Are Your Craigslist Ads Effective?

Create better and more effective Craigslist Ads!

It does not matter where or for how much you place your advertising, you still want a return on investment (ROI) just as you would on any thing else you invest in for your business. If you are not getting results from your Craigslist Ads, look closely at this picture that I placed within my own CL ad that shows several listings. I ask: "Which ad is being opened"? Look and tell me:

Note several things in the ad selling the "92 Dodge. The title is different than any other. Some ads don't take advantage of having a picture, but even so, most pictures are of the vehicle. This one is a picture of a handwritten poster with details of the vehicle. (If you don't know, the first picture that you upload to your CL ad, is the one that shows in the "pic view").

Notice that it is possible to add quite a lot of info in the title so people have more before they open your ad. Plus, you can even add more info within the "name of the town" box. And finally, it states '92 Dodge, but doesn't state exactly what kind of a Dodge or if it is a car or truck. So that is a bit of a teaser for them to open it.

Finally, it doesn't matter what you do, you should "test" things to see what works for you. If you would like more posts like this one, let me know below. Also, be sure to "follow by email" at the right.

Make it a great day!
Ter

Use eBay and Similar Sources to Drive Traffic

Get Web Site Traffic With eBay

In my “How to Blog”, “How to Create and Publish Your First Kindle Book” and “Web Traffic Builder” classes I explain how one needs to always think about how one action can build upon and help another action; especially in creating and increasing Internet exposure. For instance in the Kindle class (Check out this short YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfC-5qcP6I4) I explain how each element can create a synergy with one another. Here I’m sharing how you can add eBay to you blogging, publishing Kindle Books, and your web sites efforts to create a “marketing wholeness” with your Internet exposure.

Using eBay to drive traffic to your website is not new, and can be done in numerous ways. I will share one of my favorites.

I own many sites and am involved in diverse money making opportunities on the web. So, each time someone purchases from my eBay site (or similar source) I simply ask them to go to my web page where they will see information about all of my other offers. When they do, I get “traffic”. Plus, even sometimes I will get more sales and sign ups. Crazy you say? Too simple? Not so, I say. Follow my easy steps I share here and you’ll see that it works.

HINT: Before I share with you what I do to get people beating a path to my website, here is something you should also consider: ALWAYS INCLUDE SOMETHING of EXTRA OF VALUE inside the package you are sending. It’s a great surprise for your buyer and should lead to more positive feedback which leads to more sales, more money, and more of more!

Don’t you like something extra in life? Imagine ordering something, waiting in anticipation for it to arrive, opening it; expecting just your order, and you also get a nice little surprise item!

I insert something like a pen or the Post It note pad; something that really doesn’t add any more significant weight to increase the shipping costs. For instance, I buy cheap imprinted items at: www.myimprintrep.com/123order with my website address on them. (Giving away pens with your web address imprinted on them is one way to drive traffic too).

Of course, adding this “something extra” is optional but I think it helps the recipient to be more open to my question: “Would you please visit my “thank you” page?

That’s it; I have a “Thank You” page on my site and I insert a nice "Thank You" page with each order that tells the buyer to visit the page!!! That’s the secret; nothing special, but it works!
Inserted along with the item that I’m shipping to my buyer, I simply insert a nice color printed page that thanks them, lists some other items that I have on my web page where they can visit and download something or get free! They usually visit and I get more out of selling an item on eBay, sometimes much more. Not rocket science I know, but it is good marketing. Here’s a link to my "Thank You" page so you can visit it and see what it looks like: http://www.terscott.com/thanksfororder.

I even let my customer know that I want them to visit my “Thank You” page, immediately after they make their purchase when I'm letting them know that I will be sending their order soon and that they should be sure to visit my "thanks page":

CONGRATULATIONS! You won the eBay bid for the item. I will ship promptly after I see that you’ve paid. Thanks again for your order and after you receive your order, be sure to see my “thanks page” at my site to redeem your “thank you” gift!

