To the Hubbers Who Provide Craigslist Spamming Lessons

1. 61

   Eric Graudinsposted 17 years ago

   Hub Pages is a fairly spam free zone, so I guess I'm  a bit disappointed to see hubbers proudly making hubs about how to bypass the security measures of Craigslist and other services, and even more hubbers saying how wonderful this stuff is, and that they'll certainly be trying them out.
   
   "The Wonder of the Internet is that almost everything can be automated.
   The Curse of the Internet is that almost everything can be automated".
   
   Why the hell does every good idea on the planet that has the slightest potential to be associated with making money have to be increasingly abused and gamed within an inch of its life.
   
   Email is a case in point - where around 95% of all email messages are spam.
   
   Craiglist is a service intended for private people to post classified ads online in their local area.
   It's now almost useless because of the amount of spammy posts from Marketing Spammers.
   
   Now - Internet marketing is not allowed there, but that doesn't stop the people who think they have the right to use any resource in any way to do anything to sell their stuff.
   As soon as a new measure intended to keep Craigslist spammers out, it's countered with a blow by blow description that tells you how to get around it. Often at a price of $47 (or something with a 7 on the end.)
   
   Well, you may feel clever by tooling yourself up with IP changers, text parsers, phone verification bypass procedures, and all that stuff so that you can get around the measures that Craigslist has implemented specifically to keep people like you out.
   
   You'd be even more clever if you got the hint that YOU ARE NOT WANTED THERE and just kept away.
   
   You probably wouldn't dream of buying an email list and blasting out your message to 5 million  people.
   Only a spammer would do that!.
   
   Well, I think you're just as big a spammer if you try to try to get around the posting restrictions that are set up by services like Craigslist.
   
   And If I see you on the forums here wearing your white ten gallon hats that touch the ceiling  saying how much you hate spammers, I'm probably going to say something to you about it.
   
   And you won't be able to remove my questions, like you did when I asked you about this topic on your hubs.

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      Zsuzsy Beeposted 17 years agoin reply to this

      This post is smokin', steamin'......are you upset about something Eric? It wouldn't be about our favorite meat-by-product....production.....would it be?

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         Dorsiposted 17 years agoin reply to this

         I love Craigslist- I've done many things on it- found my lost dog, sold things, bought things, advertised our church functions, hooked up with Yuwie through it- attended plant swaps that were advertised there- job searched there..............
         Craigslist is the bomb.

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      2. 61

         Eric Graudinsposted 17 years agoin reply to this

         I'm just discussing a principle, and having a bit of a rant.
         You haven't seen me upset, smokin and steamin' yet
         
         I don't believe that that trying to get around the stated policies of a site like Craigslist is a way to build any sort of sustainable business. The people who take this sort of advice are going to be spending money that they probably can't afford, and wasting lots of hours for probably no return.
         
         Dorsi:
         The way you are using Craigslist is the way the owners intend it to be used.
         But legitimate users like you are being drowned out by the "make money on the internet" brigade.
         Surely you must have noticed
         
         Misha:
         No, I won't post the link here. The hubs are pretty easy to find
         Like I said - just having a bit of a rant. Not looking to start a range war.

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            Dorsiposted 17 years agoin reply to this

            I even wrote a few hubs about using Craigslist because I love it so much!
            And honestly, I have'nt noticed much spam on the list, of course when I go there I'm usually doing something specific so I don't do too much browsing around.
            I certainly understand where you are coming from though.

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               vietnameseposted 16 years agoin reply to this

               I was just wonder if it is possible to post in multiple locations on craigslist. Sometimes I would like to post 2 or 3 in different cities, but the darn thing keep saying that I posted a duplicates even though I had fixed up already? Could it be that it is only one posting per account per day?

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            Zsuzsy Beeposted 17 years agoin reply to this

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2. 68

   Mishaposted 17 years ago

   LOL Eric,
   
   You stopped halfway. Give the link already, you teaser

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3. 79

   crashcromwellposted 17 years ago

   One of the things that bothers me about craigslist is the way they are set up. They say that they want people to post on their local list and sell things locally. But then every single page is set up exactly like the next, with links to every other craigslist list in existence. It's almost screaming out to be abused.
   
