Benefits of No Cost Advertising - How and Why to Advertise on Craigslist

Everyone who has been on the Internet in the last few years has heard of Craigslist. Just in case you've been living under a rock somewhere for the last 10 years, I'll provide a brief overview. Craigslist is nothing more than a no cost, online classified advertisement web site. It allows you to place ads for free to promote your product, service, or business. No cost services like Craigslist is one of the major reasons why newspapers and magazines are having such a hard time being profitable. 

There are several other free online classified services and websites, but none are more popular than Craigslist. There are even iPhone and iPad applications dedicated to Craigslist content. With over 100 million iPhone and iPad users around the world, it is easy to see why no cost online advertising has such huge market potential. With its high visibility (#38 on Alexa.com as of 4-4-2011) and no cost ads, why would you pay ever to post an ad?

Craigslist advertising is compelling for any individual or business that offers new products & services, and it is a place to find good deals on used products as well. Let's discuss why it's good for business owners first. Many small business owners do not have extensive resources to pay for advertising. Sure the might engage with local radio stations, and newspapers to promote their services and products, but those cost money. 


With the adoption of the Internet as a mainstream communications medium, many owners are leveraging the Internet to market for free. Honestly, if you had the option to market your product by paying someone to do it, or doing it yourself for free, which would you do?

Before you answer, I am a firm believer in you get what you pay for, but you can have significant gains in exposure without the traditional costs. However, I also realize that the economy has been in the toilet the last few years, and that everyone is concerned about expenses. Perhaps you are a small business owner with an online store. Many online advertising networks want you to pay for every click on one of the ads that they run on your behalf.

 Newspapers, radio stations, and Television stations charge you a pretty penny to run ads. Craigslist doesn't. This means that there is absolutely no risk because you won't lose money on advertising that doesn't generate a single sale. But if an ad on Craigslist generates a 2, 3 5, or 10 % profit for you, then you have gained all of that profit with no advertising overhead!

For an individual with too much "stuff" in their garage, Craigslist provides the opportunity to hold a virtual garage sale. You can list items you no longer want for free, and other Craigslist users contact you via email if they are interested. I have seen electronics, cars, lawn mowers, baby clothes and many other items for sale on Craigslist. If people weren't selling their things, I don't think Craigslist would be pulling in about 2% of the total Internet population to its site.

Here is a key point: the buyers contact you! There is no posting garage sale signs in the neighborhood or running an ad in the paper. You can still both if you want to, but it isn't necessary anymore. Nor do you have to haggle. Prospective customers see what you are offering, and if they are interested, they contact you. This is not to say that you will never haggle over a final price when face to face, but it can mean that you don't have to set all you stuff out in your drive way early Saturday morning and haggle with people all day long.

Access and Reach for your marketing efforts Posting to Craigslist is great because you have a very good chance to reach an incredibly large audience of potential buyers. A review of traffic statistics for Craigslist by Quantcast show that between September 1, 2010 and February 27, 2011, over 52 million people visited and interacted on the site! That's over 10 million visitors a month. As you can see from these numbers, the sky's the limit when it comes to advertising on Craigslist.

And yet with all this visibility, I have to remind you that there isn't any warranty or guarantee that just because you place an ad that people will be interested. Just like anything else, you have to engage your target audience with relevant and pertinent information in order to get them to respond to you. The bottom line here is that your ads will get seen on Craigslist. How you write you ad to engage prospective buyers is another article altogether.

What to watch out for Now that we have talked about what Craigslist is and how it can benefit you, let's talk about the other side of the coin.

#1 - You have to pay for some types of Ads

I know I have been pretty high on the benefits of Craigslist, but there are some things that you need to be aware of too. Not all ads are free on Craigslist. I mean, when you consider the electricity, data transfer, hardware, software and people that are needed to maintain this free service, it is easy to see that there are inherent costs in running a major web destination like Craigslist. So, to help pay the bills, Craigslist charges for jobs posts, brokered apartment rental listings, and therapeutic services in specific markets. You can find out more by checking out Craigslist.com/about/help.posting_fees.

