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Does anyone use Craigslist to get Leads for Local Listings

by deckman
30 replies
Just wondering if anybody uses craigslist to get leads.

I did try this last night. I put a ad in local services with a screen shot of a local search and talking about these companies are getting business that a craigslist poster could be getting if they were listed here. Ten minutes later it was flagged down. Its frustrating knowing that the posters all need this listing and that once they get it there its there and they dont have to repost all the time and worry about getting flagged down.

Then I realized I had broken the first rule that I should be abiding by "Give them something for free so you can start building a relationship that can lead to sales.
I just went back and posted a ad offering to see if Google may have already found them and if so I would help them claim the listing for FREE and if Google hasnt found them yet that I would get them listed for FREE.

I will see how this goes. Hope to at least get a few calls so that I can get comfortable with explaining to them what this could mean for their bottom line. This will open a relationship and I can then tell them how I can get them optimized to help them move up in the listings.

What are your experiences?
#craigslist #leads #listings #local
  • Profile picture of the author thelibidoguy
    Sounds like your on the right track deckman. Although i don't see what rule from craigslist you may have violated and since i don't know what you posted it just may be an unjust flagging. Other than that, you seem to be correcting course to accomplish your goal. I use craigslist all the time and have to be careful what and where i post. Be creative and hit the keyboard consistently like i have. One idea is to make your own video of the process on youtube or vimeo and have pertinent info on it, then use that link to post on craigslist and other related sites. If they can see part of the process, it becomes more clear to them and more attractive. This may help set you apart from others who are doing the same thing you are. I see that you are a fellow Texan.
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    • Profile picture of the author deckman
      Born and raised in Texas my friend. Lived here my whole life. You are a little further south and dont get the cold quite as much but probably the same heat and humidity. The best thing about the cold here is that when we do get ice or snow its only about two maybe three times a year but its gone in 2-3 days. Still too damn much for me though and as soon as I can convince the family I will be moving further south.

      Anyways I appreciate the advice on the route that I am taking. Before I made the first post I had read a post that was bashing services that would multiple post so one of the multiple posters I called and mentioned that someone was getting hyped about it and that I could help him out so that he wouldnt have to worry about using CL as his local isting with Google could get the leads he needs. He tells me he is broke and cant afford to pay $300. I explain that to get his biz listed on the top he would have to worry about affording to pay this. He just was not open minded at all.
      I then posted teh ad and used flooring as an example screen shot. So yeah I think that he had a couple of his buds help him flag.

      My other ad is still up but no response so far. I see that CL is so big and world wide that there has to be a way to use it to get customers that understand what a page one listing can do for them. You know, the one that get the idea?
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      • Profile picture of the author linebelowdigital
        I've found a few great clients on craigslist by just posting a short ad offering my services. The key to it is really being consistent. I'd post at least 3 times a day, every day of the week.
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        • Profile picture of the author deckman
          Being a contractor myself I started by focusing on contractors in the skilled services area.

          What area where you posting in and can you give an idea of how you worded you posting?

          As thelibidoguy said he has luck doing this using video with a link in the ad. I see how this could work very well.
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        • Profile picture of the author sadiecopywriter
          Originally Posted by linebelowdigital View Post

          I've found a few great clients on craigslist by just posting a short ad offering my services. The key to it is really being consistent. I'd post at least 3 times a day, every day of the week.
          How you get around the ghosting? When I try to post it on craigslist I always get ghosted.
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          • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
            Originally Posted by sadiecopywriter View Post

            How you get around the ghosting? When I try to post it on craigslist I always get ghosted.
            There are many things that trip up their ghosting system.

            1.) If you try to post more than 3 ads a day and you receive a message that says this account has exceeded posting limit. It for some reason at times acts as a measure to ghost you.

            2.) Posting too fast will cause you to be ghosted in a certain city.

            3.) Certain proxies will cause ghosting

            4.) A certain flagging to live ad ratio will cause account wide ghosting.

