Using Your Website To Market Your Private Schools

Hello, For some of you, you're already in your weekend. Here in Vancouver we're winding up Friday and getting ready for a wet weekend. That's OK, as it means snow at our local ski resorts. On Saturday I'm looking forward to watching our Canucks win their fifth road game in a row over Calgary! Our firm has been retained by a corporation to help them buy a language school in Vancouver. If you know of a language school that is interested in the potential sale of their institution, please encourage them to contact our firm. For that matter, you represent a K-12 private school that is thinking of putting your school on the market; please contact HEG as we represent a number of buyers. Today, I want to share with you a number of strategies you can use to make your school's web site more search engine friendly or optimized to ensure that your institution ranks at the top of web searches. Please read on to find out more about how you can maximize your school's marketing on the Internet. You need to find out if your school's website is in the fast lane of the information superhighway or stuck in a cyber cul-de-sac.      To your success,  Doug Halladay President Halladay Education Group P.S. Don't forget to go to our secure Online Store to invest in our Strategic Planning or Start-A-School Toolkits.

Where's HEG Working Right Now? Many of you ask what is HEG is being approached to work on next. Here's an update: Sale of Private High School in the western USA Sale of Beauty School with three sites/spas in Ontario  Strategic Plan for K-7 Catholic Private School in British Columbia Evaluation of three K-12 Private Schools in Abu Dhabi Market Study and Business Plan for Private Non-Profit International High School in Texas Strategic Plan for a K-12 Education Reform initiative in Saudi Arabia  Formation of a new PreK-9 IB Private School in Malaysia Formation of a new Private K-12 Canadian International K-12 School in Saudi Arabia   Feasibility Study and Business Plan for a new Private Early Childhood Center and Gr. 7-12 Tribal Senior School in Alabama If you're interested in our consulting services, and would like to discuss your needs further, please contact Doug Halladay by email  or call directly at 1-604-868-0002.   In The News Abu Dhabi Education Council: All Villa Schools Will Be Closed By 2013  Abu Dhabi City Guide - This comes in line with ADEC strategy to improve the private education sector and ensure the availability of a safe & healthy learning environment for all students in private schools. Mr. Yousif Al-Sheryani, ADEC's Private Schools & Quality Assurance... New private school for students with Asperger's to open in Lafayette  Daily Camera - By Amy Bounds/Camera Staff Writer Bridge Schools leaders knew the school needed a new focus, with enrollment declines making it impossible to keep the private Boulder middle and high school going. As they looked at the 20 or so students still at the...   Five Ways to Sabotage Your Nonprofit Mission Statement There are many more ways to muss up your mission statement, but avoiding these five will certainly help... How to Build a Gift Chart for a Fundraising Campaign What is a gift chart? It's a planning tool to tell you how many gifts and prospects you will need to raise a specific amount of money. The chart will help you see whether... More schools convert to charters as California education funds dip  San Jose Mercury News- AP LOS ANGELES -- More traditional neighborhood schools are looking to operate as charters because they can get huge increases in funding as well as flexibility in how they use it. The latest example is El Camino Real High School, one of Los Angeles... Solutions For Your School STARTING A SCHOOL Our experienced team can provide step-by-step 'turn-key' services to start your school in the USA, Canada, &  Internationally. Click here for more info. STRATEGIC PLANNING We're experienced developing Strategic Plans for schools globally. Our plan can focuses your school's mission, build consensus, donor confidence, & define priorities for your Board & Staff. No school should be without one. Click here for more info. BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOPS Great schools have great boards. Can you afford not to ? Our governance workshops & online board performance surveys fine-tunes your board's & focuses your priorities. Click here for more info. SCHOOL EVALUATION Are you sure your school is doing the best it can? Our In-Depth Performance Review assesses your school's performance against benchmarks & provides snap-shot right away. Click here for more info. BUYING AND SELLING SCHOOLS HEG & our licensed brokers assist buyers/sellers with mergers, purchases, & sales of K-12 Schools & Career Colleges in Canada, US, and Internationally. Click here for more info. Web-Based Marketing and Admissions for Private School    I read a good article in a local magazine by Andy Tilbrook on running businesses in 2011 and the use of websites, and noted overlapping lessons that could be applied to private school marketing and admissions. The question they posed in the article was whether your company's web site was in the fast lane of the information superhighway or stuck in a cyber cul-de-sac? Phrasing it differently, is your site driving