jampy, you're probably just doing it wrong. If you're just trying to recruit one dot at a time for a given opening and are waiting for them to make up their mind before you go after the next dot, that won't get you anywhere. While you're waiting for the #1 dot on your list to reply -- when they may have just deleted your PM unread -- the #2, #3, #4, #5, #6 and #7 dots on your list (who are all almost as good as the #1 dot on your list) are all signing up with other teams because you never even talked to them.
Send out PMs to more than one dot at a time. That greatly increases the odds that somebody will reply back and agree to join you. Your goal shouldn't be to get THE ABSOLUTE BEST DOT. Your goal should be to get a great dot who wants to be on your team... if you're doing it right, you'll end up with a dot who is almost as good as the #1 guy on your list, and that should be just fine for your purposes.
You can also send offers... just make sure you use your team's over-signing limits to keep from ending up with too many CBs.
If you send out 10 PMs, and you get 1 back right away who commits, great! And then the next day if you get 2 more who write back and say they're also interested, just politely advise them that you've filled the opening, but that you'll keep them in mind for the future. There have actually been times when a couple seasons later I've had another opening, contacted that dot's agent, and landed them later, so it's actually a good situation to be in.
And finally, make sure your PM is short, sweet and to the point. Make sure it's WAY shorter than my post here. Nobody wants to read a wall of text.
