014 - USFreeAds Categories (Part 4)

This post will cover the last six main categories in USFreeAds. Within the Hobbies & Leisure category, nearly all of the subcategories will provide great premium ad visibility. The Guides subcategory, by the way, would be an excellent place to advertise an e-book. None of the Electronics subcategories have a significant number of featured ads. Surprisingly, some of the Computing subcategories contain no featured ads. Within the Miscellaneous category, the Everything Else subcategory contains ads that don't really fit anywhere else. As such, this subcategory is heavily used and includes a large number of featured ads. The Everything Else subcategory would probably not provide the best premium ad visibility. The Downloads and Agricultural subcategories, on the other hand, are quite acceptable. If you're advertising any type of service; then, the Services category is where you would place the ad. Currently, the Financial subcategory contains quite a few featured ads - filling about half the first page of listings; but overall, the Services category is a good place to list your premium ad.

Here is a complete list of subcategories:

Hobbies & Leisure
  General
  Others
  Photography
  Hunting & Fishing
  Self Defense
  Skating
  Musical Instruments
  Books
  Artistry
  Camping
  CB & Radio
  Jetskiing
  Guides
  Music
  Craft Equipment
  Board Games
  Clubs
  Games
  Outdoors
  Bikes
  Astronomy
  Martial Arts

Electronics
  Computing
    Software General
    Internet Software
    Components
    Apple
    Services
    PDA's
    Domain Names
    Servers
    Games
    General
    Childrens Software
    Web Hosting
    Web Design
    Development Software
    Books
    Motherboards
    Laptops
    Printers
    Monitors
    Complete Systems
    Data Recovery
    Multimedia
    Announcements
    Computer Accessories
    Notebooks
    Business Software
    Backup Systems & Software
    Web Traffic
    Publishing Software
    Certification
  Cameras
  Kitchen Appliances
  Camcorders
  Air Conditioning
  TV & Home Theater
  Gadgets
  Console Games
  DVD & VCR
  Copiers
  Telephones
  Miscellaneous
  Games Consoles
  Electric Tools
  Personal Care
  Audio Systems
  Security Systems
  Satellite & Cable
  CB & Radio Equipment
  Collectible & Vintage

Miscellaneous
  Everything Else
  Downloads
  Agricultural & Farming Equipment

Jewelry & Watches
  Watches
    Watches by Brand
    Sport Watches
    Digital Watches
    Others
    Pocket Watches
    Antique Watches
    Modern Watches
    Vintage Watches
    Watch Accessories
    Multi Function Watches
    Novelty Watches
  Bracelets
  Wholesale Jewelry
  Jewelry Boxes
  Loose Gemstones
  Beads
  Anklets
  Rings
  Pendants
  Designer Jewelry
  Costume Jewelry
  Charms & Bracelets
  Lockets
  Body Piercing
  Earrings
  Fashion Jewelry
  Pins & Brooches
  Antique Jewelry
  Childrens Jewelry
  Necklaces
  Miscellaneous
  Handmade Jewelry
  Ethnic Jewelry
  Jewelry Sets
  Jewelry Care

Services
  Business Services
  General
  Legal Services
  Health & Diet
  Building Contractors
  Elderly Care
  Carpentry
  Financial
  Education
  Advertising
  Tutoring
  Housekeeping
  Gardening
  Decorating
  Travel
  Home Services
  Home Improvement
  Music Lessons
  Career Counseling
  Auto Repair
  Baby Sitting
  Miscellaneous
  Weddings
  Spiritual
  Child Care
  Pet Grooming
  Massage
  Welding & Fabrication

Wanted Ads
  Miscellaneous
  Pets & Animals
  Writers
  Entertainment
  Loans wanted
  Hobbies
  Donations
  Investors
  Apartments & Homes
  Collectible Items
  Affiliates Wanted
  Tickets
  General Merchandise
  Automotive Items
  Volunteers
  Actors & Actresses
  Clothing
  Help Wanted
  Looking for Work
  Roommates Wanted
  Swaps & Trades
  Distributors

You can always access a recent list of USFreeAds classified ad categories at: http://www.virtual-sysop.com/bootstrapping/usf-categories.txt

013 - USFreeAds Categories (Part 3)

Many of the Sports subcategories provide good premium ad visibility. I would especially focus on areas of sports that are popular in the current or upcoming season. A majority of the Pets and Animals subcategories would not be appropriate for affiliate marketing. However, the Dogs – Product & Services subcategory would be a great place to advertise pet related products, such as Pet Insurance, Pet medications, etc. If you are an affiliate for a Internet related company, take a look at the multitude of subcategories in the Business Opportunities category. A good many of the subcategories, unfortunately, would not offer ideal ad visibility; but, if you stay with those having 1500 or less listings, premium ads will get noticed. Here are the next four USFreeAds categories:

Sports
  Golf
  Cycling
  Fishing
  Equestrain
  Camping
  Running
  Surfing
  Volleyball
  Cricket
  Softball
  Rugby
  Football
  Basketball
  Hockey
  Billards
  Hockey
  Billards
  Tennis
  Swimming
  Skating
  Wrestling
  Track & Field
  Windsurfing
  Baseball
  Hunting
  Martial Arts
  Archery
  Soccer
  Sking
  Boxing
  Rock Climbing
  Gym
  Lacrosse
  General
  Snowboarding
  Boating
  Bowling
  Horse Racing
  Car Racing
  Diving
  Darts
  Olympic
  Snooker

