You are correct...those things are a ripoff. I do business development consulting and I have found the best way to help entrepreneurs with that type of recruitement is to help them plan and promote some sort of venue (whether online or in person) because the whole web thing is just oversaturated and unpersonal. This can be done very economically and you'd be suprised how big of a return you can get with minimum financial expense...the time and labor part however,has to be made for it to be successful and thats what most people dont want to invest.

Best of luck and I hope thats helpful.