If you’ve been researching local marketing careers or looking for a flexible, entrepreneurial way to earn income, you’ve probably come across best version media jobs in your search. Best Version Media (BVM) is a Wisconsin-based company that has built a name for itself in community publishing and local advertising, and it regularly appears on “best places to work” lists. But what does it actually look like to work there, how much can you earn, and what does the hiring process involve? This guide breaks it all down.
What Is Best Version Media?
Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin, Best Version Media connects local businesses with customers through print and digital advertising. The company produces community magazines and offers digital marketing tools that help small businesses stay visible in their local markets. It’s a wholly remote publisher of monthly regional lifestyle magazines, which means you can do most roles from home, regardless of where you live.
BVM has built a reputation for its company culture. Glassdoor has placed it on its Best Places to Work list multiple times, including in 2017, 2019, 2023, 2024, and 2025, and Fortune and Great Place to Work also recently added the company to their Best Workplaces in Advertising & Marketing list for the fourth time. On Glassdoor, employees rate the company 4 out of 5 stars based on hundreds of reviews, and the majority say they would recommend working there to a friend.
If you’re evaluating best version media jobs as a potential career move, this track record of employee satisfaction is worth factoring into your decision, alongside the specifics of pay, role structure, and day-to-day responsibilities covered below.
Popular Roles at Best Version Media
BVM’s team is built around a few core functions that keep its community magazines running each month. Here are the main roles you’ll encounter when browsing openings.
1. Publisher
The Publisher role is the most well-known position at BVM, and it works differently from a typical employee job. Publishers are independent contractors who essentially run their own local magazine as a small business under the BVM brand. This is a sales-focused role: publishers sell advertising space to local businesses, manage relationships with those advertisers, and oversee the content and layout of their community magazine each month.
Because it’s a commission-based business opportunity rather than a traditional salaried position, BVM is explicit that “this is not an offer of employment.” Publishers set their own hours, choose their content, and are responsible for hitting their own sales targets. Reviews describe the role as ideal for self-starters who are comfortable with cold calling, building relationships, and managing their own schedule. It’s also worth being realistic here: several reviewers note that the role can be stressful for people who aren’t naturally suited to sales, since performance directly determines income.
2. Editor and Content Roles
Since publishers focus heavily on sales, many of them rely on editorial support to shape their magazine’s articles, layout, and storytelling. Editors help with writing, proofreading, and organizing content so publishers can spend more time on ad sales and client relationships.
3. Design Roles
BVM’s magazines need consistent visual branding, so design professionals working on layout, graphics, and digital assets are part of the broader team. According to salary aggregator data, design roles at BVM average around $72,000 per year.
4. Sales and Customer Support
Beyond the Publisher role itself, BVM also employs people in sales management and customer support functions that help publishers succeed and keep the client experience smooth. Sales-related roles tend to be among the highest-paid positions at the company.
5. Corporate and Administrative Roles
Like any growing company, BVM has back-office functions such as bookkeeping and administrative support that keep the business running behind the scenes.
Best Version Media Jobs: Salary Breakdown
Compensation at BVM varies significantly depending on the role, location, and whether the position is a traditional salaried job or the commission-based Publisher opportunity. Here’s what the data shows.
Overall Company Averages
Estimates for typical pay across most roles at Best Version Media cluster in a fairly wide range. One salary-benchmarking source puts the typical annual range for most roles at roughly $88,700 to $113,400, while another estimates the company-wide average around $82,500 to $83,000 per year, including base pay and bonus.
Publisher Pay
This is where estimates vary the most, largely because Publisher income is commission-based and depends heavily on individual effort and market size. Some sources estimate average Publisher pay in the $61,000 to $80,000 range, while others, drawing on self-reported Glassdoor data, put the average significantly higher, with some professionals reporting total pay well above $150,000 per year at the upper end. Location also plays a role: for example, New York publishers have reported earnings noticeably below the national estimates, while Minneapolis-based publishers have landed closer to the national average for the role. Given this range, anyone evaluating Publisher opportunities should treat every figure as an estimate rather than a guarantee, since actual earnings depend on individual sales performance.
Department-Level Pay
Sales roles tend to sit at the top of the pay scale, with sales management positions averaging over $110,000 per year in some estimates. Customer support and administrative roles are more moderate, generally in the $50,000 to $60,000 range, while design roles land somewhere in between.
Bottom Line on Pay
Because so much of BVM’s compensation data comes from self-reported estimates on sites like Glassdoor, Indeed, and Comparably, you should treat the numbers as general guidance rather than guaranteed figures. If you’re seriously considering best version media jobs, the most reliable step is to ask about compensation structure directly during the interview process, especially for the Publisher role, where commission determines pay rather than a fixed salary.
What It’s Like to Work There
Employee reviews paint a fairly consistent picture of BVM’s culture: flexible, remote-friendly, and supportive, with an emphasis on personal accountability. Common themes in reviews include:
- Flexibility and autonomy. Many employees, especially publishers, highlight the ability to set their own schedule and work from anywhere.
- Strong onboarding and training. New hires and publishers frequently mention thorough training programs and ongoing support from division leaders.
- Community-driven work. Employees often describe a sense of purpose tied to supporting local businesses and telling stories about their communities.
- Sales pressure for publishers. Because publisher income depends on ad sales, some reviewers caution that the role isn’t a fit for people who dislike cold outreach or don’t enjoy sales-driven work.
Roughly two-thirds of job seekers who interview with BVM describe the interview experience as positive, and the process itself typically takes about a week from start to finish.
Hiring Tips for Landing Best Version Media Jobs
If you’re planning to apply, a bit of preparation can go a long way. Here are some practical tips:
- Understand the role structure before you apply. The Publisher role is not a traditional employee position; it’s a commission-based business opportunity. Go in with realistic expectations about income variability and the sales responsibilities involved.
- Highlight relevant transferable skills. For Publisher roles, sales experience, community involvement, and entrepreneurial drive stand out. For editorial, design, or support roles, emphasize writing, layout, or customer service experience.
- Research your local market. Since publishers essentially run a magazine tied to a specific geographic territory, showing that you understand the local business landscape in your target area can strengthen your application.
- Ask about payment schedules and contracts up front. Independent contractor roles like Publisher come with a contract that defines payment terms, so clarify how and when you’ll be paid before accepting an offer.
- Prepare for a conversational, relationship-focused interview. Reviews suggest BVM’s interview process leans toward assessing communication skills, self-motivation, and cultural fit rather than technical testing.
- Ask current or former employees about day-to-day expectations. Reading multiple reviews, not just the highest-rated ones, will give you a more balanced picture of workload, stress levels, and income variability before you commit.
Final Thoughts
Best Version Media has built a strong reputation as a flexible, community-focused company with a track record of employee satisfaction, multiple “Best Places to Work” recognitions, and a variety of roles beyond just sales. Whether you’re drawn to the entrepreneurial Publisher opportunity or a more traditional editorial, design, or support role, it’s worth doing your homework on compensation structure, role expectations, and local market conditions before applying. With realistic expectations and the right preparation, best version media jobs can offer a genuinely flexible and rewarding path, particularly for people who enjoy sales, storytelling, and community engagement.
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