what is the best way to recruit your initial...

I've recently been invited to a few beta sites via Facebook and Twitter (by someone adding me as a follower) which may be good ways to invite people who are in the social media space or Web2.0 junkies.

Depending on what you are beta testing, it may be appropriate to ask your best customers by positioning it as a "sneak peak" at the future. Gaining their buy in early helps build some really loyal long term customers.

This is all about your network and some hard work. I tend to tap into my professional and personal network depending on the product. Whether that is LinkedIn, Myspace, Facebook, Friendster, Gooruze; these existing network can provide a good base of BETA testers. I'd also look into your target audience, find out where they are, what devices they use and setup shop in those forums, chatrooms, bulletin boards, etc. Make friends with them early, show them true value and they will stick around forever.

good answer BJ.

How we did it with Gooruze was very similar...

1. Alpha testers were our 10 Founding Gooruze (industry experts).
2. We then asked our 10 Founding Gooruze to invite 10 of their friends each. These friends were our Beta testers.

Thanks for the answers. I am definitely going to try both of those tactics. I'm going to take the approach of setting my focus smaller, such as 10, then working from there.

 I think BJ nailed it. If it's something really cool though consider approaching one of the big sites and offer beta invites. Great way to build buzz and invites to "cool" sites are always in demand.