Tips for a Successful Job Board Launch

1. Be prepared to work
   
   The first step is to set your expectations properly. Unlike Google AdWords or other automatic advertising engines, a job board is not something you just put on your site and forget about. A job board has the potential to be much more lucrative than conventional advertising, and provide much more value to your visitors, but it requires significantly more time and energy to make it successful.
      
2. Seed the job board with the first batch of posts
   
   You should have a minimum of 5, ideally 10-20, job posts before you ever launch. This gives job seekers something to look at when they click through for the first time and makes it clear to employers what types of jobs should be posted. It also validates for yourself that you have enough of interest to get these posts.
   
   
   • The easiest way to get intial postings is to announce on your site that a job board is coming and the first 20 people to send you their job will get a free posting. You can then post the jobs yourself.
   • Follow-up with anyone who e-mailed you in the past about help finding employees. Also, send an e-mail to friends and colleagues. You can create a coupon code to offer free or discounted pricing to these first posters.
   • Browse other job boards in your industry and e-mail the job posters to let them know about your job board.
   • Don't forget to post your own jobs if you are hiring anyone.
          
3. Be realistic with your pricing
   
   Your pricing should be driven by demand--the more people that want to post jobs, the more you can charge. If you regularly receive e-mails asking for help hiring, then you should probably start around $50 per posts, if not, think about starting lower. If you follow the tip above about inviting 20 free posts, the response you get from this announcement should give you a good idea of the demand that exists.
   
   You can always raise the price down the road, just make it clear to your community that the job board is an experiment and prices are subject to change as you get a better feel for demand. And remember, even if people are willing to pay $200 once, your goal is to foster a community of repeat customers who regularly post openings. This comes from customers that feel like the response they receive is proportional to the price they paid.
            
4. When announcing it publicly, offer an incentive to help build momentum
   
   Consider offering discounted pricing for the first 7 days. This will encourage employers who have an opening to post their job this week rather than next week.
   
   Also, alternatively or in conjunction, if you have an e-mail newsletter, tell people the first 5 jobs posted on the site will be featured in the next newsletter.
      
5. Announce it everywhere
   
   In addition to adding the widget to your site, be sure make an announcement on your site, in your newsletter, in your personal blog, and even in a personal e-mail to people you know. Remember, building momentum in the very beginning is crucial.
    
6. Make it clear who the job posting will reach, and what's unique about the audience
   
   For example, "Your job posting on the Marketing Spiff job board will be presented to the 5,000 unique visitors to the site every day. In addition, selected jobs will be highlighted in the weekly e-mail newsletter. Marketing Spiff readers are professionals who staying on top of the industry."
         
7. Read examples of other's announcements
   
   Pragmatic Studio Job Network
   CocoaDev E-mail Announcement