Classified Ads: these are the classic (pun intended) way to advertise anything from a room-for-rent to services-for-sale. They worked well in the newspapers and they still function just as well online. Tons of forums have threads of classifieds so hard- working and talented people like you can have a decent and highly visible area for you to be seen by people who are looking for help.
Why, though, would you bother with joining forums and posting on classifieds when you can just hunt around freelance sites for people who would be interested in your services? The great thing about forums and classifieds is that you’re putting yourself in an environment of like- minded people. This means that there’s a greater probability that people will actually be interested and hire you. Isn’t that better than putting yourself on display and hoping somebody will actually stop and take a look?
What You Need
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Forum membership
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Paypal account – Sign up at https://www.paypal.com/
Setup Steps
Set up and customize your public profile.
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On the Traffic Planet dashboard, click on your name at the upper right side of the page.
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From the dropdown, click My Profile. From your profile page, click Edit My Profile on the upper right side.
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Customize your profile by clicking on each of them menu items on the left side, and setting your preferences for each of the options on the right.
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Click Save Changes below to save a new setting. Click Cancel to abort a change.
Create a forum topic.
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Click Forums on the top menu.
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On the SEO, Software & Marketplace table, click on a forum topic that matches your service under Forum.
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Once you are on the page with forums listed for the category that you have chosen, click Start New Topic on the upper right side.
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Fill in the Topic Title, Tags and Content portions of your post.
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To attach files to your post, click Choose Files below the content section of your post and uploading the content that you want to attach.
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To manage your poll and post settings, click a menu item on the right side of the page.
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To preview your post, click Preview Post below. To save our post, click Post New Topic.
Optional: Submit a banner ad or classified ad
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Send an email to the Traffic Planet Advertising Team managers via [email protected].
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Prepare a portfolio of your work.
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Write up your ad or pitch.
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Do some research on a list of things people would look for in your profile.
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Find a forum to join. Traffic Planet is a site that was designed to be a “postgrad Warrior Forum”. If you’re interested in that, sign up for a plan.
Marketing Setup
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Have your own website and add its link to your profile build your credibility with potential clients.
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Create pages, get known and connect with potential clients and partners through social media mediums like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Add links to your social media pages on your profile.
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Email your past and potential clients to promote your services. Build an email list by connecting with other members within Traffic Planet.
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Write blogs to promote and include links to your blogs on your profile. Posting content on other sites (known as guest posting) would also promote your pages and your services.
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Work on making yourself searchable in Google and other search engines by applying effective SEO (search engine optimization) processes in your blog, website and profile content.
Timeframe
Time to do: 2 days
Time to see results: 2 months
Additional Tips
Make your profile page or sales copy enticing to make potential clients want to click on it.
Use graphics and videos; whichever works best for the service you will be providing.
Be realistic and transparent with your lead time to guarantee customer satisfaction.
Actively comment and post on other threads to turn heads towards your offer.
Tell your audience why they need your service. Change the font color, use bold, or underline important parts of your copy.
Provide a money-back guarantee and focus on quick responses for customer satisfaction. Satisfied customers mean great feedback and more opportunities for your business.
Gather samples and testimonials.
Do your research. See what services are in demand and how you can provide better service. You could also offer the same service while offering them at a lower price in a bundle package.
Potential Results
A wide generated monthly income range of $500 – $2,000 can be expected for the first few months. But that’s considering you actually put in the extra work for people to find you, other than simply putting yourself on a forum. While it makes things easier, you’ll definitely earn more with a combination of several different methods. Keep experimenting with the combination of efforts that you’re doing to find the right mix.