Pets & Animals
  Dogs
    All Others
    Designer Pups
    Hound Group
    Spitz Group
    Toy Group
    Herding Group
    Stud Services
    Livestock Guardian
    Terrier Group
    Sporting Group
    Molosser Group
    Primitive Group
    Working Group
    Non Sporting Group
    Products & Services
  Snakes
  Pet Accessories
  Ferrets
  Fish
  Ponies
  Horses
    Horses for Sale
    Horses for Lease
    Horses for Stud
    Horse Equipment
    Horse Trailers
    Horse Services
    Equine Property
    Horse Boarding
    Horses Wanted
  Pets Wanted
  Farm Animals
  Guinea Pigs
  Lost & Found
  Frogs
  Cats
    All Others
    Himalayan
    American Shorthair
    Savannah
    Siberian
    Tonkinese
    Abyssinian
    Devon Rex
    Cornish Rex
    Ocicat
    Chausie
    Persian
    Sphynx
    Munchkin
    American Bobtail
    Manx
    Turkish Van
    American Wirehair
    Hapanese Bobtail
    Birdman
    Oriental
    Domestic
    Siamese
    Maine Coon Cat
    Russian Blue
    Egyptian Mau
    Selkirk Rex
    British Shorthair
    Havana Brown
    Bombay
    LaPerm
    Bengal
    Ragdoll
    Exotic Shorthair
    Scottish Fold
    Balinese
    Pixebob
    Burmese
    Colorpoint Shorthair
    Asian Group
    Turkish Angora
  Exotics
  Rodents
  Pet Services
  Pet Stores
  Insects
  Birds
    Macaw
    Others
    Parakeet
    Parrotlet
    Budgie
    Cockatoo
    Amazon
    Love Bird
    Birds Wanted
    Dove
    Cockatiel
    African Grey
    Finch
    Canary
    Supplies
    Conure
    Bird Cages
    Eclectus
    Pionus
    Hybrids
  Rabbits
  Lizards
  Turtles & Tortoises
  Monkeys
  Spiders

Real Estate
  Vacation Rentals
  Foreclosures
  Apartments
  Timeshares
  Developed Land
  Real Estate Services
  Miscellaneous
  Mortgage Services
  Land 4 Development
  Offices
  Sale by Owner
  Sale by Agent
  Commercial
  Speciality
  Shared Housing
  Houses
  For Rent
  Home Loans
  Homesites
  Industrial

Business Opportunities
  Work at Home
    Work Online
    MLM
    Moms
    Home Typists
    Paid to Promote
    Referrals
    Brokers
    Telesales
    Home Business
    Start your own biz
    Get Paid To
    E Books
    Email Processors
    Mystery Shoppers
    Envelope Stuffing
    Home Contractors
    Affiliate Marketing
    Data Entry
    General Info
    Ad Typists
    No Upfront Fee's
    Home Assembly
    Directories
    Newsletters
    Be Your Own Boss
    Surveys
    eBay Opportunities
    Sales
    Web Surfing
    Home Mail Order
    Secretarial
  Advertising
  Web Traffic
  Computer Software
  Wholesalers
  Travel
  Websites for Sale
  Publishing
  Banking
  Order Processors
  Internet
  E Books
  General
  Leads
  Distributors
  Drop Shipping
  Food
  Retailing
  Telecom
  Newsletters
  Utilities
  Marketing
  Investments
  Web Promotion
  Education
  Business for Sale
  Casinos
  Communications
  Technology
  Dealers
  Cosmetics
  Pharmaceuticals
  Business Info
  Financial
  Websites
  Health
  Real Estate
  Automobile
  Representatives
  Energy
  Human Resorces
  Environmental
  Toys

012 - USFreeAds Categories (Part 2)

The Home & Gardens category covers a broad range of home-related topics, from home décor to consumer electronics. There should be many advertising opportunities in this category. The Health & Fitness category covers such topics as weight loss, fitness and nutrition. This is another popular and potentially profitable area to advertise. Here are the next six main USFreeAds categories:

Home & Garden
  Decor
  Kitchen Accessories
  Misc
  Tools
  Holidays
  Ornaments
  Luggage & Holdalls
  Plants
  Carpet & Rugs
  Plates
  Tableware
  Television
  Telephone & Fax
  Jewelry
  Dreamcatchers
  Pottery
  Greeting Cards
  Clothing
    Womens Clothing
    Wedding Items
    Unisex Clothing
    Womens Accessories
    Wholesale
    Mens Accessories
    Mens Clothing
    Girls
    Infants & Toddlers
    Costumes
    Boys
    Womens Shoes
  Furniture
  Cooking
  Bedrooms & Bedding
  Food & Drink
  Bathrooms
  Home Office
  Picture Frames
  Cups & Mugs
  Household Security
  Stereos
  Fridges & Freezers
  Disability Aids
  Antiques
  Events
  VCR's
  Pewter
  China
  Home Improvement
  Gifts
  Clocks
  Lighting
  Birdhouses & Feeders
  Vacuum Cleaners
  Decorative Plates & Bowls
  Vases
  Goblins & Dragons
  Closets & Storage
  Porcelain
  Windows & Doors
  Mats
  Placemats
  Garden & Pond
  DVD & Video
  Maternity & Children
  Figurines
  Candles
  Heating & Cooling
  Painting & Pictures
  Wall Plaques
  Mirrors
  Calendars
  Posters
  Curtains & Blinds
  Music
  Flags
  Keyholders
  Stationary
  
Toys, Games & Models
  Games
  Radio Control
  Outdoor Toys
  Characters
  Battery & Wind-up
  Toy Soldiers
  Beanies
  Classic Toys
  Electronic
  Ride on Toys
  Board Games
  Robots & Monsters
  Slot Cars
  Diecast
  Dolls & Bears
  Stuffed Animals
  Action Figures
  Wholesale Toys
  Trading Cards
  Miscellaneous
  Building Toys & Blocks
  Model Trains
  Model Kits
  Airsoft
  Trading Card Games

Health & Fitness
  Weight Loss
  Sexual Health
  Exercise Eqpt
  Dental Care
  Misc
  Skin Care
  Age Related
  Cosmetics
  Fitness
  Nutrition
  Services
  Hair Loss
  Relaxation & Therapy
  Beauty Products
  Vitamins & Minerals
  Tanning

Employment
  Other
  Training
  Creative
  Operations
  Employment Resources
  Education
  Administrative
  Consulting
  Marketing
  Health Care
  Secretaries & Typists
  Human Resources
  Sales
  Service
  General Management
  Information Systems

Clothing & Footwear
  Womens Clothing
  Costumes & Fancy Dress
  Hats & Headwear
  Wedding Items
  Shoes & Footwear
    Womens Footwear
    Girls Footwear
    Mens Footwear
    Toddler Footwear
    Unisex Footwear
    Baby Footwear
    Boys Footwear
  Unisex Clothing
  Infants & Toddlers
  Boys
  Womens Accessories
  Kids
  Mens Accessories
  Mens Clothing
  Girls
  Wholesale

