Staffing Robot - Healthcare Staffing Technology, Design & Marketing Blog

QR Code Marketing Tips For Your Staffing Company

Have you seen these odd looking shapes before?

 

 

 

 

 

Most likely you've seen them on movie posters or magazine ads. Although similar, these symbols are not bar codes or UPC symbols. This funny looking square of black pixels is called a 'Quick Response Code' or 'QR Code' for short.

If you're unfamiliar, A QR Code is a simple ways for people to quickly interact with web based content through a mobile device. QR Code usage has increased greatly in recent years due to the wide-spread public acceptance of smart phones. Nielsen recently released a study revealing that 43% of all U.S. mobile phone subscribers own smart phones. For subscribers between the ages of 25 - 34, that percentage goes up to 62%. All of these phones are capable of scanning QR Codes.

The process for interacting with a QR Code is simple:
1) Download a QR Code reader app on your smart phone. You can easily find them in the appropriate app store for your iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile phone, etc. Some cost money but there's really no reason to pay for one. The free ones work just fine.

2) Now, when you see a QR Code, bring up your QR Code reader app on your phone. Next, scan the image, similar to taking a picture (many of these apps scan as soon as the QR Code is in focus), and you will be taken to web content through your mobile phone such as a web page, contact information, images, etc.

 

QR Codes are simple to make. You can have your favorite staffing website design and marketing company make them for you or you can create them yourself for free. Just google for 'QR Code generator' and you'll have plenty of good options. You can generate QR Codes in different sizes and you can also brand QR Codes with different symbols and colors. Be careful though, if you change up too many of the pixels the QR Codes won't be scannable. Also, some QR Code readers have a difficult time with QR Codes in different colors. Just be sure you test your final product with multiple devices and apps.

So, now that you know what a QR Code is and how to make one, most likely you're next question is - "What can my company actually do with QR Codes?"

Here are some ideas and creative suggestions on how your staffing company can effectively use QR Codes in your marketing efforts:

Magazine and other print ads. QR Codes are a great way to bridge your offline and online marketing efforts. Simply add a QR Code into any print material you produce and you'll be able to instantly share web content with your audience. The best part? You now have an even easier way to track the success of these print campaigns.

Company feedback cards. Looking for customer feedback? Create some feedback cards with QR Codes to hand out to your customers. You can create cards to ask for company wide feedback or employee specific feedback.

 

Business cards. Placing a QR Code on your business card is a great way to present a more interactive connection with someone you just met or a new customer.

 

Poster displays and clothing. Next time your at a trade show try placing QR Codes on all of your posters, display materials, even company clothing (shirts, hats, etc.)

Event marketing. The next time you're participating in or putting on an event, consider places you could add a QR code. Everything from leave behinds to print outs of our slides make great places for QR Codes.

Where should your QR Codes link to? Thought you'd never ask! Here are some suggestions on where you can link your QR Codes to for the best results:

• Your cmpany website
• Your company Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or other social pages
• Web contests, games and referral programs
• Exclusive content
• Special coupons or discounts
• Targeted landing pages - especially ones with forms to help you generate new business leads.
• Company contact information.
• Personal contact information. QR Codes can do more than simply link somewhere. They can actually store data like your personal contact information. This way, when someone scans your QR Code, all of the contained contact information is instantly pulled into the contact list on their device. 
• Downloadable content like a white paper or infographic.
• Your job board. Recruiting new candidates? Handing out cards and promo items with QR Codes linked to your job board is a great way to get the attention of new candidates on the go.

Two final tips when it comes to QR Code marketing.
1) Be sure any web page you bring someone to from a QR Code is optimized for mobile devices. Using a mobile marketing tactic like QR Codes and asking people to engage with you through their mobile device, only to bring them to a web page not optimized for mobile devices is a major fail.

2) Don't put QR Codes in your email signature or on a web page. No one is going to scan an image on a web page with their mobile device - just to go to a web page. Please just don't do it. Please.

QR Codes are an excellent new marketing opportunity for your staffing company. There is also a lot of supporting data out there suggesting QR Codes are here to stay and rapidly gaining in popularity/usage. Think of QR Codes as a perfect way to bridge your offline and online marketing efforts for your staffing company.

