[johnkeegan]

I was shocked to find that the NY State Labor Dept. now wants me to pay a few hundred $ for the right to search for potential hirees in their Job Bank, when you would think they would be anxious to get these people off the welfare rolls

This got me to thinking...I checked Craig's List and sure enough I could place a help wanted ad for free. Literally within seconds of placing the ad the phone rang...and rang continuously for an hour..with job applicants. I got 20 calls in this one afternoon alone and some of those were quite promising leads.

Screw the local paper (previously hundred of $ spent for one week of ads) and screw the state.

[site]

We switched to Craigs list for the same reason. I anonymized the email address in order to aviod the onslaught of calls. The nice thing is you aren't paying by the word, so you can write a complete job description. Also you can screen the appicants replies on your own time since they are by email.

[Lanelle]

We've used Craig's List for certain positions for several years.
At least you know the applicant can use a computer and you can assess their ability to write in complete sentences.

[Stonehenge]

I've never tried Craigslist for finding candidates, but I suppose I should. Results from the paper were expensive and always kinda iffy.

[brooks]

Thanks for the tip!

I've been using the MI Works! Database- but my results have been slim. It would be great being able to screen by email instead of phone calls...that's a part of the season I dread actually, for many reasons. I can't believe how many calls I get that have kids either screaming or being screamed at in the background.

[johnkeegan]

I think part of the thing with the paper is that reading the newspaper is "old school" for the under 40 crowd. I know that it seems everyone my age and older can't do without at least a scan of the morning newspaper...So it was natural that I always advertised in the newspaper. But sometimes it's important to realize your target audience may not be like yourself.

P.S..I got another 15 calls today. Most with experience.

[Fine Edge]

Newspaper IS expensive. I would never use it again. With Cl, you know you are going to get responses in a quick way. Based on how they answer certain questions, you can almost weed them out from looking at the emails. There's a bunch of people looking for jobs now as evidenced by my last foray into Cl last week.
I quoted a retaining wall for a client ( by way of a real estate agent ) and gave him another option to maximize his yard space without killing his budget. Just for kicks, I got back to the office and gave a very detailed layout of the property and asked for a general estimate. For all everyone knew, I was just a homeowner looking for quotes.
Within 1 day, I had 18 estimates ranging from $4500 - $15,000; all based on the same exact measurements.
And landscapers beware, many of those quoting this wall were not from our industry. Home builders, fence contractors, remodelers were all involved. Everyone trying to get a piece of the pie.

[Mau]

Originally Posted by Fine Edge

Just for kicks, I got back to the office and gave a very detailed layout of the property and asked for a general estimate. For all everyone knew, I was just a homeowner looking for quotes.

Within 1 day, I had 18 estimates ranging from $4500 - $15,000; all based on the same exact measurements.

How do those quotes compare to the bid you gave the client? Where were you on that sliding scale?

[johnkeegan]

Within 1 day, I had 18 estimates ranging from $4500 - $15,000; all based on the same exact measurements.

That's some crazy stuff.

The problem with the internet is the information is totally unscreened, anonymous and, thus, unreliable, whether it's the news or fly-by-night quotes.

..Why do I see a future boom business in landscaping redo's?

[Keith N]

I landed a pretty good permeable parking lot job back in February, and the contractor said he had all types bidding the job. The 2 that got me were a painter and a gutter installer.

[Fine Edge]

I was at $10,500 to do it right, give a good warranty and make what profit I need.