I have always loved magic. As a kid I was amazed at how the magician could make a beautiful lady disappear and reappear in a different outfit or cut her in half and put her back together. My favorite trick is the one where the magician is able to pull deck after deck of cards out of thin air, fan them out, and toss them to the ground and pull more cards out of nowhere. I used to buy books and videos on how to perform my own magic. I even learned how to levitate a few inches off the ground. So how are these tricks performed? Well, few magicians may really have magical powers, but most others magicians practice the secrets of illusions and sleight of hand. The key is knowledge and practice.

After working at Prosper for over a year and a half, I have seen many borrowers hope for something magical to happen to their listing without any knowledge of how to get funded. But just like a magician, you’ll first need the knowledge and then go and practice it. It does take some time and practice to create a good listing.

Some things to remember when creating a listing:

1. Include a meaningful picture: A picture is worth more than a thousand words. When I was a child my favorite books were the books with the most pictures. People like pictures and if they like your picture, you might win that bid.
2. Include a description that makes sense: Everyone already knows you want the money, so this is the place to explain the reasons why. Make sure everything you explain makes sense.
3. Double check your grammar and spelling: Your teacher is not going to grade your listing, but lenders are going to make assumptions based on what they see. If your listing looks like it is well organized and well thought out, then that reflects the type of borrower that created the listing.
4. Answer lenders’ questions: If any lender took the time to ask you a question, they must have some interest in your listing, so reply promptly with an honest answer and you might win that bid.
5. Get recommendations with bids from friends and family: Just like in the real world, a few good words from a good reference will help build trust and narrow the gap between two strangers. Recommendations are strong because actions (money) speak louder than words.
6. Loan Amount and Interest Rate: Prosper listings with low loan amounts are funded more often than listings with high loan amounts. So if your loan amount is too high you might want to try lowering it to attract more bids from lenders. And increasing your starting interest rate may attract more bids and drive your interest rate down!

With these secrets, you too can now perform some Prosper magic. Voilà!

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Alex Hung is a member of Prosper’s Support Team