I’ve been here for about a month and a half now, and I’ve picked up so much valuable information, and actually started making money with two different methods that I found here. Anyways, I won’t waste your time with that.

I have ran a craig*slist posting business for a little over a year now, and it provides me with a very good steady income, but it won’t make me a millionaire, so I spend the better half of my day studying techniques I read about here. It pays all my bills and allows me not to have to have a 9 to 5 job which is all I can ask for. I once was a frustrated craig*slist (CL from this point on) poster who didn’t have a clue what I was doing. I would purchase ebook after ebook from so called experts, but even their techniques wouldn’t work. After I figured out what I was doing on my own, I realized that these experts would never share everything and tell us exactly what they were doing to get their ads up.

A lot of you may have it all figured out, and if you do, congratulations. I’m still going to explain everything, because there are a lot of people here who don’t have a clue. I am going to tell you everything that I do to get my posts to show up. I get a ton of private messages and emails wanting me to show people how to get their posts to show up. I could probably write an ebook and/or have a teleseminar and make some extra cash, and while I might do that in the future, I’ll share everything I do with everyone here on the forum, because I’ve taken my share of stuff, so it’s time to give back.

I’m going to talk about every part of the ad separately and explain to you what needs to be done. Let’s start with headings.


The biggest myth I hear is that you need a unique title for every ad. This is absolutely not true. A common order for me from a customer is 100 ads per day. I use about 3 different titles rotated evenly for these 100 ads without problem. There are some words that are filtered and your ad may not show up if you use one of these in the title. Just test a few titles until you find a few that you like.

Hint*** You can add a few numbers at the end of the posting if you want it to be unique from the others. It’s not of high importance, but this simple method can make every title unique if you really want them to be different.



I’ll start by telling you that I never use a text ad. There are too many words that will raise red flags with CL and if you have one of these in your ad body, it could cause your entire ad to be ghost posted. I make every ad into a picture file. If you don’t know how to do this, it is very simple. You can use something as simple as paint, and just insert a text box and type your ad out how you want it to appear. Then, you just save it as a picture. It can be simple black text with a white background, and once it is on CL, you can hardly even tell it is a picture. It just looks like a normal ad. The CL spiders can’t pick up certain words in your picture, because obviously there is no text there, just a picture. Now, here is another myth that I have heard straight from the mouth of one of the top experts out there, as well as many others. CL has not banned photob*ucket. I post over 1000 ads a day, and all of my ads show up fine with all my pictures hosted on photo*bucket. Once you have developed your picture, you just need to upload it to photob*ucket. Upload it more than once so that you have multiple links to use. The standard rule that I use is uploading 20 pictures for every 100 posts per day. So if you post 100 ads, you would use each link 5 times. CL does ban your individual picture link if it is used too much. The good thing about this is that you can just upload new pictures and be good to go again. Just make sure you have fresh picture links regularly. Now, here is a very important part. Every ad body on CL does have to be somewhat unique. If you have a different picture link for every ad, then that is fine. You can keep the same name on each picture you upload, and photob*ucket can make them all unique. However, if you just put the link in the ad body, chances are that CL will notice it and delete your ad faster. It is good to include a bunch of invisible random text in the ad that relates to the category you post in. The best thing to do is look at someone in that category that has a lot of ads up. Highlight there entire ad or view their source, and usually you will find a bunch of invisible text. You can just copy their invisible text and put it directly into your ad also. This just hides the link a little better in a sea of text. I normally put a few lines of text before the picture link and then the rest of the text after the link.

The most important thing is just making sure that each ad body is somewhat unique and has some random text related to your category. Make sure you get new pictures every day or two. You can never have too many pictures links to use.

Emails/CL Accounts

You can use either of these with equal success. Let’s start by talking about email addresses. You need to be able to create a bunch of these. I would say the normal rule I use is to have about 50 email addresses for every 500 ads you post. I normally get 50 new emails every 4 or 5 days. Sometimes you need them sooner, but I have seen 50 email addresses post 5,000 total ads and still work, but I wouldn’t recommend trying that. It is best to make sure you have fresh emails as often as possible. If you choose to go the email route, you MUST take this step to ensure to save yourself hours of time. Make sure that you forward every email address to one central email so that you can check them and publish them from one central account. As long as you rotate ip’s regularly (I discuss this more below), there is no way for CL to know that all 50 emails are being checked from one central account.

