Internet Marketing Training

A recent post on the craigslist forum gives an indication of the direction that Craigslist is taking to deal with spam and duplicate ads,  they intend to strip out all html codes except the very basic elements.

 Personally, this will be a big pain in the tuckus for me, as all of my html posts contain <div>   tags, which will be stripped from the code under the proposed changes.

It is not a new phenomenon that Craigslist modifies the code, they have been appending “nofollow” tags to all links posted for some time now.  What is new is the extent to which that Craigslist is taking this, by stripping almost all except bare-bones functionality out of the code.  They are taking an aggressive stance against craigslist software that promises to allow the person using it to post countless copies of a single ad.

One major issue driving Craigslist to filter the html ads is related to what is referred to as html “comment” code.    Because Craigslist spam and duplicate filtering appears to rely heavily on comparison with already posted code.  Craigslist seems to perform scans recent posts, and if they find a pattern in the posting that is similar to another ad,  it will block that ad from being posted.   They can also hypothetically use this method to weed out undesirable posts from their listings.

In order to get around the Craigslist duplicate ad filters,  the auto-posters and spammers use the HTML comment tag to insert large portions of randomized text into the html code of the  the posting.  By inserting text into a hidden comment tag, that cannot be seen by web browsers,  the spammers were able to successfully, albeit temporarily, defeat the methods that Craiglist uses to block duplicate post.  Apparently, this comment tag technique throws a monkey wrench in their duplicate checking system.

Craigslist is taking a direct shot at the spammers, who post thousands of duplicate ads per day using this technique, and others.  Expect this move to make a major impact on craigslist ad content.  In addition, this development will render obsolete an entire cottage industry of craigslist auto-posting software companies.

IS HTML Banned From Craigslist?

No, but it is significantly restricted.  Take a look at the actual proposed changes

Forget, classes, styles, css, div tags, notably all alt text and title tags are stripped,  This is apparently to prevent garbage code from being inserted in these text fields.

I have been using <Div> tags to crate a nice border around my html ads.  Apparently the only border allowed is attached to the <table> tag.

 The Complete Comment On the Craigslist site is below:

HTML in craigslist ad postings   

WE ARE NOT BANNING HTML.

Please click here to read the actual proposal before commenting.

Discussion of the flagging system is off-topic in this forum.

This forum is for feedback regarding the possibility of limiting the HTML allowed in craigslist classified ad postings.

Unfortunately, much of the HTML in postings these days is used by spammers for harmful purposes, such as cloaking spam links, embedding false keywords, and overriding the flagging system.

Given the relatively limited value of complex HTML in the context of a classified ad (many users are annoyed by it even when well-intentioned), we are considering limiting HTML in postings to a few basic tags.

If you’re interested, please have a look and let us know what you think. We’ll review all postings here before making any decisions on implementation.

Thanks!

One line I thought was interesting is how they declare:  “many users are annoyed by it even when well-intentioned”

I wonder who are these many users that are annoyed by well intentioned HTML content ads?

I’ll be spending the next several days converting all the <div> tags in my ads to tables.  Does anyone know of an easy way to do this?

If you’re interested in getting a boatload of Internet marketing tools at a cost to you of zero, and building a subscriber list, there is a new site you should check out a site called called Viral Marketing Giveaway 11.

It’s designed for people who want to start or grow an online business because it offers tools in all the key aspects of online marketing–from setting up websites and list building to converting sales and creating joint ventures.

Choose just the products you want, or download them all. And this resource is completely free so it’s a great site for Internet marketers.
Check out Viral Marketing Giveaway 11 now!

http://www.viralmarketinggiveaway11.com/x/?aff=3766

Chris

Another Valuable Lesson In Craigslist Advertising. Enjoy!
Chris
http://epicycledigital.com/my-freebie-page.php

By Tom Jacobson

Are you looking for a quality, free source of advertising to explode your online or conventional business? Look no further than Craigslist . This advertising medium was started in 1995 by Craig Newmark. The business has grown and now employs 24 people.

Most of the advertising is free, except for job ads that are paid for in selected cities in the US. The classified ads placed on this nearly free medium range from goods and services, to forums, community announcements, and even personal ads.

The Craigslist website isn’t flashy, but it sure does work for the people advertising there. The one thing you need to know about Craigslist.org is that they have software in place to keep you from over posting your ad. There are hundreds of clever marketers who have beat the system and post hundreds or maybe more ads per day. From information that I have read, your ad can just disappear from its classification unless you use stealth techniques.

