Which staff to employ first?

[rob3786]

For those of you that have staff working for you on your casino affiliate site. What was the first staff role you filled for your site? e.g. manager, content writer etc

[villa10]

Only writers, but not own staff.
This is for casinos and no casino sites.

[matted]

Content is king... At least that is the idea... Good content, in theory, should be less vulnerable to search engine fads.

[aksana]

Yes, if I need an employer I would hire content writer.

[Doolally]

If I was hiring a member of staff for the first time, I would try to get someone I could really trust that could be a general all-rounder. Unless you have plans to take on a few within a short period, it would be best to try and get someone that could take the reins from you if you fall ill, etc.

Someone who can turn their hand to at least some of the following:

- Writing
- General Admin
- SEO
- The basics of page construction
- Good ideas
- Basic accounting

And, if they can't do it all, someone willing to learn the other bits and pieces.

[LiveCasinoPartners]

Someone who can turn their hand to at least some of the following:

- Writing
- General Admin
- SEO
- The basics of page construction
- Good ideas
- Basic accounting

Doolally,
The only problem I see with that is that if someone who was that competent would just do their own portals right? Or theres at least an increase risk of having your ideas "borrowed". maybe I'm just paranoid..

I'd hire a content writer. I'm outsourcing some of the work now. It's been hit and miss with different writers.

[villa10]

I don't take care about employees taking their own path.
Is a nutural step in life.

My only concern is some scary stories about destroyed websites, by people leaving a company on bad terms etc.

[rob3786]

Yes that is what you have to make sure about. I remember also hearing at CAP London one of the speakers talking about employing seoers that they can realise how much money can be made in the industry and demand more payment or go off on their own to set up a similar site, but this happens if your not careful.

[matted]

On that note... I posted a Craigslist ad for content writers and got way more replies than I anticipated. In fact, I had 9 qualified to write for online gaming topics - I only need one! All are coming in with decent prices and very willing to write articles here and there. Most specialize in poker, but extend beyond that.

PM me if you are interested and I'll ask permission to send along their contact info and other info they've given me. It will probably be at least Mon-Tues of next week before I have anything to pass along, so let me know by then.

It is amazing the replies I got... A guy who writes for newspapers and such... A former IOG casinos employee... A Mohegan Sun PR guy... and so on. Wish I had work for them all!

[matted]

To follow up on my previous post, I currently have a writer looking for work...

To give you an idea, this paragraph shows his knowledge of the industry and gives an idea of the amount he charges... He does casino, but it does seem like poker is his specialty. He says he has written hundreds of articles for various sites in thegambling industry already.

My minimum is $20 for a 750 to 1000 word article. If there is extensive research it could be $10 more. If you are going to start covering poker in the future, I am certainly a writer you should consider as I know the games cold and have years of actually playing experience. There is a huge difference in poker sites online. There are good sites and sites that I would never play on as their offered games are poor and the traffic on the site is lousy.

If you want more info, drop me a PM and I'll pass along all the info I have, including email address... (I did ask for his specific permission to pass word of his service around).

[GamTrak]

I Hired my mother to do all bookkeeping and affiliate stat reporting.

I hired some people to perform as mods at my forum. They take care of posting new promos, creating contests, submitting credits and addressing the needs of members.

I give a percentage of some affiliate accounts to my administrator to do the general admin stuff to assist me when needed.

I recently hired someone to create my newsletters (a job I hate). hehe

In general if I need something done then I can ask the person that I feel will do the best job at the task and it works out fairly well.

[GamTrak]

My only concern is some scary stories about destroyed websites, by people leaving a company on bad terms etc.

This is an extremely valid point. Never give anyone TO much power of anything you own or you are always vulnerable to being betrayed. Be very careful.