Questions or want more information on what your staffing company can do with QR Codes? Contact Staffing Robot today.

Helpful links and Resources:

QR Code Apps:
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/qr-app/id320140689?mt=8
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/qr-code-reader-and-scanner/id388175979?mt=8
http://news.cnet.com/qr-code-readers-for-iphone
https://market.android.com/details?id=la.droid.qr&hl=en

QR Code Generators:
http://www.systemid.com/barcode_generator/
http://qrcode.kaywa.com/
http://goqr.me/
http://tag.microsoft.com/home.aspx

Creative examples of QR Code marketing:
http://mobilecustomersurvey.com/
http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/inspiring-qr-codes/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=GbplSdh0lGU
http://cardswapp.com/
http://www.awwwards.com/10-creative-uses-of-qr-codes.html

Bullhorn Launches New Career Site: theFIT

Bullhorn released another interesting product today: theFIT.

 

In there words:

theFIT.com is a place where job seekers and employees can get answers to those awkward questions that they really want to know, but would never ask.

Bullhorn claims the intent of theFIT is not a "dig-up-dirt site" but more about understanding the corporate culture of where people work or want to work.

What do you think?

 

Design Your Own Scrubs on TailorMed

Brilliant business by TailorMed. Design your own scrubs for you or your business.

This is an incredibly simple site with a great business behind it. If you're looking for some unique scrubs there's no better way to get them than by making your own. 

Staffing Robot Wins eHealthcare Leadership Award for Best Healthcare Website Design!

Staffing Robot won the eHealthcare Leadership - Platinum Award for Best Website Design in the Healthcare Category! We were nominated for the award based on the Medical Solutions website we developed earlier this year.

The eHealthcare Leadership Awards program was developed and first presented 12 years ago by eHealthcare Strategy & Trends in an effort to identify and reward those advancing design and development in healthcare. 

More than 300 organizations, representing a broad industry spectrum, received recognition for their outstanding websites and digital communications at a special presentation in Orlando on November 9 during the Fifteenth Annual Healthcare Internet Conference. Winners of the 2011 eHealthcare Leadership Awards were selected from nearly 1,200 entries. A total of 114 individuals familiar with healthcare and the Internet judged the entries. 

Judges looked at how websites and other digital communications compared with others in their organization’s classification. They also reviewed entries based on a multi-point standard of Internet excellence. The best overall Internet site category, for example, had to pass muster on more than 40 factors.

“Despite the challenging economic environment, organizations have continued to explore and invest in digital communications,” says Mark Gothberg, eHealthcare Leadership Awards chairman. “A significant number of organizations have made major improvements in their websites, expanded involvement in social media, more fully integrated traditional marketing with new media vehicles, and initiated mobile efforts to better serve current and future customers.”

Gothberg notes that improvements in websites were largely focused on enhancing visual interest, perfecting navigation, and showcasing key service lines. Videos, audios, virtual tours, social media tie-ins, and calls-to-action now populate many key service sections.

We're very honored to receive this award and very thankful to work with such an excellent company like Medical Solutions who provided us with the opportunity in creating such a collaborative and now 'award winning' website!

So, who wants to help us win next year? Contact us and let's get to developing your staffing website!

 

Customer Satisfaction and Feedback Surveys Just Got Easier

How do you measure customer happiness and engagement? Are you still sending out lengthy surveys hoping for a response?

What about motivating your customer facing sales, staffing, support and recruiting teams? Hoping they're just happy with their day to day?

Well now there's a better way! We're pleased to announce Hively. Hively is the simplest way to gather customer feedback and measure customer satisfaction, while motivating your team members to improve the service they provide.

Hively better connects businesses with their customers by helping them gather ongoing, real time customer feedback in a fun and engaging way.

"Most companies send customer surveys out to gather feedback. But surveys have a low engagement rate because they're time consuming to create and to complete," said Jason Lander, Founder and CEO of Staffing Robot. "In addition, survey data is difficult to act upon because it's aggregated, not real time and rarely (if ever) makes it's way to the people who need it most - the employees interacting with your customers."

