Job-a-matic

Show Me the Money

Some folks may have logged into their Job-a-matic dashboard in the last few days and noticed a bump in their earnings. Some folks may have associated it with the Job-a-matic updates we made Thursday evening. Those folks would be right.

Exactly what did we update, you ask? Well, until now, your earnings report has only reflected your revenue from paid job listings. We've corrected this, so that you will also see revenue generated by clicks on backfill jobs.

But wait! There's more!

We've also added a new report. (See the nifty red arrows pointing to the new report?)

The "Back-fill Performance" Report shows you a daily breakdown of Impressions, Earnings and all sorts of good stuff. Objects in report are more lucrative than they appear! Check it out and see how your backfill jobs are performing. And guess what?  We actually have stored data going all the way back to whenever paid backfill was activated for your site. We've backfilled the backfill report. Are we clever or what?

Don't see any additional earnings? You haven't signed up for our sponsored jobs program! Just send an email to golive@jobamatic.com to get started.

As usual, if you have any questions, or if there is something wonky in the report, please contact us using any of the help links on the right.

Oh, and by the way, a belated Happy Blog Day! We hope you remembered to leave out some milk and cookies for the blog bunny.

Fondly,

Your Ambassadors of Kwan.

Get Paid Faster

That caught your eye, didn't it? Wednesday evening, we rolled out the first of a series of improvements to the way we pay you.

So, what's new in this update?

Online W-9 Form. Before we can pay you, we need to have your SSN or EIN on file. Up till now, that entailed downloading the W-9 from the government's website, printing it, filling it out and faxing it in. Now, through the magic of the interweb, we collect that information directly online via your dashboard (Account > Payment Settings > Tax Information).

Payouts through PayPal. We now have the ability to electronically transfer money directly to your PayPal account. All you have to do is select "PayPal" as your payment method, and enter your PayPal email address (Account > Payment Settings > Payment Method). If you don't have a PayPal account, visit https://www.paypal.com to sign-up. It is free! As an added incentive, if you elect to receive payouts by PayPal, instead of by check, we will reduce the monthly minimum from $500 to $100.

Online Mailing Address. If you decide you want to continue to receive good ol' fashion'd paper checks in the mail, select "Check" as your payment method in the dashboard (Account > Payment Settings > Payment Method). Fill out the form to tell us where we should send the check, and to whom it should be addressed.

Need some help? The forums and our support team are there to assist you. You will find the appropriate links in the sidebar of this blog.

Brief Down-time Today at 5pm PST

Hi Folks, just a quick heads-up. Sometime between 5:00p - 5:30p the job-a-matic platform may go down for a few minutes. We are rolling out some cool new features (more on that later), and need to perform some system-wide updates. To protect the integrity of your data, we determined that a short outage would be best.

Sorry for the short notice, and the inconvenience. Feel free to ping us with any questions.

How to replace the default “Post a Job” button

In previous posts, we’ve outlined how to remove the "Post a Job" button, but we recently received a comment from Chris, who wants to learn how to replace the default "Post a Job" button.

What’s Needed:
•    Basic Photoshop skills to create a new image (or a creative friend)
•    A place to host the new image
•    An open mind…this might seem technical, but we promise we can talk you through it.

Instructions to replace the "Post a Job" button:
1.  Create a new image that’s 280 pixels wide and 60 pixels high.  Upload this image to your main web site, noting the image’s URL.  (If you can’t easily upload it to your own site, adding it to Photobucket will work fine.)

2. Insert the following CSS into header field on the the Header / Footer Page to hide the current image:

<style>
.content .main #post_link_container{position:absolute; top:0px; left:360px;}
.content .main #post_link_container.theme {
width:280px;
height:55px;
background-image:none;}
</style>

3.  Insert the following Javascript into footer field on the Header / Footer Page to add your new image, where http://www.yoursite.com/image.gif is the URL of the image you created in step 1.

<script type="text/javascript">
if (document.getElementById('post_link')) {
  document.getElementById('post_link').innerHTML = '<img src="http://www.yoursite.com/image.gif" width="280" height="60" alt="" border="0" />';
}
</script>

4.  OPTIONAL: Adjust the positioning of the image.  Go to the the Header / Footer Page and modify the number of pixels to the top and left of your new image to suit your tastes.  Change the positioning by modifying this line:

.content .main #post_link_container{position:absolute; top:0px; left:360px;}

Need Help?
We're happy to assist -- give us a shout if you need any additional pointers.

BlogHer Conference '07

We're sending two of our most trusted employees (read: the first two with blogs who raised their hands) to Chicago to attend BlogHer, the annual gathering of female bloggers. We are honored to be first-time sponsors of the event, which is slated to draw more than 800 bloggers to learn more about their passion (and in some cases their livelihood).

Because we adore bloggers, we have set up a special landing page for conference attendees at www.jobamatic.com/blogher. And if you attend BlogHer and set up a Job-a-Matic job board on your site (we're talking board up-and-running, not just sending in your info!), we will reward your efforts by entering you in a little contest we've set up. You'll be in the running for a $250.00 gift certificate to the spa of your choice. Not too shabby: your blog gets treated to a cool job site and you, if you're lucky, will get treated to a much-deserved day of me-time. Winners will be announced September 1, 2007, so start thinking about whether you're more into Shiatsu, Swedish, or Thai Yoga Massage!