            5.) Multiple tries on phone verification will cause ghosting

            6.) Too similar ads, or titles can cause ghosting

            There are many reasons, their algorithm is pretty complex. If you start off with an account and you get ghosted, then that account is pretty much done for in my experience. You need to clear all cookies before changing accounts.
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      • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
        Originally Posted by deckman View Post

        Born and raised in Texas my friend. Lived here my whole life. You are a little further south and dont get the cold quite as much but probably the same heat and humidity. The best thing about the cold here is that when we do get ice or snow its only about two maybe three times a year but its gone in 2-3 days. Still too damn much for me though and as soon as I can convince the family I will be moving further south.

        Anyways I appreciate the advice on the route that I am taking. Before I made the first post I had read a post that was bashing services that would multiple post so one of the multiple posters I called and mentioned that someone was getting hyped about it and that I could help him out so that he wouldnt have to worry about using CL as his local isting with Google could get the leads he needs. He tells me he is broke and cant afford to pay $300. I explain that to get his biz listed on the top he would have to worry about affording to pay this. He just was not open minded at all.
        I then posted teh ad and used flooring as an example screen shot. So yeah I think that he had a couple of his buds help him flag.

        My other ad is still up but no response so far. I see that CL is so big and world wide that there has to be a way to use it to get customers that understand what a page one listing can do for them. You know, the one that get the idea?
        1.) Check your 2nd ad to make sure it is listed in the section you posted on, you will be getting ghosted soon I bet if you keep getting flagged.
        2.) Offering something free, isn't going to keep your ad up, you will get flagged. People always flag those who offer things for free. I also flag the low ballers on my dummy account.
        3.) People on Craigslist don't care about local listings 90% of the time. For example, if someone is going on craigslist in the computer section, they are looking for a computer repair man, websites, or SEO(rarely though).
        4.) You make it seem like a local listing will get more leads than craigslist, not always the case. I have a client #1 for multiple keywords, but the leads he gets is less than another client of mine who does craigslist posting.
        5.) You're posting in a section where people are competing for services, you are better off cold calling them instead of putting up an ad, hoping people will see it. They don't care who else posts in there, they want people to see their ad.

        I kill craigslist with business... works wonders for me. Just have to be persistent and smart about it.
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  • Profile picture of the author kosmo101
    What exactly is 'ghosted'?

    Could anyone who is successful in CL share some tips? thank you
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  • Profile picture of the author deckman
    Ghosted is when your ad post but it doesnt actually show up in the listings. I dont know how this is done or by whom but this is my understanding.
    Maybe someone that understands it better will chime in.
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  • Profile picture of the author thelibidoguy
    LOL Yeah we get a lot of people migrating down here to escape the weather challenges from all over the U.S. Some good tips on how craigslist is changing. Posting several times helps to get that ad more visible because it moves down the line as more people post in that section. Ghosting is their tool for keeping down unwanted clutter due to many issues that they have been having. What helps is to have a post with a pic and a title in caps and attention grabbing wording. You can't go too overboard because someone may get offended and flag. If you make a video link, the video should be short and to the point maybe 3-5 minutes average time. I will be making a video for a product that is new and appeals to women's intimacy enhancement. That one will be interesting!
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  • Profile picture of the author topgold
    Craigslist is a fantastic place to get traffic. But you do need to know a few things about it, too.

    1 - There's stiff competition, and many "lowballers" (as iAmNameLess so affectionately named it lol). You will most likely get better pricing and more customers using a different method such as organic SEO and PPC (PPC not recommended unless you know what you're doing).
    2 - People who visit the site often want to squeeze your service for as much as they can possibly get. (Think Fiverr customers who want you to design their website, answer all of their questions, and give them a bag of cookies for only $5!)
    3 - I have not been flagged on Craigslist lately, so unless you have been doing ridiculous spamming, then don't worry about that too much. If you are new and people have not seen you around, then you may get flagged AT FIRST, but once people see that you are a regular poster (and quite possibly a legitimate business), then you can post without worry.
    4 - When you actually do get phone calls, you have to respond right away or your customers WILL find someone else! There are professional CL posters who will work fast and for lower pay, so do your best! Remember that you don't need all of the pieces of the pie to make a decent living, just enough.

