Beginning June 7th, BackPage advertisers who post legitimate jobs in the jobs classifieds can be entered to win an Apple iPad.  Winners will be awarded their iPads during the months of July, August, September and October, 2010.  Jobs ads are free so it’s not going to cost you anything to enter — just post a real job listing.  BackPage is calling it their “Put America Back to Work” iPad sweepstakes giveaway.  To enter the contest just follow these steps;

• Click this link to post a job ad
• Click on the “post an ad” link
• Select local ads or multiple cities to post your ad
• Follow the on-page prompts to place your ad
• Once your ad is posted, e-mail sales@backpage.com with the link to your job posting and tell them you want to enter the contest
• Your ad will be confirmed and it will be upgraded with free reposts and/or sponsored ads
• Monthly contest winners will be contacted by e-mail
• See iPad sweepstakes contest rules for information about how to enter the contest without posting a job ad
• Enter as often as you wish for your chance to win
  See contest rules for more information

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BackPage Classfieds offers a low cost way for online affiliate marketers to advertise products and services either locally or in multiple cities.  You can place your ads along with photos and links to your website or affiliate offer. You will also have the options of having your ads automatically reposted periodically and you can place sponsored ads that appear on the right side column of each ad listing page. These highly visible sponsor ads are linked directly to your classified ad. Bookmark this site and follow my tips on how to save money on your BackPage ad campaigns, plus watch for the latest money saving promo codes and my insders tips on how to receive even bigger discount on all your ads!

Some Features of BackPage Classifieds

• Low Cost Classifieds
• Highly Effective Ads
• Affiliates are Welcome
• Post in Multiple Cities
• Set Up Automatic Reposts
• High Visibility Sponsor Ads
• Include Product Photos
• Place Links in Your Ads
• Discounts and Promo Codes
• Almost 100 Ad Categories
• Hundreds of Cities
• Manage Ads in Control Panel
• Update Ads Anytime
• Print Ads in City Publications
• Huge Traffic and Growing

To Get Started: Just create a BackPage account, then select the category that best suits your product or service.

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BackPage vs. Craigslist

BackPage is a growing threat to Craigslist.  Online marketers in the know have been using BackPage Classifieds for quite some time and it is rapidly gaining in popularity. 

BackPage continues to double in traffic each year and now boasts nearly a billion page views per month.  Affiliates and webmasters are finding the site refreshingly inviting.  Unlike Craigslist and some other online classifieds sites, BackPage allows you to place photos and hyperlinks in your ads, and you can place your ads in as many cities as you wish!

The phenomenal growth hasn’t been without its challenges.  The site’s server and software have been tweaked to provide faster service to visitors.  New features have been added to make the advertiser experience more pleasant and much more profitable.

The auto repost feature has proven very popular. You can have your ad respost to the top of the ads as often as once every three days for as little as 50 cents. 

Advertisers can now move their ads to the top of the classifieds on a daily basis.  This is available for paid ads only.

Discounts are currently available for many cities so you can enjoy as much as 50% off the regular cost of ads.  You’ll see these discounts listed prior to payment processing for your ads.

300 or more cities have been added to the classifieds pages and it keeps growing.  Ads can be placed in one city or multiple cities — even all cities!  Try that at Craigslist and see what happens.  BackPage makes it easy and affordable to post classifieds in multiple cities.

Create your BackPage account now!

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People enjoy reading the classified ads.   Online classifieds have been gaining in popularity have plenty of faithful followers in addition to hundreds of thousands of new users each day.  There is a perception of bargain prices in classifieds as opposed to other advertisements such as television, magazines and billboards.

Very low cost of advertising.  Many classifieds can be placed for free if you’re promoting a product or service locally.  You can place multi-city ads on BackPage Classifieds for very low cost.  They make it easy to place ads in as many cities as you would like.  You can often purchase sponsored ads for as little as 99¢ each. 

You’ll enjoy increased market reach.  Your classified ads may be viewed anywhere in the world where Internet service is available.  The ads are online for unlimited viewing. 

There is huge profit potential.  My affiliate ads on BackPage generate thousands of unique hits daily.  With some affiliate offers being worth about 25¢ to 30¢ each you can see the profit potential is enormous. 