Make it a great day!

TS
..................................

OK, let me repeat: I insert a colored page that I print right from my printer that basically states: “thank you” for your recent purchase. I then list other items on the page with links to the corresponding sites that offer the products and services. You would be surprised how this makes a great impression

If you want to see my web page, visit here: http://www.terscott.com/thanksfororder.

Would you INVEST A BUCK to find out how I get tons of traffic to my site with this one eBay tip?

If you want to see exactly what my imprinted sheet that I insert with each order looks like so you can learn and adapt it to what you do, I’ll email it to you for just a buck: www.terscott.com/offers. Learn from what I do on this sheet and create your own similar insertion sheet for your own use. A dollar is a cheap investment in making more money with future eBay and similar uses.

That’s it for now. If you haven’t registered in the “Follow by Email” option on the right side of this page, I must ask: why not? You’ll never miss an article and it comes right in your email box; cool! When you do so today, and let me know in the comments area below that you did, you can have the THANK YOU insertion page at no cost!!!

Ter

When Should I List My Item on eBay?

A listing a day keeps the bills away!

Some “eBay experts” will tell you which days are the best to list your item. It’s basically simple, make sure that your item listing “expires” when the most people will be available to bid on it at the “last minute”. This typically is on Sunday night because at least here in America, most people are home and not watching TV. Also, pay attention to the time of day your listing will expire.

The above is important, but I find that many people when listing eBay items really don’t need to be concerned about when to list, they just need to “list” something. Do it now! Don’t wait. Don’t get paralysis of analysis! A listing a day, really does keep the bills away. Just list something and do it now. The majority of eBay sellers just need to list and sell something and get their feet wet; learn the ropes and deal with the “find tuning” of eBay listings later. If that’s you, read on. I will share where I find the good deals on items to list.

There is always something around you that you can sell on eBay. Where ever you go, if you have the mindset that there is something here that I can make money with, you will find it. Here are a few places that I find items to resell.

Yesterday I was at the library and from time to time they have books in what they call the “Friends of the Library” area. You purchase used books here on a donation basis. I have found some “like new” condition books and even signed copies that I have later sold on eBay. I found some when I was there and will post them soon.

If you haven’t added Craigslist and Freecycle to your favorites bar on your Internet browser, I recommend that you do so today. For Craigslist, just enter www.craigslist.org in your address bar and continue narrowing down until you get to your state and then your local area. Freecycle is a Yahoo Group. Just enter Yahoo Groups and you’ll find your area. Register to get notifications in your email. You may want to set up files to gather them as they come in to your email as there can be many. Also, one can search the free listings in Craigslist or purchase there at a lower price when you negotiate and later resell on eBay.

Sometimes when driving your neighborhood or around a college campus at the end of the year, you’ll find things out on the curb; free for the taking. These are called “curb alerts” in Craigslist and on Freecycle.

Lastly, for today I want to tell you about Pawn Shops. Wow, these can be havens of great bargains when you know a few things. Our local area has a pawn shop that sells DVDs for a buck sometimes. If that is the case for you, buy and resell them. I choose to purchase only the DVDs that are still in the wrapping, and unused so I’m assured that my eBay buyer gets a stellar product! Check out the “bargain bin” or “discounted items” at pawn shops. Many times these are simply older inventory numbers that they need to sell to “get off their books” and they are perfectly in fine condition. Sometimes you may find a camcorder for instance that only needs a charger. Buy one at www.amazon.com and resell it. Be careful with buying from pawn shops though, many times things are sold as “final sale” and cannot be returned; especially when discounted. Use your smart phone if you have one and check out what an item has sold at on eBay before buying it, so you don’t get burned!

Once you have a small stock of items to sell, get up early before you go to work and list your item. Soon you may be making more money online selling your item on eBay or on other online auctions that you may not need to go to work anymore.

Make it a great day!

Ter

PS. Please leave your comment or question after this post. I would be glad to assist you in any way that I can with your eBay and other online auction questions.