   Why, if I live in Maine as I do, would I have a need to see who is selling stuff in L.A.? Yet I can check that out simply by hitting the Los Angeles link.
   
   Another thing that bothers me is that I am sure that the Maine site for craigslist gets far less traffic than say Boston, New York, Chicago, L.A., etc. So if I'm trying to sell my novel, I'm going to reach far fewer people by posting on my local page than if I post the same ad in one of pages that serves a larger population area.
   
   I have been playing around with an idea that I would like the ethics experts here (no sarcasm there) to weigh in on. Would I be skirting craigslist's rules if I decided to post individual chapters of my novel in the books and magazines links on 32 different craigslist sites? Each one would be a different ad, and if someone were on the ball, they could visit each of the sites I have posted and wind up with a free electronic copy of my novel. At the same time, I would be reaching a much larger audience than I would if I put an ad on the Maine craigslist site (which I have, by the way).
   
   Any thoughts?

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      Marisa Wrightposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      Personally, I don't see Craigslist as an effective way to market a novel, anyway.  I don't think people join Craigslist to find books to read!
      
      I went to your profile, expecting to see some information on your novel there, but there wasn't.
      
      In your shoes, I'd be doing the following:
      
      Cutting down on the biographical detail in my profile and adding in a "I'm also a fiction writer.  My first book "...", is a [description of book]", with a link to its listing on Amazon.   You can also get a sneak preview of the sequel " " on [Hub].
      
      Joining every fantasy forum I can find and becoming an indispensable member.  Once you're known, you can start mentioning your novel. If you can, put a link to it in your signature.
      
      I'm assuming you don't write as Crash Cromwell?   I wouldn't be using "handles" anywhere on the internet, I'd always be using my pen name, to get it noticed.
      
      Final tip - I found your "sneak preview" Hub.  If I read it right, it sounds like you left your first book on a cliffhanger.  Bad move - NO publishing house will ever look at a trilogy from an unknown author, so you've guaranteed you won't get a bite from a mainstream publisher.  Your first book must always be complete in itself.

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         daflaposted 16 years agoin reply to this

         Great advice.  No, Craigslist users are either looking for sex or to get rich quick.  I don't think they read much else.

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   daflaposted 16 years ago

   Ah, Eric. You hit the nail on the head with this one.  But just stop and remember that the average age of the internet user is 14, and the average age of the internet affiliate marketer is ... are you ready for this ... 20.  That's the AVERAGE age, so these people are not quite mature enough to know how obnoxious they really are. 
   
   I once bought an internet guru's book (it was only $10, so I figured I couldn't really lose much), and with it came free online video lessons.  Those lessons were all about how to lie on Craigslist to get people to buy ebooks through Clickbank.  I never finished reading the book. I had gotten to about page 20 before seeing that, and I knew I could never do what this guy does.
   
   BTW, this guy was the self-same "Rich Jerk" you see plastered all over Hubpages by Adsense.   
   Rich, maybe.  Jerk...DEFINITELY!

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5. 78

   Shadesbreathposted 16 years ago

   I want to get both sex and rich quick, but I'm too lazy to read the spam that will teach me how.  Someone needs to write a way to get rich without doing anything at all.  That's the one I'm waiting for.  I don't even want to have to read that. I just want the money to start coming to me. 
   
   Nice rant, Eric.  I do enjoy seeing your opinionated side.

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   DJ Funktualposted 16 years ago

   I've made thousands by listing myself as a freelance DJ but now there dozens of DJ ads every hour, it's luda!

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7. 62

   Sterling Sageposted 16 years ago

   I couldn't agree more.  Craigslist is one of the few sites created and maintained as a free resource for everyone.
   I think it's really terrible that Craigslist is being abused by these jokers.
   Thanks for speaking up!

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