I would imagine that if you do any work on the internet than you are familiar with CraigsList.com and/or BackPage.com.

If you are not, both sites allow anyone to place an ad in many different categories. While a lot of the ads are free, some you are required to pay for up front.

CraigsList and BackPage are both sites that every real estate investor should be familiar with as they can help to drive leads to your business. Regardless of whether you are selling or buying property, these two sites are a must use tool for your marketing.

This morning while I was doing a little research I stumbled across a few tips that I would like to share with you.

Tip #1: When Writing Your Ad Headline, Make It **POP**.

One way to do this is to use the asterisk (*) that I used around the word “POP”. Your computer has the ability to create many different types of characters, so use characters around your headline that will make it stand out amongst all of the other ads.

Tip #2: Make Your Ad Location Specific

Write your ad so it sounds very specific to your location. You are either going to be buying or selling real estate. I live here in Knoxville, TN so in my ad I would want to write about a specific location where the home is located. Ex. “**Instant Equity**For Sale or Lease Purchase**Sequoyah Hills School District 37919**4br 3ba**”. The ad uses the asterisk and it also defines a specific area within the zip code given (also see tip #4). When writing your headline, also be sure to use specifics.

Tip #3: Leave Multiple Methods To Connect

When writing your ad, be sure to include several methods for contacting you about your ad and be sure to leave the contact information several times. You want to be sure that the reader knows how to reach you so make it obvious and make it obvious multiple times.

Tip #4: Write A Benefit Into Your Headline

We have already talked about writing your headline but I want to include one more important tip….include a benefit in your headline. In the example above I wrote about the school district. For folks moving into the zip code I referred to in my ad, school district is probably an important decision. A lot of the folks moving in are younger families and they would want to know where there kids would attend school.

I hope that you have found this CraigsList and BackPage article helpful. Have you written ads for these websites…what have you found that has worked well?

Cheers,

~ Ross Treakle