like that to cover all the bases stuck and continued to pay off for up to 2 weeks.

OK so now let's cover the don'ts. These are rules you must follow.
Never post an uncloaked link. Even if you just encode your html it's a step forward.
Never run unprotected cookie stuffing! An ad will yield the most return within 12 hours of it's posting! After that, ERASE ALL EVIDENCE OF THE COOKIE STUFF FROM YOUR SERVER.
NEVER repost the same cookie stuff. It's OK to use the same file name for 10-20 posts but after that, you need to switch it up. If not you MIGHT get your domain on a list.
DON'T GET GREEDY!!!
The last one is IMPORTANT. If you are posting a ton of ads every day with the intention of cookie stuffing it is a matter of time before you are caught. Be smart about it.

So how do you get smart about it?
Let's say I'm hunting commissions from newegg. What I would do is create ads with a really cool custom computer for sale. Just a few dollars more than the cheapest one you can get on newegg.
After that I narrow it down further. I list the computer as a hardcore gaming system. Liquid cooled, all the bells and whistles. A LOT of IT guys (myself included) get board babysitting so we end up on sites like craigslist just looking around at crap. Those are the guys I'd be hunting for with newegg.

So let's round up some ideas.
Networks: Amazon EPN
Target: Woman, Mothers, House wifes
Ideas:
Free baby clothes: Go to ebay and grab some picture of a nice used baby clothes lot. Make an ad about how your kid out grew them and you just want them to go to someone who could use them.
For Sale: Dishwasher. Range top (not anything to old or beat up).
Deadbeat Renters: Say you were renting a place out and they renters skipped out on you. Instead of paying someone to come clean the house your going to just give everything away. Grab some picture from google images of a bachelor pad or college kid pad.
Place for Rent: This one is a no brainer. Grab images from google images. Hint: Most of my traffic here has been someone useing someone elses computer. Converts high considering.

OKay those are some basic ideas.

I don't do much craigslist posting but I can tell you this. Using everything above exactly. $1800 a day Amazon. Read my other post to find out how the EPN did.

[cacs]

Thanks man for the info i didn't know you could cs craigslist. it doesn't get talked about a lot. Top post.