So how do you fast track your way to freedom? Create a job board!
What is a job board?
A job board is a website listing jobs in a particular niche; it's a platform where job seekers and employers meet. There are job boards for Engineers, job boards for Designers, job boards for Medical Staff... you get the idea.
OK, but how does a job board help me make $$$?
Now that you've grown a audience in your niche, you have direct access to self-selected experts in your niche: a percentage of that audience is looking for jobs.
In short:
- list jobs in your niche, thereby adding value to your community
- sell job listings to employers interested in promoting their jobs to your community.
Niceboard empowers newsletters and niche communities like yours with our modern, beautiful software to set up their own turn-key job board site in just minutes! And the best part is: you don't need to know how to code.
What's the value in a job board?
Setting up a job board is a great way to:
- Provide valuable resources to your audience with targeted jobs in your niche (whether that's Hospital Jobs, Tech Jobs, or Finance Jobs, or whatever makes sense for your audience: the narrower the better).
- Create a new source of revenue for your business: with Niceboard, you can process payments from day 1, allowing you to sell job postings to employers (individual listings go anywhere from $49 to $299 or charge a recurring subscription fee).
Some of the teams/companies in my audience might be hiring, but they are not reaching out and advertising in the newsletters.
How do I get employers to post on my job board?
Reach out to the teams/companies in your audience and try to develop relationships there. A great way to start those is to offer a lot of value in the beginning, so consider having free listings, or offering discounts with coupons, to get the ball rolling.
In the beginning, I'd also consider potentially sourcing relevant jobs from other sources, and including them on your job board & newsletter: the key here is to start offering value to your audience because once your job seeker audience expects jobs and derives value from what you're offering, all you have to do is go to the other side, aka employers, and say "hey, I've got an audience of 20k C# developers looking for jobs, do you want to post?" The answer becomes obvious at this point.
Where do I find employers actively hiring and how do I convince them to list their job on my site instead of something like.. [Big Corp] or some other possibly free sites?
The main argument to convince employers to post on your job board vs [Big Corp] is the following: your newsletter's main selling point is actually its size. Any employer can post on Indeed, Ziprecruiter, Monster, but what ends up happening is they get flooded with candidates, and a lot of those are not relevant: in other words, there is a lot of "noise" in the signal.
You, on the contrary, have an audience of experts that have self-selected themselves to read newsletters about a specific topic: employers are much likelier to get quality candidates from such audiences.
4 more ways to monetize your newsletter community
- Sponsorship: Find sponsors who are willing to pay for advertising. You can offer sponsorship packages that include banner ads, sponsored content, and other promotional opportunities. Let's say you have a popular gardening newsletter. You could reach out to companies selling gardening equipment and offer them sponsorship packages that include banner ads in your newsletters and on your website, as well as sponsored content and social media posts.
- Subscription: Another option is to offer a subscription service for your community or newsletter. This could be a paid membership that gives subscribers access to exclusive content or perks, such as discounts on products or services. For example, if you have a cooking community newsletter, you could offer a paid subscription service that gives members access to exclusive recipes, cooking tips, and video tutorials. You could also offer discounts on cooking products and access to digital products as an added perk for subscribers.
- Affiliate marketing: If you have a product or service that you recommend to your audience, you can earn a commission by becoming an affiliate. You can include affiliate links in your newsletters or on your website, and earn a percentage of any sales made through those links. For instance, if you have a travel newsletter, you could include affiliate links to hotels, flights, and tour operators in your posts and earn a commission on any bookings made through those links.
P.S. You can also earn affiliate commission with your Niceboard job board! - Sell products: If you have a large and engaged audience, you may be able to sell products directly to them. This could be physical products, such as books or t-shirts, or digital products, such as ebooks or online courses. Let’s say you have a popular fitness newsletter, you could create and sell your own workout plans or ebooks. You could also sell fitness merchandise such as t-shirts or water bottles.
FAQs around newsletter monetization
How many subscribers does a newsletter need to make money?
The number of subscribers you’ll need to make money varies, also depending on the monetization strategy you choose. If you’re looking to start a job board, having 500 engaged subscribers is a great benchmark to start pitching to employers.
How much can I sell my newsletter for?
The value of a newsletter depends on the number of subscribers, but also on the engagement rate, niche, and revenue generated. We’ve seen newsletters sell for anywhere from a few hundred to several thousand dollars. A good anchor to start with is 3 times the annual revenue you generate.
Are email newsletters worth it?
In short, yes, email newsletters are still very popular and worth investing in. They are unique in that they offer a direct way to talk to your audience, have little overhead costs, and newsletters can be easily monetized through ads, sponsorships, a job board, and product sales.