The number one problem businesses tell me they have today is finding people who want to work. The additional Federal unemployment dollars have made it more profitable for people to stay at home than to work. Unfortunately, this means that businesses have had to change their hours of operation, days open, etc. because they don't have enough staff.

But this is ending! In some states, like Oklahoma and Texas, the Federal subsidy ends June 26. Already, driving down any street shows business after business with "now hiring" signs prominently displayed. By July 1, all are hoping that people will be looking for jobs.

Which brings us to the subject of this newsletter: using radio for recruitment advertising. In years past, recruitment ads made up a large part of newspaper revenue. Not so today. Recruitment ads have migrated to the Internet. Sites like Indeed, Zip Recruiter, Linked In and even Facebook take a good share of recruitment revenue.

Radio is a perfect recruiting tool. My experience has been that the person looking for the job is not always the person who hears the ad. Someone they know hears it and tells them. Word of mouth at its best. In fact, I've hired people who told me that this was the pathway they took.

How do we go about selling recruiting ads? Today, there are several areas to consider. Area #1 is any current client you have. Chances are, they are looking for people. Ask them. Bring them a plan. They already know and trust you but they may never have thought about using your stations for recruiting.

Area #2 is ANYWHERE you see a "now hiring" sign displayed. Stop and make an appointment to talk with them about how we can help.

Area #3 is the HR department of larger stores. HR directors have a separate set of funds to use for hiring. This person is usually NOT the marketing manager you have dealt with in the past. The time is now to identify the HR person, make an appointment and find out what types of openings they have. It's helpful to make the connection BEFORE they need to hire. The key is to make it simple for them. HR directors, especially those who work for companies that have plants, deal with a constant turnover in employees. When they have an opening, they need to be able to email or call us and place the order. Having arrangements made beforehand makes it simple. Many stations work out a pre-determined schedule that is simply plugged in when needed. Ad copy will vary based on the specific job opening.

We know there is a 60,000 person shortage of truck drivers. Who in your area employs truck drivers? Chances are they need some now! And, how about truck driving schools? Even schools out of your area may want to entice students.

Now is the perfect time for radio to shine in helping our clients to staff up, to prepare for revenue recovery. Recruitment opens a new area of revenue for us. They win: we win: the country wins!