Here are the rules, in case that's your thing. Meanwhile, Lucas, our Director of Marketing and non-practicing attorney (admittedly, one of the best kind), has been kind enough to boil it down. Attend BlogHer. Set up a job site at www.jobamatic.com/blogher. Get it live and working on your site. Live in the US or Canada (and where contests are legal -- see rules). Be 21 (no we will not ID you, unless you ask nicely.) Win. Get $250 towards a spa day. Do a dance of joy.

Good luck -- and remember, you need to play to win.

How to add a logo to your job board

Our fabulous support team mentioned that some of our bloggers and web publishers need a bit of help getting their logo onto their custom job board. 

We've already covered some advanced job board customization tips, but we thought we'd take a step back for folks new to Job-a-matic.

Customization 101: how to add a logo

1. Upload your logo on the Name and Pricing page.
2. Cut and paste the following HTML, making sure to change "YOURSITE.COM" to your main website, into the header field on the Header and Footer page.

   <br><div id="c_partner_logo" class="clear"><a href="http://www.YOURSITE.COM"><img src="/a/jbb/partner-logo" border="0"></a></div>

3. Save your changes & enjoy!

Need other customization tips?
Shoot us an email or leave a comment below.

I Blog, Therefore I am….

Your Job-A-Matic job board is driving traffic to your site, making you some dough, and showing you to be a dialed-in, community-minded, entrepreneurial wunderkind. But if you’re still getting the feeling that it could do even more, make sure you are blogging about your jobs! By being your own PR team, you can:

• Encourage even more users to check out your posted jobs
• Showcase your job listings like Ruby Inside does with their ruby jobs
• Toot your own horn. One of the big advantages of niche job boards is your personal attention and connection to the jobs you’re posting. Posting success stories and validating remarks from your users makes you look totally indispensable. (Eric Peterson does a great job promoting his web analytics jobs.)

A weekly post is generally enough to keep your blog looking fresh, and you don’t have to write the Great American Novel every week or do tons of in-depth interviews to add value to your board. Simply using your blog as a forum to highlight and advertise interesting job listings and show off any positive feedback that comes your way can really help your users see you as a valuable resource.

The next thing you know, other bloggers in your sphere of interest will be talking about your board too, and voila – you become even more of a presence. It’s the Circle of Life. Happy blogging.

Lunch 2.007 at Simply Hired - Epilogue

Wow. We didn't realize we had so many friends. We know everyone came just to see us, and that the free Indian food, free water pistols, tie-dye activities & four-square games had no influence on your decision.

A big thank you to everyone who joined us this afternoon. We hope you enjoyed yourself, a left with a full belly, and empty squirtgun.

Check out the event photos on Flickr: Lunch 2.0 at Simply Hired.

Attended the event? Please tag your Flickr photos "simplyhired" & "lunch20" and they will show up in the above search set.

Have a happy Fourth everyone!

Spotlight: VentureBeat Job Board

Matt Marshall’s VentureBeat has its finger on the pulse of the entrepreneurial and venture community, focusing especially on Silicon Valley but with an interest in innovation hubs around the world. It provides news, data and insider information that decision makers count on.

VentureBeat’s job board fits right in, providing the latest information on high-end jobs for venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, developers and architects. Since VentureBeat caters to some highly educated technocenti, it’s important to be able to provide well-filtered, relevant content for users with very specific interests. And that’s where Job-a-Matic comes in!

Job Board Customization
VentureBeat provides a consistent user experience by matching their widget and job board to the overall look and feel of the main site, highlighting important info such as job titles and the all-important advertiser’s link.  Notice that there is a also header link to the job board from every page, ensuring good visibility and integration.

Their board makes good use of Job-a-Matic’s filters, making it easy for job seekers to whittle down the listings by occupation and by job type, so there’s plenty of info for the perennial contractor, the intrepid freelancer, and the family guy who wants a fact-paced career and a health plan.

At $200.00 per 30-day listing, they are providing a great value to the movers and shakers who make up their user base and making some decent coin in the process.

How is Job-a-Matic working for you?
If you have a board you would like us to spotlight, drop us a line.

Lunch 2.0 @ Simply Hired

It's that time again!

Simply Hired is honored to host the guys and gals from Lunch 2.0 and their loyal following. More details to follow, but great food, limited edition giveaways (maybe a new shirt?), and the opportunity to network. Everyone is welcome--bring your coworkers and friends!

Simply Hired was lucky enough to host one of the first Lunch 2.0 events, and now that both Lunch 2.0 and Simply Hired have grown, join us in our courtyard for free lunch and more!

When: Friday, June 29, 2007 at 12:00 PM
Where:  2513 Charleston Avenue, Mountain View, CA  (Google Maps)
RSVP: http://upcoming.yahoo.com/event/203440/