My smart blog news service just emailed me a new article “Craigslist ad design service” - see it at http://www.samrathacks.com/2008/11/craigslist-ad-design-service.html

They wrote

If you are starting a new website then you need to take much care about your site design and layout. Many people will love your site only if it has got a good design. You need to know about Craigslist also if you need to promote your site. You need to design your Craigslist ads in such a way that more people click them and you get more and more visitors. When advertising on Craigslist, you should know that Craigslist ads with images and custom Craigslist ads tend to perform better than just plain text advertisements. People are more inclined to click on your Craigslist ad when they see there is an image with the ad, instantly makes you stand out more, look more professional and should get you more leads as well.

… and I agree with them.

But do you really need a professional web design company to design good quality Craigslist ads?

You want your ads stand from a crowd - make it with simple tags - and it’s free if you are doing by yourself. Is it difficult? No. Type your text and make some part of it as a header - how to do it? - use header tags, do not forget to open and close them. Headers tags are H1, H2, H3, H4, H5, H6 where H1 makes text bold and big and H6 makes it bold and not so big.

Type <H1>My new business Funny Frog</H1> and you can see -

Funny Frog

You want your text in different color - it’s easy - add style to your text.

How to do it - type a <p style=”color:red;”>my text</p> and you can see my text… Do you want to make it bold without using headers H1,…H6. Add tags <b>my text</b> or <strong>my text</strong> and enjoy your text in bold.

Such small changes can bring three-four times more customer’s responses to your ads. I did it - it worked.

The Web site Craigslist says it will crack down on ads for prostitution as part of an agreement with attorneys general in 40 states, including the Carolinas.

The deal will require people who post “erotic services” ads on Craigslist to provide a working phone number and pay a fee with a valid credit card.

The Web site will provide that information to law enforcement if subpoenaed to do so.

Craigslist has also agreed to sue 14 software and Internet companies that help people who post erotic service ads circumvent the Web site’s defenses against inappropriate content and illegal activity.

From http://www.wlos.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.nc/2a5a2050-www.wlos.com.shtml

Craigslist, Once Important to the Prostitution Biz, May Now Be Less So

We think it’s a provocative enough question to kick off a Friday morning: Just what kinds of illegal activity should Craigslist be responsible for?

In March, the Seventh Circuit’s Frank Easterbrook affirmed a district court ruling that Craigslist isn’t liable for users who violate the Fair Housing Act by publishing discriminatory housing ads with restrictions such as “no minorities.” Easterbrook reasoned that Craigslist isn’t liable for its users since it’s “not the author of the ads and could not be treated as the ’speaker’ of the posters’ words.”

But ads posted by prostitutes apparently pose a different — if not more serious — problem. Yesterday, the classifieds site agreed to crack down on ads posted by prostitutes, responding to government complaints that the site has become a free clearinghouse for illegal sexual services. (Here are reports from the WSJ and the AP.)

In an agreement with attorneys general from 40 states, Craigslist said it will require posters of erotic-services ads to give a working phone number and pay a fee with a valid credit card. The site will then be able to provide that information in response to law-enforcement subpoenas, creating a “roadmap” that can be used to track prostitutes and sex traffickers. The deal was brokered by Connecticut AG Richard Blumenthal.

Craigslist also said it has sued 14 software and Internet companies that help ad posters circumvent its safeguards against inappropriate content and illegal activity, Blumenthal told the WSJ. The company will provide states with information about those businesses for possible civil and criminal prosecution.

Read more http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2008/11/07/craigslist-once-important-to-the-prostitution-biz-may-now-be-less-so/

Photo from http://flickr.com/photos/walkering/2274402839/
Scandal grows over fake Craigslist sex ad

Girl wants to meet boy. Girl posts on Craigslist for a “casual encounter.” Hundreds of boys respond.

This normally wouldn’t be an unanticipated outcome, but what if the girl wasn’t really a girl? And what if the imposter then took all the names, e-mail addresses and phone numbers sent by the men who responded and posted them all on the Web?

That’s precisely what Jason Fortuny did in a “social experiment” that has generated a huge controversy, much of it in the form of a backlash that has included talk of litigation and even death threats. The Seattle Web developer has reportedly removed some of his own online information, which included his home address, phone number and photos (much of which is still available in archived versions of his various posts).

