This is Bugging Me

Hi Guys,

Something that has been bugging me for ages, is how do websites that offer a service for a fee, start-up?

If we take um.... a job website for example (JobServe.com), who allow recruiters to post jobs for a small fee onto there website, how do these sites start, as if there is nobody else to view the jobs, then the recruiter is spending money for nothing in return.

What happens when a website starts-up? eBay is another example.

I hope this makes sense!
Very interested to hear anybodies views.

My guess is: the same way any business starts. They need advertising or other means of gaining visibility in order to get people to browse the site. They can start the advertising campaign even before the service is launched so that there are interested people viewing the site right from the beginning.

In the case of your example, a job listing website, they could offer the first 5000 job postings for free, or something like that. Also, they could open the site for recruiters a week or two before they open it for people who search for a job.

Just some ideas. The basic idea is to use some sort of a marketing trick to get enough interested people visiting in the beginning. The service must be usable and good right from the beginning. Remember the 3/11 rule of marketing: an average person tells three people about a positive experience with a business, while a bad experience is told to 11 people.

In the case of your example, a job listing website, they could offer the first 5000 job postings for free, or something like that. Also, they could open the site for recruiters a week or two before they open it for people who search for a job.