Matthew Heyes is the founder of Backpacker Job Board which is the latest site to be featured here on Job Board Secrets. We touched base over email to learn more.
When did you start your job board?
Backpacker Job Board was founded in 2010.
What’s the origin story?
The project was born in 2010 when I was backpacking in Australia on a working holiday. I was based in Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and was surprised at how hard it was for young backpackers on a gap year to find work. As a web developer, I felt like I could help the situation by building a platform dedicated to helping connect working holiday makers and employers in Australia. Backpacker Job Board was born!
The software options for job boards were pretty limited in 2010, but there were tools available to help get started. WordPress, Joomla and Drupal were all in their infancy and so I decided to build a custom software solution to manage the job board.
What niche do you serve?
Backpackers are a very specific segment of the travel demographic. Within the tourism sector, backpackers are young, budget travellers. These are usually 18-30 year olds, who are generally taking a gap year before or after university. They are looking for casual employment to help support their travels. This type of work is varied and far reaching. It can include administrative work, hospitality, as well as agricultural roles. We help connect employers with job seekers in the main metropolitan areas as well as regional and coastal locations.
How long did it take to get your first paying client?
When I first launched the project, the site was 100% free to use for both employers and job seekers. It still is largely free to use. We offered unlimited posting of ads for employers from the very beginning. Monetization in the early days was mainly from Google’s ad network, Adsense.
What is your pricing/revenue model?
In recent years, I decided to stop the use of Adsense and remove all the banner advertisements from the site. I felt the ads cheapened the site and diminished the site’s overall user experience. What’s more, after an iOS Apple update in 2021 relating to cookies and privacy, the revenue from Adsense was dramatically reduced.
Nowadays, we offer a number of freemium products across the site. Employers get the opportunity to upgrade their ads to one of two featured ad statuses. They can also upgrade their account status to enjoy exclusive features. Lastly, employers can also “boost” their ad at any stage so that it returns to the top of our listings.
Do you sell other products beyond job postings?
Our revenue model is closely linked to our job posting products. Beyond that we offer a number of travel and information resources free to job seekers. In the past we’ve experimented with affiliate deals with complimentary partners to mixed success.
In the future, I’d love to experiment with some physical e-commerce products which would be relevant to young travellers. This is part of 2025’s R&D project.
Is this a side gig or your full time job?
This is my full-time job. I also work with a number of very talented freelance workers throughout the year to assist with marketing and development efforts.
Anything else we should know?
In 2015, I launched a sister website for the New Zealand market. Launching a new standalone website for a different geographic region was a tough decision. The alternative would have been to combine both Australia and New Zealand on the same platform. However, I felt the consensus of advice at the time was to embrace the benefits of a ccTLD domain name.