Announcements
  Events
  General Messages
  Community Events
  Fund Raisers
  Coupons
  Marriages
  Shows
  Seminars
  New Sites
  New Businesses
  Missing People
  Garage & Yard Sales
  Business Info
  Family Announcements
  Clubs
  Lost & Found

011 - USFreeAds Categories (Part 1)

USFreeAds has a very comprehensive list of categories; actually too many to list in this single post. I’ll break the categories into parts and list them in separate posts. As mentioned in the previous post; featured ads list first, followed by premium member ads, gold member ads and finally free ads. The newest ads, within each ad group, are listed first. If, for example, there are 20 featured ads listed in a particular category and you had just listed a premium member ad; your ad would take position 21. When new premium member ads are listed, they bump your ad position down further in the listings. Usually, there are 52 ads listed per page. New premium member ads could, eventually, bump you off the first page. In some categories, featured ads fill the first 2 to 3 pages of listings. The best possible position for your premium member ad could have, in this case, is page 3 or page 4. This is one important reason why gold member listings and free listings get poor visibility.

Your premium member ad will get great visibility in some categories and really poor visibility in others. Optimally, your ad would be visible on the first page for most of its 40-day listing time. Three factors determine how long you can retain your first page position: (1) The number of featured ads, (2) The rate at which new featured ads are listed, and (3) the rate at which new premium member ads are listed. You can track this yourself for categories of interest; however, I will be offering this information across all categories in a weekly email newsletter which will be announced soon.

There are two approaches to creating listings. The first approach is to run ads in categories which are favorable to first page visibility. These ads would not auto-renew. They would eventually expire and new ads posted in their place. The other approach would be to post ads for the long term. A careful selection of keywords, in both the title and ad text, would get them decent visibility in the major search engines. Even through I’ve adopted the first approach; I still do keyword research and hope to get some attention through the search engines.

Categories will be listed to three levels. Ad listing beyond three levels of categories, such as Cars By Make, will generally be favorable for premium member ad visibility. The list below covers the first two major categories – Automotive and Collectibles.

Automotive
  Auto Accessories
  Automotive Service
  Boating
    Botaing Accessories
    Inflatable
    Sail Boat
    Cuddy Cabin
    High Performance
    Outboard Motor
    Houseboat
    Yacht
    Bass
    Ski Boat
    Cruiser
    Others
    Boat Services
    Jet Boat
    Wooden
    Powerboat
    Personal Watercraft
    Fishing
    JetSki
  Aircraft
  RV's & Campers
    Travel Trailer
    Folding Camper
    Truck Camper
    Class A RV's
    Toy Hauler
    Fifth Wheel
    Class B RV's
    Class C RV's
    Park Model
  Commercial Vehicles
  Farm Vehicles
  Off Road Vehicles
  Motorcycles
    Motorcycle Clothing
    Motorcycle Accessories
    Yamaha
    Choppers & Customs
    Indian
    Big Dog
    Motocross
    Scooters & Mopeds
    Harley Davidson
    Suzuki
    Pocket Bikes
    Fun Bikes
    Boss Hoss
    All Others
    Honda
    Motorchcle Services
    Triumph
    Husqvarna
    Race Bikes
    Motorcycle Parts
    Kawaski
    Trail Bites
    Ducati
    KTM
    Ironhorse
  Vans & Trucks
  SUV's
  Snowmobiles
  Cars
    Cars by Make
    Car Acessories
    Antique
    Street Machines
    Car Services
    Classic Cars
    Hot Rods
    Lowriders
    Car Parts
    Car Customizing
    Racing Cars
    Tuned Imports
    Car Audio
    Car Security
    Vintage
    Minivans
  Quads, Buggies & ATVs
  Trailers & Towing
  Military Vehicles

Collectibles
  Coins & Stamps
  Memorabilia
  Animals
  Lamps
  Autographs
  Models & Trains
  Military
  Limited Editions
  Weird Stuff
  Circus & Carnivals
  All Others
  Religous
  Dolls
  Vintage
  Cultural
  Clocks & Watches
  Music Boxes
  Coin Operated
  Educational
  Radio
  Decorative
  Crystal & Glass
  Trading Cards
  Antique Pottery & Glass
  Magic & Myth
  Bears
  Writing
  Comic Books
  Firefighting
  Knives
  Art
  Characters
  Disney
  Collector Plates
  Banks
  Ornaments
  Souvenirs
  Casino

010 – An Introduction to USFreeAds

USFreeAds is a popular classified ad site. I like this site because it gives your ad about the same exposure as running an eBay classified ad. Advertising through USFreeAds can be considerably less expensive than eBay when placing multiple ads. A premium membership will, officially, cost you $9.99 USD per month; but I’m actually paying $6.99 USD per month following an upgrade from the gold membership ($10 USD per year). I honestly don’t know if the upgrade deal is still relevant, but you may want to purchase the gold membership first and then follow the upgrade path to premium membership. You’ll definitely need a premium membership in order to acquire decent ad views. Here’s the link to USFreeAds:

http://www.usfreeads.com/

Free Memberships –

You can register for a free USFreeAds account, but your account will be extremely limited! Your free account will only allow you to have two text ads running at any given time. The ads list at the bottom of the classified listings. You cannot include HTML code in your ad; nor can you include links to your affiliate products, incorporate an email opt-in form or embed links to affiliate products. You cannot use a free membership to run commercialized ads.

Gold Memberships –

Gold memberships cost $10 USD per year and are similar to the free membership. Your text ads will list above free member ads and you can include a photo, but no thumbnail image. You can include a website link, and apparently incorporate a PayPAL buy button. Unlike the free membership, you can list commercialized ads. With this membership level, you are limited to 25 ad listings. Your ad will list below premium member and featured ads.

