Today is the day we're announcing JustJobs.com and it's precisely three and a half years after the idea was conceived and planning started. That sounds slightly absurd to me but then again, this is a big complex project. There were delays and missteps of all kinds - fortunately, the ones we know about have been ironed out. We have had time right?

In three and half years, the market could have moved on right past us... that's part of the risk of bootstrapping. We started this project back when the VC market was still hot and I toyed with the idea of raising money... but, health issues forced me to give that idea up and so here we are in the slow lane. 

At first, I thought Twitter was foolish, then, I tried it and became enamored. About six months later, I lost all respect for Twitter. A few months more, and I can finally see its strengths and weaknesses in balance. 

The strengths are pretty easy - meet and interact with new people that interest you, market yourself, get to know your "friends" better, know what's going on right now and eavesdrop on conversations you'd never be privileged to hear in any other setting.

What's the downside? Here is my five step plan for entrepreneurs to entrap themselves in bad karma with Twitter:

We are constantly blasted by negative messages today and if you run a business or if you've been laid off or had your salary cut, you're experiencing changes that confirm the talk.

Anxiety is a natural consequence of all this. Is anxiety or fear helpful? If these emotions are on display in your next job interview or for your team at work, they are likely to cause you to stumble badly. Here's a timely reminder from the Career Encouragement Blog:

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you know that competition is one of my obsessions...  so, I couldn't pass up talking about Jason Calacanis' ideas on the future of the startup.

I really like two things Jason says - first he calls this the 'try everything' era and truly I believe in hyperactivity as a new requirement for success on the Internet. It is happening as we speak in the job board industry.

Second, he calls longevity a type of innovation - which is funny, as if it were so rare it could be considered something brand-new! In reality, patience and longevity have always been key tools of the trade for most entrepreneurs. But there was a period of time on the Internet when get-rich-quick thinking seemed to dominate. Competition has fixed that!

I see the effects of this slow-down everywhere.   Recession talk, recession thinking and recession actions... it's driving a lot of change.

Having been through one of these before, it's important to remember a few things:

"I CAN'T FAIL. I CAN'T GO BACK TO WORKING IN..." says the job board entrepreneur I talked to yesterday.

This determination reminded me strongly of my own attitude 11 years ago. I quit two jobs in a row after working in them only six months each. I told everyone I knew that I was starting a business and assumed that I was unemployable after that. I felt like failure was not an option.

What do you struggle the most with?  Let me know over at OnlineRecruitingNews.com and I will try to answer if I can be helpful or commiserate with you.

This is also where you can reach me easily if you cannot find my e-mail address or you are having trouble getting me on the phone. 

To my knowledge Don Firth runs the largest family of profitable independently owned and self-financed job boards. His boards have a utilitarian look and are designed with the single purpose of helping candidates find jobs in a specific industry. But considering their performance, I wonder if my own company hasn't paid too much attention to polish and content. JobsInLogistics.com, AllRetailJobs.com, JobsInTrucks.com, JobsInManufacturing.com, and TopUSAJobs.com have a combined monthly traffic of almost 3 million visitors.

Eric: For my money Don, you’re the most successful job board entrepreneur I know of. I should say the most successful job board family because it is a family business. What accounts for your success? Do you have a formula? How do you choose new categories?

Doug Geinzer just announced the sale of his job board (and second recruiting business) RecruitingNevada.com. Here’s Doug’s bio:

Doug Geinzer has been in the recruiting business since 1989. Prior to Recruiting Nevada, he owned a media group, which included the Las Vegas Employment Guide; Las Vegas Career Fairs, Las Vegas’ largest career fair company; Las Vegas Job Guide; and Diversity2000 – the first diversity recruiting magazine in the United states, which was distributed to every college campus in the country. Geinzer sold the media group to Cox and Landmark Communications in 1999 and then directed his focus to Classified USA! – Nevada’s largest recruitment advertising agency, which he co-owned with Ted Stepien.