But don’t expect Fortuny to shrink from the spotlight–quite the opposite, in fact. According to Waxy.org, “he’s planning on setting up a dedicated Web site for his exploits, either on his Rfjason.com site or on the Craigslistsexbaits.com domain.”

From http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-6114909-7.html

A fake ad placed on Craigslist led to the complete trashing of a Tacoma, Wash., home

The ad invited people to “take everything,” and vandals did just that–stripping the rental home of furniture, appliances, light fixtures, even the kitchen sink and hot water heater.

The owner said she hadn’t placed the ad, and had recently evicted the tenant. The ad was only online for about an hour and half before it was flagged as fraudulent, and removed, but that was apparently enough time to attract attention.

from http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-6173968-7.html

Fake Craigslist ads a big headache
Diane Siddons got the call from Brandie Darnell in the middle of the day. Darnell had seen Siddons’ house advertised for rent on Craigslist and thought it was a smokin’ deal: $800 a month for a five bedroom house in a Tampa Bay, Fla., suburb.

Only one problem: Siddons’ house wasn’t for rent. She hadn’t placed any advertisement on Craigslist. Instead, a con artist had lifted photos of her home and placed them on the site as bait.

read more - http://redtape.msnbc.com/2008/04/fake-craigslist.html

Fake Craigslist Ad Costs Man Most of What He Owns

According to the Seattle Times, an Oregon man is trying to piece his life back together after fake Craigslist ads were posted saying that everything at his home was free for the taking. The ads stated that the owner of the house had to leave unexpectedly, and evidently without any of his possessions.

Farm-owner Robert Salisbury returned home to find approximately 30 people rummaging through his property. Before he had even gotten there, he had unsuccessfully attempted to stop a truck loaded with his lawn equipment from driving past him. Unsuccessfully being the key word in that sentence.

Salisbury’s losses would have been much worse, had a woman, Michelle Eisely, interested in Salisbury’s horse not called. The situation had seemed strange to her — a free horse, after all — so she called him. The Craigslist ad said that the horse had been declared abandoned by the sheriff’s department, but Eisely noted that horse was in good condition and did not seem to have the characteristics of an abandoned animal. Luckily, she harnessed the power of common sense and called Salisbury.

Authorities are working with Craigslist’s legal team to trace the perpetrators, and, to recover the stolen items, which, apparently, include pretty much everything — including the porch swing.

All items can be returned, no questions asked. For Pete’s sake people.

from http://www.switched.com/2008/03/25/fake-craigslist-ad-costs-man-most-of-what-he-owns/

Do you want to spice your creaigslist ad with a cute picture but do not have one. Type “free images” in Google and you can find really gold here. My favorite of the day is http://www.freedigitalphotos.net. I’ve got a great image of a horse and add it to a simple text ad.

WITHOUT IMAGE:

Large Barn Rental for horse Boarders. Includes paddocks,some pasture,outdoor

riding ring and hot walker. Barn has hot water, tack room, and hay loft and

extra storage room. Savings barn is included. There are 12 padded stalls.

WITH IMAGE - EXAMPLE 1:

—————————————————————————————

Large Barn Rental for horse Boarders. Includes paddocks,some pasture,outdoor

riding ring and hot walker. Barn has hot water, tack room, and hay loft and

extra storage room. Savings barn is included. There are 12 padded stalls.

—————————————————————————————

WITH IMAGE - EXAMPLE 2:

—————————————————————————————

Large Barn Rental for horse Boarders. Includes paddocks,some pasture,outdoor

riding ring and hot walker. Barn has hot water, tack room, and hay loft and

extra storage room. Savings barn is included. There are 12 padded stalls.

—————————————————————————————

How to make it.

1.  Chose image that you like and find its web address. It’s easy tpo do with FireFox - click on the view image and copy its address.

2.  Add image tag about your text - for those who do not know - <img src=”"> and place your image web address inside the image tag, it looks like <img src=”http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/photos/aqua_(38).jpg”>

3. Type the brake tag <br> (or two brake tags) below your image

4.  If you want your image to be on right or on left, not on top, you need to use styles - the simplest way is to add style to your image tag, for example <img style=”float:left;margin-right:15px;” src=”http:/ijiwjiw.com/yourimage.jpg”>

This simple code and free images can really spice your ads and attract 5-10 times more responses. Enjoy…

I wanted my craigslist ad to stand from the crowd. I’ve looked through the similar ads and found that most of them were on a white background. Why not to have a colored background? My ad was very simple, it’s only two sentences. My text in bold on an yellow background would catch people eyes. And it’s not difficult to do it - I know html, I know styles (basic style and html is enough for this simple job) so why not to create a cute yellow background. When I started I anderstand Why - it’s a litle tricky to add a background to a craigslist ad.