Premium Memberships –

Premium memberships cost $9.99 USD per month. As I mentioned above, you may get a slightly reduced monthly rate by first purchasing a gold membership and then upgrading to a premium membership. I cannot guarantee this, however. There are no limits as to the number of classified ads you can place with a premium membership... and this is, in my opinion, the biggest advantage of USFreeAds. You can include HTML code and provide links to your affiliate products. Most importantly, your ad can include a thumbnail image and will list above free and gold membership ads.

Featured Ads –

In addition to your premium membership, you can pay to have your ad featured. The rate available to premium members is around $12.00 USD per month, per ad. Featured ads list above premium member ads and they also rotate through all the local USFreeAds sites, in all states. In some categories, you would need to feature your ad in order to get decent visibility. In other categories, your premium ad listing would suffice. I’ll be discussing USFreeAd categories and ad visibility in future posts.

Check out a membership feature comparison: http://www.usfreeads.com/. Click the “register” link on the right side of the page and view a complete feature list.

Unlike a lot of classified sites, USFreeAds does allow HTML in your ads. I believe HTML ads yield better results for the affiliate marketer.

Until next time...

009 – EBay Classified Ad Rules

In previous posts in this series, I eluded to the action of eBay users clicking through to the merchant website and purchasing a product. However, eBay doesn’t allow affiliate links in classified ads. In fairness to eBay; I can understand why classified ads have such restrictions. EBay has earned a great reputation for being an auction site. That is its primary function, after all, and they don’t want to risk changing a successful business model. They must guard against classified advertisers bypassing the listing charges associated with “standard” auction and “buy now” formats. Classified ads represent a very small portion of the listings on eBay. There are maybe 20,000 listings a month. Consider that the average cost of a classified ad is maybe somewhere around $11 USD. This would yield a monthly revenue stream of $220000.00 USD a month. This amount is really trivial compared to the overall revenue generated by eBay every month!

The Rules –

Unfortunately, eBay rules are not clearly stated on the website. In fact, there have been stories about eBay support staff not completely understanding the rules. The following rules have been passed-on to me from other Internet marketers and also from information provided in the eBay forums. This is not a list of “official” rules. I suggest that you contact eBay if you have specific questions about what is, and is not, allowed in your classified ad.

EBay states that a classified ad can only be used to gather a list of referrals. You cannot conduct any type of business transaction directly from your classified ad.

Things you cannot do...

• You cannot place text or image links into your classified ad when those links send the eBay user to an external website. This includes any affiliate hop link (a link to the affiliate product page that incorporates your affiliate ID). You can, however, link to products in your eBay store and to your eBay “about” page.


• You cannot incorporate an email opt-in form in your classified ad.


• You cannot include payment buttons within your classified ads. This includes PayPAL “buy-now” buttons.


• You cannot sell or trade, or otherwise fail to keep private, the email addresses that you receive through the classified ad referral form. You must, in fact, abide by the eBay Privacy Policy.

Things that you can do...

• You can embed video into your classified ad. You can, for example, include embed code for a YouTube video. You cannot, however, use the video as a link to an external website.


• You can incorporate a button to allow the user to directly download a free media product, such as a PDF e-book, MP3 audio file, video file, etc. Be sure to provide a direct download link... You are not permitted to send the user to a download page, as that constitutes an external website. I cannot guarantee that eBay won’t complain about the download button; but if they do, you could provide a link to your eBay “about” page and offer the free download from there.


• You can display an email address (to an opt-in email list, for example) or the address of your website. These addresses can be displayed in large bold fonts; however, they cannot be part of a link!

To Comply, or Not To Comply... That is the Question –

EBay classified ads are, in my opinion, a very modest vehicle for affiliate marketers. I believe this would be true even if you could place a hop link directly inside the classified ad. When you take away the hop link; your chances of getting the eBay user to the merchant website, with your affiliate ID intact, drops significantly. In fact, there are probably better places on the Internet where you can more effectively place your classified ad.

I am not advocating breaking any of the eBay rules! So far, eBay has not closely monitored classified advertisers; but that could change! You risk having your ad taken down without a refund of the ad charges. EBay could also ban your account. You have to decide if the advantages of breaking the rules are worth the risk! A large majority of the classified ads currently running on eBay break one or more of the rules. I can’t image that eBay is unaware of this. It’s probably a balancing act… overlooking the external links so to not discourage a large community of classified advertisers. Non-compliant classified ads, realistically, don’t endanger the profitable revenue streams that drive their business. (This is strictly my opinion, and others may disagree!)

Methods to Advertise and Stay Compliant –

Some classified advertisers are offering free downloads of a PDF e-book or report that contains links to their website, affiliate hop links and links to email opt-in forms. The free PDF report could, for example, compare your affiliate product to similar products being offered in “standard” auction and “buy now” formats. The download button can be placed directly inside the classified ad.

When the advertiser is adhering to the rules; it seems that eBay classified ads are better suited to building email lists; but, a large email list is a powerful marketing tool! Keep in mind that classified ads can be used to build email lists, help grow your branding, and drive traffic to your website.

Final Comments –

I’ve been told that new rules are in effect for affiliate marketers. For example, anytime your classified ad or website provides an affiliate hop link; you must state that a commission will be earned when the user clicks through to the merchant website and purchases the product. I include small print at the bottom of my ad stating that I earn affiliate commissions on all sales referred by the ad.

This series of BLOG posts has, by no means, provided a step-by-step guide to writing and placing classified ads. I’ve focused mostly on ad visibility and also challenged some the hype surrounding eBay classified ads. There are a lot of resources on the Internet regarding methods for writing good ad copy. I’ll cover a lot of this information in future posts; but definitely Google for any information that you need to get started now. Also check out some of the related YouTube videos. Just don’t fall pray to all the hype!

I'll follow-up, soon, with some eBay classified ad Q&A posts. Let me know if there are specific questions you would like me to answer.

As always, I would appreciate your feedback!

