Peanuts to Profits With Thor Schrock
Peanuts to Profits With Thor Schrock

Last December I attended a seminar about the various ways radio advertising can be used to accomplish goals other than simple product and service marketing.

One of the speakers spoke about using radio to recruit new employees rather than the newspaper or a recruitment service – especially when you are hiring for key positions.

Why Use Radio to Recruit Employees?

For one thing, it can be less expensive than the newspaper and is definitely less expensive than a recruiting service.

Schrock is hiring a Web Development Director, and it would have cost us over $900 to place a classified ad in the Lincoln Journal Star for that position.

A recruiter would have charged a percentage of the employees annual salary – typically 10% – which would have been up to $4,000 for this position.

Second, using radio allows us to do more than just look for an employee with an ad. It also tells all of the station’s listeners that we are hiring, we pay well, and that working at Schrock is a great experience.

While we are reaching out to potential employees, we are also increasing our brand awareness.

Here is the ad we ran for our Web Development Director position.

What Kind of Employees Do You Find With Radio?

The biggest reason to use radio for recruitment is so simple most HR managers miss it.

When you post an ad on Craigslist, in the classifieds, or on Monster you are advertising to the available pool of unemployed workers – or at best un-loyal workers who are always shopping around.

When you think about it, the people you want to reach are the ones that employers have held on to. These key people have the best skill sets, the highest degree of training, and are competent at what they do.

When you hire from the pool of employed people rather than the pool of unemployed people you get fewer applicants, but the applicants you do get are of a much higher caliber.

So How Much Does a Recruitment Ad Cost?

We ran an ad about 60 times on one local station for about $800. We had one very qualified applicant, currently employed with a competitor, on the first day the ad ran. The ad is still running, so I will post about how it comes out.

Schrock Innovations is seeking a Director for our Website Services Division in our Lincoln, NE Service Center. For the right candidate, this is an opportunity to make a real difference in the way business and non-profit organizations operate every day.

This is a description of what you can expect from the position and what we are looking for in a candidate:

Lincoln’s #1 Computer Repair Company is looking for a charismatic, energetic department supervisor to oversee our Web Development Division.

This position requires excellent customer service skills, a genuine desire to help our clients achieve their business goals, and over-the-top communication skills.

Direct responsibilities for this position include:

* Meet with web development clients and potential clients to identify needs and create plans to meet those needs
* Oversee the progress of our coders and ensure their work is meeting the expectations of our clients
* Customer relationship management tasks
* The development of a monthly client newsletter
* Coding minor HTML updates and image changes on client websites
* Prospecting for potential new clients
* Working with our service providers on any issues that arise
* Provide and maintain an organizational framework for the Web Development Division

A qualified candidate must be able to:

* Work in our Service Center in Lincoln, NE (this is not a telecommute position)
* Maintain a pleasant, professional demeanor at all times
* Understand web design business concepts such as hosting, reserving a domain, etc..
* Develop and skillfully present website proposals for clients and potential clients
* Edit existing HTML code with the assistance of Adobe Dreamweaver CS3
* Do basic image manipulation using Adobe Photoshop CS3 (resize an image, change resolution, etc)
* Work a 45-50 hour work week

Requirements for this Position:

* Applicant must have a valid driver’s license and current insurance
* Applicant must pass a thorough background check
* Experience in coding is a considerable plus, but limited training is also available
* Experience in business management, project management, or a similar field is a plus

Additional Responsibilities:

* Applicant will be required to fill in on the Front Desk 1-2 days a week
* Applicant may be required to answer phones, assist customers, or perform other assigned duties

Compensation:

* $30,000 to $40,000 annual salary based upon qualifications and experience
* Bonuses based on achieving specific performance goals
* 401K retirement package with employer match
* Employee Assistance Program
* Discounted products and services

You can win Apple’s latest creation, the iPad just by being a part of the nationally-syndicated Living Digital radio show! The Living Digital show covers today’s technology from cell phones, to 3D TV to your personal computer with a special focus on how your technology impacts your life. The show airs from 2-5 PM CST [...]

The Anti Phishing Working Group reported that in the third quarter of 2009, 48% of the computers scanned for malware were infected with downloaders, password stealers, or other forms of malware.

Their report also indicated a 5.5% increase in reports of first time phishing attempts, with an overall decrease in the number of victims.

This indicates that cyber criminals are working faster to get new phishing sites online, but those sites are being discovered and neutralized more quickly than ever.

The report continues on to indicate that the single greatest problem in the battle against phishing scams is a general lack of awareness among those in the public about how the scams work and how to avoid becoming a victim.

If 2009 was the year of the netbook then 2010 may be the year of the slate PC.

Apple’s iPad tablet device on follows the demonstration of an HP tablet device (also called a slate PC) at the CES.

As the recession hit the US in 2009, computer sales were only 2.8% up in the US as compared to a 24% increase in 2008. In fact the first three quarters of 2009 were awful for computer sales across the country – until netbooks saved the day in Q4.

The idea of a 10″ touch screen device that has the power of a notebook and the size of a netbook intrigues me. I can see moving my front desk employees off their desktop PCs and onto iPads or Slates.

Size and Options Mater

I thought it was really interesting that Apple is only introducing the iPad in one size. Apple is clearly targeting the iPad as a lifestyle device while PC manufacturers are targeting the slate form factor as a flexible and useful productivity tool.

Its almost like apple is lining up another Mac vs. PC battle that they can never win – a proprietary Apple device with a closed software distribution channel and PC with flexible devices with customizable options and a ton of inexpensive software already in the pipe.

It’s all About the Content Stupid

While PC manufacturers will most likely sell many more slates than Apple will iPads, the real money is not in the device its self, it is in the content that is consumed on the device.

Apple will be releasing its new web-based version of iTunes later this year, which will allow Apple users to synchronize their content between multiple devices like an iPhone, and iPod and an iPad.

Apple followed a similar release model with the iPhone. When the 1st generation phone was released it was lacking in many basic cell phone features (ability to shoot video, picture messaging, etc) yet Apple released it anyway. They needed to get a device in the market so developers would begin building content.

As the content grew, so did iPhone’s advantage over other smart phones and subsequent versions could be subsidized to include more features because Apple was making it back on the content.

I would expect a similar model for the iPad. The 1st generation device has no webcam, yet has software handles for video calling for example. I would expect subsequent revisions of the iPad to add additional features as the content growth allows.

How do you think the iPad will do?