What is the right Craigslist Ad Title? Ter Scott tells you.

If you’ve sold anything online before

you’ve probably sold things on Craigslist.

If you haven’t you are certainly missing out on a ton of money. Craigslist is a “big deal” to me to the point where I actually coach people on how to get the most from their ads there. You can see my coaching services at: http://www.terscott.com/craigslistcoach. If you are not seeing your ads posted (ghost ads), are getting more than your share of “flagged removals” and would just like to get better results consider my coaching service.

For today, I want to share about the importance of using “teaser” ads in your titles. This is much the same way as to how we’ll do the same in printed ads using a “banner headline”, or in the subject line of an email, etc.

This week I posted this headline:

Don’t look at this until Monday

When you open the ad you’ll get my picture of my Newton Navigator

 

…and this message:

 

If you don't have this catalog, you're spending too much for Imprinted Promotional Items.
Get yours free today by going to myimprintrep.com/newtonnavigator. (add the www before the address or simply Google the address).

If you are thinking about getting these things in the future, at least go to the site,
and save it in your favorites; I'll give your free shipping on your first order for doing so.
Thanks, you'll be glad you did.

Leave a message at the end of this post or contact me and I’ll let you know just how well this worked. In the meantime, for all of your ads, consider taking a small risk and “play” a bit with your craigslist titles and test them to see which works the best for you; have fun!

Also, as a small plug here about the Newton Navigator Catalog, it really is filled with low cost imprinted items for businesses and organizations. What ever message you want to put out there, imprinted promotional items can be the most effective and low cost way of doing so. I promise to give the readers of this blog the same great service that I do with all of my customers across the USA! Get yours FREE too!

Make it a great day!

Ter

 

Here’s a great marketing, customer service, and sales tip…

I recently ordered the latest Green Hornet movie on DVD from Amazon.com starring Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz. I’m a real Green Hornet aficionado because of my great admiration of Bruce Lee who played Kato in the TV series in the sixties. I'm thinking that the audience was made up of either Seth Rogen, or Jay Chou fans; not Green Hornet fans.  I appreciate all of what Seth did to get this movie made and reintroduce these great "super heros" to a new audience, but he probably should have stepped aside and had someone else play Britt Reid; too much slap stick and comedy for my taste in what I believe the real Green Hornet should be.

Anyway, enough of all of that, here’s the reason I’m sharing this today. By purchasing this item from Rick's Collectibles, I was presented with a great marketing, customer service, and sales tip that anyone selling on either Amazon, Ebay, or any other business can implement.

I received my DVD very promptly but when I opened the package I saw what I think is great marketing and a touch of style, great customer service and a personal touch; all things that will make this seller “stand out” and invite future sales.

Here it is. Attached to the DVD was a simple business card, imprinted on both sides.

You’ll see a picture here. This card presents all the important information on the front side.  Note that the card has what’s called a “phantom” imprint (just a lighter image under the main printing) that shows the Amazon.com image.

On the reverse side, you’ll see a “thank you” message, and a request for the recipient to leave good feedback!

This is great. Buyers are great about leaving bad feedback but leaving good feedback seems to happen less. Here, the seller also requests that if there is a problem, to please contact him so it can be corrected to resolve the issue to avoid getting bad feedback.

One of the reason’s I built this blog is to reward those who offer great customer service, and to present ideas and tips for people to include these things in their marketing. To reward “Rick’s Collectibles” the company where I purchased the DVD, I am displaying his link here, and will return to Amazon and present my very high rating for going above and beyond in getting that DVD to me. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to watch The Green Hornet!

Here's my feedback to Rick:
Rick, I'm very impressed with the condition and delivery of my DVD. I especially liked the "extra measure of service" by your little business card attached. I will tell everyone I know about your excellent service in my marketing and customer service blogs.

Ter Scott!
Bricks to Clicks Marketing Consultant
http://www.terscott.com/