-Ron

008 – Steps to Listing eBay Classified Ads

EBay is a machine. It behaves in a particular way and must be understood by anyone trying to use it for profit. To utilize classified ads to advertise your affiliate products; I suggest following these basic steps:

• Select a category


• Find a product to promote


• Create a list of keywords


• Test each keyword


• Create the ad title and subtitle


• Write your classified ad


• Place your ad on eBay


• Add an eye-grabbing picture


• Track the results


• Multiply your efforts

Selecting a category –

Optimally, your classified ad should be visible within the first few pages of the selected category, and also within the first few pages of the keyword search results. In a previous post, 005 – Ebay Classified Ad Visibility, I listed several categories that would provide decent visibility for your classified ad. This data was collected on 03/04/2010 and will only be relevant for a limited time. (I am planning to publish a free newsletter that will contain up-to-date information on eBay classifieds, USFreeAds classifieds and other important classified sites that will be of special interest to affiliate marketers. Stay tuned!)

The best position estimate places your ad on the page calculated by: (N – C + 1)/50, where N=total number of listings in the category (standard and classified), and C=number of classified ads listed in the category. The worst position estimate places your ad on page N/50. I suggest starting out in a category that would have the best ad position calculating to page 1 or 2, and the worst ad position calculating to page 2, 3 or 4. Of course, this may not always be possible; but, do your best...

Find a product to promote –

Try to promote a product that would be a good fit for the category selected in the previous step. Ask yourself the following questions... Are there identical products being offered in standard auction and buy-now formats? If so, it may not be a good product to promote. Are there similar items being offered in standard auction and buy-now formats? If so, you will be contending with strong competition for your product or service. Your ad copy will need to be strong! Are the commission payouts high enough to generate a profit with a 0.50% or 1.0% conversion rate? Keep in mind that your ad visibility could be 50 views per month (perhaps the worst case) to less than 200 views per month.

Create a list of keywords –

List several keywords that users might key-in to search for a similar product or service. Although users frequently search with one-word keywords; it would be difficult to achieve good ad position in the search results. Focus on two- and three-word keywords for good results. List as many keywords as possible. Some of your keywords will be discarded in the next step.

Test each keyword –

When you look at the search results created by each of your keywords, consider the best and worst ad position. Obviously if there are 500 listings returned, your classified ad could fall on page 10. Keep the keywords that give you good ad position and discard the others.

Create the ad title and subtitle –

Put your best keywords into the title space and arrange them so they make the most sense. Look at the titles in other ads to see examples of this. It is not the job of your title to describe your specific product. It represents a list of keywords that users are likely to enter when searching for similar products! You only have 55 characters to work with. If you have any remaining title space; include the word “new” -assuming your product is new- and enclose the title within double-quotes. The subtitle actually serves to describe the specifics of your product or service. It will cost you an additional $1.50 USD.

Write your classified ad copy –

Remember to answer the important question... “Why should an eBay user click your affiliate link and purchase directly from the merchant?” You must have a compelling answer to this question and it needs to be stated fairly early in the ad text. Consider writing something like: “unlike fixed-price auctions and buy-now ad formats, we can offer you the best deal available on any given day...” or “there’s no eBay middle-man, which allows us to pass along additional savings to you...” or “buy directly from the manufacturer and be completely secure with your purchase...” You get the idea!

Place your classified ad on eBay –

There are many options when placing a classified ad on eBay. The basic 30-day listing will cost $10 USD, but include an additional $1.50 USD for the subtitle which I feel is absolutely necessary! You could also have the ad title listed with bold characters, but that would cost you an additional $4.00 USD. I suggest keeping it simple and low cost until you begin making some profits. Consider taking 40-50% of your profit and reinvesting into additional listings and experimenting with various listing options. It’s important to not give up... Rarely do affiliate marketers succeed in the beginning!

Add an eye-grabbing picture –

A standard 30-day classified ad allows you one free image. I suggest uploading an eye-grabbing photo that will get the attention of eBay users when they browse-through the listings! Frankly, the merchant supplied images usually don’t cut it! I would check out iStockPhoto.com and purchase a standard licensed image for just over $1 USD. Be careful to not misrepresent the product, however! The photo should possess warm bright colors. (The image in the heading of this BLOG was licensed through iStockPhoto and would display well in eBay listings.)

Track the results –

Anytime you list an ad on a classified site; keep track of the number of page views, click-through rates to the merchant site and the number of conversions. You’ll be able to test the effectiveness of an advertising site, for a given product, and focus your advertising expenses on the places that convert best! In time, you’ll also be able to test ad variants and hone your ad copy skills.

Multiply your efforts –

It is very unlikely that any single classified ad will allow you to quit your day job. However, once you raise your confidence and can consistently make money in your affiliate marketing efforts; I suggest that you reinvest some of the profits to purchase additional ad space. In time, you’ll have several classified ads running each month –not just on eBay- and bringing-in a nice income. Folks do make money with affiliate marketing; otherwise, why are so many people doing it? Always work to hone your skills in writing ad copy and selecting the best categories and best products to advertise.

You’ll want to read the next, final, post in this series. I’ll talk about eBay classified ad rules and also discuss some legal matters regarding your ad content.

Until later... :)

007 – The Propensities of a Typical EBay’er

I won my first eBay auction back in September 1999. I’ve been an active eBay buyer ever since that time. I love eBay! It’s the place I go for the usual and the unusual! I believe my shopping patterns aren’t too different than any other eBay user, and this behavior is probably not favorable to classified advertisers.

Anyone experienced in affiliate marketing would probably agree that a 1% conversion rate is not unusual, and it could be half that. Therefore, you might expect one sale for every 100 to 200 visitors who click-through to the merchant web site from your classified ad. Classified ads generally run for 30 days with an option to auto-renew.

I browsed several classified ads, in multiple categories. I paid special attention to those ads that were due to expire within 24 hours. Many included page counters at the bottom of the ad, and a good number of these page counters displayed 50 to less than 100 views. It seems reasonable to assume that these page views occurred over a period of 30 days. A few of the classified ads had been viewed more than 200 times, but that was much less common. A few classified ads had page views of 800, 2000 and even 4000. With further inspection, however, it appeared that these ads had been auto-renewing for quite some time! If you look just under the page DESCRIPTION tab, you’ll see dates for ad revisions. Some of these ads had revisions that dated back to December 2009. Classified ads having 4000+ pages views are often included in the marketing hype. I personally don’t believe any of these ads received anywhere near that number of page views in only 30 days! I invite you to investigate this yourself.