#2 - Be nice to each other

Being on Craigslist means being part of a community. Everyone who posts an ad must agree to the Terms of Service that are part of the site. This means that there are certain rules that must be followed, or else you could be banned from ever using Craigslist again. You can get more detail on the Terms of Service by visiting: http://www.craigslist.org/about/terms.of.use. Agreeing to these terms means that you will practice "fair use" principles and not attempt to sell something that can harm or offend another user. It also means that your acceptance to the terms of service and use means that you understand that there is no guarantee that your product or service will sell, or that you will make any minimum amount of money through the advertisement that you place.

#3 - Spam

Despite everyone's best efforts to be a good citizen in the community by placing ads in relevant topic areas and in relevant geographies, automated software programs (aka bots) can ruin the experience for many through bogus ads that are placed in wrong sections and in wrong regions. Today's internet users are pretty savvy, and if they see an ad that seems a bit funny or weird, they won't buy from them, and you for that matter! So make sure your ads are relevant to the topic area in which you post, and that they are near an area that you live and work out of. While Craigslist does what they can to ensure that these meaningless and irritating ads are pulled before you get a chance to see them, there may be an occasion where you look at an ad and discover that it is spam. Make sure you report these types of ads right way.

Craigslist Advertising - The Biggest Bargain in the World

Any business who wants to sell more of their products or services should look into Craigslist advertising.. No matter if the products are being sold through websites or brick and mortar stores, Craigslist can still be very profitable. Except for job posting and housing posting in some markets, advertising on Craigslist is free. 

Because of this there is little monetary risk in placing your advertisements and you can experiment without worrying about the cost. The only thing you'll have to worry about is agreeing to the Craigslist terms of service and following the specific guidelines when posting.

A major reason for advertising with Craigslist along with the free ads is the huge number of potential customers you'll be able to reach. According to the Craigslist fact sheet they get more than 9 billion page views per month and have ten million new images each month. More than 30 million people including more than 25 million in the US alone use Craigslist each month. 

At present there are 450 Craigslist sites in all 50 US states, and in over 50 countries. I have to say these kind of figures really support the claim that Craigslist advertising is the biggest bargain in the world.

With mind boggling figures like Craigslist has, you would think any kind of ad you post would be a winner but not so. You still have to have an attractive ad with a perceived good value in a place where people are looking for it. If you don't you won't be successful no matter how many people come to the site. The huge numbers are great but you still need targeted traffic to be successful no matter what you're selling. With as many different sites as they have you can pinpoint your ads to the exact geographical site you want along with the exact category for your product. 

Marketers know that a small well targeted audience that is interested in your product will make you more money than a huge audience who is not that interested.

One of the keys to marketing to your target customers on Craigslist is to place your ad in the best location on the overall site. Craigslist has specific sections for different types of business to advertise in. If you feel your ad should in more than one section or area then you need to write another variation of your ad so you don't get flagged.

Even if there is not a section for your business or service you still have some options such as placing the ad in the advertising section for small business. There is a chance that someone doing a search in this area might find it, but a better option, if you can't find a good category to advertise in, is to ask Craigslist to add your category. They might accommodate you if they feel it warrants it. Having your own category to your self for even a little while could turn out to be a real winner for your business.

Advertising on Craigslist is fantastic but spamming is not cool or is it tolerated. Do not under any circumstances run the same ad on more than one category or in more than one location. If you want to run more than one edition of the same ad you must rewrite it so it doesn't appear to be spam to readers or the spam watchers on Craigslist. 

Spam may not only cause your potential customers to boycott your ads if they see them all over the place, but you may get all your ads deleted and even possibly be banned from advertising in the future. Play by the rules set forth by Craigslist and you won't find a better advertising bargain anywhere.