CL accounts use basically the same method. Make sure you have lots of fresh accounts pretty regularly. The good thing about posting from an account is that you don’t have to check an email every time you post. It just takes longer to create the emails and the accounts. The bottom line no matter which route you go is just make sure that you have lots of fresh emails/accounts.

IP Rotating

This really is the single most important part in making sure your ads show up. You must rotate ip addresses regularly. I usually rotate ip’s every 5 posts. Sometimes you can post 15 ads or so on 1 ip, but that’s starting to push it and I like to stay safe. There’s a lot of talk about how to rotate your ip addresses, but I’ve found one way to be far superior. Most people try to use proxies, but I’ve never found this to work for me. Here’s the way I use, and it’s never failed me. Go out and get a sprin*t broadband card. It’s like $60 per month and it changes ip’s every time you disconnect and reconnect, which takes about 10 seconds. I have a lot of these that I use, but I started with just 1, and it worked wonders. I only have more than 1 now because I post on multiple computers and need one for each. One should serve you just fine if you’re posting from one computer at a time. You’re welcome to use proxies if you know how to do it successfully, but I’m telling you exactly how I do it and how it works for me.

Links in Your Ad

There’s a lot of talk about using links in your ad, and whether it gets your ad deleted quicker, etc. I personally do not use a hyperlink in my ads very often. When you create your ad in paint or whatever picture program you use, just make the link bigger than the other text and change its color or something. If you make it stand out, people won’t have a problem typing it in, and the good thing about that is that if you’re promoting an affiliate offer, your affiliate company can’t tell where the visitor came from. I build a personal opt in list through CL, and I have much more success this way. I tested one day with ads with a clickable link, and ads with the URL in the picture, and the results where overwhelming. I had over 130 optins from my picture ad, and less than 40 with my ads with the link clickable. The reason is because CL does not like clickable links, and they look to delete your ad quickly if they notice it. A lot of my ads with the clickable link got deleted, while the pictures all stayed up. If you are someone who would rather have a clickable link, then just buy some cheap .info domains and use subdomains to forward to your site. CL will ban your link before too long, but you can continue to purchase new domains. Do not waste your time using tiny*url or other redirect services as CL has almost all of them banned already. Just be creative and make your URL stand out in your picture, and you will be fine.


Some of your ads will get flagged, but don’t get discouraged. I think there are people out there that live for flagging ads. Just repost and move on. There is nothing you can do about this, and you’re not doing anything wrong when this happens. You’ll see your ad flagged more often if you’re posting in a category where your ad doesn’t fit very good. Just find the best category and go with it.


That’s exactly what I do. If your ads stop showing up, simply do an inventory and figure out what you think might need changed (ex. Emails/accounts, picture links, etc). If you think I’ve left anything out or have any questions, feel free to post them here so I can answer them for all to see. I’m sure I’ve left something small out, and I’ll let you know if anything comes to mind.

If you get this down, and you have no problems, feel free to go out and get some customers of you own. There are plenty of fish in the sea. I could post some ads right now, and have 15 new paying customers by Monday morning. Heck, I’ll even outsource some work to you if you feel you really have it down. I have to turn customers down all the time, because I’m working at capacity. There’s plenty of opportunity to make money once you have it all down, but DO NOT CUT CORNERS. If anyone wants to take the time of turning this into an ebook, feel free as long as you let me know. I just don’t have the time or resources to do it right now. I could care less if it is or isn’t, but it could be easier to read and access.

Every part of what I have talked about is essential in making sure your ads show up, so take it slow and make sure everything is perfect.

Happy Postings!

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Thanks for the info. My one question is regarding this:

Do you use the same photobucket account for those 20 pictures? If so, then the images that you upload might be something like:

image01.jpg - image20.jpg

and you use each one 5 times? Is that correct?

Yes, I use the same photobucket account for each of those 20 pictures. If CL blocks that account, I just create a new one.

Let's say that you have a picture on you computer saves as image.jpg. When you upload it onto photob*ucket, it will automatically name your files like this.

image.jpg, image-1.jpg, image-2.jpg....image-19.jpg. So there you have 20 pictures and use them evenly over the ads that you post. If you post 20 ads, use each one once.

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Great post, I'm going to sticky this one

Thanks for the method

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Nice post bro I've been using some of those tactics, but I'm
going to read through this again to make sure I'll be using them all


Another good course is Craigslistblackhat, I learned a ton about getting
my ads to stick in there.


Good post though, gracias.