With Hively, your team members invite customers to give feedback by constantly asking them to rate the service they just received. These feedback requests are sent in every email or after every phone call, sales meeting, webinar, or training your customers receive. Team members get points for the feedback they receive and are ranked amongst their team based on their customer happiness score. 

Check out the Hively feature tour here.

By capturing real time customer feedback, Hively helps businesses respond to their customers in a timely manner. Positive comments can be shared publicly as testimonials and negative issues can be addressed immediately. Hively takes only a few minutes to set up and easily integrates with any email client, CRM or ticket tracking system.

"There's never been a simpler and more effective way to measure customer satisfaction and reward team members for providing exceptional service," said Lander.

Ready to improve your customer and team happiness? Sign up for Hively today!

Hively Customer Support App Video on Meet the Startup!

We've been a bit silent on our blog here but it's because we've been busy, busy...bees! Yes, bees...as in Hively.

What's Hively? Still haven't heard? You haven't signed up yet? You can learn more Hively here and how to better gather customer feedback, measure your support team's performance and reward your top performing employees. Hively is still in beta but already the response has been terrific. Interested in trying it out? Sign up for Hively here.

Also, take a look at the video below of one of our founders of Staffing Robot talking about the concept behind Hively on Meet the Start Up.

Staffing Robot Launches First Mobile Website for Healthcare Staffing Industry with Medical Solutions

Over the last couple of months we've been working on a large project with one of the leading staffing agencies in the healthcare staffing industry. The project has been incredibly difficult to keep secret because we knew the work we were doing was going to really push things forward in the industry. And we had a blast doing it! Well finally, were able to announce the results of the project.

Staffing Robot has built and delivered the first mobile website in the healthcare staffing industry! Medical Solutions hired us a few months ago for the purposes of rebranding and improving their existing website. During that process we also worked with them to create a mobile version of their site to deliver a better and more appropriate experience to mobile based users. The site is the first of its kind for the healthcare staffing industry.

As a web development and services company for the healthcare staffing industry, Staffing Robot works with clients of all sizes and budgets. However, we're constantly seeking out innovative clients that are leaders in the space and willing to try new things. Medical Solutions fit this description perfectly. Medical Solutions recognized the opportunity presented by delivering their services in a mobile environment, and they stepped up to the challenge of delivering that solution.

The new mobile website helps Medical Solutions provide their clients and healthcare professionals easy access through their mobile devices, to the most popular and relevant services of their website medicalsolutions.com. The mobile website looks and performs like any phone app found on most smart phones, with the key difference being that it is accessed via the web, not through any specific device or platform. That means whether you have an iPhone, Android, iPad or Blackberry - the site's features and functions are available to you.

The mobile site provides quick, convenient access to key information such as a newly designed job search for travel nurses, easy nurse job application format, educational and testimonial videos for travelers, travel nursing news and announcements, and important information about Medical Solutions. 

In addition, Staffing Robot also built a new 'desktop' website for Medical Solutions. A visitor to the site is automatically given either the desktop or the mobile experience based on whether they access the site with a desktop computer or a mobile device. The new Medical Solutions website puts the healthcare travelers front and center by letting them talk about their experiences of being a travel nurse. Healthcare travelers that want to participate on the site can create an account at medicalsolutions.com or sign up with their Facebook credentials. All visitors can now simply navigate through the site to find helpful information related to their medical profession or client service needs. The newly designed healthcare job search also allows those interested in travel nursing to quickly find interesting assignments in any location and profession they choose. 

The final component to our work with Medical Solutions was in developing their new brand identity. This identity included the creation of a new logo mark, typeface, color palette and visual elements that represent the diversity and individuality Medical Solutions promotes. The new brand identity is designed to better reflect Medical Solutions customer first mentality, built on a continuing history of innovative ideas and services that meet the needs of traveling healthcare professionals as well as hospitals and other healthcare facilities. 

The most satisfaction Staffing Robot gets from a project like this is knowing our clients are satisfied.

Being able to outsource our website development to Staffing Robot has freed us to think more strategically while remaining focused on our day to day objectives," said Dale Williams, Medical Solutions co-founder. "We needed a company that understood our audience and our industry, and could assist us with the technical challenges of a project this size. I couldn't be more pleased with our choice to partner with Staffing Robot on this endeavor.