Craigslist Marketing - How To Make Money On Craigslist

Many businesses require up-front funds to get started, but you can learn how to make money on Craigslist all by using your accumulated wealth that you already have in your possession. You can learn the Craigslist market, and how to sell items that people want for how ever long Craigslist is around. Craigslist marketing is a skill of savvy, that anyone can do with a little wisdom, and sticking to the rules.

Craigslist Posting Service

Using a Craigslist posting service to post targeted ads for many different products is a SEO, or search engine optimization idea that interacts with Google, and the many search engines online. It is smart to be of use to people who really want to buy your product. This is called target marketing on Craigslist. What these companies ask from their clients is their Craigslist posting id number, and they will research what keywords work best to bump-up your post ads in the ranks online, and the Craigslist data base. These services can be grouped together as Craigslist helper services, since so many people are making all of their wages on Craigslist in 2013.

You can also place ad on Craigslist without the use of these services. There are tools such as Craigslist posting software, that will do the same thing as these other companies, you just have to learn how to use them. It is like many things, you resell items on Craigslist and make a profit on your return investment. Software that is made just for the Craigslist Google search engines are available for use, you just have to find where they are online.

Same Day Delivery

One trend on Craigslist that stands out is same day delivery. People locally look-up ads within a close radius of where they are located. A neat way to capitalize on same day delivery is to restore broke products that people in your local area are trying to sell for cheap. Many of these kind of deals usually always can make money on return investment. Just by a simple research of the going rate or your item, information on the value can leverage your buyer into becoming a lucrative prospect. Stick to your price, while you grow you knowledge of a market, because this is where you can hurt your business or help it dramatically.

Google Trends Explorer

Just like farmers, it is smart to use slow times to prepare for busy times. One way is to look back on the interest level that an item you are profiting from has had in the past. Using a tool called ''Google trend explorer'', is a free way to gain vital information on how a product behavior is creating a response in the market place. These facts can help to find other sources where to place you ad for a product.

Sometimes the feedback will open an avenue to market Craigslist ads at apartment complexes, supermarket bulletin boards, and the gym, I've learned that this is where you will receive feedback on how to place touch-ups on you items you sell. Many of the deals that sell because of trends in the Craigslist market turn into business trade-ins, where items are bartered as free trade items. These kind of Craigslist advertising service ads from trade-in deals almost never fail in you making a profit.

Outsourcing

The more money that you make, the closer you can outsource on Craigslist marketing jobs. People want Craigslist marketing secrets, and know the truth if the tip will be of use to them. By selling your experience you can make incentives within your business strategy. Post to Craigslist everyday, and you will get result if you use what you know and are willing to expand into other markets.

Craigslist home page offers all the tools for you to find a target market, which is what we want. By us outsourcing our services on Craigslist we can use software to create, and sell free banner ads for other people as a Craigslist marketing tool. This strategy works really well with Craigslist ad tracker ids.

Many Craigslist posting tricks are out there, but you have to know how to start a deal, and close before all of what you can bring to your business can come together. I hope this article how to advertise on Craigslist helped

Honda Livo 110 India review : Prudent Panache

The Indian two wheeler industry may have witnessed the launch of numerous new performance motorcycles of late, but the business is still defined by the fuel efficient commuter motorcycles for the economy conscious junta. The extremely fierce 100-110cc segment is crowded with many offerings from various manufacturers. Similar engines are being used across various models that differ based on the tastes of an evolved target consumer who demands a more stylish approach towards commuting while enjoying the benefits of a frugal workhorse.

The Honda Livo is one such offering that targets this very category of buyers that wants to straddle the value and image proposition. We find out if the new Honda makes a case case for itself in the crowded segment it represents. So here its, our detailed India review of the Honda Livo 110.

Styling, features and build quality

The biggest USP of the new Honda Livo 110 is its styling. One look and it’s easy to confuse the new Honda with a 125 or even a 150cc motorcycle. The perception changes, though as you shift your focus to the skinny rear tyre. The styling looks fresh for the segment with a more angular design lending a sporty image to the Honda Livo. Let’s cover the styling and features in detail with some support from images:

• The two tone bikini fairing sets the tone for the overall aggressive styling of the Livo. The Livo shows off its angry face with faux air scoops on either sides of the multi reflector headlamp while the wind screen integrates itself between sharp slashes of the bikini fairing.