    Hope this helps. Cheers!
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  • Profile picture of the author Viper X
    Try this: Hire someone or get a scraper bot that will scrape a specific category of CL that you want to send your offer to via email. I find it saves a lot of time VS trying to post CL all the time and worrying about ghosting etc...
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  • Profile picture of the author deckman
    Thanks to everyone that has had a input here. I have not gotten any call from the ad so I am thinking that the wording was a flop. So now its time to try another approach.
    I have lots of great ideas from you guys and I still think that CL ca be a great source for leads. I just need to get that right combination. Quitting is not an option!
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  • Profile picture of the author nehadas87
    Banned
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  • Profile picture of the author rosesmark
    In my opinion craigslist is not good for lead generation.I guess...If you want to generate lead generation so use linkedin and other social website
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  • Profile picture of the author deckman
    Being a contractor I use CL to post ads and it works although be it not quite as good as it used to. Now you have more and more competition and you have some that think this is the norm to be fighting for position, giving better prices than the competition as well as fighting the flagging. The areas that most contractors or other service oriented categories are free. You give them a better way to get above their competition and not have to fight all the BS that comes along with Free Ad Posting and the question is "Can they afford it?". But the real question is "Can they really not afford it?" when it gets them ahead of the game with out all the BS.

    When you use CL you are getting amongst the people that really need a website, SEO or a well done Local Listing.

    IMHO So all in all I have to respectfully disagree with rosesmark on "In my opinion craigslist is not good for lead generation." but agree with "If you want to generate lead generation so use linkedin and other social website "
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  • Profile picture of the author deckman
    Being a contractor I use CL to post ads and it works although be it not quite as good as it used to. Now you have more and more competition and you have some that think this is the norm to be fighting for position, giving better prices than the competition as well as fighting the flagging. The areas that most contractors or other service oriented categories are free. You give them a better way to get above their competition and not have to fight all the BS that comes along with Free Ad Posting and the question is "Can they afford it?". But the real question is "Can they really not afford it?" when it gets them ahead of the game with out all the BS.

    When you use CL you are getting amongst the people that really need a website, SEO or a well done Local Listing.

    IMHO So all in all I have to respectfully disagree with rosesmark on "In my opinion craigslist is not good for lead generation." but agree with "If you want to generate lead generation so use linkedin and other social website "
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  • Profile picture of the author deckman
    I will be straying from what this post was originally about here but I will tie it all together at the end so please bear with me as I think that some may find this useful.

    I have been working with my ads on craigslist that I run for my local contracting biz for the last few days and it has actually been a lot of fun.
    CL dosent allow any video but I learned a really slick way to have a video tied to the ad.

    1-After you upload to youtube you can take a screenshot of it. Take the screenshot and load it on photobucket.

    2- Copy the html code from photobucket and paste it in your CL ad.

    3- Go to Edit ad and look for the html code you pasted from PB.

    4- When you see href= "........" highlight the .... and paste the code from the youtube vid there.

    5- It is actually a picture that looks like a youtube video and when they hover and click it will take them directly to the video.

    You have not violated CL TOU and you have what one will think is a video directly in your CL ad. I think that videos are slowly taking over and someone would rather watch a video with a real voice to it giving info about the ad/company than having to just read some text.

    Now to tie this with my original intention with this thread.
    Use this technique to place a CL ad video explaining what a local listing can do for your traffic.

    This may be old news to some of you veterans but its new and exciting to me. I know that the ultimate destination will be to outsource this stuff but being the hands on person that I am I need to understand what it is that I am doing before I can show/teach to outsource.
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    • Profile picture of the author 7figs
      Originally Posted by deckman View Post

      I will be straying from what this post was originally about here but I will tie it all together at the end so please bear with me as I think that some may find this useful.

      I have been working with my ads on craigslist that I run for my local contracting biz for the last few days and it has actually been a lot of fun.
      CL dosent allow any video but I learned a really slick way to have a video tied to the ad.

      1-After you upload to youtube you can take a screenshot of it. Take the screenshot and load it on photobucket.