One stealth technique that the mass marketers use is to get some “Hide my IP” software. You see, each computer has its’ own unique IP and Craigslist software uses this to track your computers IP address for over posting. There is however, “hide my IP” software available for a reasonable price on the internet to do the job. Good “hide my IP” software can be programmed to change at intervals that you choose.

Another thing that the Craigslist software does is monitor your email address when posting. Post over 2 to 3 ads from the same address and your ad may not appear. The Craigslist advertisers in the know, will get up to 100 free email addresses from Gmail.com, then rotate these addresses when posting. After using the email addresses for a week or two, they cancel their email accounts and get different ones.

I hope that you visit Craigslist.org to find out what it is all about. I know you will be very surprised to find that a free advertising medium like this exists.

Here is an Informative Craigslist Advertising Article That Is Worth Sharing.
Chris
http://epicycledigital.com/my-freebie-page.php
By Ian Hollander

It’s never a huge surprise that when a new and innovative way comes around to make money online, eventually there will be a glut of unscrupulous people abusing the privilege. Essentially, this is what has happened on Craigslist, where having offered the vehicle by which people like you and I could advertise our offers to HUGE numbers of eyeballs for free…a huge influx of spammers has ruined the proverbial party by posting so often their fingers are probably bleeding from the effort.

And of course, to combat this, Craigslist has come up with a somewhat unique and annoyingly inconsistent way of reigning in the rotten apples. It is called “ghosting”, and is the process by which your ad appears to have been accepted by the system, looks “live” within your admin account..yet, is nowhere to be found in the real time results. Can be a very frustrating experience without any question, and has led many craigslist posting fanatics to jump ship and find greener pastures to pick.

Here is a very easy way for you to avoid the “ghost” if you are getting it..:-) Now, I’ve written extensively about this in other places, and do only have limited space here, but the simplest thing you can do if your ads are being ghosted is this: Simply host your images somewhere that you see lots of other ads using for theirs. Not your own domain obviously…a public image repository is good for example. Link your CL ad to that image rather than pointing to your own domain. Then..using your image editing software, simply overlay your URL text into the image itself, thus negating the need for a live link, one of the prime triggers for Casper and friends to come by and say Boo!

Then…and this is a very well tested strategy by both myself and others, simply use a dial up connection when making your posts. One very well accepted cause of ghosting is multiple posts from the same IP - and simply logging in with a dial up modem, off and then on again for each set of new posts is a very simple, and effective way of negating that issue for me, and many others as well.

Of course there is more - but if you do the above, you WILL see your ghosting rates dropping fast, meaning more live ads, and more commissions for you! Good luck..:-)

Introduction

You just created your Website or Blog. Now What? Your site needs to be spidered and indexed in the search engines. One of the fast ways to accomplish this is via Social Bookmarks. Follow the action Plan below and your site will be indexed and have an initial backlinks to jump up in the Search Engine Rankings. Also in order to have a successful and profitable Blog or Website you need traffic. There are many sources of information regarding ways to bring traffic to your site, but Social Bookmarking is one of the easiest ways with multiple benefits. These methods are perfectly ethical and you shouldn’t have any concerns doing them.

What is Social Bookmarking?

Definition from Wiki:

On a Social Bookmarking system or network, users store lists of Internet resources that they find useful. These lists can be accessible to the public by users of a specific network or website. Other users with similar interests can view the links by topic, category, tags, or even randomly. Other than web page bookmarks, services specialized to a specific subject or format - feeds, books, videos, music, shopping items, map locations, wineries, etc. - can be found In a social bookmarking system, users store lists of Internet resources that they find useful. These lists are both accessible to the public or a specific network, and other people with similar interests can view the links by category, tags, or even randomly. Some allow for privacy on a per-bookmark basis. They also categorize their resources by the use of informally assigned, user- defined keywords or tags. Most social bookmarking services allow users to search for bookmarks which are associated with given “tags”, and rank the resources by the number of users which have bookmarked them. Many social bookmarking services also have implemented algorithms to draw inferences from the tag keywords that are assigned to resources by examining the clustering of particular keywords, and the relation of keywords to one another. Its increasing popularity and competition have extended the services to offer more than just sharing bookmarks, such as rating, commenting, the ability to import and export, add notes, reviews, email links, automatic notification, feed subscription, web annotation, create groups and social networks.

Benefits of Social Bookmarking

Social Bookmarking can bring immediate traffic to your website, as web 2.0 community websites such as Technorati, Digg, Reddit and Tailrank provide almost immediate information on various topics. These type of Bookmarking sites index and categorize content usually faster than the major search engines. People looking for the latest information on certain topics usually refer to these types of services. The benefit is two fold. They provide immediate traffic from like-minded targeted viewers but also powerful backlinks to your sites that bring positive SEO and Search Engine results.