• Body coloured mirrors for that added dash of style

• The 8.5 litre tank looks much bigger than the capacity – thanks to a muscular design

• Fuel tank extensions with a 3D emblem impart the Livo with an aggressive front look

• The side panels finished in black plastic continue the angular design theme with sharp cuts and creases and neatly integrate into the rear panel. Detaching and fixing the panel needs some learning though.

• The rear panel reminds us of the Hero Honda Ambition 135, nonetheless, retains the overall beefy styling of the Livo 110 at the far end.

• The dashboard with analogue readouts looks relatively modern comprising of the speedometer, odometer, fuel gauge and tell tale indicators.

• Conventional front telescopic suspension has been tuned towards softness and swallows minor to medium undulations with ease.

• Twin shock absorbers at the rear have been set to moderate stiffness for added weight of the co-rider.

• Single 240mm disc at the front offers adequate stopping ability for the performance on offer

• 130mm drum brake at the rear offers enough hold to complement the front brake

• Six spoke alloy wheels come shod with tubeless Ceat Zoom Plus tyres that offer decent grip in dry and wet conditions

• The storage compartment can squeeze in vehicles documents, a first aid and tool kit.

• The blacked out exhausts looks similar to the one on the Twister but with lengthier dimensions

• The multi-reflector headlight offers good low beam spread but average high beam illumination

• A large multi-reflector tail light offers adequate brightness to let the trailing traffic know when you brake.

• The seat is broad and well cushioned for a comfortable ride for both rider and pillion

• A plastic chain cover guards the drive chain

• Switchgear is constructed of good quality plastics and (thankfully) comes with a pass switch. It takes time getting used to as it’s placed higher than ideal.

• Handlebar grips are soft and offer a comfortable grab

Build quality on the Honda Livo is similar to other offerings in Honda’s lineup and buyers shouldn’t be complaining of any rough edges on the motorcycle. The plastics merge into each other with clean lines and there are no signs of squeaks and rattles while riding over undulations or at high speeds.

Engine and performance

The Honda Livo uses the same motor as utilized by the Twister albeit with Honda’s Eco Technology (HET) in a marginally detuned state for better rideability. This is evident from the numbers – it produces the maximum power and torque at 500 revs less in comparison to the Twister. Power and torque figures read 8.2 bhp @ 7500 rpm and 8.63 nm @ 5500 rpm respectively.

The engine feels grunty and surprisingly noisy if we have to recollect our past experiences of riding the commuter offerings from Honda. But never does the noise translate into harshness at the pegs or handlebars even while pushed to the limit. The four speed all-up gearbox is smooth with gear ratios packed in close proximity for dealing with the everyday traffic chores.

First gear is extremely short with the second placed slightly wider with third and fourth gear again placed closer to each other. This is evident while riding up inclines with a pillion on board where the second gear needs higher revs to pull confidently. Though we managed to achieve a top speed of 102 kph, the Honda Livo 110 feels best when ridden at everyday speeds between 40-60 kph. Getting close or over the 60 kph mark and the engine starts getting audible, which is very uncharacteristic of Honda. Overall the engine traits of the Honda Livo suit the everyday riding pattern best and works very well in a stop-go scenario.

Handling, ride quality and braking

Handling is a USP of the Honda Livo. It’s certainly a far cry from a tearaway performance machine, but maintains amazing poise when pushed to the limit. It goes around corners even at top grunt with great confidence showing no signs of wobble or nervousness. The Ceat Zoom plus tyres at both ends offer surprisingly good grip. Peg scraping is easy and enormous fun on this one. It was fun diving into bends maintaining the straightline speeds where the everyday riders on bigger commuter motorcycles would slow down and we’d go around them with a wide grin on our faces, only to be overtaken later.

