A Craig's List Success Story From the Windy City

Here's a note from Annie Logue, a successful writer in Chi-Town who proves that good things can come from job boards:

"I have found a few good clients on Craigslist. The first thing I look for is a request for specific skills. In the case of my best client ever, he was looking for a writer who could read financial statements and use spreadsheet software. He had one specific project in mind when he placed the ad, but it turned into a great long-term relationship as his business grew.

Obviously, I avoid any ad that talks about exposure or pro-bono work or anything like that. I'm also leery of ads placed by agencies, because they usually take too big a cut of the billings.

One of the advantages of Craigslist is that it is free to place an ad in most cities, and it's always free to respond, so it's worth taking the risk if you have the time to apply for the jobs. The result is one weird serendipity. In one case, the client turned out to be someone I had worked with years before. He had no idea that I was doing financial writing, and he said that had he known, he would have just called me directly. Instead, as soon as he saw my name, he knew to give me a call.

In fairness, my Craigslist clients tell me that the downside is that they get inundated with resumes from people who are in no way qualified for the work. The person who needed someone who could read financial statements said that he got 300 responses, only about 5 of which were remotely close to what he was looking for."

Thanks for sending that, Annie. It's good to know that there's a little gold buried in all that muck - the trick is to find it.