Step 0 - Go to Craigslist, choose where to place your ad, click on “post to classifieds”,  “Posting Description” field - this is where you need to type your code

Step 1 - to make text on a yellow background -> place the text inside a division and add style to the division’s background

CODE:

<div style=”background-color:yellow;”>I’m looking to buy an Entertainment 2009 book. Please email if you have one!</div>

RESULT:

I’m looking to buy an Entertainment 2009 book. Please email if you have one!

Step 2 - To make my font bold -> add font-weight: bold

CODE:

<div style=”background-color:yellow;font-weight:bold;”>I’m looking to buy an Entertainment 2009 book. Please email if you have one!</div>

RESULT:

I’m looking to buy an Entertainment 2009 book. Please email if you have one!

Step 3 -Make my font bigger -> add font-size:22px -> BUT it did not work, I was sure my result would be bigger font on an yellow background, in reality it becam:

I’m looking to buy an Entertainment 2009 book. Please email if you have one!

All my styles inside division disappeared.

I had to use old-fashioned font tag.

CODE:

<div style=”background-color:yellow;font-weight:bold;”><font size=”4″>I’m looking to buy an Entertainment 2009 book. Please email if you have one!</font></div>

RESULT:

I’m looking to buy an Entertainment 2009 book. Please email if you have one!

To make it looks a little better I used break tag before and after …WORKS!!!

RESULT:

I’m looking to buy an Entertainment 2009 book. Please email if you have one!

I’ve got 16 response emails in the first two hours; for my previous ad with the same text I’ve got only 3 responses. Colored background makes a difference…

Remember when you are trying to create a background Craigslist may delete your code - so be careful and if your tags deleted use something different. I used font tag instead of font-size for styling and break tags instead of padding …You can experiment with  other tags and find what work…

Written by Liz from http://craigslist-templates.com. You can email her liz © craigslist-templates.com

Vancouver Island police have investigated another Internet posting advertising of a baby for sale. The ad appeared on the popular classifieds website Craigslist on Friday.

Police say the posting was traced to a Saanich, B.C., home.

They say the computers at the house were checked and it appears someone had hijacked the Internet address at the residence.

Police say no child is in danger and the posting was a hoax.

The posting follows another that was made to Craigslist in the Vancouver area earlier this week.

The parents in that case admitted to posting the ad, but said it was done as a joke.

The parents were initially arrested and later released, though police say they are still contemplating charges. The baby was removed from the home.

Vancouver couple have been arrested but will not be charged after posting an Internet ad on Craigslist, offering their seven-day-old baby for $10,000, police said Tuesday.

Vancouver police Const. Tim Fanning said he had never heard of such a thing in his 27 years as a police officer.

Ten police officers worked on the case, he said, tracking the Craigslist posting to a west-end apartment.

“Police knocked at the door and asked if there was a baby in the apartment,” Const. Fanning told reporters at a news conference.

He said the 23-year-old mother was found nursing a seven-day-old baby.

Among the four adults in the apartment was the baby’s father, also in his 20s.

The couple were initially arrested for questioning about the ad.

“They said it was just a hoax,” Const. Fanning explained.

The father, who placed the ad using a computer found in the apartment, was taken to jail.

Police sent a report to Crown recommending a charge of public mischief, but the Crown didn’t feel there was enough evidence to support the charge, he added.

The baby was taken from the couple by a social worker and placed in care, Const. Fanning said.

Last week, authorities in Germany said they were investigating a couple after they offered their eight-month-old son for sale on the Internet auction website EBay.

A number of people had contacted police when they say the posting online offering a baby for a sale because it cried too much. The opening bid was 1 euro ($1.57).

There were no bidders in the auction in the two hours it was posted online. The 23-year-old German woman told police that it was a joke.

