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For a variety of reasons, which I probably shouldn’t go into, I think this is awesome:

usb-typewriter-pc

The video at the end shows a mash-up between an iPad and what looks like an old Smith Corona typewriter. Although, how do you “undo”?

Haley’s Facebook Makeover Contest Ends Today!

That’s right–you have a few hours left to kick it into high gear and enter our Facebook Makeover Contest. Tomorrow, we’ll pick one lucky staffing firm to receive a FREE company Facebook page.

There are already over 50 great entries and more coming in every minute. Check out a few below…

Read the rest of this entry »

To celebrate back to school time (and because we know you’re going to be busy), we’re giving you a heads up on the next two Lunch with Haley webinars that you won’t want to miss!

Here’s the schedule:

HaleyMail LIVE
Thursday, September 9th at 2pm EDT
Take a tour of the ONLY educational marketing system built specifically for the staffing industry.

Integrating Sales & Marketing
Thursday, September 16th at 2pm EDT
Discover how to best use marketing to maximize the effectiveness of your sales efforts.

To reserve your FREE seat, visit:
http://lunchwithhaley.com/

We hope you’ll join us!

Q: Should my staffing firm be on Facebook?

A: Hands down, yes!  And here are 10 great reasons why:

1. If Facebook was a country, it would be the third largest by population! Yes that’s right, there are over 500 million active users of Facebook.  According to the company, 50% of users log on to Facebook  in any given day.  Check out this cool graphic for some more interesting stats.
2. It’s a simple way to stay top-of-mind with candidates and prospects. How?  By sharing relevant content.  Users can “Like” the content that you post, they can also see your latest news, job updates and opportunities because if they “Like” your company, updates are fed to their home page.  If you post content frequently, it’s a great way to stay in front ofcandidates, clients and prospects without having to hard sell.
3. Facebook users spend an average of 55 minutes per day using the interface. That’s almost an hour a day!  These days, nobody is focusing on one thing for that long!  If you’re looking for a platform to grab customer or candidate attention, this might just be the solution.
4. The networking possibilities are endless. In fact, the average user is connected to 80 community pages, groups and events and has about 130 friends.  Your company page has the potential to reach prospects and candidates who have never heard of your staffing company.
5. It’s convenient and you can take it to go. Gone are the days when you could only access Facebook from your PC.  Now, users can access Facebook from just about anywhere, as long as they have a mobile device.  Currently, there are more than 150 million active users accessing Facebook through their mobile devices.
6. It gives people a reason to interact with you. To make your Facebook page a success you must create a solid reason of why someone should interact with your company page.  For example, you are sharing relevant content that speaks to a company’s challenges or you are posting job opportunities that are hard to find in your area.  Reasons such as this will entice more people to “Like” your company page.  Another way to keep users engaged is to solicit feedback or other forms of interaction.
7. It’s like a virtual Grand Central Terminal. Facebook might just be the centralized “hub” of social media.  Yahoo!, MySpace, Hotmail and more are integrating Facebook so that you don’t actually have to be logged into Facebook to get updates.  You can also feed your blog to Facebook so that you don’t have to spend so much time making updates.
8. It’s searchable. A company page will improve your SEO (Search Engine Optimization).  Facebook recently made it possible to allow your Facebook to show up on public searches.  This is another great way to get more traffic to your page and your website.
9. It’s a free recruiting tool. You can post jobs to your Facebook page.  We can even automate this.  For an example, see our client StaffEx’s page. And if you still need convincing…
10. We’re giving away a company page for FREE! Because all of us at Haley Marketing really buy into the power of social media, we’re giving away a FREE Company Facebook Page Makeover.  So if your page is in need of a revamp or if you don’t even have a page yet, consider entering.  To enter visit: http://www.facebook.com/HaleyMarketing.  But hurry, the deadline is just one week away.

If you need any help developing a Facebook page for your company or would like to know more about our social media services, feel free to give me a call at 888-696-2900 or send an email to jjordan@haleymarketing.com.

~ Jennifer Jordan

Sources:

Baer, Jay.  11 Mind-Blowing Reasons Your Business Needs Facebook.  Social Media Examiner. Retrieved from site August 2010.

