How many freelance writing gigs have you replied to on Craigslist? How many were hustlers looking for free samples? Unfortunately, people without ethics prey on others on Craigslist. This is especially true in the jobs section of Craigslist. Hustlers know that in this economy, people are desperate to find jobs and earn money. When looking for freelance writing gigs, you can sometimes tell the bad ads right away. Sometimes though the bogus ads are not always identifiable. While there’s no absolute way to weed out every bogus ad, there are some signs you should look for when answering freelance writing gigs on Craigslist and avoid many of the hustlers.

Does the Craigslist ad clearly define the type of writing or the scope of the freelance writing gig?

Ads that are basic one liners saying, “I need a writer”, are most likely hustlers looking for free samples or wanting to sell you something. There are some though that are legitimate offers. College students and some people looking for help with a resume or business proposal will place vague ads because they don’t know any better. Trust your gut instinct.

Does the ad mention the company or entity offering the freelance writing gig?

Most valid freelance writing work offers indicate who is asking for writers. If they provide a website, do some research on the company. Sometimes the ad is from an Internet marketer looking for articles and there is no company name. However, the ad from an individual should at least define the scope of the project as mentioned above.

Does the ad indicate a pay rate for the freelance writing gig?

Valid ads will almost always indicate some sort of compensation rate. Sometimes it will be a fixed figure or at least ask you to give them a rate quote. Approach ads with caution that only mention “compensation” or do not indicate anything about pay.

Does the ad ask for social media information?

Ads asking for your social media handle should set off some red flags. While social media does play a huge role in marketing, asking for your social media handles is not something I would consider as necessary when replying to freelance work. The next thing you know, a scam marketer gets hold of your “friends” list and begins spamming them with offers.

Does the ad have major grammatical errors?

Someone posting a freelance writing job has some knowledge of writing and the English language. Avoid ads written in broken English, poor punctuation, all or no capitalization or any other major grammatical errors.

Does the ad list a free email address?

While many valid ads will use the private email given by Craigslist at the top, some hustlers will list an email in the body of the ad to make an attempt at appearing legitimate. Ads with Hotmail or Gmail email addresses should be looked at with a cautious eye. Legitimate companies and individuals will have emails that look professional.

Some valid freelance writing gigs advertised in Craigslist might have one or two of the red flags. However, most bogus will possess several of the above characteristics. The hustlers are getting better at disguising themselves as legitimate offers. Sometimes what you think is a bogus ad isn’t, and sometimes what looks like a legitimate offer turns out to be something else. Above all trust your instincts.

Facebook PPC Advertising is overlooked by many pay per click marketers. Facebook’s Pay Per Click is still really an affordable way to do PPC and can be an important part of your PPC marketing.

Facebook Advertising is less expansive than Google and very targeted. You can pick the location to target by country, state, and city if you wish. As far as picking Demographics, you can pick the age and gender of your targeted market.

The part I like the best is you can target people by their likes and interests. If you want to market to people who are only interested in Network Marketing, you just put in network marketing in likes and interests. The only people who will see your Facebook PPC Ad is people who meet your criteria and are interested in network marketing.

Your targeted market can be refined even further if you like. Facebook Pay Per Click Advertising can be an important part of your marketing strategy. Because it is a fairly new platform costs are low and Facebook PPC Advertising gives you a good return on investment.

If you are just starting out doing PPC whether it is on Facebook or some where else you need to educate yourself about marketing.

I have watched plenty of people fall on their faces, regardless of their products or companies, because they simply do not KNOW how to market, or build their businesses FIRST. Your job is to EDUCATE yourself first and foremost, to develop yourself, and to ALWAYS be learning and growing.

You can see what their recommended bids are, per clicks or per thousand impressions, as you submit your target criteria. They have what they call a “bid estimator” which gives you an estimated bidding cost according to a range of similar ads to yours. While your ad is running, you will pay only the amount of clicks or number of impressions your ad is displayed. Facebook advertising rates remain affordable and more flexible in comparison to the other pay per click companies in the net. Facebook advertising coupons are used to encourage new advertisers and attract savvy ones who would consider making better returns on investment. They are usually redeemed on virgin accounts without prior advertising spends.

Coupon codes can also be bought on sites like eBay, make sure to buy personalized codes because they can be used only one time. Do not, obviously, bother using publicly published coupon codes because it is definitely a waste of your time. Like the good old PPC advertising, Facebook ads offer demographic filtering instead of keyword bidding; you can target your audience by age, work and social status. You can also choose the location and language. First of all, you should very closely watch your ad spend to control your advertising budget.

Split test your ads help you improve your advertising performance: Your ad copy should focus on what you want the user to do and your call to action needs to reproduce usual practices of Facebook such as “like” and “unlike” for instance.
Try different images to see what’s working and what’s not.
Notice what groups are passionate and likely to click on your ads.
Study the demographics within interest groups and split test according to the gender, age and marital status…
Test your ads on cost per thousand impressions (CPM) and once you find a good performing creative switch your campaign to pay per click (PPC).