Bookmarking Accounts You Should Utilize – Digg.com

http://digg.com Digg is a user driven social content website. Ok, so what the heck does that mean? Well, everything on Digg is submitted by our community (that would be you). After you submit content, other people read your submission and Digg what they like best. If your story rocks and receives enough Diggs, it is promoted to the front page for the millions of visitors to see. What can you do as a Digg user? Lots. Every person can digg (help promote), bury (help remove spam), and comment on stories… you can even Digg and bury comments you like or dislike. Digg also allows you to track your friends’ activity throughout the site — want to share a video or news story with a friend? Digg it! Digg offers many tool to include the Digg buttons right to your sites so that others can Digg you as well. It is recommended however that you Digg a few of your post every once in awhile to get the ball rolling and traffic coming.

Bookmarking Accounts You Should Utilize – Technorati.com

http://technorati.com/ Currently tracking 79.2 million blogs Technorati is the recognized authority on what’s happening on the World Live Web, right now. The Live Web is the dynamic and always-updating portion of the Web. We search, surface, and organize blogs and the other forms of independent, user-generated content (photos, videos, voting, etc.) increasingly referred to as “citizen media.” But it all started with blogs. A blog, or weblog, is a regularly updated journal published on the web. Some blogs are intended for a small audience; others vie for readership with national newspapers. Blogs are influential, personal, or both, and they reflect as many topics and opinions as there are people writing them. Blogs are powerful because they allow millions of people to easily publish and share their ideas, and millions more to read and respond. They engage the writer and reader in an open conversation, and are shifting the Internet paradigm as we know it. On the World Live Web, bloggers frequently link to and comment on other blogs, creating the type of immediate connection one would have in a conversation. Technorati tracks these links, and thus the relative relevance of blogs, photos, videos etc. We rapidly index tens of thousands of updates every hour, and so we monitor these live communities and the conversations they foster. The World Live Web is incredibly active, and according to Technorati data, there are over 175,000 new blogs (that’s just blogs) every day. Bloggers update their blogs regularly to the tune of over 1.6 million posts per day, or over 18 updates a second. Technorati. Who’s saying what. Right now.

Using OnlyWire To Bring your Bookmarking To The Next Level

You can put your Bookmarking efforts into overdrive, using a free submission site like OnlyWire.com to bookmark many accounts at once. When you signup for www.OnlyWire.com you can interface many bookmark accounts and with one simple procedure bookmark your blog post to all your accounts at once. OnlyWire.com interfaces with the following Bookmark accounts: Backflip Bibsonomy Blinklist Blogmemes Blue Dot de.lirio.us del.icio.us Diigo Furl Jots Linkroll Looklater ma.gnolia Markaboo Rawsugar Shadows Simpy Spurl Wink If you don’t have a Bookmark Account from the ones listed you can easily sign up. When you log into OnlyWire you will see all the accounts listed and a place to put your individual username and passwords for the preset account. Add your username and password to the lists then at the bottom of the page click Save My Logins. Next step is to “Drag these links below into your toolbar”. It is a simple drag and drop scenario, but OnlyWire does provide a very easy explanation and video sample from there help section. If you need to view this go here: http://www.onlywire.com/index?services&sec=help Note that the Bookmark will be called : Save Page (std)

Once you have created your OnlyWire account, Updated your bookmark accounts and dragged the interface into your toolbar you are ready to auto bookmark your blog posts of content pages. Simple navigate your browser to a individual blog post. Click on the Toolbar tag named Save Page (std) The Title and the URL will be filled out with the information about the post you are attempting to bookmark. Fill in the Relevant Tags that represent your post Do Not Click the Private Box Add any comments or short description of the Blog post Make sure you check which Bookmarking sites you wish to bookmark. Then click Bookmark Page. You have just bookmarked several accounts with your post.

Supercharge Your Bookmarks Once you have bookmarked your pages via the Onlywire.com interface, you can supercharge your bookmarks by pinging your individual Bookmarks accounts Like de.lirio.us, del.icio.us, blinklist, bibsonomy and any bookmark accounts that file you under a username. If you go to pingoat.com and pingomatic.com you can PING your actual book mark accounts. For example, with del.ico.us just go to your account. Copy the URL. http://del.icio.us/yourusername Open up pinggoat and pingomatic. Enter your URL and Ping several of the ping services. Now repeat the process with your other bookmark accounts. By using Social Bookmarking you are driving traffic and links to your websites. Remember, like with any solution, “Don’t Spam the Technique”.