Facebook.  Facebook Press Room Statistics.  Retrieved from site  August 2010.

Our Creative Director, Keith Cassidy, went “over the hill” Sunday, and we’re celebrating his 40th birthday in, and around, the office.

The BIG Four-Oh.

Hello Kitty meets Hello Forty

Happy Birthday, Keith!

Here’s a link to a blog post from leading graphic designer I follow:

Chinese Proverbs for Designers

While Mr. Airey has added commentary to these for a designer’s point of view, I was struck by how relevant these are, still, to other industries and disciplines. My favorite is “Customers are jade; merchandise is grass.”

Q: I found pictures on Google Images that I like.  Can I use them on my website?

A: In short, no.  Before you use any image on your website (or for any other purpose), you must have the right to do so.  If you use an image without paying for it, you could be sued by the copyright holder.

According to Google:  The images identified by the Google Image Search service may be protected by copyrights. Although you can locate and access the images through our service, we cannot grant you any rights to use them for any purpose other than viewing them on the web.  Accordingly, if you would like to use any images you have found through our service, we advise you to contact the site owner to obtain the requisite permissions.

And just in case you think this is “no big deal,” consider the fact that stock photography companies are using software to search out pirated images and are aggressively going after copyright violators. If they find unlicensed images on your website, they’ll send you a demand letter for as much as $1,000 per image. That can add up to tens of thousands of dollars if you have a significant number of images on your website or blog without the proper authorization.

So how do you protect yourself?

1. Don’t ever use Google Images as a source of pictures for your marketing.
2. If you are going to use stock photography, illustrations or videos, purchase your images from a well-known firm that provides indemnity to you for using images they provide  (at Haley Marketing, we use Thinkstock).
3. If you want original pictures, you need to hire a photographer or illustrator.  However, be sure you understand what you are buying. Many artists only license the use of images for a specific purpose.  Make sure you have an agreement that spells out exactly how you are allowed to use the image and for how long.  You also want to make sure you have releases from the creator of the image, any person (or professional model) used in the image, and any firm holding a trademark that can be seen in your image.

   Check out this link for a quick video that explains Image Rights: http://www.stockphotorights.com/
   

4. Don’t assume that just because you hired a designer (or a design firm) that you’re off the hook.  Unfortunately, some designers try to save money by re-using imagery across client projects. Unless they have the rights to do this, you can be held liable for images they are stealing.  Be sure to ask any design firm you use where and how they get the images for your project.

At Haley Marketing, we invest in an annual subscription to Thinkstock. Our subscription gives us the ability to provide imagery for all our clients’ projects–without having to separately license individual photos or illustrations.  We love this subscription because it provides our clients the ability to choose pictures from an enormous library, ensures protection from copyright issues, and reduces costs for our clients by not having to license individual images.

If you have questions or want more information about how you can legally obtain imagery for your projects, feel free to drop me a line: kcassidy@haleymarketing.com.

Keith

Congratulations to Brad, Nicole, and big brother Connor who welcomed Reese Marion Smith into the world Thursday night. Reese was born at 7 pounds, 5 ounces, and was 19 3/4 inches long. Both Mom and baby are doing great!

On the scale of beers, Pabst Blue Ribbon (PBR) is closer to Milwaukee’s Best Light (remember that awful tasting beer in the keg in college) then Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA (the expensive beer that your beer lover friend from down the street stocks in their bar).

At least in the U.S.

PBR goes for $44 a bottle in China.

$44, let that sink in for a moment.

It got me to thinking.  What service do you provide that you could rebrand to a new market at a premium price?  Is it background checks for companies that do their own hiring?  Maybe it’s skills testing for benchmarking purposes.  I’d love to hear your thoughts on new markets for staffing services.  And on that note, I’m off to the beer store for a case of good ‘ole (cheap) PBR…

Want to have a little fun (and maybe even add some marketing value) to your Facebook status updates? 

Check out these 10 Cool Facebook Status Tips and Tricks. 

Have you entered our Facebook Company Page Makeover Contest?

Well, what are you waiting for?