Company: Job Stock
Website: www.jobstock.com
Founder: Paul Dunstone
Headquarters: Brisbane, Australia
Year Founded: 2012
Investors: Bootstrapped
Employees: 3
Twitter: @jobstock
Facebook: facebook.com/jobstock
Brief Company Description: Find and hire freelancers for a fraction of the cost at Job Stock. Post freelance jobs for free and tender for employment opportunities at Jobstock.com.
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By Paul Dunstone, founder
Product Overview
Job Stock is a purpose built freelance marketplace where freelancers and the business community can post freelance jobs, tender for freelance employment contracts, and sell pre-packaged freelance services across more than 250 specialist job categories. Job Stock is a simple to use and highly-engaging freelance marketplace, where digital professionals can thrive, and business organizations can save time and money by hiring top-quality freelance professionals from across the globe.
Founder’s Story
Job Stock was founded to create a user-centric freelance marketplace for professionals across the globe. Having had experience using other marketplaces, we felt that there was a better way to find and hire top quality freelancers online, whilst both equally supporting the freelancer and employer during the process.
As a result, the team at Job Stock began to scope out our product, and the areas we felt the freelancing industry would benefit most. From improved messaging, to simpler navigation, better search, improved freelancer profiles, and better transaction management, these were just a few of the areas we felt could really do with an overhaul in the industry.
Following a two-year period of development, whilst working in both full-time and contract roles throughout Australia and overseas, we spoke to numerous professionals and asked them what they felt was important in a top-line freelance marketplace. During our development, we listened to their input and integrated the feedback we thought had promise. After three revisions of the marketplace, we began to feel around early 2013 that we finally had the mixture right, and as such aimed to release our marketplace in June, 2013, which we have recently successfully achieved.
Marketing/Promotional Strategy
Job Stock is a purely online based freelance marketplace, therefore we undertake the majority of our marketing activities online, or at very least drive external promotional activities to our website at jobstock.com.
Job Stock has a strong content marketing strategy that is led by the content we publish via our blog. Each week we publish new and engaging articles discussing the freelancing industry and small business, and also accept guest posts from talented writers interested in contributing to our knowledge base.
In addition to our content marketing strategy, we also invest in paid banner advertising, social media marketing, CPC search marketing, guest post submissions, press releases to media outlets, affiliate marketing, and offer partner opportunities to organizations via the creation of promotional codes. All these activities form the basis of our core marketing at the moment. However, we are constantly looking for new and innovative ways to promote our brand, and will be reviewing our marketing strategy regularly over the coming weeks and months.
Market Opportunity
Recent research from the Freelancer’s Union shows that approximately 1/3 of the 42 million working Americans are actively freelancing. This market sector, combined with the massive Asian, European, and surrounding Australian markets are the key areas Job Stock will be looking to build its base from.
With literally millions of freelance workers across the globe constantly looking for work, and employers of all shapes and sizes realizing the benefits of hiring freelance workers to complete their short term projects, the freelance industry is without a doubt one of the hottest market sectors online right now, with no signs of slowing any time soon.
Job Stock, through provision and constant revision of our product, are looking for freelancers and employers from various business sectors to register with us, and begin to connect with each other. We are focused on ensuring that we deliver a service capable of connecting talented parties together from across the globe, and are seeking your support in our early days of business.
Market Differentiation
When we began development on Job Stock, it was all about making the process of freelancing simpler. To this day, this is still the most important aspect of everything we do. We guarantee that no matter what the task is, it will be much easier to complete with Job Stock, and that is our core mission for our current and future work.
However, if you’re looking for unique features, we have plenty of those too. Job Stock offers an extensive freelance services marketplace where freelancers can sell their skills both hourly and at a fixed price earning them repeat business, whilst providing the buyer with added reassurance of the quality of their purchase. By selling proven services, we’ve found that this is both a great asset to anyone making a purchase online, and also helpful to those providing those services in terms of managing scope creep.
When you visit Job Stock, one of the key things you’ll notice is how easy it is to interact with freelancers, and to get a feel for their expertise. This is one of the focal points of a good freelance marketplace, and something we pride ourselves on. Without a shadow of a doubt, without our freelancers, we are nothing, so showcasing their talents as best as possible is a key differentiation from other markets you’ll notice when visiting jobstock.com.
Business Model
Job Stock’s business model is pretty simple. We earn revenue when employers post jobs as a percentage of the overall transaction, and when employers choose to feature freelance jobs or post full-time or part-time jobs. On the flip side, we also earn revenue in the same way from assisting with the transaction of freelance services as a percentage of the overall price, and when freelance services are featured across the marketplace. Of particular interest, we also allow freelancers to feature their account, creating a featured profile. For a small cost, this service helps budding freelancers stand out from the crowd with an enhanced public profile.
Current Needs
Currently, Job Stock is focusing on building our exposure within the market. We are the new kids on the block—however, feedback has been overwhelmingly positive so far. We’re looking to partner with quality media outlets to promote the service, and are looking to boost registrations across the site, as well as new job postings. If you’re looking to hire a freelancer, please post a job with us today for free. And, if you are looking to get behind a great startup in any way, please feel free to contact the management team at Job Stock any time.
Job Stock – www.jobstock.com