      2- Copy the html code from photobucket and paste it in your CL ad.

      3- Go to Edit ad and look for the html code you pasted from PB.

      4- When you see href= "........" highlight the .... and paste the code from the youtube vid there.

      5- It is actually a picture that looks like a youtube video and when they hover and click it will take them directly to the video.

      You have not violated CL TOU and you have what one will think is a video directly in your CL ad. I think that videos are slowly taking over and someone would rather watch a video with a real voice to it giving info about the ad/company than having to just read some text.

      Now to tie this with my original intention with this thread.
      Use this technique to place a CL ad video explaining what a local listing can do for your traffic.

      This may be old news to some of you veterans but its new and exciting to me. I know that the ultimate destination will be to outsource this stuff but being the hands on person that I am I need to understand what it is that I am doing before I can show/teach to outsource.
      @deckman
      This sounds like an excellent strategy: Any ad that stands out from all the rest, will certainly get more views. Thank you for sharing your approach!
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  • Profile picture of the author paul_1
    Craiglist got a lot of traffic. If you can use it to channel your business, that would be great. I myself use Craiglist in my marketing effort and it does create conversions. It's a free advertising medium, so you can always maximize the results. Craiglist is free but they have very strict "spiders" so it's important to follow their set of rules and guidelines or at least you know a trick or two on how to get around Craiglist.
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  • Profile picture of the author redcell1
    1-2 ads a day honestly wont cut it. If you want to see real results your going to have to most more daily. Also change up your headlines so they dont get lost in the crowd of "be on page 1 of google"
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    • Profile picture of the author toodise
      this is a great thread of comments thanks deckman

      redcell1 I would also like to learn more about your team.. I have used craigslist on another business and did fairly well with it as long as I was consistent... it is take some time and it is tough for me to have the time to work on craigslist everyday.

      thanks in advance
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  • Profile picture of the author deckman
    Actually I have several ads up a day and they all have different titles. Even though I have gotten some ads indexed mostly CL is no follow. When I got the ads indexed as I was posting I changed the "no follow" to "follow" in the html code and got them indexed but the CL system caught on and and added the "no" back in to the code.

    I have three different email accounts that I use and when one ad gets flagged I will then transfer it to another account and repost. It gets to be kind of a cat and mouse game so you have to stay at it. Once you get tour ads in there then every two to three days you can repost the same ad from the same account with out violating TOU.
    I spend a few minutes in the morning then a few minutes in the evening posting and reposting so that I will catch people early and then late.
    It works for my contracting biz now I am just trying to implement the same Local Listings SEO.
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    • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
      Originally Posted by deckman View Post

      Actually I have several ads up a day and they all have different titles. Even though I have gotten some ads indexed mostly CL is no follow. When I got the ads indexed as I was posting I changed the "no follow" to "follow" in the html code and got them indexed but the CL system caught on and and added the "no" back in to the code.

      I have three different email accounts that I use and when one ad gets flagged I will then transfer it to another account and repost. It gets to be kind of a cat and mouse game so you have to stay at it. Once you get tour ads in there then every two to three days you can repost the same ad from the same account with out violating TOU.
      I spend a few minutes in the morning then a few minutes in the evening posting and reposting so that I will catch people early and then late.
      It works for my contracting biz now I am just trying to implement the same Local Listings SEO.
      All links are no follow automatically, even if you think you found a way around it. All posts are also indexed. Just because nofollow is issued, doesn't mean that nofollow doesn't get indexed, or that it doesn't count for anything.
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      • Profile picture of the author deckman
        Thanks for clearing that up.
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  • Profile picture of the author patadeperro
    I have used craigslist for sometime and I created a video about how to generate leads with craigslist

    here is one
    How to generate leads with Craigslists | Internet Marketing Montreal

    And in this one I will tell you how to maximize the effect of your posts to get the maximum response.

    Craigslist As Part Of Your Online Marketing Strategy | Internet Marketing Montreal
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  • Profile picture of the author Royce Space
    Craigslist -> Offer = Bad/CL Traffic
    Craigslist -> Optin -> Email = Good/Email Traffic
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