I have done this before... a few times, so I am not very gun shy about it. I have a vent server set up already, a functioning guild website, and a recruitment plan all set. The normal details about loot rules and such are already taken care of. Having experienced some of the best (and having personally created some of the worst) I feel I have a good grasp on what will work and what I have the means to implement. The goal is to start 10 man raiding ASAP and recruit as time goes by for enough people to do 25 mans. I know that sounds like a big gap, but having a successful 10 man makes it easier to get people. When you can attract a few more people you can make a second 10 man. From there you are only a few recruits away from 25 man raiding.
The guild is Adept - US Perenold(H). http://adept-guild.wowstead.com (Yep, plugging my own guild. Get over it.)
I have found that new guilds often recruit way beyond their means. Their recruitment posts look something like, "New Guild is now recruiting! We have vent, a website, and a tabard; as well as a couple of guild bank tabs! We do PvP and Heroics, are starting raids soon, and love to level alts. Looking for all levels and classes. Come join us!" Oh how this guild is destined to fail.
First off, if you have people that joined your guild simply because of your tabard, or the ability to use your vent server and guild bank... boy are you scraping the bottom of the barrel. Secondly, what is your purpose? What is your guild aimed at? What can I expect to do when I join you? From your recruit post it looks like almost anyone and everyone will be happy there. Want to run heroics? Join us! Want to raid? We are trying to get enough people for a raid. You could be one of them! Want to PvP? We do that too!
It goes on and on; ad nauseam, ad infinitum. In reality you don't organize any of those things. You simply have a group of people that play together a lot and have realized that you need more people to be successful at some of the activities you enjoy. So you advertise that you do all of these activities. Do you? Sure. Do you organize them and put specific effort towards achieving success at them? No, you don't.
So what happens is a lot of naive players join your guild thinking that they will find the one thing in your recruit post that they are interested in. Maybe what you really want is people to casually run 5 mans and occasionally do other things when you are bored; but what you get is PvP focused players and raiders looking for a new raiding guild. These people will be unhappy in your guild and /gquit within weeks if not days or hours, leaving you with a sinking guild that can't hold onto members.
The solution? Identify what you really want to focus on and recruit for that purpose. My example would be that Adept is a hardcore raiding guild for people that don't have a hardcore amount of time to commit. We only raid nine hours a week, so all nine of them need to count. That means that I need people who are focused on succeeding in raids. They must have raiding specs, professions, experience, and a winner's mindset. My recruit post is also tailored to that end. Very few people have asked me about joining that weren't actually suited for my guild. It works. Tell people what you are and what you are looking for. Don't fill your recruit post with fluff, thinking that you might get the wandering superstar player who happens to like all of the random things that you advertise for but still really meshes with your core group. It won't happen.
It all boils down to this principle: Say what you mean, and mean what you say.
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