The Livo feels extremely agile and effortless when flicking and squeezing it through the slow moving traffic. The balance on the motorcycle is so good that we wished it had more power for spirited riding.

Ride quality on the Honda Livo feels plush with the well cushioned seat offering great comfort to the rider and pillion. the suspension soaks up moderately bad surfaces without much hint to the rider and even speed breakers of a vicious variety are easily dealt with. Its only when the undulations get sizeable where the front end, due to its soft setting emanates an audible thud. But overall, the suspension setup is near perfect for dealing with Indian road conditions.

Talking of brakes- the Honda Livo offers a 240mm single disc (optional) at the front complemented by a 130mm drum at the rear. The front setup is progressive, predictable and with a grippy set of tyres – offers ample feedback to the rider, making him aware of all the interactions between the rubber and the tarmac. The Livo sheds speed seamlessly and throws no surprises at the rider even under hard braking and we cannot praise the grip and brakes on this one highly enough.

Summing it up

The Honda Livo 110 as highlighted earlier is targeted towards the modern commuter who wants a true blend of style and value. The Livo is a frugal, no nonsense motorcycle with an added dash of modern styling and it succeeds in its objective of creating the right brew. We clocked over 300 km of riding (solo and two up) in all possible conditions and the fuel efficiency varied between 65 – 72 kpl, which falls short of Honda’s claim of 78 kpl, but it still is a fabulous figure.

The Honda Livo is comfortable, handles and brakes well- and overall ticks all the boxes that one looks for in a motorcycle in the given segment. We weren’t exactly thrilled by the refinement level on this one though. Another point the Livo lacks at is the price. At INR 65,253/- (Self-Disc-Alloy model) OTR Mumbai- not only is it more expensive than the competition, but not too far away from Honda’s very own best selling Shine, which is available at a premium of just INR 3000/- over the Livo. With that small a difference in price, the only big advantage it has over the 125cc machine is the fuel efficiency.

The Livo is meant very specifically for those who want the style and image of a bigger bike, with the economy and efficiency of an everyday commuter. For that audience, the Livo does make a lot of sense, as it is arguably the best looking motorcycle in its space.

Craigslist is a Great Place to Meet People

The Internet has proven to be a good place to meet people with Craigslist being one of the more productive sites. No matter if your purpose of meeting people is to network, find people who share similar interests, find romance or to discuss important issues, Craigslist will help you discover the people you're looking for.

 Even though Craigslist will help you meet others in numerous ways, this article will concentrate only on networking and using Craigslist as a dating service. There will also be a section specifying some precautions you need to take when trying to meet others online.

Networking With Craigslist

Craigslist has proven to be an excellent place for networking with people with similar interests. The most obvious place to start networking is the discussion forums on Craigslist which provide a very large range of subjects. No matter your interest you'll most likely find several other people discussing it. If not just jump in and ask a question or make a statement to get a discussion going. 

Most times you can just read through the postings on a subject of interest and you'll find someone who shares your interest and may be interested in further conversation. All of the posts on each of Craigslist discussion forums include a contact email address for the person who made the post. You'll find that people either use a private email address or the anonymous email address provided by Craigslist. 

Any forum user can use these email addresses to contact those they wish to speak to further or they can respond publicly on the discussion forum instead.

Craigslist Dating Opportunities

Many people log into Craigslist looking for potential romantic partners. Craigslist advertising is like newspaper and dating services where you can read advertisements others have left or put on your own advertisements searching for potential matches. 

These opportunities are also offered by Craigslist in their personals section which offers many options for all types of adults. It is significant to note that Craigslist does place some extra limitations on what is allowed to be advertised beyond the terms of use Craigslist has established for the website. 

These extra restrictions include limiting use of the section to persons over the age of 18 and forbidding people from impersonating other people in their advertisements.

Precautions Concerning Craigslist Personal Ad Posts

The dating picture is generally one that requires a high amount of caution. The call for caution is magnified in situations where the possible dates are getting together through an online resource like Craigslist advertising. This is due to the fact that the Internet does allow persons a certain amount of anonymity which may allow them to intentionally or unintentionally misrepresent themselves.

