Here's a quick checklist of seven tips to help you make sure you are creating the best classified ad you can:

Tip #1: You will be much better off if you use your classified ad to generate leads, rather than to make sales. It's a tad unreasonable to ask people to send you $20 for a book or a report that they have never heard of, for example, on the basis of reading just 4 lines of print. Remember, too, that the Internet is an information-rich place, and your online prospects expect to be given lots of free information (or at least, just chip in to cover postage/printing) on which to base their buying decisions.

Make sure, then, that your follow-up literature is substantial, professional, appealing, and, if possible, educational (i.e., you offer your prospect useful how-to advice rather than all sales pitch.)

If you follow up by sending more information via email or posting it online, you will slash both your costs and your time investment in following up on leads.

Tip #2: Keep testing your ad to see what works best. In her book Marketing Online, Marcia Yudkin mentions that the classified ad headline, "How to Repair Cars--Quickly, Easily, Right" pulled O.K., but when one word was changed to "How to Fix Cars-- Quickly, Easily, Right" the response rate jumped 18 percent!Just from changing ONE word.

Tip #3: Don't forget to track your classified ads. Embed a code in your reply to information, so that when you get a response to your classified ad, you'll know where it came from. For example, if you advertise in the magazine XYZ, put Attn: XYZ after the contact name. Then you'll know which ads are working, and where!

Tip #4: Hang in there! Most classified ad experts recommend that you first determine which site will be the most likely one for people interested in your product or service to visit, and then to take out an ad for more than just a few months (some experts recommend a minimum of six months). Why? Many people read the same classifieds for several months to see which advertisers last before they respond. No one wants to start a business relationship with someone who establishes a presence in one month and vanishes in the next. If you pull your ad too soon, you may lose those people who have been reading your ad for the last four months, intrigued, but waiting to see: Are you in business for the long haul?

Tip #5: Be customer-centered. Make it easy for online readers to request more information from you. An email address or interactive web site is best, since your readers are already online. Next best? An 800 number. Including more response options....such as your snail-mail address, fax and phone number, plus including a real persons name as a contact....all have the added benefit of lending you an "established business" feeling.

Tip #1: You will be much better off if you use your classified ad to generate leads, rather than to make sales. It's a tad unreasonable to ask people to send you $20 for a book or a report that they have never heard of, for example, on the basis of reading just 4 lines of print. Remember, too, that the Internet is an information-rich place, and your online prospects expect to be given lots of free information (or at least, just chip in to cover postage/printing) on which to base their buying decisions.

Make sure, then, that your follow-up literature is substantial, professional, appealing, and, if possible, educational (i.e., you offer your prospect useful how-to advice rather than all sales pitch.)

If you follow up by sending more information via email or posting it online, you will slash both your costs and your time investment in following up on leads.

Tip #2: Keep testing your ad to see what works best. In her book Marketing Online, Marcia Yudkin mentions that the classified ad headline, "How to Repair Cars--Quickly, Easily, Right" pulled O.K., but when one word was changed to "How to Fix Cars-- Quickly, Easily, Right" the response rate jumped 18 percent!Just from changing ONE word.

Tip #3: Don't forget to track your classified ads. Embed a code in your reply to information, so that when you get a response to your classified ad, you'll know where it came from. For example, if you advertise in the magazine XYZ, put Attn: XYZ after the contact name. Then you'll know which ads are working, and where!

Tip #4: Hang in there! Most classified ad experts recommend that you first determine which site will be the most likely one for people interested in your product or service to visit, and then to take out an ad for more than just a few months (some experts recommend a minimum of six months). Why? Many people read the same classifieds for several months to see which advertisers last before they respond. No one wants to start a business relationship with someone who establishes a presence in one month and vanishes in the next. If you pull your ad too soon, you may lose those people who have been reading your ad for the last four months, intrigued, but waiting to see: Are you in business for the long haul?

Tip #5: Be customer-centered. Make it easy for online readers to request more information from you. An email address or interactive web site is best, since your readers are already online. Next best? An 800 number. Including more response options....such as your snail-mail address, fax and phone number, plus including a real persons name as a contact....all have the added benefit of lending you an "established business" feeling.

