Monday, March 27, 2006

TLP Group

The Top Local Pros Business Promotion and Networking Group, hosted through Yahoo! is a great way to show residents of San Diego that your company is committed to a higher level of service. The TLP Group is a 100% volunteer membership.

As a TLP Group member, you become part of a community, rather than just an ad in the San Diego classifieds. As part of this community, you are held accountable for the services you provide. Members may critique your level of service and tell other group members about their experience.

All comments are screened by our staff before going “LIVE”. Negative comments will NEVER be posted to the group. All negative comments will be filed in an offline database for future reference when someone inquires about your company.

The TLP Group holds its members accountable, much like the way in which the Better Business Bureau does, but without the huge annual membership fee! This benefit alone makes our classified advertising like no other. Our system of accountability tells potential customers that TLP Group members are some of San Diego's finest!

Other benefits of the group include the ability to contact ALL group members simultaneously. This feature allows you to introduce yourself and advertise your services to the entire group with a single email! You may also enlist the help of the group to find services of which you may be in need of but don’t know who to call. TLP Group members are always encouraged to do business with other members whenever possible, but this is not mandatory.

Become a part of our rapidly growing community. Join Now!

Sincerely,

Top Local Pros

Saturday, March 25, 2006

TLP Posting Guidelines***

At TLP, all new ads must be pre-approved by a member of our staff. If we deem an ad to be inappropriate, it will not be allowed on our site. Whenever an ad is approved, denied or deleted, the poster will be notified via email. In the event that an ad is not approved, the poster may contact us via email for an explanation. In most cases, ads are denied because the poster failed to read our "Posting Guidelines." Renewed ads will not be screened. Any ads that you edit however, will initiate the pre-screening process.

TLP is not your typical San Diego classifieds. We are a professional business directory. Among other things, we do not allow back to back identical ad titles, random keyboard characters such as multiple *****asterisks***** or >>>>arrows>>>> to make a listing stand out. That's what "sponsored" and "recommended" ads is for.

If you place multiple ads within the same "main" category from the "Browse Categories" list on our site, the ad titles must be different. If the ad titles are the same, then you must edit them so that each ad title is unique. The object here is to not have the same ad title appear back to back when viewed on our site. If you have not adhered to these rules, your ad will be denied and you will have to edit and resubmit your ad.

Our staff will typically allow up to 3 characters after the ad title. The only characters allowed before the ad title is a single #, $ or " symbol.

NO "Adult content" products or services.

NO "Multiple Postings" of identical content.

NO "Loan Offers" unless pre-approved by TLP.

NO "Type International" work at home offers.

NO "Pyramid" type opportunities of any kind.

NO "Links Only" or Pay-Per-Click campaign pages.

Click Here to place your free ad!

Other Top Links:

Voted #1 SPAM Remover!!

Welcome to Top Local Pros!

Ad Pre-Screening is now in effect!

Why should you become a sponsor?

The 4 Leaf Clover in San Diego Classifieds!

Monday, March 06, 2006

Not another San Diego Craigslist...

Having been long-time fans of Craigslist San Diego ourselves, we realize that when most people think of San Diego classifieds, Craigslist is generally the first thought that comes to mind. Although the site is very popular and successful, the one thing it does not offer is someone who actually monitors the ads being placed there. They leave that little task to the advertisers themselves. That's like asking a fox to look after the hen house!

At San Diego Craigslist, it's not uncommon to see any number of keyboard generated characters such as multiple asterisks, arrows and the like, in ad titles with the intent of making a listing stand out from the competition. Although the advertisers had good intentions, all they did was lessen the perceived value of their business. Just as street graffiti can lessen a neighborhoods value, "online graffiti" can have the same affect on a website, but more importantly, it can tarnish the image of the company or person placing the ad.

Anyone can launch an automated classified ads site, but it takes real commitment, dedication and genuine concern about the end result to require that each ad be human edited and reviewed for appropriateness and professionalism, but that's what we do at TLP!


TLP is not your standard San Diego classifieds. We are a "Professional Business Directory" and our mission is to provide a professional environment in which people can browse to find "real" business professionals, and not some guy offering "Kickass Web Design". I mean seriously, would you hire a person to create a website for you that talked business like that?

At TLP, our site offers a built-in networking feature called the TLP Group. As a member of the group, members are held accountable for the services they provide. Since members don't want to earn a bad reputation, each member is on their best professional behavior. The TLP Group works much like the Better Business Bureau in that it gives consumers a place to voice a complaint about negative experiences with a service provider.

Don't worry, the TLP Group is also moderated and nothing is posted to the group until it is reviewed by a member of our staff. Although positive comments are encouraged, negative comments are NEVER posted to the group, as they are posted in an off-line database for future reference when a consumer inquires about a providers service history with the group.

Benefits Include:
The ability to advertise directly to all members with a single email. Members can offer special sales events that are made available to other San Diego group members.

The TLP Group, combined with the TLP Website and TLP Blog is one of the best ways to promote your business, and best of all, it's free! Although paid, sponsored ads are available for better placement and visibility, they are 100% optional.

In closing, remember that if you want to be perceived as a professional, you have to advertise like one, and that's why Top Local Pros was created!

Please visit us today and browse our ads or place one of your own!

Sincerely,

Top Local Pros