New England area small business owners need employees...desperately.

According to a report from the National Federation of Independent Business, 26% of small business owners say finding qualified workers is their number one problem. 

The report goes on to say that 88% of small business owners looking to hire new employees are finding there are no qualified candidates.

The historically low unemployment figures in the Boston area appears to be the root cause of local hiring woes. The metro area jobless rate stands at 2.1%. There are just not enough qualified workers to go around.

Most small business owners have exhausted the traditional methods of recruitment. These include online job board posts, newspaper ads, referral bonuses, and help wanted signs. All to no avail.

To successfully attract the qualified applicants they yearn for, local small business owners need to command the attention of 'passive' job seekers. The number one source for these candidates is Boston radio.

Suppose a Boston small business owner woke up one morning and found a 100-year-old machine in the basement of their store. She soon discovered that every time a dime was put into the machine, one dollar came out.  Imagine, now, how profitable that business would become.

Good news: such a contraption exists,  and every business owner probably has one in their cars, in their stores, in their homes, even on their phones. It's called the radio.

Over the past few years, Nielsen has conducted more than 20 studies to determine what type of return-on-investment (ROI) a business owner  can expect from radio advertising.  Although the results varied by industry, the average company generated $100 in sales for every $10 invested. Turning dimes into dollars.

Advertising is critical to the success of every New England small business owner.  One of the most powerful elements of any advertising campaign is how many people it reaches.

Nielsen, the world's largest consumer insights company, found that advertising reach has a more significant effect on sales than branding, recency, and context.

There are many ways a local business owner can advertise. This includes traditional media like Boston radio, local TV, and newspaper. It also includes online advertising options such as Facebook, Instagram, and Pandora.

They type of customer an individual business needs to reach depends on the goods and services the company sells. For instance, a daycare operator might want to reach households with young children. On the other hand, a real estate agent could be looking for consumers in the market to purchase a new home.

Boston area small business owners have depended on radio advertising to market their goods and services since the first New England radio station, WBZ, began broadcasting in 1921.

Today, thousand of local companies still invent in radio advertising. Partly, because it reaches 3,543,709 consumers every week, significantly more than any other medium. But, also because commercials on Boston radio are effective.

Meet five New England business area business owners are currently advertising on Boston radio to capture a larger share of the $100-billion local consumers spend every year.

"We advertise on Boston radio because it brings in new customers," says Elizabeth Russell-Skehan, VP of Marketing at Russell's Garden Center. "We like radio advertising because the commercials provide us with enough time to explain all of the products and services we offer."

Russell's, located just off of Route 20 in Wayland, MA., is set on a 55-acre farm, seven of which are open for retail 360 days per year. Half of what the garden center sells are plants including, annuals, perennials, and shrubs. 

The other half of their sales come from hardgoods including, garden supplies, tools, seeds, specialty gifts, and toys.

At Christmas time, Russell's sells 3000 Christmas trees. The company is also a full-service florist providing flowers for weddings, proms, bar mitzvahs, and other celebrations.

"New customers tell us all the time that they learned about what we do from our radio advertising."

For New England small business owners who depend on Valentine's Day to spike first-quarter sales, this year could prove to be a battle as the decline in celebrants is expected to continue.

Based on estimates from the National Retail Federation, 2.4 million Boston area consumers will be participating in the holiday this year. This is 20% fewer than ten years ago.

There is good news, however, for local business owners. Although there are will be fewer customers, local Valentine's Day spending is expected to grow to $388-million. This is 28% higher than a decade ago.

So, how does a New England retailer or restaurant win the battle for the hearts and wallets of romantic consumers?  Advertising is a necessary weapon to win this war.

No weapon is as potent as advertising on Boston radio.

By April 15th next year, 1.9 million residents in the Boston area will file a tax return.  More than 53% of these returns will be completed by the taxpayer themselves, either by hand or with the help of an online provider like Turbotax.

Every season, New England small business owners who specialize in tax preparation services lose customers to the do-it-yourself options.  This year, 916,000 local consumers will spend $176,000,000 with tax professionals. But, based on the average cost of services, more than $202,000,000 will stay in the wallets of the DIY crowd.

To clawback this enormous amount of money from the DIY market, local tax preparers will need to advertise the valuable benefits of using a professional.

The best advertising option for tax professionals is on Boston radio stations. Here's why:

"Advertising on Boston radio has helped to build our company's name and reputation," says Paul Kunze. "Without radio advertising, no one would know who we are."

Mr. Kunze is the Vice President/Director of Sales and Marketing for IntraSystems, a Braintree, MA. The company provides computing-infrastructure and cybersecurity solutions to mid-market and enterprise-sized companies.

The company was founded by Mr. Kunze in 1996 along with his childhood friend, Jim Hanrahan, who serves as President of IntraSystems.

"The majority of our customers are in the healthcare and financial industries," says Mr. Kunze. State and local governments are also a big part of our business."

"We work with our clients on assessment, design, product deployment, support, maintenance, and education. Few other companies can provide this depth of service."

"Our first customers came from cold-calls I was making from Jim's living room. It paid off, though, the first year we brought in $600,000 in sales."

In an attempt to accelerate growth, IntraSystems began advertising on Boston radio in 2002.

"We want to have a dominating presence in the area where people know us and love us," says Jim Nelson, Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer of Salem Five. "Advertising on Boston radio helps us do that."

Salem Five is a mutual community bank based in Salem, MA. It serves both retail and commercial customers online and from 36 branches across Middlesex and Essex Counties.

"As a mutual bank, we are owned by our customers. That's how it has been since 1855 when we opened as Salem Five Cents Saving Bank," says Mr. Nelson. "We were called that because our first depositors were kids who could open up an account with a nickel."

Finding new depositors is essential for the long term success of the bank. "We need to continue to grow to be able to serve our customers better," says Mr. Nelson.

"Deposit gathering is about building brand, which we accomplish in part, with advertising. For the past ten years, radio has commanded the largest share of our advertising budget."

For many generations of marketers, advertising on Boston television was considered the "gold standard". For a New England small business owner who craved massive reach, TV used to be the medium that could deliver.

Over the past few years, however, viewers have been abandoning local TV stations in vast numbers. This has propelled Boston radio into being the most potent reach medium among local consumers.

Every week, 3,552,145 adult consumers tune-in to their favorite Boston radio stations. This is significantly more than the 3,226,135 reached by local television.

For the past 39 years, Boston radio has reached almost 90% of all consumers. But, look what has happened to TV's audience.