I met my present BF via a small regional m2m dating site some 6 years ago. So, yeah, it has worked for me.
Here is my policy:
I am into meeting younger dudes, college kinda, mid 20's - early 30's guys. Most of them do not go to the pay sites, coz they simply lack the cash and frankly, they do not need to part with their scare dough to get laid. So, it is only FREE dating sites I am interested in. Never spent a single penny on them.
Putting up a profile on one site may or may not work. Since it is all for free anyway, place your profiles AND your active ADS to as many sites as you possibly can. It is called 'copy and paste' and we all do it for living, too. And be very patient. All the good things take their time.
Every site has its fair share of creeps, trolls, fakes and flakes, etc. . That comes with the teritory and you simply have to put up with it. Do not discard any site, as long as it is free, just because it may sound 'creepy' to you, i.e. Craig's. You have got nothing to lose and possibly everything to win.
Be truthful and honest but make sure that you have all your options open. Putting down things like 'sex only in a comitted relationship' will first off, turn down a big number of people, who will not want to even consider starting a serious relationship without making sure that it all works well in the hay, too, and second, you will most likely trigger a usual 'controlling and obsessive type ahead' alarms all over the place. When it comes to friendships and possibly relationships, people do not want to live under the impression that they have nothing to say about it at all, since you had figured it all out long time before and now, all is being played out according to your scenario.
Yeah, and loads of good luck, too.
SC