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Basic Craigslist
Questions
Craigslist is a one-stop resource for nearly everything a virtual
community has to offer. Along with a variety of event, activity,
service and goods listings are the forums where people can share
their opinions on any number of issues important to them. The fact
that Craigslist also gets billions of page views every month shows
there are a lot of people who recognize its value. Still, there
remains many who haven't heard of, or fully understand, Craigslist
quite yet. This article answers three basic questions about
Craigslist to help those who don't completely understand how to use
Craigslist or what it is.
1. What Is It?
"What is it"? Is probably the most basic question
asked when
people first hear of the site. You can think of Craigslist as a
mixture of the classified ads in a newspaper plus the editorial
page combined with a job seeking website, and presented online for
convenient access. Another definition of Craigslist is of an online
community that has a comprehensive classified section. This
includes sections for selling many different goods and services,
employment listings, posting resumes or even personal ads. In
addition, Craigslist offers a discussion forum covering many
subjects - whether for sharing information or debating serious
issues.
It really is not as confusing as it may sound. A
brief visit to www.craigslist.org
makes it
clear right away. It's easy to see how useful the Craigslist community
is for people looking for all kinds of information, goods or
services. Craigslist doesn't just provide all of this information,
it does so in a convenient manner. It divides the information into
easy to understand categories all based on one of about 450
different geographical areas. This makes it easy to find what's
available in any given area.
2. What Can It Do For Me?
Even though you now know what the Craigslist site
is, you might
still be wondering how it can, specifically, help you. There isn't
one basic answer to that question. That's because any benefits
depend upon what it is you are hoping to get from the Craigslist
community. This section covers some ways to use Craigslist for
people looking for goods, services, employment, romance or
friends.
Craigslist has a section for people wanting to
sell or buy
items. People that have something for sale post on the appropriate
category to get responses from people that are looking for that
item. Craigslist also has a section where people that are looking
for specific items can post a request for the items along with the
amount they are willing to pay.
Craigslist is also a great site to visit if you're
looking for
a job. There is a section where people can read employment listings
along with a separate section for posting resumes. The flexible
employment options (full-time, part-time, contract work,
telecommuting, etc.) make Craigslist ideal for people searching for
jobs.
Making friends or finding lifelong romantic
partners is also
possible on Craigslist. The Personals section is where people post
or view ads searching for friendship or love. Just like any other
dating situations, you need to be careful that any meeting with a
potential friend or date is safe. Always arrange the initial
meeting in a busy public place. You can also bring along a trusted
friend to make the meeting safer.
3. What Can It Do For My
Business?
There are benefits for business owners on
Craigslist too. The
fact that Craigslist receives billions of page views on a monthly
basis makes it efficient to reach large numbers of people. The
simplest way is to post ads promoting whatever it is your business
offers. You can also use Craigslist to research what your competitors
are doing to reach potential customers.
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