Why is it so hard to find staff members?

[Pepsi Fan]

Hello! For a while now I have been fishing for any staff members. A few thoughts came to mind:

1. It's not as easy as I thought it was finding staff members.

2. Maybe my niece is so small that 98% of people aren't interested in it.

3. Having no forums could be a problem. I don't know how to make mybb a decent news site and forum.

Maybe I just need to start over? I have no idea. What are your guys thoughts? Even when I offer a co-owner position I get nothing. Not even my friends are interested; kind of considering shutting it down.

 

[Shole]

If you are looking for staff to work for free then you'll have a lot of trouble. Its because its working for free that it is hard to find staff, if you offer some payment I am sure you'll find it easier.
The rank that you offer doesn't matter as long as the staff member gets something in return. If he doesn't its unlikely that such a job will appeal to him or her.

 

[Pepsi Fan]

If you are looking for staff to work for free then you'll have a lot of trouble. Its because its working for free that it is hard to find staff, if you offer some payment I am sure you'll find it easier.
The rank that you offer doesn't matter as long as the staff member gets something in return. If he doesn't its unlikely that such a job will appeal to him or her.

Well, if you start paying them to work for your site are they an independent contractor or a legal employee? If they are employees then I have to follow a bunch of laws. It's not that I want to, maybe I am just making it more complicated then it really is.

 

[Mistress]

Well, if you start paying them to work for your site are they an independent contractor or a legal employee? If they are employees then I have to follow a bunch of laws. It's not that I want to, maybe I am just making it more complicated then it really is.

I'm no lawyer but I think in most jurisdictions if you hire someone on freelance-basis they're the ones supposed to hande most of the legal stuff? To be sure you might want to go via oDesk or similar system to make sure that you won't get caught in anything.

But I do agree that getting people to work for free is not going to happen very easily. Would you like to work for free?

 

[Shole]

Its just simple, they do work for you , you pay them no legal stuff is needed unless you are a huge site. I mean at the start hire freelancers and see what happens.

 

[Pepsi Fan]

But I do agree that getting people to work for free is not going to happen very easily. Would you like to work for free?

Thanks for your input. I have worked for free many times. I am currently working for another site for free. I consider it fun, then again its not my career.

I suppose it boils down to this: Pay someone to help with your site; or run it by yourself and good luck. How do you guys pay your staff members? On a monthly or weekly bases?

@ Shole I get you. Maybe I should wait until I start getting a good flow of money in before hiring.

 

[Mobisco]

Thanks for your input. I have worked for free many times. I am currently working for another site for free. I consider it fun, then again its not my career.

So have I. I've been around forums since 2003, and I've helped out many friends over the years. Likewise, I've had people help me out as well. I've never seen forums as a 'business' and have kept my forums ad-free. On my main forum, I've had the same admins and moderators since 2008. They are retired people who enjoy being on the forum and interacting with people. They've never asked for payment and until recently I didn't even know that some staff gets paid on forums 🙂
I do send them something around the Holidays and they're happy.

 

[R44]

Paying people for being a member on a forum is stupid, IMO. You moderate because you want to not because you have to and really as far as I'm concerned as soon as you accept payment it gives a hidden agenda. I won't have it and that's why I don't hire staff from here.

You have a choice. You can accept volunteer applications from 14 year olds that haven't quite matured up enough yet and get head-strong every time they make a decision, or you can pay for your staff. And when you pay for your staff, there's every possibility the above will still be there.

I admit, I expect to be paid for Sys Admin work that I do, but only because of the nature of it. Things crash at 3am, I get up at 3am to fix it. I wouldn't charge to solely moderate, as it's something I enjoy. And I don't have to be up at 3am moderating.

 

[Geoffrey]

Why does it matter how small your niece is?

Unless you mean niche... 😛

 

[Cosmic]

I like to see a forum as not only a community, but also as a business. In a business, everyone who helps make it possible gets compensated in some way. Maybe the business can't afford to pay cash, but it can definitely afford to offer advertisements, etc.

 

[MasterA]

Lets put your feet in someone else's shoes. Would you like to work for a small forum for free? I don't think you would. We have a limited amount of time and working on a forum can be quite time demanding so people either work for big forums which they are interested in or work for money. If you cannot offer money then offer then something else. Remember that no one likes to work for free. A forum is a bit like a business, although people do it as a hobby, it costs money to run so its a business. For example people stay active on FP to promote their site. You need to think what they can get out of their time in your forum

 

[Forces of Steel]

A lot of people just don't have time for forums or are shady. The best people to promote to staff are friends that you know well and trust.

If you fear that someone may be up to something fishy, create backups to be safe.