Your hiring problem is a marketing problem

Ask a Naples owner what's holding back growth and you rarely hear "customers." You hear "people."

The demand is there. The crew to serve it isn't.

At a 2023 workforce housing forum, the CEO of NCH, one of the county's largest employers, said 40% of its workforce lives outside Collier County. The same forum heard from the sheriff's office and the school district. Same story.

You can't fix housing costs. You can fix how you look to the person deciding whether the drive is worth it.

A good technician, hygienist or line cook with a 45-minute commute has options in Lee County, closer to home. Before they apply, they do what your customers do. They look you up.

What do they find?

• Your Google reviews. Candidates read them too. A business customers love is a business with fewer bad days.
• Your social feed. Stock photos and sale graphics say nothing. Your actual team on an actual job says plenty.
• Your careers page. If it's a form and a paragraph, you've told them nothing about pay, schedule or who they'd work with.
• Your reply time. The best candidates are gone in days. Answer applications the way you'd answer a hot lead.

The same brand that wins the customer wins the hire. Owners who split those into two problems pay twice: once for ads that don't convert, and again for a job post nobody good answers.

Show the work. Show the people. Say what you pay. Most of your competitors won't, and that's the opening.