The highest degree of potential danger in the use of the personals category of Craigslist is that the person you are meeting might be someone who wishes to harm you physically. By setting a few ground rules this potential problem can be greatly reduced. First of all it's imperative to arrange for meetings to take place in a busy, public place rather than an out of the way place. 

Another important thing is to avoid divulging any private information like your address or phone number. By doing this you will keep anyone that might wish to harm you from locating you.

The last caution for anyone using Craigslist advertising to meet a potential date is not to be too hasty in judging other persons you meet on the Craigslist personals as you need to keep an open mind. While it is possible for you to meet the perfect person immediately, it is more likely that you will get many replies from persons who are not even close to what you have in mind. 

Take your time and don't set your expectations too high or too low. If you have already been looking for a while then you know it will probably take some time to find your perfect match.

Money Saving Ideas When Shopping on Amazon - Little Known Buyers' Secrets!

Amazon.com is probably the most prominent website that brought e-commerce to the common man. Although there were other sites that offered goods in exchange for money paid online, Amazon was one of the popular sites that really promoted the concept of online shopping. Amazon started by selling books over the Internet, but it soon diversified immensely to the extent that you can get almost anything on Amazon today. It has grown from being an online book shop to becoming a major e-commerce platform for worldwide trade. But what does this mean to the common man and woman who use the site today for shopping? One of the main benefits is the amount of money that you can save while shopping at Amazon.

Some of the cost savings of using Amazon for shopping are apparent and obvious to everyone. Since the site sells a wide range of items, you can buy many of the goods you need from one source which can save you a lot of time, effort and money. But many of the other ways in which you can save money while shopping at Amazon is not known to many people. We will therefore explore a few ways in which you can save quite a lot of money, as listed below:

1.     Look for Today's Deal

2.     Use the FREE Super Saver Shipping feature

3.     Use Amazon Discount Codes

4.     Search for Promotional Codes

5.     Subscribe to Newsletters for Discount codes

6.     Visit Forums for Discount codes

7.     Prepare a list of Websites/Blogs on Discount codes

Today's Deal 
The Amazon site has a link called Today's Deals right at the top of the page. Click this link to find out the best deals offered for the day. The items offered here often carry a discount worth hundreds of dollars. So before proceeding to the other sections of the site, you can take a quick peek here to see if the item for the day would be of interest to you. Although not all the items featured here may interest you, when the item you are interested in does get listed, you can grab it for a huge discount.

FREE Super Saver Shipping 
Many of the items sold on Amazon are eligible for free shipping. You will find this mentioned just next to the price of the product. In order to take advantage this feature, the total cost of the items in your shopping cart should exceed $25. Then when you check out, you need to select "Super Saver Shipping" in the shipping option column. Once the order is placed, the product will be delivered normally within 5 to 9 business days. This feature is available only for shipping addresses in the US. But it is a great way to save a lot of money on shipping.

Amazon Discount Codes 
Amazon discount codes are available for a large number of items sold on the site. These codes can be used while purchasing products through Amazon and the discount would be applied to the original price of the item. These discounts are available for a wide range of books, CDs and DVDs sold on Amazon. These discounts are available especially when you buy combo offers and entire sets of books written by a single author. The discounts apply to many used products like text books also which is a very useful feature for students. Popular electronic items like MP3 players and TVs can also be purchased at lower prices with discount codes. Baby products, personal items and even plumbing fixtures have been added to this list. During certain special seasons, discounts are offered for a much wider range of products. Especially during Christmas and New Year, you can find a large number of discounts being offered on a huge range of products available through Amazon.

Search for Promotional Codes 
Many of the discount and promotional codes for products sold on Amazon can be found in a variety of places. Many magazines and newspapers carry these promotional codes within their pages. Many websites on the Internet also feature Amazon promotional codes for a variety of products. You can use Google or any other search engine to find these promotional codes online.

