Hawthorne Search: New Ad Experiment

We’re trying something a little different this month on the blog – sponsors.

I recall Jason Calacanis once saying he would never put ads up on his blog because “this is where I eat”, as in don’t do certain other activities in the same place as your dining facilities. Over the years I have kept that in mind whenever anyone has approached me about advertising here. That said, I have always thought if a company has a service that would be valuable to my readers, I would be open to it. So when Robert Hawthorne of Hawthorne Search asked if he could advertise his executive recruitment service, I thought it would be a good test to see if there is room for sponsors on these hallowed pages.

I have known Robert for several years. He is well-known and respected in the local search/yellow pages industry and as far as I know is the top recruitment firm focused on Local. If you are getting itchy for a new challenge, check out the job board. Here’s a sample of some of the gigs currently listed:

CEO in Puerto Rico!
VP Marketing in NYC
GM Online Commerce in NYC
SEM Manager in Bellevue, WA

Let me know what you guys think of the sponsor thing – pro and con. And if you have a great service that you think would be right for the blog and are interested in participating in this test, please ping me.

Check out a similar post on Greg Sterling’s blog. Can you say “network effect?”