parents and students to look at your school's services or are you missing a key marketing opportunity? On one hand, you need to have an attractive and functional web site that communicates your school's brand - your unique qualities and strengths, your benefits, and a compelling call to action to have them engage at some level to share their name and email address to draw them into the first stage of your marketing funnel. However, no matter how attractive your site is, it's underutilized if your online audience is too small. You can use pay-per-click strategies like Google Ads etc. to place your school's key words in front of potential parents/students, but this costs money (however it's a good strategy...do you do this?) However, there are other ways to boost your rankings in a search engine. This is called organic searches and it's based on how well your web site it optimized. WEB SITE OPTIMIZATION STRATEGIES 1). Submit Your Site To Key Search Engines Search engines don't just find your site by accident; they need to know that you exist. You need to submit your site to the: Google, Yahoo! and Bing (owned by Microsoft). Their links are: www.google.comladdurll http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit www.bingcomlwebmasterlsubmit sitepage.aspx You should also submit your site to DMOZ at www.dmoz.orglhelplsubmit.html. This is an independent, non-profit web­ monitoring site that links to Google's directory. However, since it's monitored by volunteers, it  takes time to reap rewards. 2). Does Your Site Have A Sitemap? A sitemap gives search engines a list of your website's pages and content. This helps the search engines and their spider bots search through your website and note your key words. There are several sites such as www.xml-sitemaps.com that can generate one for you. Again, you need to submit your sitemap to the search engines. 3).Using Keywords and Content Content is king when it comes to making your website visible to search engines and parents/students. Let's say you're private international boarding school in Dallas, Texas. What would potential parents/students type into a search engine? They might be looking for a school local to them, for a particular program, gender, or other unique feature. The text in your website should have these keywords. Have you got all these bases covered? But it's not how many times you use the keywords, but where they are placed. Search engines note where key words are placed, how they are emphasized (bold, italic, header), and even if they are hidden within the coding of graphics on your site. You can us Google's search­ based keyword tool (search "keyword tool" at www.google.com) to help you assess your keyword density. Ironically, Google doesn't take any account of keywords. Other search engines do, though. 4). Links To Your Website Links from other sites to yours can boost your rankings, so it's worth getting involved in forums and discussion boards to link back to your site. It's even better to have key words from other sites (anchor text) link back to your website, as it makes you an authority for that keyword. 5). Meta-Tags Are HTML Coding There is background coding in your website that can use your keywords that provide information about a web page. Your description meta-tag is hidden from view, but it's critical for search engines. It's your chance to describe succinctly what your website's about. And here's the big one, have each page of your website with a separate description. Don't waste it with the name of your school. Use keywords that will draw new parents and students to your school and rank you higher in searches. 6). Headings Where meta-tags are not visible, your headings are much more evident. These are vital for search engine robots to scan, so have them feature your site's keywords. NEXT STEP Now, armed with this information, go back to your school website designer and ensure that your site is search-engine optimized. There are no guarantees this will result in more students, but it will raise the profile of your site and put it in front of more potential parents. If you would like to receive written material about HEG, or would like to discuss your particular needs, please contact Doug Halladay directly to find out more about our services. You can set this up by sending him an email to info@halladayeducationgroup.com or calling directly at 1-604-868-0002. HEG Recommends Here are  2 of our most popular toolkits that will help you either  start your own school or develop your own strategic plan.   STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOLKIT  Learn how to develop your own Plan with step-by-step instructions contained in a detailed Workbook & Manual, along with $500 worth of bonus CD's. It's all here to help you develop your own plan. Click here for more details. START-A-SCHOOL TOOLKIT Are you still struggling with starting a school? Experienced school leaders share how they started their school from the ground up. You'll also receive our bonus CD ($150 value) on developing your strategic plan. Click here for more details. To your success, Douglas Halladay President Halladay Education Group Inc.   P: 604.868.0002 F: 868.472.8737 E: info@halladayeducationgroup.com www.HalladayEducationGroup.com

Is Your Marketing and Admissions System Working?