Search Engines index the classifieds.  I’ve found that Google and the other major search engines are indexing individual classifieds.  That implies a benefit from inbound linking to your web site in addition to generating even more visitors to your classified ad.

You’re not limited to a few lines of text.  You can create a classified ad as simply or elaborately as you wish.  You’re able to list all your product or service’s major features and benefits without abbreviating words.  You can add photos, product specs, search boxes, testimonials, telephone numbers, web site URLs and just about anything else. 

Your classified ad acts as a mini web site.  You can set up your classified ad as a mini web site to be indexed by search engines.  You can link directly to your affiliate offers without even going through your own web site.  It’s often better to eliminate any unnecessary steps so this may be a profitable option.  Just set up your mini web site classifieds and let the traffic to your affiliate programs start rolling in.  That’s a lot easier than creating web sites, writing content, arranging link trades and all the promotion that goes along with running a web site.

 Get Started: Create Your Free BackPage Classifieds Account Today

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It should come as no surprise that I’m a big fan of classified ads.  I am able to pull in a large volume of traffic for a wide variety of affiliate offers using low cost classified ads.  For the purpose of this article I’m referring to BackPage online classifieds, but most of this information will hold true for other online and print classifieds as well. 

One important benefit of BackPage Classifieds is that you aren’t limited to a few lines of text.  You can include expanded information about your offering, photographs, hyperlinks, testimonials, phone numbers and whatever else you think is relevant. 

How to Write Classified Ads that Sell

Used properly, classified ads are hard to beat.  The beauty of this type of advertising is that visitors are already interested in some aspect of the ad category.  For example, you can be reasonably sure that someone visiting the “Business Opportunities” category of classifieds is interested in self employment.  This is high quality, prequalified traffic from people that are very likely ready to buy, or at least ready for more information.

Browsing through the classifieds you’ll see the vast majority of ads are horrid.  Let’s cover some basics that will help set your ad above the rest.

Use proper spelling, grammar and punctuation.  A classified ad with misspellings and grammatical errors will quickly erode confidence in your offer.  Remember that first impressions count.  Make your first impression professional and trustworthy.  

AIDA Advertising Model

Back when I was first learning how to write copy for web sites, I learned about the AIDA advertising model, a system that has served me well.   It’s a simple acronym that lays out a simple structure for virtually any online offering.

A – Attention
I – Interest
D – Desire
 A – Action

(A) Get their attention.  Starting with the ad headline, you must grab the attention of people scanning the classifieds.  Your ad will be among many others so make it stand out.  Give them a reason to click through and read your ad copy.   

(I) Get them interested. Once you’ve got their attention you must gain their interest. Expand on the Headline in the first few words and sentences in your ad.  Get them interested in learning more.

(D) Build their desire.  You can build desire by showing the benefits of your offer.  Focus on the positive benefits for the visitor and this will build their desire.

(A) Motivate them to action.  This is the step where you get your visitor to click on a link or make a phone call.  You must clearly identify your call to action and make it completely obvious even at a quick glance. 

 Writing Classified Headlines

Writing a great classified ad headline is part science and part art.   Because it is the single most important part of your ad, you should spend the time to craft a compelling headline that makes readers want to know more. 

Your headline should be easy to read.  I recommend avoiding excessive use of special characters.   It is ok to use all capital letters for a headline, if that is allowable.  BackPage limits capitalization in headlines but you can still capitalize keywords in the headline.  Use that to your advantage to make certain keywords stand out.

Here is a list of keywords that you may want to include in your ad;

Free, new, how to, now, announcing, introducing, introductory, challenge, wanted, advice, the truth about, just arrived, important, sensational, amazing, remarkable, bargain, last chance, hurry, love, magic, easy, offer

This is just a partial list of compelling keyword you may want to have in your headline.  Don’t forget to include category specific keywords for your particular niche market. 

Look at the classifieds and scroll down the list of ad headlines.  Which ones make you want to stop and read more?  Why?  What keywords did they use?  Experiment with your headlines.  Try different keywords and different placements within your headlines. 

Writing Classified Ads: The Body Text

Before you even start writing your body text, you should understand what you want from readers.  You probably will not close a sale in a classified ad.  Most likely you’ll want them to click through to one of your affiliate offers or visit your web site for more information, or perhaps to make a phone call for more information. 

