business-plan, website, expansion, user-engagementI’ve an idea about a job website which has some unique feature which would benefit both employers and employment seekers. Things are well setup and I am almost done with the development of website. Now, I am really confused about how can I start growing my community as sites like job search is dependent upon two factors which are directly proportional to each other, i.e.
I admit, that I’ve missed a real thing here which is marketing & I am not sure how can I grow both my user base & company registration. I am iota when comes to plan business so I thought to give “3 months free job posting for companies” as my marketing strategy. Now, I’ve few questions:
How should I approach companies (giants like Microsoft, Deloitte, AT&T etc.) to post job on my portal? Do I have to manually go to their offices and show power point slides or is there any easy way to convince them to join me?
I’ve almost zero money to do advertisement on medias like newspaper or TV which I believe attract users at the most. How can I possibly grow my user strength without that? I understand that social media marketing is easy but I’ve a risk that the time it will take to reach to the “real users” will give an opportunity to competitors to replicate my concept.
I came to know that few website (startups) forcefully ask user to join their site (ex.: via E-mail, SMS) by getting their information from other job website portals. Ex.: A person can create an recruiter account on monster/indeed and then download all job seekers profile details and then contact them via mail, SMS or calling them. Does that works as it doesn’t sound good in terms of “genuine business strategy”?
The problem you’re facing is called the chicken and egg problem. In your case I see two solutions two this.
Post jobs from company websites that redirect to their career page. This way you give reasons for users to sign up.
Make your site to be a resume builder. If the quality is good you’ll have users signing up solely for the value of having a good resume made.
In both cases when you accumulate a critical amount of users you can start bringing companies into the fold. If you focus on a niche, i.e. the IT sector, you can make a strong case with 1000 or so good resumes.
When you’re ready to contact the “big companies” keep in mind that you only need to talk to the human resources department. Also keep in mind they have a hiring budget which they need to spend and they have a hiring target, i.e. “hire 200 people this quarter” so many of them will be happy to try out your product if it brings them closer to their target.
You can post your website on sites like ProductHunt, Reddit, etc. to gain some early users, which wont require you to spend any amount of money. You can also contact smaller news sites that are in the job sector, they will be happy to write about you if you give them enough material.
You could also start locally, get some exposure on the local media channels and bring on companies from your city. This way there is a match with the company’s headquarters and where the users live and you can generate interviews a lot easier this way.
Lastly, allowing recruiters download all your database is a good business strategy since you can charge per data. Big companies want to have access to all the data since they can run it through their own algorithms, or query it as they like and find the best possible candidate.
Disclaimer: I’m working on the same idea.
IF it is in that case try approaching different module in getting up with more user database. Present scenario companies are looking out for the easiest process with in their budget. If you make your idea relatively which could benefit both private and government sectors with different kind approach in the market.
Unique concepts are derived from existing, only thing people look at the betterment. So when going with the betterment, you should know how to reach the market and also strategical approach of human mindset.
Even people say that they are professionals, but still they are human beings, plan should touch individual inter perception. then the market you reach will be successful.
My answer is to know the pulse of the companies and people working over there and then try to kick the ball in a basket for sure it gets to you. Make a clear analysis about the present situations and technological trends. Also analyze the operations of the companies. final approach with your concept.
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