Hello:

We’re having incredible fall weather here in Vancouver with the colours of the leaves changing and Canada Geese criss-crossing our skies as they head south. Of course this means our yard will soon be coated in a layer of leaves from our cherry, plum, apple, and willow trees, but they compensated us by the wonderful fruit they provided in the summer. I’m also glad the weather is great since my daughter is attending her school’s outdoor education program on Vancouver Island. Does your school have an outdoor education program? If not, you should consider it!

As I type this eNewsletter, I’m listening to the Vancouver Canucks Hockey team on the radio and it’s not too inspiring (they lost), so I’ll switch my focus to marketing and admissions for private schools. I’ve noticed numerous private schools with their open house ads in local and national papers promoting enrollment for next school (or even this year). Here’s a sample of one I cut out of the paper. Please click here to see it.

What do you think of it? I like the style and layout, and the single picture rather than the typical collage that too many schools use to force in every market they represent (hint: don’t do this!). What do you think of the first major header? In today’s market, people are inundated with media and the first headline is critical to catching their attention. Do you think this is too cute and may not catch the reader’s attention (you only have 2 seconds to do it). There’s also no reference to the school’s web site (note: parents/students review a school’s website 5-7 times before they make the decision to contact the school). Also, there’s no call to action for the reader to contact the school and have their name entered into their database for follow up correspondence (this can easily be set up with web-based software on your website). It appears to be an ad that encourages parents to show up (note: no phone number or email is given for more information). It’s important for schools to track the value an ad and to calculate the response and cost of advertising, and to statistically determine the return on the value of the ad (level of inquiries, offers made, registration). Of course, this school has a wonderful reputation and a waiting list, so they may not have the same level of urgency as other schools.

Today I’m going to share with more insight into marketing and admissions. Finding and retaining students is the lifeblood for any school and you need strategies to ensure that you’re recruiting the right type and number of students while you’re also validating to your current parents and students whey they should re-enrol at your school (remember it is more economical to keep your current parents/students than find new ones).

To your success,

Doug Halladay

President
Halladay Education Group Inc.
www.HalladayEducationGroup.com

>> TWITTER ->> Receive our updates by signing in here.


P.S. Don’t forget to go to our secure Online Store for our Strategic Planning or School Start-Up Toolkits.

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IN THIS ISSUE
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1. Focus On Our Key Services

2. Is Your Marketing and Admissions System Working?

3. Products At Our Online Store

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1. FOCUS ON OUR KEY SERVICES
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(A) STARTING A SCHOOL
Starting a school can be challenging and you never have a 2nd chance to make a 1st impression. That’s why you need a firm with experience starting schools in USA, Canada, and Internationally.

(B) STRATEGIC PLANNING
We can lead the development of your school’s Strategic Plan, which will build consensus, motivate donors, and define critical priorities for your Board and Administration for school improvement.

(C) BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOPS
Do you want your school to have the best board possible? Our full-day governance workshop (in combination with our informative online self-assessment survey) will fine-tune your board’s performance and focus priorities.

(D) SCHOOL EVALUATIONS

A school review is critical to knowing if you’re heading in the right direction. As a board member, are you sure your school is doing the best it can? Get the whole picture with our “In-Depth School Performance Review and Action Plan.”

