Let’s break it down:
**
Distribution Personnel Needed!**
This looks really scammy.
**Earn Extra Money! <company> is beginning a weekly distribution program to residents in the Goldsboro and Mount Olive areas, this program starting mid-late of October. **
“Weekly distribution program” is awkward and nondescriptive.
**Duties include: Pick up product and bags every Friday, bag product, deliver product by placing on door handle to all residents in your route during the delivery period (Saturday and Sunday), report any delivery issues to Manager. Delivery occurs during the weekend – there are no weekday delivery routes. **
Product? It makes it sound like you’re running drugs. Newspapers. Publications. These words would sound much less shady.
**You will go through a short orientation class where you will learn about the distribution process and pick your route. **
Now I think you’re trying to start a cult.
**As this is a weekly program, once you select a route and deliver it satisfactorily, the route is yours until you give it up. **
Too much information. Cut to the chase, and make sure the chase is specific.
I think also the repeated referrals to “product”, rather than just calling it newspapers or ad circulars, may also be a factor. Scam companies tend to be very vague about what they sell, and referring to “product” also seems somewhat vague, which may get you lumped in the same category. Maybe that’s an industry term but people clicking for jobs on CL won’t know that.
Another thing is that you have to get through the title and 1st paragraph to figure out what the job is, when you could have just made the title “Door-to-door handbill delivery, Saturdays only. No sales.” Or something more specific than “Distribution Personnel Needed.” You say you want to filter out responses from people seeking full-time, people who can’t carry a route, etc, but advertising for “Distribution personnel” doesn’t really communicate that.
Well, I thought hair gel, but yeah, stating what it is outright is less likely to strike people as a scam.
OTOH, considering it’s some sort of publication and being delivered to people’s door, perhaps people were concerned that it’s a job delivering Watchtower magazines… does the fact that they’re being brought to the door, rather than put in a mailbox need to be in the ad? It’s an odd detail.
Like many things that get done over and over, I use templates. Since we deliver more than one product (newspapers, phone books, door hangers, etc), I use the word “product” as a generic word where I can then change the wording, naming the actual product being delivered in the ad.
Looks like I completely brain-farted this one. I didn’t even notice this yesterday when I made my string of replies, even though a number of people mentioned it.
:smack:
[shady whispering]
But yeah, I got some good product… I just need a little help with distribution, ya know what I mean?
I think it warrants mentioning because one has to walk to deliver it, as opposed to newspaper deliveries which are driveway-delivered and can be done from the car with no walking whatsoever.
Just heard today that they’re killing the personals section (whatever name they call it), because they’re apparently worried about pedophiles and prostitutes plying their wares/trade on the site.
I don’t think they are killing the personals section. I haven’t heard that, at least. They are killing the Adult Services section in the US. It seems like whatever changes they made a few years ago was not enough for the Attorneys General across the US. So, now they have pulled the plug entirely.
Since you’re in the biz, can you tell me how to AVOID having your products delivered to me? I don’t want the free newspaper, or the phone book, or the door hangers, or the etcs., crowding my stoop.
Phone book: Call each specific company to be put on their “Do Not Deliver” list. We distributors are provided with an updated list each year, which is integrated into the routing. If the carrier is paying attention (and they usually do), you won’t get the book.
Free Newspaper: Again, call the publisher.
Door Hangers: Call the advertiser. Many door hangers also indicate the advertising agency that put it together - if you see this info, call them as well.
John, it’s pretty much because Craig’s List is all user generated and moderated, and users are douchebags. You’re right: there is no Craig’s List staff. Good luck getting support out of those guys. If the people reading don’t like what you write (because it uses too many exclamation points, or they don’t like the description, or even because they’ve heard of your company and plain don’t like it!), whether or not it is legitimate, they can flag it. Enough flags = removal. There is no appeals committee you can go to to say, “Hey, my ad was legit!” If the readers don’t like it, no matter how silly their reasons, too bad. That is how it crumbles, cookiewise.
So yeah, what they said. You have to compose your ad in a way such that Angry Joe Craig’s List Reader doesn’t get his feathers ruffled. Tough breaks, but you know.
Then there’s the issue as to why I have to reset my password every couple of days. WTF? And then you have to go through their phone verification process, which doesn’t work 3/4s of the time, and God forbid you should use a phone number that has ever been used on another account.
It’s just not worth it. I’m done with this piece of shit site.
Just wanted to chime in and add that it does look very scammy. I got about halfway through it and scrolled back up to check the OP’s post count (thinking it might be 1).
As soon as I got to the part about the orientation I assumed the next line would be something like “The fee for the orientation is $100 (but you’ll earn that back many times over your first week)”
So, that’s the problem. Between the job you’re offering and the way it’s worded it sounds like a scam.
Take some of the suggestions, get rid of EARN EXTRA MONEY! That’s the biggest problem. And just accept that it sucks that the scammers out there ruined it for the people that have legit jobs to offer.
My problem with craigslist is people writing their ads like they are being charged by the word. Things like “For sale” in the header with no indication of what it is. You open it up and it says “conversion van” - no year, no information, no miles, no location, no phone number, no squat. So when I sold an old camper van, I made a big ad that contained everything one could possibly want to know, what was good, what was wrong, what worked, what didn’t, what was ugly, pictures, and an address they could look at it and then come to the door to inquire if they were interested so as to avoid all the stupid email questions. Guess what - it got flagged and taken down. Why? Who the hell knew. Probably sounded like a scam because I spelled everything right.