From Vancouver BC Google and Canada Google news

Blue borders around an image that linked to a website is a common problems for many craigslist ads that created by people with basic knowledge of html or those who use software to create an ad template. The first, do not use anything except your hand to code or your ads will end with with some missing parts or worse with code unexpectedly showing on the ads. The second, always check how your ads look like online. Sometimes you see your image with blue border such as - see below:

What to do - Open your code - more likely than not your code includes <a href=”#”><img src=”yourimage.jpeg”></a>… Type border=”0″ inside img tag and ugly blue borders will disappear. The code will be <a href=”#”><img src=”yourimage.jpeg” border=”0″ ></a>

Example of Craigslist ads - found in RESUME

Web designer/ developer/ web marketer moving to Kamloops from Vancouver..
You can view my portfolio at http://www.artroute.com/webroz
Looking for a job and/or local (Kamloops) web/ graphic specialists to team up our skills…

Written by Liz from http://craigslist-templates.com. You can email her liz © craigslist-templates.com

Prosecutors say the Savage teenager accused of killing a woman who answered his online ad tried to get someone else to take the rap.Nineteen-year-old Michael John Anderson appeared in Scott County Court for a hearing Wednesday.

Anderson is accused of luring 24-year-old Katherine Ann Olson by posting an ad for a baby-sitter on Craigslist, then shooting her in the back when she showed up last October.

Prosecutors say they recovered letters Anderson sent from jail to his parents, suggesting they hire someone to take the blame.

At the judge’s order, the defense turned over the original letters to investigators. Anderson will have to give a handwriting sample.

Anderson’s next court appearance is set for June 26. No trial date has been scheduled.

From http://news.postbulletin.com

Craigslist ads code - Example: image, two links and text

See the code below:

<table style=”border:2px solid gray;”><tr><td width=”580″ align=”center” style=”font-family:arial;”>
<h1 style=”color:red;font-size:24px;margin-bottom:5px;”>Native Art Gifts from Vancouver</h1>
<div style=”font-size:18px;margin-bottom:10px;”>
<span><a href=”#”>Native Art Gallery</a></span> <span>
<a href=”#”>Frances Hill store</a></span>
</div>
<div>
<a href=”#”><img style=”margin-right:25px;border:0px solid white;” src=”http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1295/746238708_53cd5f1c23_m.jpg” alt=”" border=”0″>
</a>
</div>
<p style=”text-align:left;padding:5px;font-size:13px;”>
Welcome to ABC Native Art on the web.
Here you will find a selection from our four Native Art galleries in beautiful British Columbia, as well as a number of items from our sister store, Frances Hill’s, located in Gastown, Vancouver. There is also a great deal of content, from the meanings behind the masks, to the artists who carved them, and the Nations they belong to. Take your time to enjoy some of the finest artwork available anywhere in the world, made by the hands of native artists from right here in Canada.
</p>
</td></tr></table>

text for this example is from http://www.hillsnativeart.com and photos are from http://www.flickr.com/photos/vancouvergo

Written by Liz from http://craigslist-templates.com. You can email her liz © craigslist-templates.com

Maybe I was wrong about Vflyer.com free services for creating ads using their templates. I’ve tried and did not succeed. I could not uploaded my photos and when I wanted to change text my browser became frozen. But I’ve received a response from my friend who was able to create an ad with photos using Vflyer’s template plus he emailed me an article with a step-by-step explanation how to create ads.

Ok, now we have that question answered, but what about all those websites I mentioned above. Isn’t that going to cost me a lot of money and a lot of time to get on those websites? The answer. Not at all. As a matter of fact you can a create an online property listing and have it listed on all those websites in 10 minutes and a total cost of $0 dollars. How does that sound to you? So let’s learn about how to do that and then I am going to show you how to take that free online listing and convert it to a single property website for $3.19! Interested, then follow these simple instructions:

1. Go to Vflyer.com. (click here for video demo)
2. Create a free account that will allow you to post and syndicate your listing to all the real estate search websites consumers use for up to five listings. (if you have more they have a premium service for $12.95 that allows for up 10 listings, $19.95 for 25)
3. Choose the correct flyer type (house for sale, condo for sale, land for sale, etc.)
4. Fill in the info about your listing
5. Add pictures
6. Add contact info
7. Add links, such as a free virtual tour, your blogsite from Texas Real Estate Blogs maybe?
8. Hit publish at the bottom of the page
9. That’s it. Your Listing has now been sent to all the real estate search websites and for free.

You can read a whole article at http://texasrealestateblogs.com

Let try it and let me know - liz @ craigslist-templates.com