How to Do Affiliate Marketing on Craigslist

Craigslist is a great place for urban communities to pool their resources and network extensively. It features advertisements and forums for opportunities in real-estate, employment, dating, community events, marketing and more. Affiliate marketing on Craigslist can pay off greatly, as long as you are willing to put time into it. A good deal of extra money can be made simply by promoting and advertising for other companies and Web sites.

Things You'll Need

• Internet access
• Computer
• Craigslist account

Instructions

1. Establish a Web site on Craigslist. This site will be yours and yours alone to maintain, whether you wish to use it for your business, as an entrepreneur or just to network your various wants and needs.

2. Begin researching which companies you would like to affiliate with. Consider which companies will best align with your Web site, and which ones your Web site could best promote.

3. Contact your targeted companies with a proposal for affiliation. Offer your reasoning as to why you believe an advertisement on your Web site will gain recognition for their company, and why your Web site is different than others.

4. Be patient. Some companies receive hundreds upon hundreds of affiliate-marketing proposals every week, so don't expect them to respond in a hurry. Meanwhile, work on improving your Web site and offer affiliation to other companies.

5. Pick which style of banner or advertisement you would like to use on your Web site. After a company agrees to advertising through your site, they will offer you several different styles of banners to choose from.

6. Wait. Remember that almost every kind of advertising takes time. Eventually, however, you will begin receiving money for every click, sale or registration that your Web site attracts.

Tips & Warnings

• Text-links ads are among the most successful. They offer a link with a brief but pertinent explanation of the product, and don't annoy the user with pop-ups.

• Larger ads are often unsuccessful. They take longer to implement, and often slow down the user's computer. Keep your ads' bandwidth under 15 kb in size.

• Keep in mind the theme of your Web site, and choose affiliations accordingly.

• Avoid pop-up ads. Most of the time they only annoy potential customers, and are usually closed before they even load.

• Don't back out early. Affiliate marketing can take weeks (or even months) to pay off.