I am not surprised that page views are typically under 100 for a 30 day period given the placement of classified ads in eBay’s “best match” sorting. With these numbers, you would probably have to place your ad for a 2 – 4 month period before you see a single sale. Minimally, a classified ad will cost you $10 USD per month, so the advertising cost could be anywhere from $20 USD to $40 USD for each sale. Now, ask yourself – what is my affiliate commission for that product? Will one sale cover the cost of advertising? Can I make a profit? If you’re getting better conversions than this, I would love to hear from you! I believe you can improve your ad visibility, and therefore the number of page views, by carefully selecting affiliate products and then placing the ad intelligently into the optimal category. I’ll cover this process in more detail in the next post.

If you’re an active eBay buyer, I'll also ask you this question... When you perform a search that returns several hundred results; how many pages of listings do you browse through, typically? Usually, I don't browse past the 2nd page of listings, but occasionally I'll venture into the 3rd page. If I’m bored and just browsing a category of interest, I might browse through 6 or 8 pages of listings. Generally though, I’m looking for something very specific and perform a keyword search for the item. I locate a few listings that meet my criteria and they're almost always found within the first two or three pages. I then add those items to my watch list and then eventually make a final decision. Often, classified ads won’t even make it into the first few pages of the search results and, therefore, are overlooked.

It is true that eBay’ers have the propensity to buying. In fact, they want to do it quickly, with as few clicks as possible and often with the convenience of instant pay with PayPAL. When someone encounters your classified ad, they would need to leave the eBay web site and then make a purchase directly from the merchant (with your affiliate code, of course). Here’s another questions for you... Why would an eBay user do that? Why would they ignore similar (or even identical) items listed in standard auction and “buy-now” formats? Your ad will have to answer that question for the buyer. If you don’t offer a compelling reason; he or she will likely browse right past your listing! This was probably my biggest mistake!

I realize that I’m painting a fairly dismal picture of eBay classified ads; but I want you to be in the right frame of mind and understand the elements that determine your success. I also don’t want you to go into any type of affiliate marketing campaign with unrealistic expectations. With all the marketing hype out there; it’s easy to have unrealistic expectations – believe me! :) Keep in mind that this is all my opinion. Your mileage may vary!

I’ll try to summarize all this information in the next post, and then wrap up the topic with my comments on eBay’s rules in a final post. I would love to get your feedback!

Until then...

006 – Ebay Classified Ads In Search Results

In the previous post, I discussed the visibility your classified ad might have when a user browses the listings in a particular category. Your classified ad needs to be listed in the category where eBay users would expect to find such items and services. Also, if there are a large number of “standard” listings displayed ahead of your classified ad, eBay users may never browse far enough into the listings to find it!

The same problem exists when a large number of “standard” listings are returned in search results. It’s quite possible that an eBay user will not browse past the 2nd or 3rd page of the listings; so ideally, your classified ad will display on the 1st or 2nd page of the search results. Beyond that, your listing will not enjoy the visibility it deserves.

The title of your classified ad holds the keys to the kingdom! Search results, by default, are based on the keywords contained in the ad title. Titles can contain a maximum of 55 characters; so, don’t waste a single character! When I create a title; I list as many keywords as possible and then try to order them so they make the most sense. I also pay the small additional fee for a subtitle. The subtitle can be used to describe important features of your product and not take up space in the valuable real estate of your title.

If for example, I listed a classified ad advertising a digital postal scale. I would first write down a list of keywords that users might include in their search queries. Then, I would stuff these keywords into the 55 character title, and finally use the subtitle to highlight important features of the product:

Keywords:
    Digital Scale
    USB Postage Scale
    Postage Scale
    Shipping Scale
    Postal Scale
    Mailing Scale
 
Load these keywords into the title, and arrange
them in a sensible fashion:
 
USB Digital Postage Shipping Mailing Postal Scale
[49 characters]
 
If there is space to include the word “new”; then,
add it:
 
New USB Digital Postage Shipping Mailing Postal Scale
[53 characters]
 
Finally, if there is space; place the title between
double quotes:
 
“New USB Digital Postage Shipping Mailing Postal Scale”
[55 characters]
 
Use the subtitle for item specific information:
 
Gray DigiWeigh Precise .2oz 52 LB Scale with AC Adaptor
[55 Characters]

Before listing your new classified ad; perform a search with each of your keywords. Try to estimate the best- and worst-case positioning of your ad. The best position would be the first ad position within the classified ad group, and the worst position would be the last ad position within the classified ad group. Ideally, the best ad position would occupy the first or second page of the search results, and the worst ad position would occupy page two or page three of the search results.

One of the best sources of keywords is in the titles of competing ads. Pay attention to how other marketers construct their titles. There are also some research tools that might be of use in eBay Labs, such as the BayEstimator and eBaySaurus. I may cover these in future posts. You can also subscribe to TeraPeak to access about 2 years of historic eBay data.

005 – EBay Classified Ad Visibility

When an eBay user browses an item category containing a combination of standard listings and classified ads; there is a strong likelihood that all of the standard listings will display before any of the classified ads. (I demonstrated this for a few subcategories in the previous post.) From the standpoint of browsing... If a category contains 100’s or even 1000’s of listings; then, the user may need to read through a great number of pages before he or she encounters the first classified ad. In the “best match” sorting of items, which is the default for eBay; standard ads are grouped together and then arranged so those nearing expiration list first. Likewise, classified ads are also grouped together and arranged so those nearing expiration are listed first. The entire standard ad group would generally display at the top of the listings, and then the classified ad group would follow. If your ad position is beyond the 3rd or 4th page of the listings; then, your classified ad may not get the visibility it deserves.

Before an eBay user chooses a category (or subcategory) to browse; he or she considers which category is most likely to contain the product of interest. If the product was perfume, for example; she would likely browse the Health & Beauty – Fragrances subcategory. If you were an affiliate for a fragrance company; you would not be permitted to place your classified ad inside the Health & Beauty category. You might be tempted to place your classified ad in a different category, such as the Advice & Instruction category where classified ads are allowed; but, you have to ask yourself – would anyone browse that category looking for perfume? Probably not! A lot of affiliate advertisers know this and still post to less desirable categories with the hope that their classified ads will at least gain visibility in the search results.