We're incredibly excited to watch Medical Solutions grow and see all the success we know they'll have with their new ability to connect with their audience via mobile devices. And, we're very excited to have had the opportunity to help bring such a solution to the healthcare staffing industry as a whole.

Check out their new site and give it a try. Our favorite thing to do is to first view it on your desktop computer, and then go to the same site on your mobile phone for a completely separate experience! Take a look and let us know what you think. You can read our full press release here: first mobile website for the healthcare staffing industy.

So that said, the only question we have now is - who's next? Innovative clients wanted. Please contact us here: CONTACT STAFFING ROBOT.

 

Healthcare Staffing Social Networking - Healthcare Travelbook

Social networking is all the rage these days. Many companies in the healthcare staffing industry are finding tremendous growth and success from their marketing efforts in this area. Facebook and LinkedIn seem to be the platform of choice for most healthcare staffing companies. However, YouTube and Twitter are also gaining more traction in the healthcare staffing industry.

Industry specific social media sites can bring a lot of value to participants in that industry. One of the most successful industry specific social media sites is Avvo. Avvo started as a social networking and rating site for laywers. It now also includes Doctors. In the healthcare staffing industry MedXCentral and MedicalMingle have created fairly successful social networking environments. MedXCentral is a more general platform for healthcare and MedicalMingle is open for healthcare professionals, recruiters and companies in the space.

Last year, a new social networking site designed specifically for travel nurses started up called Healthcare Travelbook. The community is for everyone that works in the travel healthcare industry. This includes travelers and per diem staff, agency recruiters, and other supporting businesses. Although anyone in the industry can sign up, Healthcare Travelbook is primarily geared toward travel professionals. If you are a not an actual traveler your use of the site is more restricted.


The Healthcare Travelbook was created by Wes and Rebecca Herdlein. Wes has been a Physical Therapist for over 12 years and has been traveling for the past 6 years. As a traveler, Wes wanted a central environment online whereby travelers could share information and interact with each other. So he and his wife Rebecca created Healthcare Travelbook.

The goal of Heatlhcare Travelbook is to be the primary tool used by travelers and recruiters to educate, inform, and improve the lives and careers of other travelers. Currently the site has over 1400 members and is growing daily. In the past couple of months they have added almost 1000 new members. The members include nursing, allied, and recruiting professionals.

Some key features of the site include:

• Healthcare Staffing Blogs – from industry experts, companies and healthcare travelers
• Ask a Recruiter Forum – questions and answers to and from travelers
• Reviews – of agencies, recruiters, assignment locations, and hospitals
• Job Board – for allied and nursing careers
• Photo and video sharing
• Search - to find other travelers or professionals in your area
• File Sharing – to share licensing forms, resume templates, and other helpful files
• Groups – coming soon and will be open for the community to create

The Healthcare Travelbook certainly seems to be providing a great resource for travelers in the industry. Hopefully it will continue to gain traction. From our perspective, it would be nice to see more controls and participation features for companies in the industry. As travelers get in there and start commenting on everything, healthcare staffing companies and facilities will most likely need these features and controls to keep the site from turning into a complaint forum.

It's great to see new tech initiatives starting up in the industry and also incorporating a social aspect. Check out the Healthcare Travelbook. Sign up and tell us what you think. Also, once you're in, connect with Staffing Robot and be our friend!

Staffing Robot Healthcare Staffing Website Design Services Re-design!

We've been kind of quiet over the last couple weeks but we haven't gone anywhere. In fact, quite the opposite. Recently we brought on several new clients that all have great projects. We'll show you the work we've done for them once we're finished.

We also decided to redesign our website and change up some of our service offerings. We simplified our site and made things easier to find. We also think it's a much better way to showcase our software products for healthcare staffing agencies and our sample work portfolio. Check it out: Staffing Robot Healthcare Staffing Website Design.

In addition, over the last couple of months we've had a lot of staffing companies and healthcare organizations inquire about our prices and the specifics of the services we offer. So, in an effort to make things even more straight forward we've listed all of our pricing and services directly on our site!

Other companies try to complicate or hide their pricing. However, we want to be different and make things simple by putting all of this right on our site for you to see. Now you can easily find the specifics of each service we offer and choose the ones that best fit within your budget.

