From Susan M. Heathfield,
Your Guide to Human Resources.
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My initial advertisement was expensive at $1700.00, so I rewrote the ad to remove all extraneous words. Since newspapers tend to charge for the number of lines in their print ads, I used the newspaper website to repeatedly review my progress in reducing the number of lines. This is the print ad I developed; the cost was listed on the website as $1305.50.

The Print Advertisement

Cellular Technician - Level 3 Wireless

Technical Lead for Cellular Remanufacturing Ops

City, State

"Technician to lead phone troubleshooting and repair at growing cell phone remanufacturer. Requires: Level 3 certification at manufacturers: Nokia, Motorola, Samsung; 5 years+ troubleshooting exp. with various handset models and manufacturers; 2 yr. degree in Electronics Technology/equivalent; reads/follows schematics; has developed training/trained staff; soldering skills; works on surface mount PC boards; knows trouble shooting equipment: DVM, Spectrum Analyzer; supervisory experience preferred. Resume/salary: HR - ReCellular, Inc.; Company Address."

Then, while I would have disagreed with this at the time, fortune favored my ad placement. Instead of a confirmation, I received an error page, after entering the entire transaction online. Forced to call the newspaper to find out whether the ad was received, I discovered it was not.

So, I placed the ad again over the phone. Total cost: $1212.50. When I asked the operator why there was such a difference between my online placement versus calling the ad in, she responded that “spacing was different online.”

This was good news for my company, but not good news for the newspaper website. I am thoroughly trained, at this point, to call in or fax my ads rather than using the newspaper website.

Your experience may vary, but my experience provided key learning points for me. You can significantly reduce the cost of online advertising and classified advertising with a bit of effort and rewriting. The cost savings is definitely worth your time. The cost reduction, by not using the newspaper website to order the ad, was also significant in this instance. This deserves wider exploration as we work to reduce the cost of our future Internet and newspaper advertising.

Interested in the job? Yes, it really exists. Send email to Susan Heathfield: humanresources.guide@about.com.