Show us Your Craigslist Ad

Nameless has contributed plenty when it comes to CL. IMO he is one of the resident gurus on the subject.

I post to CL everyday for my "real" job. I put up 150-200 ads a day in the Cars by dealer section.

What I do is probably not relevant to the section you're posting in. All I can really say is I have a awesome success rate using single image ads, I rarely get ghosted.

Hey man, I'm sure you can understand how it came across, otherwise you wouldn't have edited your post. People want other people to do work for them, free.... it happens all the time, and I think you could admit that maybe you can see how someone could make that assumption about the original post? My post that you said was of no contribution, was probably in equal contribution of your original one. Correct? Just because you came back and edited it, doesn't make your OP that much better.

Now that we got that out of the way, I thank you for coming back and editing that with more information. That is something that can add value, and I feel that I can comment on that now.

I sometimes don't use the city name in the location box, I don't use it in a headline anymore because I think people are assuming its kind of scammy when you're not really in that area, and you say you are in the headline. When I use the city name in the location box, sometimes it works well, other times it doesn't... it's mostly dependent on the time of day and which city you're posting on.

I think me and you are kind of targeting different audiences though. With craigslist, I target higher end and aim for the higher end stuff because I don't want to deal with the low mid range stuff. I really try to avoid anything under $1,000 with CL and I position myself differently in the ads as well. However, when I was going for more volume and lower ticket, I did things similarly as you and it worked pretty well.

I also at first thought saying the service name was bad, until I modified my titles, and now if I have marketing, SEO, Web design, etc. in a title, it isn't a bad thing... it is kind of covered by the surrounding strings of words, know what I mean?

I don't get a lot of stuff if I write the title in small letters. All caps are better, annoying, but better. Better than that is to have about 50-60% of the headline in caps.

The copy itself, like I said, we're targeting different audiences, so I don't really talk as an individual, I have a copy that touches a few points, has an overview and call to action and that works well for me.

What doesn't work well, is image ads for services. Text is almost always better, when done properly.

I've noticed sometimes posting around 4:30 you get the busier professionals that browse looking for help. 4:30pm-445 if you pull it off properly you can always get a contact. I get most lawyers and dentists and higher end stuff at those times. Another time is 830am-9am, that's a hot time as well. Throughout the day after that is also good, but I've noticed those are peak times for quality contacts, that convert the highest and for the highest ticket.

I've noticed I don't really get much after 630-7pm, and if I do, it's usually some college kids with an idea that isn't funded and want to give you an equity stake in the company.

Everything you said that doesn't work... really does work, you probably didn't test in volume though. I get what you mean though... listing prices usually doesn't help for quality stuff, when you have all these other clowns posting for $99 websites. For them I guess it works... I see your point.. You can't really advertise it in the ad or you won't get as many calls.

I post in 15 of the most major cities, but have had luck lately posting in the secondary cities of those markets. The smaller cities though, can sometimes be okay, but not much traffic goes to it. There are also cities that I consider a hostile environment and no longer post in because everyone flags.

My 2 favorite to post in that became hostile, are orange county and oklahoma city. I've also noticed Raleigh NC is hostile now, so I avoid those instead of risking my account.

I post 3 ads/day per account and always renew the ads every 48 hours. You can post more in other sections but in services you can not.

I also noticed craigslist did another algorithm update in their ghosting. If you DO use image ads, it's best to rename the images, if you upload them on there. If not, then you should still rename them and host them in different places.

I think the real key to success on craigslist... is testing. We all are going to have different results with different things. Craigslist works great, but you have to work it. It's definitely a long term type thing, work it for a month straight to the maximum you can and you'll definitely have some decent results. After that month you have something to build off of, and improve with your copy, posting times, cities, etc. and you'll be able to test which things work and which don't.

One cool thing I noticed, is if you post twice in a city and some asshole flags you, they can only remove one post. Someone from another IP would have to flag your other one. I guess that isn't really new, but it's a cool little tip. Also... if you flag someone before YOU post, chances are they'll be coming on to check the ads, and flag their competitors as well so you might not want to do that.

One of the most important tips I can give, is message/reply to the ads your competition posts. Be friendly, ask how CL is working for them, and become friendly with them. That is definitely a key in order to keep your ads from getting flagged because you are no longer a threat, you're a colleague.

I do not think anyone wants your ad in exact terms, but more sharing an overview, but again that's you choice.

This section (offline) is not for the bullshit people, there are many very high profile people here who openly share.

If you feel like sharing a little of your knowledge to help other is beyond you maybe then you need to find another forum to hang out in.

As for people who just copy or steal, life is full of those people and the never, repeat never will become anything anyway, as they do not have the ability to lead or create so they may steal a line or two but they will never understand in total why it never really did work for them.

For the rest of us here and for you, you will probably find that what ever you give in a small way would never replace what you can take from here in valuable information.

Yep, it is sad too many will just copy instead of taking good information and putting their own spin on it. I have seen one of your ad's and it is really good and see how it would make you a ton of money.

Offering an incentive is always a great way to encourage leads. You could offer a discount to people who mention it, free social media design/mobile design, etc. All depends on what you're trying to sell.

Hey Red,

I'd take out the website visit option
because if the reader is hot and ready,
you don't want her wondering off to another web page
and for some reason cool off.

While she's over there the puppy maybe chewing up her shoes,
the kids are fighting and any other distraction
that stops her in her tracks from picking up the phone.

Worth testing.

Best,
Ewen