I’ll be discussing the topic of selecting keywords in the next post; but consider this... I personally believe that a large set of search results will, on average, contain the same ratio of standard listings to classified ad listings as is contained in the primary product category. Remember... Your classified ad will likely take a back seat to standard listings, and classified ads expiring before yours will usually display first. Always perform searches with each of your keywords to determine how they will fair in the search results before placing your classified ad. This is especially important if there are a lot of competing “standard” listings in the main product category.

I clicked through each and every category and subcategory that contains classified ad listings. I determined the total number listings in each of these categories and also the proportion of classified ads listed within that same category. Assuming that an eBay user is browsing the category where your classified ad is listed, and also assuming that he or she will probably not browse much beyond the 3rd for 4th page; I attempted to rate the visibility of your classified ad. Due to poor ad position, I discarded all categories and subcategories that had a large number of “standard” listing. Here are the rating criteria:

Great – The category contains 20 or more items, but less than 50 items. Your classified ad will always appear on the first page of the listings. The fact that the category contains more than 20 listings indicates that the category may be of more interest to eBay’ers. (I know... I’m making a lot of assumptions here. But you have to establish some baseline conditions, and then make adjustments, as necessary...)

Good – The category contains less than 20 items and may not generate a lot of interest; or it contains more than 50 items but less than or equal to 100 items. Your classified ad will always display on the first or second page of the listings.

Fair – The user is browsing the catch-all category “Other”; or the listings span 3 or 4 pages.

Poor – The listings span more than 4 pages. Your classified ad may not get a lot of visibility when the eBay user browses that category.

DATA COLLECTED 03/04/2010
CATEGORIES                      A    B     C     D
===================================================
Everything Else
  Information Products
      How-To Guides           475  234   49%  Poor
      Wholesale Lists          73   50   68%  Good
  Funeral & Cemetery
      Caskets                  65   21   32%  Good
      Mortuary Supplies        79    0    0%  Good

Specialty Services
  Restoration & Repair
      Cars & Other Vehicles   278  104   37%  Fair
      Musical Instruments       7    6   86%  Good
  Advice & Instruction
      Diet & Fitness           34   19   56%  Great
      Business & Computer      76   10   13%  Good
  Web & Computer Services
      Other                    48   12   25%  Fair
      Web Hosting              98    2    2%  Poor
  Artistic Services
      Custom Crafts            90   10   11%  Good
      Other                    57    5    9%  Fair
      Photography              80    2    3%  Good
      Interior Design          11    1    9%  Good
  Home Improvement Services
      Other                    31   13   42%  Fair
      Kitchen                   3    1   33%  Good
      Landscaping               6    3   50%  Good
      Flooring                  3    1   33%  Good
      Roofing & Siding          2    1   50%  Good
  eBay Auction Services
      Shopping Assistance      24   12   50%  Great
      Packing & Shipping       18    3   17%  Good
      Appraisal & Authen        4    2   50%  Good
      Other                    14    1    7%  Fair
  Custom Clothing & Jewelry
      Jewelry                  97    5    5%  Good
      Costumes                 21    3   14%  Great
  Printing & Personalization
      Holiday Cards            51    0    0%  Good

Business & Industrial
  Business & Websies for Sale
      Patents & Trademarks     80   13   16%  Good
      Vending & Coin-op        45    7   16%  Great
      Manufacturing            50   13   26%  Great
      Wholesale Trade & Distr  59   10   17%  Good
---------------------------------------------------
A = Total number of listings
B = Number of classified ad listings
C = Percentage of classified ad listings
D = Classified Ad visibility

004 - EBay Classified Ad Positions

Users find listings in eBay by browsing item categories and performing searches. Just this evening, I browsed and performed searches in some of the categories where eBay allows classified ad listings. Although the results may not be repeatable in 100% of the cases; they do seem to demonstrate a trend that should be of interest to anyone paying for classified ad spots on eBay.

My first example is from the Everything Else – eBay User Tools category:

Everything Else
    eBay User Tools
        4539 Listings including 9 Classified Ads
        91 pages sorted “Best Match”

All 9 classified ads were listed on page 91! Ok... Perhaps classified ads would fare better when returned by keyword searches. For the same category, I searched with the keyword “software”:

Everything Else
    eBay User Tools
        Search: software
            74 Listings including 2 Classified Ads
            2 pages sorted “Best Match”

The two classified ads listed on the last page, and in the last two ad slots!

Here's another example:

Specialty Services
    Restoration & Repair
        Cars & Other Vehicles
            275 Listings including 103 Classified Ads

All classified ads listed on the last 4 pages of that category. I then searched the category with the keyword “ford”:

Restoration & Repair
    Cars & Other Vehicles
        Search: ford
            10 Listings including 4 Classified Ads

The classified ads occupied that last 4 ad slots of the search results!

Here is one last example:

Business & Industrial
    Business & Websites for Sale
        1788 Listings including 93 Classified Ads

All classified ads listed on the last two pages of that category! I then searched the category with the keyword: “Make Money”:

Business & Industrial
    Business & Websites for Sale
        Search: Make Money
            262 Listings including 11 Classified Ads

The 11 classified ads listed on the last page of the search results (page 36)!

As you can see, advertisers placing classified ads are at a disadvantage by how their listings are displayed in the eBay "best match" search results. This trend seems to be more prevalent when the search results return multiple pages. For whatever reason, classified ads fare a little better (but not by much) in the Everything Else – Information Products category.

Although there are several categories where you can place classified ads, you may not fare well in every one of them given the number of standard ads that you're competing against. In the next post, I’ll show you a method for identifying categories and subcategories where your classified ads might fare better.