Subscribe to Newsletters for Discount codes 
A number of newsletters carry Amazon discount codes. You might be able to find a number of them online. You might also find some offline newsletters carrying information on these discount codes. When you subscribe to them, you will get regular updates on promotional codes and the latest hot deals on Amazon. This can be a valuable source of information to help you save a lot of money while shopping online.

Visit Forums for Discount codes 
There are a number of forums online which cover a multitude of topics. There are online forums on virtually every topic under the sun. There are a number of them devoted to the subject of some of the best sources for discount codes for shopping on Amazon. Huge numbers of people share their knowledge on where these codes are available so that you can benefit from that information. Online forums can therefore be a great source of inside information on where to find these discount codes.

Prepare a list of Websites/Blogs on Discount codes 
Apart from many of the online sources for discount codes mentioned above, many individuals share this information on their personal websites and blogs as well. You will be able to find thousands of websites and blogs on the Internet devoted to the topic of Amazon discount codes and where to find them. You can in fact compile a list of these sources once and then use them regularly to find discount codes for Amazon products on a regular basis.

Most people shopping on Amazon never know about all these saving opportunities and therefore end up paying the listed price for the products that they purchase from the site. But you can use the strategies listed above to get a lot of insider's information which will help you save a huge amount of money when you purchase products from this popular Internet store.

What Is Amazon?

Amazon is a multinational electronic commerce corporation, but you probably know it as a giant bookstore on the Internet. Selling lots of stuff besides books, but most people know Amazon best as a book retailer.

Amazon.com is America's largest and most successful online retailer. Amazon does three times as much business as their closest competitor in terms of online retail business, Staples. Amazon (which can be found online at the URL Amazon.com) sells everything from books and music to movies, eBook readers, clothes, furniture, toys, and even food items.

History of Amazon

Businessman Jeff Bezos founded of the company in 1994--when dinosaurs roamed the Internet. When Bezos created the company it was called Cadabra--the latter half of the classic magic word "Abra-cadabra." Bezos quickly realized that people thought the business was called "cadaver" (another word for "dead body") and he soon changed it to Amazon.

Why did Bezos pick the name "Amazon?"

A few different reasons. First of all, Amazon starts with "A", placing it near the beginning of any alphabetical list. Another reason Bezos chose "Amazon" for his online retailer is because the Amazon river is the largest in the world. Lending Bezos' company a very "big" sound.

Amazon started out as a small online bookstore. Bezos eventually diversified Amazon to include music downloads, eBooks, and the entire product line you find today at Amazon.com. Amazon now operates all over the world, with companion websites dotted across Europe and Asia. Amazon is now the most popular music and book retailer in the UK, and ranks third in Asia as well.

Amazon Coupons

The best thing about buying books and stuff from Amazon is the big variety of coupons available online. Even though Amazon's regular prices are competitive with other book retailers, using any of the massive number of Amazon coupons to be found on the Web drops the price even more.

There's always a free shipping coupon or discount code available with a simple Google search. If you want to dig a little deeper, check out TechBargains.com or the classic third party coupon site RetailMeNot.com. TechBargains has over two dozen different coupons for Amazon.com at any given time, including free "super saver" shipping (on your order over $25) and large "percent off" deals on select items and brands. RetailMeNot tends to have more specialized Amazon coupons than TechBargains, so if you're in the market for a particular book or CD, check them out first.

According to their website, Amazon's vision is "to be earth's most customer centric company; to build a place where people can come to find and discover anything they might want to buy online." As Amazon's product line swells and they corner more markets around the world, they are coming closer and closer to reaching that goal.

How to Search Multiple Locations on Craigslist

According to Hitwise, a company which tracks internet search terms and trends, Craigslist is now a #1 search term. If you use Craigslist then you know that it has a wealth of information. While it's fairly easy to search through listings within a specific city or town, how do you search listings posted throughout an entire country, or even the entire world?

This is where the Craigslist Reader comes in. 


