Finding Staff
The thing that makes or breaks a website is their staff. The staff contributes to so much of the site's content that if one of them screws up, the whole site falls apart. Or it could be the opposite where a staff member suddenly makes a ton of fantastic layouts that everybody wants to use, and your site becomes the number one graphics stop. Either way, staff is very important, and as the webmaster, it's your responsibility to find and manage your staff.
In order to find staff, you must at least have made an attempt at a website layout - there is nothing wrong with premade web layouts, it's a new site after all, what do people expect? But if you haven't even started a site, what stranger would even bother to reply to your ad? Asking a friend to help you start a site is fine, but asking a total stranger is not. Make a presentable effort so people can see that your site is not about to die within 2 days of officially opening it.
Placing an ad is easy. You can try posting in the Neoboards or making a banner ad and putting it in your shop. No matter what the method is, as long as you have a way of advertising your need for a staff, there is bound to be some results. Personally, I would suggest Neoboards as the best way to find staff members. Choose a board that is partially relevant, do not place an ad in the Guilds board or the Stock Tips board, that's just annoying for the people who are actually serious about the Neoboards. Try something like Fan Clubs or Avatars/NeoSignatures.
When placing an ad, make your site sound attractive right from the beginning. The title should be something like:
There. Nice, short and simple. Whatever you do, do not advertise the fact that you are a new site in the title. This attracts n00bs and you know where that would lead to - utter disaster. You want someone who's active and willing to help out with the site when it's most in need, not someone who wants the glory of their name on a site that they'll only visit once a year.
In your site content, you should have a application form ready for any applicants to fill out. Include your site address (or an alternative link to your site if Neopets won't permit it) and what qualities you're looking for. Do not be too expectant of the applicants, their only human after all. Take a look at all the applications, even if you do have doubts about their n00bish style, it's only fair.
If you're looking for Graphic Designers, take a look at their userlookups, it's usually a good indication of their graphics abilities. If it hasn't even been edited and the shield still says Newbie, then I'm guessing it's not a good idea to hire this person. Another good way to see someones creativity is by looking at their font styling and how well they've matched it with their avatar. Also, if you're still in doubt, ask for examples to either be displayed or emailed to you.
If you're looking for News Posters, you would obviously look at their shield to see how old their account is. Also ask them about their activeness on Neopets and test them about the latest news if you're unsure. The best news posters are the ones who are on Premium and can get you the unreleased news ^^ It's the same with Guide/Tutorial writers, the more experience they have on neopets, the better they do their job.
The one thing you must keep in mind is that it's best not to hire anyone who is already working on another site. Chances are that he or she will eventually become inactive and you'll end up having to go through the whole advertising process all over again. If an applicant has some experience with another site but no longer works there, check out that site and see what it has become. If you're unsure about the reliability or the applicant's claim, email the other webmaster for a reference - it's better to be safe than sorry - nobody wants their site to be hacked.
After you've chosen your staff, it's completely up to you on how you manage them. You can entrust them with your site's password or ask them to submit their content to you. Or you can try installing Cutenews (as shown in the Installing Cutenews tutorial) and see what the power of content management can do ^^
I hope this tutorial has helped and I wish you the very best of luck with your site (and your staff)!
~Jen