Craigslist and your leads

A couple of weeks ago, as a long shot, I paid $25.00 to Craigslist for this career opportunity listing.

Associate Publisher -- Washington Constuction News (Greater Washington DC area)

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Reply to: job-1007829772@craigslist.org ^[?]
Date: 2009-01-26, 12:01AM EST

Co-ordinate advertising features and build relationships within metro DC area architectural, engineering and construction community (including suppliers, subtrades and general contractors) in this rewarding opportunity with fair base salary and realistic potential income to $100,000 annually.

You should be able to work independently, without supervision, as you will be working from your home. Relevant sales experience is less important than your interest and commitment -- we can evaluate your sales aptitude during the selection process.

For more information, see http://cnrgp.blogspot.com/

To my surprise, we received approximately 50 resumes, many at least superficially qualified, within one day. Response quickly dropped off, but I deduced that spending another $25 would result in another flood of resumes. It did.

We still haven't found the right person, but several candidates from the previous posting are still under evaluation, so I placed a third ad (another $25.00) and even though it is 3:30 a.m. on Monday, we've received three responses since I posted the listing at midnight.

(Why midnight? Craigslistings are chronological, during the day, each new listing displaces the one previous for the top spot, but the first listing of the day is always in the highly visible bottom spot for the day (when you are scanning a letter, do you read the signature and P.S. line before delving into details?) If my guess is correct, we will receive another 50 to 60 resumes -- bringing the total number of inquiries to 150; about the right number for us to select the one finalist we are seeking.

Sure, you say, you are looking for work, not offering employment. However, would a $25.00 listing under an appropriate category in your market be appropriate if you are ready to pay someone to bird-dog or solicit leads for you. You might be able to set up a system to pay for results; or find someone worthy part-time on commission. (If you offer a salary, like we do, you may be overwhelmed with response.)