According to DownloadSquad, "Craigslist Reader makes searching Craigslist simple." It is a well written application that allows users to drill through the entire database of Craigslist, based on any search criteria whatsoever. The application is aesthetically impressive and is completely FREE. Search results are displayed in the pane to the right, and individual ad content is displayed in the panel below it. There is also a section where users can add their Craigslist items for free.

Users can go to "Advanced Search" section to set comprehensive search criteria. They pick their locations, categories, search options, and click on the "Search" button and it goes and finds stuff from Craigslist. Browsing through postings with Craigslist Reader is also very fast. In the top frame, you have a list of all your results. 

Click on a result and it appears in the bottom frame-exactly as the page would appear on Craigslist. Then you can simply click the next listing (or just press the down key) in the top frame, and that will appear below. With Craigslist Reader you don't need to constantly click the back button to view the next listing. It might be worth downloading for this reason alone.

The power of this application really comes out when you start using it. While the search itself can take a fair amount of time depending on the number of connections you allow (consider the fact that it's sifting through millions of ads across the world), the results are more useful than anything you'll find trying to sift through the website yourself.

For example, if you are looking for your dream car and are willing to look beyond your local city, you might pick your entire state or areas near you. The Craigslist Reader is useful for local searches as well, but when you can do work on a global scale, this application can really come in handy. By the time it's finished there are thousands of results to sift through; or just few - depending on your search criteria and locations.

Alerts The real game on Craigslist is getting to the opportunity faster than anyone else. If somebody is selling that iPod on a really great price because they want to sell it "today", and you call them "tomorrow" then it might be too late. On eBay, whoever calls last wins the opportunity, but on Craigslist, it's the opposite. On Craigslist, whoever calls first usually wins the opportunity. That's where the "alerts" feature of Craigslist Reader is useful.

When you click the "Add as Alert" box before performing a search, you can add that search to your alert list. What that means is that the Craigslist Reader will repeat the search as often as you tell it to, and when there are any new results, it will immediately notify you through a display, sound, SMS, email, RSS alerts. It really doesn't get any better and faster than this.

This is an excellent feature, especially if you're in a highly competitive industry and need to jump on opportunities before your competition.

Free User Ads Craigslist Reader offers something not just for buyers, but also for sellers. There is a section where you can add your ad, and everybody who is using the application will see that ad, if it matches the keyword that the user is searching for.

All you do is locate your ad on Craigslist and then drag and drop that ad on this section. Everybody who uses this application will see the ad if it meets their search criteria. This is the best way to reach those thousands of people who are using the application. This is another reason which makes this application worth downloading.

Contacting the seller

When you are looking at the ad in the bottom frame, you will notice that on the right side application provides some shortcuts. You can use these shortcuts to forward the ad to your friend, or add it in the ad section, or open it in your browser window, or add it to your favorites section. But the best shortcut is the "Reply" one.

It lets you contact the seller right from the Reader. Once you choose this option, it opens up a window which looks like this.

Here you can enter the information and click "Send" to send an email to the seller. Best thing is that it will remember all the information that you entered first time, so next time you will not have to change anything and you can just simply click on the 'Send' button. This saves a lot of time. For example, if I am buying a laptop, I usually send email to several people and I have the same body in those emails, asking them for the details of the laptop. I don't have to re-type that information again and again for different ads; the application remembers it and saves me a lot of time.

Options

The key feature in the Options section is the ability to modify how many connections you want to allow the application to use. This lets you scale back the bandwidth that the Craigslist Reader uses if you want to just let it run in the background while you surf the Internet. By carefully selecting the right connection count, you can tweak the Reader to make the most efficient use of your broadband Internet connection.

While there are a number of web based and application based Craigslist readers out there, Motion Technologies really nailed it with this particular free reader. The search capacity, bug-free features, and the ability to tweak the application and alert settings to your particular needs sets this reader well above the rest.

In particular, if you are looking for job opportunities, just set up your search notifications, let the application run in the background and before you know it countless job opportunities will be knocking down your door.