Create a Circle of Bookmarks

Several of the Bookmarking sites are designed with individual username profiles as distinct URLs that list all your Bookmarking links. These are actual URL’s and not a Session ID when you login to the site. To create a circle of links, add your profile bookmark pages URL to other Bookmarking sites. Below is a small list of sites that have Profile Pages URLs that you can BookMark. (Replace Username with your own login site name) del.icio.us/USERNAME de.lirio.us/bookmarks/USERNAME bibsonomy.org/user/USERNAME www.blinklist.com/USERNAME You get the idea right? For example, you bookmark your Delicious profile URL on Blinklist and your Blinklist Profile URL on Delicious. When you periodically Ping some of your bookmark pages you will have a circle of links for the spiders to follow back to your sites and develop increasing value of Backlinks.

Conclusion

Applying the strategies in this report offers an easy way to get backlinks and traffic to your websites and blogs.

About The Author

Christopher Andrew is a Internet Marketing and SEO Expert who has been doing online
marketing for the last seven years. http://epicycledigital.com/store provides
Internet marketers free and low cost MRR And PLR products, as well as support to
build Internet businesses. Go ahead and give it a try – it’s free and it really does work

Writing an article doesn’t just mean putting down thoughts into words then typing and writing it. You have to capture the interest of your readers and get them to keep on reading. To send your message across you have to get the attention of the reader and have a firm grasp of their interest and pique their curiosity. Read the rest…

Starting a brick and mortar business requires an enormous capital investment.  Today, online businesses are able to compete with the old school way of doing things and win.  Take a quick look at newspaper circulation and free classified advertising online, and you get an idea of what I am talking about.  This is because of the versatility that the Internet offers and the many ways a single individual can compete on a truly global scale with large corporations, that only recently could not even be imagined. Read the rest…

1. What will be the title of your ebook and will it have a subtitle?
2. Will you be the only author or will there be other co-authors?
3. Will you publish a print version of your ebook?
4. How many pages will your ebook be?
5. Will your ebook contain graphics, pictures or charts?
6. Will your ebook include an appendix and index?
7. Will your ask other authors to contribute related articles to your ebook?
8. What file formats will your ebook be available in; text, pdf, exe, html, etc.?
9. Will your ebook be sold as a product or will your ebook be used as a promotional tool?
10. Who will be your ebook’s target audience?
11. What major benefit does your ebook give your target audience?
12. Will you offer your prospects a guarantee and testimonials to read?
13. Will you include a bibliography about yourself in the ebook?
14. What personal information will you include about yourself in the ebook?
15. What colors and graphic(s) will be included on the ebook cover?
16. Will you let your prospects read  free sample chapters or excerpts to entice them?
17. Will you turn the ebook into other information products like videos, audio books, teleclass, etc?
18. What type of payments will you accept for the ebook?
19. Will you allow others to give away your free promotional ebook?
20. Will you be selling the reprint rights to your ebook?

by Christopher Andrew
Visit our site for free reseller products and
quality eBooks, and MRR products.
http://epicycledigital.com

Ask any internet marketer and he’ll be quick to tell you that traffic generation can actually be the most difficult phase in online business.  There is no guarantee on how much traffic you can gain for your website, and since traffic is the acknowledged lifeblood of an online enterprise, your business will be placed in quite a precarious position indeed.

Most of the traffic generating methods available today require a gestation period.  They’re like seeds that you need to plant.  It’ll take some time before they can bear some fruits.

But there is one traffic generating scheme that has risen in prominence because of its promise of delivering a sizable number of visitors at a rapid – very rapid – pace.  Yes, it’s about buying traffic.

Buying traffic should not be an automatic choice however.  There are advantages and disadvantages which you must consider beforehand. Read the rest…

Search engines are the gateway to the Internet; they are the first tool that potential customers use to find the products and services they need. This is why link popularity is so imperative. If the customers do not find your website, you have no possibilities of making any sales.

 You’re probably wondering what the blazes is popular about a link! Well, in a word - plenty! Link popularity refers to the ranking assigned to your website by the search engines, and it determines the ranking your page gets when keywords are entered into a search engine. So, you’re probably wondering, how do I make my link popular?

 Search engines are discretionary, giving status and ranking to sites that have links to their pages from related, quality sites. It’s a simple formula, but a very important one. Google created the system, and now virtually all the most popular search engines employ it to rank your web pages in their indexes.

 The more commonly used your keyword is, the harder it will be to achieve link popularity, but without achieving this step, it is almost certain your site will never rank highly on any search engine. But don’t be discouraged; there are tried and true ways of achieving link popularity using the most competitive keywords.