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Tip #1: You will be much better off if you use your classified ad to generate leads, rather than to make sales. It's a tad unreasonable to ask people to send you $20 for a book or a report that they have never heard of, for example, on the basis of reading just 4 lines of print. Remember, too, that the Internet is an information-rich place, and your online prospects expect to be given lots of free information (or at least, just chip in to cover postage/printing) on which to base their buying decisions.

Make sure, then, that your follow-up literature is substantial, professional, appealing, and, if possible, educational (i.e., you offer your prospect useful how-to advice rather than all sales pitch.)

If you follow up by sending more information via email or posting it online, you will slash both your costs and your time investment in following up on leads.

Tip #2: Keep testing your ad to see what works best. In her book Marketing Online, Marcia Yudkin mentions that the classified ad headline, "How to Repair Cars--Quickly, Easily, Right" pulled O.K., but when one word was changed to "How to Fix Cars-- Quickly, Easily, Right" the response rate jumped 18 percent!Just from changing ONE word.

Tip #3: Don't forget to track your classified ads. Embed a code in your reply to information, so that when you get a response to your classified ad, you'll know where it came from. For example, if you advertise in the magazine XYZ, put Attn: XYZ after the contact name. Then you'll know which ads are working, and where!

Tip #4: Hang in there! Most classified ad experts recommend that you first determine which site will be the most likely one for people interested in your product or service to visit, and then to take out an ad for more than just a few months (some experts recommend a minimum of six months). Why? Many people read the same classifieds for several months to see which advertisers last before they respond. No one wants to start a business relationship with someone who establishes a presence in one month and vanishes in the next. If you pull your ad too soon, you may lose those people who have been reading your ad for the last four months, intrigued, but waiting to see: Are you in business for the long haul?

Tip #5: Be customer-centered. Make it easy for online readers to request more information from you. An email address or interactive web site is best, since your readers are already online. Next best? An 800 number. Including more response options....such as your snail-mail address, fax and phone number, plus including a real persons name as a contact....all have the added benefit of lending you an "established business" feeling.

P>B>Tip #6:

Tip #1: You will be much better off if you use your classified ad to generate leads, rather than to make sales. It's a tad unreasonable to ask people to send you $20 for a book or a report that they have never heard of, for example, on the basis of reading just 4 lines of print. Remember, too, that the Internet is an information-rich place, and your online prospects expect to be given lots of free information (or at least, just chip in to cover postage/printing) on which to base their buying decisions.

Make sure, then, that your follow-up literature is substantial, professional, appealing, and, if possible, educational (i.e., you offer your prospect useful how-to advice rather than all sales pitch.)

If you follow up by sending more information via email or posting it online, you will slash both your costs and your time investment in following up on leads.

Tip #2: Keep testing your ad to see what works best. In her book Marketing Online, Marcia Yudkin mentions that the classified ad headline, "How to Repair Cars--Quickly, Easily, Right" pulled O.K., but when one word was changed to "How to Fix Cars-- Quickly, Easily, Right" the response rate jumped 18 percent!Just from changing ONE word.

Tip #3: Don't forget to track your classified ads. Embed a code in your reply to information, so that when you get a response to your classified ad, you'll know where it came from. For example, if you advertise in the magazine XYZ, put Attn: XYZ after the contact name. Then you'll know which ads are working, and where!

Tip #4: Hang in there! Most classified ad experts recommend that you first determine which site will be the most likely one for people interested in your product or service to visit, and then to take out an ad for more than just a few months (some experts recommend a minimum of six months). Why? Many people read the same classifieds for several months to see which advertisers last before they respond. No one wants to start a business relationship with someone who establishes a presence in one month and vanishes in the next. If you pull your ad too soon, you may lose those people who have been reading your ad for the last four months, intrigued, but waiting to see: Are you in business for the long haul?

Tip #5: Be customer-centered. Make it easy for online readers to request more information from you. An email address or interactive web site is best, since your readers are already online. Next best? An 800 number. Including more response options....such as your snail-mail address, fax and phone number, plus including a real persons name as a contact....all have the added benefit of lending you an "established business" feeling.

P>B>Tip #6: /B>Again, you'll most likely be disappointed if you expect readers to send you money just from reading your classified ad. Instead, give readers a reason to contact you. Offer a free report, a free newsletter, free additional information, a free online consultation. Online, what works is offering prospects more solid information, not simply an exhortation urging them to "RESPOND WITHIN 48 HOURS FOR THIS GREAT OFFER!!!"