One other thing that I should mention is that Ebay and Craigslist are still suing each other, and the only advantage that craigslist has is public opinion. If they keep allowing these kinds of activities they are going to remove any advantage that they still have. Also keep in mind that Ebay is a company with no morals at all. They constantly are removing ads and closing people’s accounts, with no reason at all. If they even think that you are doing something wrong they shut down the ad. So fighting a company like that is not going to be easy. Ebay has already had thousands of suits against it, but Ebay always wins. They also bought part of carigslist, learned how they do it, and then started their own service. Ebay is too big and if craingslist stands any chance of winning they need to fix this. And personally I feel that Ebay will win, regardless of who is right or wrong. Money is power, and if you have money and are ruthless you will always win, unless it gets too much media attention

Actually, months ago, someone admitted exactly that here. It was before Deb switched sites and I don’t know if you can still see that post here – but I never forgot it, because I posted it at my own blog and was amazed about it. Someone said they were doing it to beat the competition and were happy to do so. It was a really lame situation, but that one person can’t be the only one doing it. It’s dumb, there are so many jobs available.

Many ads aren’t legitimately seeking writers. They want typists or transcriptionsits or commission salespeople.

Many of those that actually pay offer sub-minimum wage, which is illegal, and therefore even worse than paying “exposure.” I encourage everyone to flag those ads.

Contests are another problem. They aren’t jobs or gigs.

I’ve been writing professionally for more than 25 years. Many businesspeople recognize the value of professional skills, but many think anyone can do it. People who work for less than minimum wage make it harder for me and my peers to make a living.

If you’re a beginner, and you need exposure, please volunteer for a non-profit agency. You’ll get published clips and perhaps help to make the world a better place. Please do not help someone make a profit when you aren’t getting a fair share. You hurt the profession and your long-term chances for success.

I encourage your readers to help the profession by flagging ads that are inappropriate. We can help each other by doing so.

~Graham

Just an idea — can you have these people send their ads directly to Jodee? Better yet — set up a permanent blog post and allow them to post their jobs in the comment section. That way those writers interested will be able to “Subscribe to Comments” and see the latest ads coming in.

I’m sure there are more efficient ways to do this, but this might be the fastest and easiest for you…

~Graham

Since then, I’ve been getting 20 emails a day from this i-say. No jobs, all want me to fill out surveys, which I won’t do. I tried to unsubscribe and it asks for a pin number, which I also don’t have. So I ended up forwarding everything to the gov’t with a SPAM complaint.

So should anyone see a job post for i-Say, it is a huge scam.

I do, however, email them to myself as soon as I see them, just in case. And sometimes, I don’t even get there quick enough to see the ad.

I don’t understand why people flag the good ones. It’s frustrating. And yes, the employers should just have you post it here, Deb. They’ll get overwhelmed with responses anyway!

Other than that, to each his own, I suppose. I won’t flag things based on my personal beliefs. People looking for writers to do 500 articles for $10 won’t change their rates – they’ll just look elsewhere.

Also by the way there are two new scams out there. Which I did not flag..I actually emailed them and discovered they are scams.

One tells you AOL is starting a new PayPal type program…they will deposit 25 bucks in your account to register..OF COURSE THEY WANT YOUR SS #

The other is to do a survey to qualify for a paid survey. I think not. They just want you to do the first survey and you will never hear from them again.

I’ve never flagged any of those ads, but my gosh…they never cease to belittle me.

http://www.editorsforstudents.com/samples.html

Anyone else check this out or know why it was flagged?

I’ve noticed flagging on many ads for adult content writing – legal requests for erotica, not asking for anything bizarre. I’m not sure of the list policy on that, but it’s hard for me to wrap my mind around the concept of anyone having a problem with writing that is essentially the “juicy parts” of a romance novel. Not talking about requests for obviously “hard-core” stuff here.

However, I’ve found the jobs posted here always seemed okay. I was surprised when I came the other day and nearly half of the Craigslists ads were flagged. I can’t imagine they were all bad ads.

I’ve always wondered if it was easier for an employer to “flag” the ad instead of “remove” it, since I see it so often.

Nikki has a good point too, I mean if the shoe was on the other foot and people removed our resumes for us thinking we were worth WHAT amount! LOL.

I’m an aggressive flagger and I am unapologetic about it. When people post junk ads, it devalues the service. If I have to wade through a bunch of clearly exploitative ads to find one good one, it makes me question even the good ones. Legitimate advertisers should appreciate this. You don’t want to put a billboard up in a slum, you want to put it up in a decent business district populated by qualified people who will respond to your ad. The cost of good opportunities and good applicants is eternal vigilance.

Rant over.