Craigslist: From Apple Farms to Zodiaks and Zookeepers

If you haven’t already learned about the wealth of information and opportunities
available on Craigslist it is time to start learning more about this exciting online
community. The Craigslist fact sheet defines Craigslist as, “Local community classifieds
and forums - a place to find jobs, housing, goods & services, social activities, a
girlfriend or boyfriend, advice, community information, and just about anything else –
all for free, and in a relatively non-commercial environment.” This definition is
certainly worthy of all that Craigslist has to offer to visitors. The fact sheet also
points out that Craigslist receives approximately four billion page views per month and
is visited by approximately ten million visitors each month. This article will provide
a brief history of Craigslist and will discuss two of the most commonly used sections of
Craigslist. This includes the for sale section and the jobs section.

The History of Craigslist

Craigslist begin in 1995, essentially as an email list run by Craig Newmark for the
purpose of keeping his friends informed of interesting events occurring in the San
Francisco Bay Area. This system spread through word of mouth and the list grew. After
sometime others began using the list to respond to the entire list with information about
other events or as a way to make requests or exchange information. Those who began
responding on Craigslist began posting items such as jobs, for sale items, apartment
openings and other pieces of information. Newmark wrote software to enable participants
to post this information onto the website which became known as Craigslist.org. Although
Newmark was approached in 1997 about the possibility of running banner advertisements on
his website, he declined this opportunity.

Finding Items for Sale on Craigslist

The for sale section of Craigslist is the place to find items which are for sale. This
section is divided into a variety of different categories. Users can browse through
appropriate categories to find other users offering items for sale which may be of
interest to them. Those who cannot find an item they are seeking can take advantage of
the wanted section to post an advertisement seeking a particular item as well as the price
they are willing to pay for this item. When purchasing an item on Craigslist there is
always the potential for receiving an item that is not in the condition described in the
advertisement. Asking many questions is the best way to avoid this type of problem when
making a purchase.

Finding Jobs on Craigslist

One of the most popular sections of Craigslist is the jobs section. Job seekers prefer
Craigslist over other websites designed specifically for finding jobs because Craigslist
offers those posting the job the opportunity to include information such as whether
telecommuting is an option or the position is a contract position in addition to whether
it is full time or part time. This is significant because many other websites do not
include this information and job seekers who rely on the Internet are likely to be more
interested in these options that offer greater flexibility.

Browsing through Craigslist for potential jobs is surprisingly easy. Job seekers simply
enter the Craigslist website for the desired geographical region and select a category
from the jobs section that describes their desired field of employment. Alternately job
seekers can use the search feature to find their dream job.

Written by Michael L. Mayhew
Michael Mayhew is the publisher of “Craigslist Traffic”.
You can get additional information at his website:
http://webmasterautomation.com/craigslist/
(c)2007