Your goal is to generate interest in your offer and build desire for more information.  Pique their interest by providing benefits.  Give them a glimpse of how their life will be better with your product or service.  Remember that the reader cares only about themself.  They don’t care about you or your company so focus on their needs and the benefits to them. 

Whenever possible it is a good idea to include elements to enhance the emotional impact of your ad.  Some examples would include photos, screenshots, testimonials, references and newspaper headlines.  Perhaps most important of these is the photograph.  The old overused adage that a picture is worth a thousand words is quite true here.  Including a photo that illustrates your offer’s benefits is a great way to increase a reader’s interest and desire.  For example, a beautiful woman with a great smile might be te perfect photo to show for a classified ad you’re running to promote a teeth whitening system.

Call to Action: Your ad must include a clear call to action.  Make sure it’s clearly identifiable and easy to find.  Think about where the eye tracks on a page (left to right for most people).  The best location for a call to action may be on the right side of the page and certainly viewable without scrolling down the page.  Use words like click here, call now, sign up, visit, hurry, supplies are limited, get your free sample, etc. 

Test  Marketing Your Classified Ads

Before you go lay out a pile of money on a national ad campaign it’s prudent to do some test marketing.   I usually run a new ad in about 10 selected cities for a sampling prior to a full scale launch.  Here are some cities you might want to consider for your test marketing on BackPage;

Atlanta
Boston
Chicago
Cleveland
Dallas
Denver
Houston
Jacksonville
Kansas City
Las Vegas
Los Angeles
Miami
Minneapolis
New York
Oklahoma City
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Pittsburgh
Raleigh
Seattle
St. Louis
Tampa
Toronto (if you’re marketing in Canada)

In Conclusion

Online classifieds are a great way to advertise your products or services effectively and inexpensively.  Your job as an online advertiser is to get their attention with a compelling headline, get them interested in your offer, build their desire for more information and get them to take action.  A little test marketing will help you refine your ads prior to spending your ad money on large national campaigns.  With just a little practice you’ll be creating profitable classified ads. 

 Get Started: Create Your Free BackPage Classifieds Account Today

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I’m going to show you how to create a new BackPage Classifieds account in 2 very simple steps.  It’s all very easy as you will see. 

Step 1: Go to BackPage Classifieds click here to open BackPage in a new page. This account creation page will open and you just enter your e-mail address and password, then click “Create Account.”  Make sure you use an e-mail you check regularly so you’ll receive the latest BackPage promo codes in your e-mail.

If all goes well you’ll see this success message.

Step 2. Go to your e-mail and locate the e-mail from BackPage.com.  Click the link to activate your account and log in for the first time.

That’s it!  Now you’re ready to explore the BackPage marketplace.  Be sure to check back as I post marketing ideas, tips and resources to help you on the road to success on BackPage Classifieds.

If you haven’t done so, create your BackPage advertising account now!  Doing so ensures you will receive promo codes in your e-mail and it provides you with access to a control panel where you can easily view and administer all of your ad campaigns from one area.  I’ll explain the control panel in a future post.

Hope you enjoy — post a comment to let me know if you have any questions or just to let me know if this was helpful.

 Get Started: Create Your Free BackPage Classifieds Account Today

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BackPage.com is Perfect for Affiliate Marketing! 

BackPage is categorized much like Craigslist. Unlike Craigslist, Backpage.com classifieds welcomes affiliate marketing on its pages. You can post in multiple cities with no penalty. Best of all, the market reach is huge with photo classifieds available for major cities in The United States and Canada. BackPage is rapidly gaining market share in the online classifieds sector. Their prices are low — as low as 99 cents for a sponsored ad with photos and hyperlinks. This is an ideal marketing opportunity for affiliate marketers. Prices will undoubtedly go up as more advertisers move to Backpage.

IMPORTANT TIP: To take advantage of discounts go to BackPage Classifieds and be sure to register a new account. This will ensure that you receive upcoming promotional codes. Equally important, it gives you a control panel where you can easily access and manage all of your ad campaigns.

 Get Started: Create Your Free BackPage Classifieds Account Today

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Sample Classified Ad for Personal Trainers

Click to View BackPage Classifieds
Create Your Account and Start Posting Ads

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