Organic Installs -- Help me with monetization ideas :)
Hey IH!
I run Remotely Job Search which helps individuals find jobs that allow them to work from wherever and whenever they want. My organic installs are growing like crazy and I'm seeing great engagement within the app. It's the #1 hit in the App Store when you search for "remote jobs".
I'm now thinking of ways to monetize the app. Any suggestions from the IH community would be greatly appreciated! Thanks :)
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/remotely-job-search/id1349523816
I’d suggest this speaks for itself :)
https://remoteok.io/open
First of all, this sounds exciting so let me first say congrats! 🙌🏾
Knee-jerk reaction for me would be to "follow the money". Businesses have the money, users can be a bit of a tougher nut to crack.
The whole sales funnel and cold calling route could work, but one option could be to first grow a solid user base, when you have that you can throw your weight around. Given that, here are some ideas that you could explore:
Another route you could take would be to try out the user angle. There's a pretty awesome Canadian company called SimpeTax (recently acquired). They offered tax filing software FOR FREE. Product was amazing, UX was crisp and delightful. However, at the end of the entire process, after sending off your tax filing, they asked for a donation. I, personally, have donated every time. This may be a strategy as well. Hit your users at their highest point, and nicely ask for a donation. I think this will convert well.
The other thing SimpleTax did was to offer up goodies to those who donated. I had no idea there was a goodie at the end of the donation line, but right after I donated they offered me a bunch of free analytics (eg how much tax people in my income bracket saved, etc). Pure genius!
Hopefully something I have written up there can help out! Oh, and full disclosure, I have never made $1 from any my whacky startup ideas so I am no monetization guru, just offering up ideas ☺️
Thank you @johneke!
^ I've put a lot of effort into optimizing my "enable push notifications" funnel because I agree this is very valuable. I've always said that a single app install is worth a lot more than a single page view. e.g. RemoteOK has ~1k new email subscribers every month and my app has ~300 new push notification subscribers every month.
Do you want this to be a full time job?
Who do you want to be your customers?
Do u want it to be a side hustle?
If you want job seekers to be ur customer: get them a job... and have them pay you a percentage. You may need to be more handson... build resume builders....or guarantee jobs @X% more than they make now. Rather a precarious position because this biz model may seem predatory.
If u want Businesses to be your customers then charge them. But you may need to build things like TripleByte to vet employees.
Great questions. I'm still trying to figure out answers to them.
Remotely started as a passion side-project (and still is). I do have a full-time job.
I'm heavily leaning towards Businesses being my customers.
If a side thing. Just add a Buy Me a coffee button. I have had it in my newsletter for 6 months and made $200.
Other, little effort ways to make money,
Love the thoughts! The Buy me a coffee button is interesting. How many subscribers do you have for your newsletter?
3.3k had 2.6k when added the button
Oh wow, that is amazing numbers. Any tips on how you received high organic numbers like that?
Thanks, @misternyce!
Most remote job boards are web-based or through email. I'm the only one I know of in the App Store, so my ASO (App Store Optimization) is strong.
Following Apple's guide is mostly what I did https://developer.apple.com/app-store/search/
That's awesome man, thanks for sending. Would you be interested in running a small ad campaign for my app? Could be a great way to test a viable model if you are open to running a campaign that offers something relevant to your community.
As a digital nomad for 10+ years, we built Simplish as a mobile first all in one organizational tool with a creative/digital nomad persona in mind. I think your audience would love it if we could put it in the right way. Here is blog we maintain where we talk a lot about remote working. https://simplish.co/blog
If you are interested, let's chat. Email me in my profile.
Absolutely! Email sent :)
Charge company for posting jobs?
Thanks for the response @damon
Do you think the economics would work out by cold calling companies? The app attracts candidates and not companies, so I don't have a built-in software funnel for low-touch sales.
remoteok.io charges $398 for posting a remote job. I think if you have a large user base, then companies are more willing to use your platform. Few hundred bucks is nothing comparing to the actual cost for getting a hire.
Of course you can charge candidates, but most job listing services are free for candidates. Good thing is that your site is mainly focused on remote ones, candidates may have higher chance to pay if they want to see more listings. You may have free plan for up to 10 job listings per week. If candidates want to see more, charge them some bucks per month. Hope it helps!
One word of motivation... high effort for little payoff may not be a bad thing. If you charge even just $20 for a featured job, that could turn into a $720 LTV if a company posts a new job once a month for 3 years.
Test this out by limiting featured job posts. Sell only 10 spots for next 2 months. Create a list of 100 companies and reach out to their HR team. In all should take less than 20 hours and then write 1 email plus 7 followups if they dony reply. Use mailshake, $39 or TryPigeon $29 and on IH.... to send the batches.
If you dont get 10 sales for $20... i would reasses. Did you validate correctly? Contact right person? Find 50 companies similar to those few you did sell to. What worked? What didnt. If you didnt make $40... cancel the email sender app and send by hand until you make 2 more sales.
Thanks for the motivation @AndrewKamphey!
Agreed. These sales tactics may not "scale", but they may "compound" as you pointed out. I appreciate you opening my eyes to that.
Just as a note, $20 is too cheap.
Charge more, maybe $99 introductory price.
Then once you have a few customers, use them as examples and charge more.
But the key is to make your funnel work and for them to get good job candidates.