{"id":2687,"date":"2008-02-29T20:35:58","date_gmt":"2008-03-01T03:35:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/?p=2687"},"modified":"2008-03-01T10:56:40","modified_gmt":"2008-03-01T17:56:40","slug":"speaking-in-tongues-making-professional-looking-craigslist-ads-even-if-you-dont-know-how-to-code-in-html","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/2687\/speaking-in-tongues-making-professional-looking-craigslist-ads-even-if-you-dont-know-how-to-code-in-html\/","title":{"rendered":"Speaking in tongues: Making more-professional-looking CraigsList<\/s> HTML ads — even if you don’t know how to code in HTML"},"content":{"rendered":"

[I’ve amended this post somewhat based on our recent experiences with CraigsList, which are discussed in the comments. The point of this post is not CraigsList, but, rather, learning how to extract HTML from existing code, this as a means of learning to write HTML on your own. In the comments, a number of vendor solutions are discussed, and these my be worth exploring, if only as a prophylactic against censorious behavior by CraigsList users. But your need to produce professional-looking HTML can extend far beyond the major on-line services. As an example, Cathleen Collins pulled buyers out of an ad we were able to post on a church’s bulletin-board-like system. –GSS]<\/i><\/p>\n

 
A couple-few weeks ago, I was on a conference call with Jerry Matthews. He’s a one-time grand poohbah in Realtor Association politics, but now he works as a consultant to the NAR and certain state-level Associations. I was the waxed-fruit-flavor-of-the-day in a series of calls with Association executives, so that they might take the pulse of market innovators. I think I might have been the Designated Radical. If so, I promise you I did not disappoint.<\/p>\n

As one stage, I was talking about how new licensees might market themselves cheaply in what is, for now, a hard world to get a break in. I mentioned a lot of different ideas, including CraigsList.com, which may be the single most effective advertising medium available to Realtors or lenders right now.<\/p>\n

I said, “Of course, most CraigsList ads stink, so, with just a little bit of HTML you can really make yourself stand out?”<\/p>\n

“But how is a new agent supposed to know anything about HTML?” someone asked.<\/p>\n

I didn’t say, “Young people know a lot more than you give them credit for.” Instead, I pointed out that weblogging software like WordPress creates HTML for<\/i> you, even if you don’t know what it’s doing.<\/p>\n

So you could do something like this:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Create a weblog post about a house you’ve listed — or, with explicit permission, that another agent has listed\n<\/li>\n
  2. Write a good, compelling headline about why buyers should want to see that house\n<\/li>\n
  3. Write good, clean — error free — Read more<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    [I’ve amended this post somewhat based on our recent experiences with CraigsList, which are discussed in the comments. The point of this post is not CraigsList, but, rather, learning how to extract HTML from existing code, this as a means of learning to write HTML on your own. In the comments, a number of vendor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,6,5,19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-2687","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"hentry","6":"category-blogging","7":"category-disintermediation","8":"category-marketing","9":"category-real-estate","10":"category-technology","12":"no-featured-image"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9375,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/9375\/in-search-of-better-faster-linkier-craigslist-ads\/","url_meta":{"origin":2687,"position":0},"title":"In search of better, faster, linkier Craigslist Ads","author":"Al Lorenz","date":"July 31, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I still get quite a bit of activity from Craigslist ads. I have been using Postlets, because it puts listings a bunch of different places, and adding a bit of html before and after their code with links to the individual property site, my blogs and my real estate site.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/general\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7240,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/7240\/daisy-chained-source-tracking-with-the-universal-contact-form\/","url_meta":{"origin":2687,"position":1},"title":"Daisy-chained source-tracking with the Universal Contact Form","author":"Greg Swann","date":"March 2, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the features I built into the Universal Contact Form last night is source tracking. This is Direct Marketing 101 -- know where your efforts are producing the best returns. So to invoke the form with source-tracking, you would just do this:http:\/\/www.domain.com\/UniversalContactForm.php?source=CLad2In this case, we're assuming that the source\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Flourishing"","block_context":{"text":"Flourishing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/flourishing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10071,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/10071\/the-passive-path-to-active-real-estate-investment-marketing\/","url_meta":{"origin":2687,"position":2},"title":"The passive path to active real estate investment marketing","author":"Greg Swann","date":"October 14, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I was talking with Jeff Brown on the phone yesterday about how much we depend on passive marketing devices -- our Phoenix real estate weblog mainly -- to generate new business. We don't even do all that much. By now there are much better resources to turn to than me\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blogging"","block_context":{"text":"Blogging","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/blogging\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":11815,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/11815\/text-messaging-real-estate-lead-generation-template-with-renter-focused-mobile-squeeze-page\/","url_meta":{"origin":2687,"position":3},"title":"Text Messaging Real Estate Lead Generation Template (with Renter Focused Mobile Squeeze Page)","author":"Ryan Hartman","date":"April 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a fun one that's sure to please and could be easily posted in the following places: Above your Craigslist Property Ads In Your Facebook Sidebar On Postcards to Renters On the back of your Biz Card At The Top Of Your Blog (and just about anywhere else you can\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Casual Friday"","block_context":{"text":"Casual Friday","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/casual-friday\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/Picture-203-150x150.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13318,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/13318\/lorena-bobbit-part-time-hairdresser-and-real-estate-agent\/","url_meta":{"origin":2687,"position":4},"title":"Lorena Bobbit: Part Time Hairdresser and Real Estate Agent","author":"John Rowles","date":"September 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I am at the Council of MLS's meeting in Chicago on behalf of a client, and it is surreal. How is it possible, in the age of Craigslist, that it takes this many people to manage a relatively straightforward database? I just watched Stefan Swanepoel tell the MLS people, to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Real Estate"","block_context":{"text":"Real Estate","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/real-estate\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4199,"url":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/4199\/realtybaroncom-comes-up-with-something-new-commission-hedging\/","url_meta":{"origin":2687,"position":5},"title":"RealtyBaron.com comes up with something new: Commission hedging","author":"Greg Swann","date":"September 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Has SellsiusRealEstate.com (\"Just like Craigslist, only not free!\") hit the Dead Pool? The weblog rages on, but the main site doesn't even 404. The \"About\" page for the weblog has been re-rendered as yet another those-who-can't-teach pitch, and, of course, Sellsius was a pioneer in the suddenly-popular practice of making\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Marketing"","block_context":{"text":"Marketing","link":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/category\/marketing\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2687","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2687"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2687\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2687"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2687"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bloodhoundrealty.com\/BloodhoundBlog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2687"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}