Probably other web designers are the ones that flagged you. I haven't had much on CL offering things for free, except physical goods in the free section.

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Yes there are alot of hatters on craigslist. Its been like that for years. When I used them heavily back in 2004 I would get so much hate emails from people and even people signing me up for spam all because I was offering a better deal than them. And this was in the mortgage niche! These guys are supposed to be professional right? lol..


Just keep posting and trying different ads to see which one will stick. Just make sure you dont take the advice that craigslist recommends to post your question of why is it being flagged in there forum. They will call you names and flame you like you would never believe.

Dude, if you're offering free websites, everyone will flag you. Myself included. LOL. Think about it... someone offering a free website, messes with peoples business. I flag people that put less than $300 in the title...I'm sure a lot of other people do as well. Just something you're going to have to get over, or overcharge. I never have a problem with getting flagged for charging what I do.

Just keep moving on! Flagging happens all the time, even if you are legit, there's nothing you can do about it. Write 5 different posts for each city. Then move on to the next city. Your posts do NOT need to be 85% unique, they just need to be changed up a little so they are not exact replicas.

Keep doing what you're doing, and if you are being excessively flagged, then go somewhere else. And don't ever post links in ads in cities like Chicago or Denver.

If you are not putting URLs in your posts, then you shouldn't get your account banned, hopefully. Who knows when CL will change their algo again?

definitely contact CL, because they are pretty legit in keeping things up that are themselves legit. Sometimes people get trigger happy on the ban button

I havent posted my own ad on CL for a few years so I am running a test to see what happens. Hopefully it doesnt get flagged because it looks 100% better than everyone elses..lol..

Here is a tip,

1. use powerpoint or keynote on mac to make a quick image ad.

2. Then upload it to your wordpress and post it on a new page you make as a draft. If you dont have a wordpress blog, then set one up dammit! Heck you might as well start carrying a pager and wearing parachute pants!

3. Select the image ad you made and create a hyperlink to your site or where you want them to go.

4. Choose the HTML viewer and copy the code
Be sure to add <br><br> for line breaks since wordpress doesnt do that for you.

5. Paste it on craigslist

Now your ad looks 1000% better than 99.9% of everyone elses. Hopefully no one flags you for it. lol...

Be a RockStar In Your Business,
& In Your Life!

Dr. Dan

In the contractors - skilled trades section the same thing happens all the time. They think they can cut teh competition by flagging other ones i guess.

Other designers flagged your post so theirs would be the only one showing.

Such a dirty thing to do and it has happened to me more than a few times.

Craigslist is like the Penny Shopper of the internet.

You really don't reach a high end demographic in either one.

Every once in a while you will get the occasional lucky break... But for the most part it is like a virtual trailer park.

Just my experience. I haven't posted an ad on Craigslist for a LONG time. Yesterday I got a call from a guy that want's to do a Joint Venture.

He has a product idea, and want's to sell it if I can do the technical.

Lucky break I guess....

I am so suspect of CL people that we are meeting this week so that I can qualify him before moving forward.

I have used craigslist to generate different type of leads, I created a video some months ago about it, if want to see it here is it:

How to generate leads with Craigslists | Internet Marketing Montreal

Hope it helps

I have given up on craigslist for the moment LOL and will be doing some cold calling today or tomorrow.

Try the Small Business section....and the Creative as well.

Thanks but I think that people flag others who list their website services for free.

You definitely got flagged by other web designers. You are trying to take the food out of the mouths of their children with a tactic like that. Very uncool.

If you need sites for a portfolio, create some and sell them on Flippa. Or find some worthy non-profits and do free sites for them. But don't practice on real customers. It's not right.

When the time for you to make money, be sure to put your ad in "Services Offered" not gigs or jobs. By the way, once you start making money, and you see some newbie killing the market with freebies, you'll also think they are pond scum and you will be flagging them yourself.

Although I have gotten calls using craiglist advertising I prefer to do the paid advertising on backpage. Obviously it is a lot of haters in the world who like to flag others for ad content they don't agree with. That's cool but flagging other ads that you don't agree with is just plain petty and immature.
But business is business. Maybe if you haters on CL spend more time making a killer offer and focus less on what your competition is doing I'm sure you would make the money you are really trying to make.
The free website ad is only used as a starting point to get newbie businesses interested and as a starting point to sell other useful online services.
I use my my affiliate banners and offers to my other products on these so called free sites until my clients buy a hosting package from me.
So free ain't really free!

Craigslist charges for some things... it isn't entirely free. Free advertising happens with both google and facebook as well.

Mike, the answer is very simple... there is an easy solution to this, just don't offer anything free LOL. That really is the reason you're being flagged... if you want to build a portfolio, charge $299-$399 on craigslist. You don't need examples of sites, you don't need any past clients, just do it! You want to upsell, then do it... you don't need to offer something free to make money on the back end.

For those that think craigslist isn't worth it, good, more for me. There might be low quality customers, but I manage to weed through them. I started out by utilizing craigslist. I can make 5K a month using ONLY craigslist. I have recurring clients from craigslist that I can make money off of whenever I want. Do it right and you can do it big.

Think of other developers, being in a union. You're the lowballer, messing things up for the union. I'm not mad at you LOL I'm just giving insight on why you're being flagged.

I am going to put some posts up at $299/$399 or something. Let's see how it goes.
Do you advice having a photo?

I wouldn't use Craigslist if I were you. Too many scammers and people who are just flaking.

CL is a goldmine if you use it right, look for what businesses are looking for instead of what you are offering

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I never like Craigslist, although there
are many visitors there.
I find it troublesome to use,
i need to keep on posting in
different places, i think is a waste of time,
i rather find something easier,
where you just post whatever you want,
and whoever search for your ads with the
right keywords, your ads appear, simple.

I like simple thing.