Now, this type of posts are the ones that kepp me coming here.
Just excellent. Thank you a lot.

Very nice post!

Thank you for taking the time to make your techniques known here on the forum.

What ad poster software do you use?

Hey ebikerz. What part of Oklahoma are you from? I'm in OKC.

Anyways, I use the CL Auto Poster from http://www.adson*craig*s.com

They're stuff is really amazing and has always worked like a charm for me. I have just about every add on. Their support is amazing. I email the owner back and forth just shooting the breeze, and if I ever have a question, he usually responds within a couple hours. If I do contact the support department, they get back to me very quickly also. They update the program within hours anytime CL makes a change. They're really nice and helpful. The owner even gave me a free add-on one time.

If you think you might want to buy it and would like my affiliate link, just let me know. It won't hurt my feelings if you don't use my affiliate link, but I obviously won't mind if you do. I didn't know if it was appropriate to post my affiliate link in the thread, because that is definitely not my intention from this post.

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I post on CL everyday. I am I would guess what you could call a CL Pro.. as I have been doing it for some time as well. You have put together a very concise guide and I applaud you for it. You have accurately outlined the steps necessary to get post up and keep them up Fine work!

I do have to say thou I NEVER use picture ads. (Only because my particular CL Scheme doesn't use them that way.) BUT, you are correct with them not flagging what they cannot see and using pictures is an EXCELLENT way of masking content.

Bravo and A TY is headed your way!

-Mus

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Thanks Mus.

Yeah, a lot of people do use text ads. I cringe at the thought, just because of all my bad experiences with it. I always make flashy pictures to use for customers anyways, so it's easier for me to just stick with it. Congrats on your craigslist success also.

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This post really motivates me to put together some of my own schemes and give back to this great community more insight and knowledge on BHW then another other forum out there. Thanks again for that good solid report.

This is a true blueprint of how to get ads on CL.

Kudos to you for posting this unlimitedpostings!

Now THIS is a fantastic post. Thanks, U.P.

I've had good luck posting on CL too, but whitehat, all-text ads. I have 4 accounts, post all over the US cities, never change IPs and not had any issues.

I use specific html templates and real email addresses for 2 of the accounts that advertise jobs across the US. The posts get indexed within an hour or so and drive a great deal of traffic to the sites I advertise, even though I don't require the CL users to go to the sites to apply.

I often post 40 or so ads per day by hand, so it's labor intensive. so I just sorta go into a trance cutting and pasting into my template and posting until I either run out of time, trance-energy or jobs to post. it's a bit like carpet-bombing, but the ads stick and drive traffic and resume submisstions like crazy. I was able to turn around 2 businesses in my family with some quick cash infusions to get them back into the black so that we could move into other less labour intensive marketing methods. As I mentioned in another thread, in some industries the competition for candidates is fierce and it's important for even very established recruiters to stay on top of their "inventory".

That said, I'm ready to move into other areas using CL (for my own business this time) and I REALLY appreciate you sharing your method.

Best,
Sine

P.S. Backpage has done well for me too, just using free listings for the white hat recruiting. They don't charge for the premium cities and even allow follow tags and get indexed almost as quickly as CL.

Unlimited P .

You really gave unlimited heart into this post.

Great job and a true example of the essence of this forum.

Thanks loads for this fine guide to CL posting, rep coming your way.

question,

is timing an issue? when's the best time to post ads....and if you're posting in different cities should you account for time zones too?

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Are you asking about timing for the best results, or timing for your ads to show up?

If you're asking about timing for getting the best results, that is something you're going to just have to test for your product and target market. If you're talking about timing for getting the ads to show up, there is no such thing. If you do everything right, your ads will show up 24/7/365. With billions of hits monthly, craigslist isn't worried about looking what time it is where you post and wonder why you're posting at 3 a.m.

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i guess my question is when's usually the best time to post an add for maximum response...

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That's just something that's going to depend on your product, the category you're posting in, and your target market. Obviously if you're posting in the US, the day hours are going to be the best.

I post in jobs a lot, and I usually see a spike in leads from about 6 to 8 EST. This is when people are going home from their job that they hate and getting online to find something new. However, most people are online all day at their jobs, so it's not a huge spike, but it does increase during that time. Just test your ads and watch your traffic/leads and find out when the best time for your product is.

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So... how are you handling the new telephone verification?

Or are you posting in categories that don't require verification and what categories are those?