Until then... :)

003 - EBay Classified Ad Categories

As I mentioned in the previous post; eBay only allows classified ads to be placed in select categories. These categories can be listed through the eBay "Advanced Search" feature. Here is a recent list of eBay classified ad categories and their associated subcategories:

Everything Else
    Information Products
        Other
        How-To-Guides
        Wholesale Lists
    Advertising Opportunities
    Funeral & Cemetery
        Cemetery Plots
        Caskets
        Cremation Urns
        Mortuary Supplies
        Other
    Memberships
    eBay User Tools
    Rewards Pts, Incentive Progs
        Other

Specialty Services
    Other Services
    Restoration & Repair
        Cars & Other Vehicles
        Electronics
        Computer
        Other
        Musical Instruments
        Cameras & Photo
    Advice & Instruction
        Other
        Diet & Fitness
        Lessons & Tutoring
        Business & Computer
    Web & Computer Services
        Internet Promotion
        Other
        Technical Support
        Web Design
        Web Hosting
    Artistic Services
        Painting & Drawing
        Custom Crafts
        Other
        Photography
        Interior Design
    Home Improvement Services
        Other
        Kitchen
        Landscaping
        Flooring
        Roofing & Siding
    eBay Auction Services
        Shopping Assistance
        Packing & Shipping
        eBay Store Design
        Appraisal & Authentication
        Other
    Media Editing & Duplication
        Photo & Video
        Music
    Custom Clothing & Jewelry
        Jewelry
        Costumes
        Other
        Shirts
    Printing & Personalization
        Other
        Invitations & Announcements
        Business Cards
        Signs
        Holiday Cards
    Graphic & Logo Design

Travel
    Lodging
    Cruises
    Vacation Packages
    Other
    Campground & RV Parks
    Luggage
    Airline
    Travel Accessories
        Other

Business & Industrial
    Business & Websites for Sale
        Home-Based Businesses
        Internet Businesses & Websites
        Service Businesses
        Retail & General Stores
        Other
        Patents & Trademarks
        Vending & Coin-op
        Advertising Inventory
        Manufacturing
        Wholesale Trade & Distribution
        Marketing
    Construction
        Buildings, Modular & Pre-fab
    Office
        Trade Show Displays

These categories and subcategories contain at least one classified ad. It is important to note that these categories also contain auction items and "buy now" items. The total number of listings contained within a particular category, together with the proportion of classified ads, determines -to a large degree- how visible your classified ad will be in the search results. I'll discuss this more in the next post.

You can always access a recent list of eBay classified ad categories at: http://www.virtual-sysop.com/bootstrapping/ebay-categories.txt.

Until next time! :)

002 - Can I Affiliate Market On EBay?

Just about everything that I’ve read on the subject of generating easy cash online indicated that affiliate marketing is the way to go. First of all... In my humble opinion, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is not a good way to get your affiliate products in front of potential customers. Once upon a time, you could find very high quality keywords for 5 to 10 cents per click. Now, you’ll pay 1 to 5 dollars (USD) per click for those same keywords. True... there may still be a few uncovered micro niche markets with low cost keywords; but, believe me when I say... you’ll probably just throw your money away! Secondly, making money with affiliate marketing is anything but easy! Well... unless you already have a web site or BLOG with 1000’s of targeted visitors each day!

Regardless of what has been written about putting classified ads on Craigslist; it’s just not worth it! Craigslist was designed for classified ads of “local” interest. The site has been abused by SPAMMERS to the point that Craigslist has made it difficult for people to place legitimate posts. There’s also an ethical issue here. Craigslist is a great public service and we should respect the intent of its creator! In general, I am not in favor of SPAMMING and BLACK HAT techniques for making money!

I’m currently posting classified ads on USFreeAds.com and eBay Classifieds. I’ll talk more about USFreeAds in later posts; but first, I want to focus on eBay Classified Ads. There’s a lot of hype out there regarding eBay. Some of the hype is justified, but at the same time, if you just jump into placing classified ads without understanding how eBay displays them in the search result; you can easily throw your money away - and I've done that!

eBay limits the item categories where you can place classified ads. This places affiliate advertisers at a disadvantage. Also, eBay seems to sort classified ads to the bottom of the search results. This is another big disadvantage to affiliate advertisers. Selecting high quality keywords and placing ads into the correct categories is really critical here. I have some ideas about how to do this, which I’ll share over the next few posts; but I welcome the comments of others who are having success affiliate marketing through eBay! Experience is, after all, the best teacher!

In the next post, I’ll list all of the categories where affiliate advertisers can place their classified ads. I’ll also provide a link to download a text file containing this list.

Until next time!

-Ron

001 -The Internet Marketing Hype: My Story

I became interested in making money on the Internet back in mid 2007, when Google Adwords seemed to be the Holy Grail for getting rich on the Internet. My first related purchase was, in fact, an e-book on that topic. I followed the steps as carefully as possible and ended up donating a large sum of money to the Google cause. Later, I tried to purchase PLR e-books, fix them up, and then sell them online. I even created my own Web site, with my own domain name. Hmm... I thought “If I build it... they will come”! So... I built it, and........ they NEVER CAME! Oh... I guess you’re supposed to do this thing called SEO to get traffic to your web site. Just a few years ago, it was thought that good content is all it takes to get traffic to your web site... NOPE!!! I’ve joined subscription websites, purchased courses, etc, etc, etc... NOTHING!!! Not a dime!!!

I’ve learned a lot over the years and am probably better poised to actually do something profitable; but, I’ve spent so much money and now I’m feeling guilty about spending the additional money needed to go down those roads (and maybe not find anything profitable in the end). This became more an issue when I lost my job back in July! So... I have a new philosophy... Put all of my efforts into making just a little cash online, but do it in a fairly short period of time... and spend as little money as possible to that end! I’m not looking at getting rich or creating a big wealth-building business this way. Hopefully though, this “bootstrapping” effort will just bring me a little closer to that larger goal!

I’ll share some of my ideas in this BLOG and inject some of the lessons that I’ve already learned along the way! I hope it will be of benefit to those who are also dreaming of building wealth online. I would love to hear from people who were in my position and figured out how to bootstrap some quick cash online. I welcome your comments, emails, etc... I’ll be happy to share your thoughts with the rest of the readers!

One final note: Everything I write is of my opinion only! I am not providing professional advice of any kind. I always suggest that you independently verify any facts presented here before taking action! In order to follow this BLOG, you must agree to not hold me responsible for any loss or damages that may be caused to you through the use of information posted here. I'll try to provide valuable and accurate information, and I hope it will be of real value to the readers!

That’s all for now... :)

-Ron