Staffing Robot New Service Offerings:

Website Design for Healthcare Staffing Companies. We now offer 3 design packages to chose from. You can select from our 'Starter' 'Moving Up' or 'The Show' packages.

The Starter and Moving Up packages allow you to chose from template based themes that all come with a Content Management System for easily updating your site. The Show package provides you with a custom website design and advanced interactive options that will help you grow your business and recruit new healthcare professionals. These new services help you chose a package that best fits within your budget.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Your Healthcare Staffing Company. Staffing Robot now offers 3 Search Engine Optimization packages that will help you meet your goals within your specific budget. Our Recruiting SEO package is focused on helping your improve your recruiting strategy for healthcare professionals. The Client SEO package is focused on ensuring new clients find you when they need your services. Finally, our Total SEO package is a complete SEO package for your entire website that focuses on both recruting and obtaining new clients.

Healthcare Staffing Social Media Marketing. Whether you're just starting out with social media or ready to launch a successful campaign, we now have 3 packages designed to help your healthcare staffing agency with social media marketing. The Starter package gets you set up on the social media platforms of your choice. The Social Media Management package gets you going with advanced ROI and brand management tracking. The Social Media Campaign package delivers a complete Social Media Marketing campaign to you that will positively impact your social media recruiting and client acquisition strategies.

Branding and Logo Design. Staffing Robot will help you create and promote a winning brand. Our branding packages give you everything from basic logo design with our Starter package, to delivering business card and letterhead layouts with our Premium package, all the way a complete brand identity for your staffing company with our Deluxe branding package.

Staffing Robot Software Product Offerings:

Email Marketing Software for Healthcare Staffing Companies. We launched ePromoter a few months ago and have been really please with the adoption so far. Several staffing agencies have told us they really love the application and the ability it gives them to create and track the success of their email marketing campaigns. Sign up today and start sending e-newsletters to your healthcare professionals and clients.

Hively. We'll reveal more about this product soon! In the meantime, look out for invitations to be a beta tester!

As always, Staffing Robot can also help you with custom software and mobile web development. If you need a company to help bring your new idea to life or to ensure your website provides the same experience to your customers on mobile platforms like iPads and smart phones - we can help.

So take a look at our new site and let us know what you think. If you have any questions or would like a free estimate on your web project let us know and we'll get started right away!

Introducing ePromoter for Healthcare Staffing Email Marketing Campaigns

Staffing Robot is announcing the launch of our first product designed specifically to help healthcare staffing agencies manage their email marketing campaigns. We are happy to introduce to you - ePromoter!

Staffing Robot has the only email marketing software built specifically for the healthcare staffing industry. With ePromoter, launching your medical staffing email marketing campaign is simple.

 

ePromoter allows you to select from healthcare staffing specific email and e-newsletter templates, or have them custom tailored to match your agency's branding. You can even choose to manage your own e-newsletter marketing campaigns or let Staffing Robot do it for you.

 

You also have access to several add-on applications and features that allow you to import your contacts directly from your company's CRM like SalesForce, Google or Highrise. The best part? You can easily track all the data you need to manage and ensure a successful email marketing campaign. All of this is available at affordable and flexible pricing plans, based on the size of your email campaigns and comparable to other popular email marketing tools.

ePromoter from Staffing Robot provides you with everything you need to launch and manage successful email campaigns that help you:

• Connect with and recruit healthcare staff
• Promote new job opportunities and compensation incentives
• Introduce your brand and services to new and prospective clients

ePromoter is the only tool designed specifically for the healthcare staffing industry and includes:

• Fully customizable email & newsletter templates
• Email campaign management and data analysis reporting
• Contact list management
• Healthcare staffing content creation
• Complete Integration with your existing CRM tool

Email and e-newsletter marketing is one of the best ways to promote content to your clients and medical professional staff. It can also help you connect with new clients and stay in the minds of your most loyal followers. Successfully managed email marketing campaigns will increase your sales, build credibility, enhance your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and improve your brand awareness.

Have questions? Ready to get started? Your temp staffing agency's email marketing campaign can get kicked off today with ePromoter.