I make phone verified craigslist accounts. I have no problem getting around it. Maybe I'll spill that in the near future, but I just can't quite yet.

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What a great post! Excellent info..I got 2 questions....

1- When you use the email posting method, how do you know when an email address you are using is dead to CL?? With IP rotating and a bunch of emails it's hard to pinpoint when a specific email is blacklisted with CL and it kills me deleting a whole list of ones that can still be usefull

2- What have you guys had success with on CL? CPA lead offers? Have any of you had success with high priced business programs??

Ok thanks again!

Cheers
Tony

When an email goes bad, you usually know because posts start not showing up. If one goes bad, it's only a matter of time before they all go bad, so I just move onto my next set of 50 emails. I don't waste my time trying to figure out which is bad, etc. It would take too much time, and it is a waste because they will all be bad soon enough. When ads stop showing up, I just start from scratch and use new emails and new picture links. Doesn't take 30 minutes to set it all up and move on with everything fresh.

I've had success with a home business on CL, as well as a few CPA offers. The sky's the limit. Just be creative and find something that fits a category and roll with it. If anyone has had a lot of success with a certain product, etc, feel free to post it and let everyone know.

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Awesome Post!! Great share UP. Thanked and thanked again.

You have pretty much summed up craigslist blackhat ---


Thanks bro..

You know you can make loads of money actually posting for yourself on craigslist?!

Cheers.

One more question, from your experience is it true that with a verified CL account the max postings you should make is 3 per account every 24 hours? Or is this just another myth?

Thanks

It's actually 3 posts in 48 hours from one verified account.

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I wonder if the rules have changed in the past couple of months then. Up until April of this year I would do about 2- 40 across multiple US cites in a single day once or twice per week.

I've not done so in the past 2 months though due to a shortage of time.

Best,
Sine

Yes, it has changed. Craig*slist makes you create a phone verified account to be able to post in the services section. With one phone verified account, you can only post 3 times in 48 hours in services. You can still use that same account to post 100 ads in other categories, but there is a limit on the services category.

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Mighty nice of you to compile this and share with the BHW family.

However, I feel you would not waste anyone's time with what info you have found here at BHW that is making you $$$.

Maybe another post referencing this? I'm sure many would find this helpful as well.

With time I will. Still in the early stages and I need time to add my own spice and flavor to these things and get the working most effeciently. I found all the info here though. I'll share more as soon as I can.

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Just wanted to let everyone know that I will have some time in the following weeks to test certain CPA products/offers on craigslist and I will definitely share my findings. There's plenty of offers out there, and I'm sure we can find a few new offers that will do really well.

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Awesome Post.

Thanks ams, I hope it helps you out and makes you some money!

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@ unlimitedpostings - I'd like to commend you for your effort to answer everyone who's asked you a question in here. Excellent work, and a great thread.

great post. even le noobs can implement this.

i have a couple of questions:

1. are there any of you who rotate ip's using a different method or have had success with proxies (if so, which service)?

2. what offers are you using? which aff networks?

3. has anyone used CL to drive traffic that converts to BANS sites?

I don't personally use proxies as I said, but just over the last week or so, I've seen that a lot of people use them successfully for other things, so I don't see a reason that they can't be used for craigslist. I just don't know enough about them, and I do it the way I do without problems. I am testing some offers right now and I will share some results as I have them. The best offer is going to be one that you find that not many others are currently doing. Just test different offers in different categories, and eventually something will stick.

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hey i pm'ed you about posting services, did you get it? nice post btw

Thank you sooooo much Unlimited Postings for this really great posting. I jotted down notes and will use them for future craiglist postings Thanks again. Your terrific!

How much for ur posting services?

I have tried most of these techniques without success.
My ads got ghosted until I started to use proxies.

Maybe I have more problems because I`m promoting poker
and I guess this is one of the things that sets of red flags fast.

Since I use proxies I can get my ads to show up but ONLY IF
I post to the city that's next to the proxy location.

So I connect via proxy and use a new email every time.
I go to whatismyipaddress.com where I see a google map
with the proxy location. I choose a nearby city and post
to that in craigslist. Now my ads stay on the site.

Maybe craigslist lets YOu get away with more things if YOu only
post one ad from an email or account and in the direct neighborhood
of Your IP and flags YOu faster when posting to far away locations?

Can I ask a stupid question? How do you post these image ads on craiglist? I see if you're posting an item for sale, you can include an image from your local computer. But how do you post an image from photobucket?