 There are a few things you should be aware of. The first is that just linking up with a large number of other websites will not achieve link popularity. In fact, it may have quite the opposite effect. This is particularly true when pertaining to websites that are nothing more than “link farms” - pages containing line after line of indiscriminate links. Search engines may aggressively discriminate against your website if you are associated with a link farm, so steer clear of them!

 The next thing to bear in mind is the quality of the site you are linking to. Never link to a page you have reservations about your visitors seeing. The last thing you want your website to appear as is indiscriminate and cheap. Linking to sites of poor quality will only lessen your link popularity, if not completely destroy it.

 So let’s get to what you need to do to achieve supreme link popularity and improve your rankings to stellar status on all the popular search engines.

 The first step, and the fastest way to get your foot in the door, is to get a listing in a popular directory, such as Open Directory Project and Yahoo. If your site is business-related, you will want to be listed on Yahoo, and despite the fact that it will cost you around $300 a year, it will be money well spent. If your site is non-commercial, the listing will be free, but it will take time and follow-up to actually get it listed. Open Directory is gives you a free listing whether you are business-related or non-commercial, but be prepared to make a lot of follow-up inquiries before you see your site listed.

 You are aiming to get listed in the highest level of appropriate category, and this just takes some common sense. For example, if your company ships Alpaca wool from an Alpaca farm located in the middle of Nowhere, Tiny State, do NOT submit your listing to “Retailers from Nowhere, Tiny State.” BIG MISTAKE! All you have to do is look a little deeper - and submit your listing to the “Fine Alpaca Wool” category. You will not only associate yourself with culture and quality, but you will be listed in a national category.

 The next step after you have attained directory listings is to locate other quality sites that will increase your link popularity. Try to find sites that are in some way related to yours, so not only will your link popularity increase, but your customer base may also be expanded. You want to avoid your competitors and look for sites that are useful to your site’s visitors. Let’s look at the Alpaca Wool site example. Linking up to a site that sells knitting supplies would be helpful to your visitors, and the chances of the knitting supply site wanting to link up to your site are also greater. By linking to a related site that will be relevant to your website’s traffic, you are increasing both of your site’s business prospects - and both of your sites’ link popularity.

 Not all sites want to link to other sites, so you will have to do some research when you are looking for possible linking partners. Google is an excellent starting place for your search. Make sure you enter keywords that you think quality customers will also enter to find your own site. Remember, your criteria are quality, highly ranked, non-competing websites that have a links or resources page. Go to these sites and objectively assess them. Look at the quality of the product, the graphics, and the ease of use. Then check out the other sites they are linked to, and determine if your own site would fit in with the crowd.

 When you decide you have found a good prospect, you must set out to woo them. The first thing to do is to add a link on your own links page to their site. This is an essential first step; it shows good faith, and ups your chances significantly of their reciprocity. After you have added their link, you must contact the webmaster of their site. Since this is almost always done by email, you want to make sure it is immediately clear that your message is not junk mail. This requires that you tell them right off the bat that you have added a link to their page on your site. A hook like this almost always insures the reader will read on.

 Next, be sure to be flattering and let them know how much you appreciate their website. Make sure you emphasize that you have actually visited their site, and that their site is not just a random pick. Give them the address of your links page, and ask them to check out the link for themselves. It’s a good idea to mention that they will not only benefit from the increased traffic your website will direct their way, but you will also increase their link popularity. Briefly, explain why link popularity is so essential, but do this in a sentence or two so you don’t sound like a professor! Finally, tell them you would greatly appreciate if they would reciprocally add a link on their own links page to your website.

 Go through this process with as many appropriate sites as you can find, bearing in mind the criteria of quality and non-competitiveness. After you have emailed all relevant sites, be sure to check these website frequently to see if they have added a link to your page. Give it about a month, and if no link appears, try another charming email. Then give it another month, and if your site is still absent from their links page, it’s time to remove their link from your own links page. The only time you want to pursue a link further than this is if you believe a site is crucial to your link popularity and your business needs. Just remember to keep all your communications complimentary and cordial.

 Then set up a schedule to check your ranking in search engines frequently to see if your link popularity has improved. This is not achievable in the blink of an eye. It will take some time and a good deal of work. There is no way around the labor-intensive quality of improving your link popularity, which is why search engines regard it with such importance.

 By the way - make sure you have a beautiful, streamlined site or you will never persuade anyone to link up to you. Be prepared to keep plugging away at this process, as long as it takes, until you achieve link popularity stardom!
 
 Christopher Andrew
 http://epicycledigital.com