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2. IS YOUR MARKETING & ADMISSIONS SYSTEM WORKING?
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You need to understand the critical elements affecting the marketing and admissions of your school and determine whether your current marketing plan, strategies, message, and media are working effectively, and what areas you need to make adjustments in. It's important to understand that current and prospective parents, students, and donors are influenced by your message and your media. They are making decisions about enrolling or re-enrolling at your school or even making a donation. It's critical that your school develops a marketing system that maximizes your message and reassures your community about what you represent and how they fit in, and the benefits to enrolling at your school. You need to:

• Identify your school's strengths and weaknesses from a marketing perspective
• Review current demographics of your school
• Assess the external pressures that affect you
• Assess the current processes that attract and bond students and families
  
• Market Analysis to determine "who" you are reaching out to and alternate markets to maximize
• Review strategies related to lead generation / conversion and student retention
• Determine critical message(s) that represent what your school is about
• Determine the most suitable media to reach your market (e.g., publications, advertising, outreach programs, social media, internal/external communication by your staff)
• Determine a systemized approach for your marketing metrics (e.g., Cost per inquiry, retention, drop rate, sales conversion for admissions staff, enrollment projections, response rate)
• Analyze your advertising, collateral material, websites, Internet ads, re-marketing ad copy and media choices
• Review communication stream and use of resources to increase lead flow and create a better quality lead generation for the admissions team
• Development of alternate marketing strategies and tactics to enhance the admissions performance and enrollment.
  

OUR SOLUTION

We can help your school improve the critical elements of effective marketing and admissions, by evaluating your current marketing plan, strategies, message, and media, and suggest adjustments. Our approach to reviewing your current marketing and admissions system is comprised of a four-part process, which begins with a one-day site visit to analyze your school’s current situation. Our approach is comprised of four phases:

1). Determine Scope of Review Process:Meeting with the Head of School to determine realistic enrolment goals, budget, staffing, timelines, and SWOT analysis

2). Review Current Marketing/Admissions Materials & Admissions Data:

• Prior to the onsite interview sessions, the school will send related marketing and admissions materials, related data that measures enrollment performance, current enrollment and local demographics, budget update, and annual marketing plan for review.

3). One-Day Focus Group Interviews & Research Analysis (Internal/External):

• After reviewing the documents from your school, we will come to your campus and spends one-day interviewing key constituents of your community to determine the strengths of your school’s admissions process (e.g., administration, parents, students, staff, former parents, competitors), barriers to increasing enrolment, and opportunities and trends to take advantage to improve enrolment.
• Review the school’s current process for marketing and admissions and collateral materials and staffing assignment.
• Hold a “mystery call” with the school to assess the script for new parents and how they’re handled by the reception desk and admissions staff.
  

4). Final Report: Develop a customized Summary Report outlining a set of multiple strategies to increase student enrolment (lead generation/conversion, retention, timelines, and staffing). This includes:

• Issues that are holding your school back from reaching its enrollment goals;
• Market Analysis that identifies "who" you should market to maximize enrolment;
• Develop a set of strategies to enhance enrollment (e.g., publications, social media, advertising, outreach programs, internal/external communication by your staff), staffing, budget, work plan, and tracking metrics to measure your marketing success (e.g., enrolment, retention, response rate, fundraising performance);
• Develop new marketing strategies and tactics to enhance your marketing performance and enrolment.
  

To find out more about our firm’s marketing and admissions services, and learn more about how we can help provide you solutions, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to discuss your needs in more detail.

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4. ONLINE STORE
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Here are 2 popular Toolkits to help you to either start your own school or develop your own strategic plan, step-by-step.

(1). STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOLKIT (#1 BEST SELLER)
Learn how to develop your own Strategic Plan with step-by-step instructions contained in our detailed Workbook and Manual, along with $500 worth of bonus CD’s. It’s all here to help you develop your own plan.

(2). START-A-SCHOOL TOOLKIT (#2 BEST SELLER)
Are you still struggling with starting your school? Four experienced school leaders share how they started their own school from the ground up. You’ll also receive our bonus CD on developing your strategic plan.

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To your success,

Douglas Halladay
President

Halladay Education Group Inc.

How To Bust The Recession

Hi,

I am finally back home after being on the road for 16 out of the last 25 days. And wouldn’t you know it, Vancouver is in the grips of winter with snow and minus temperatures. I even have my first head cold. For those of you new to our eNewsletter, I have been working with my great clients in Beijing, Calgary, and Tennessee helping to develop world class schools. HEG is back on track to support the development of the first schools in phase one of Masdar City in Abu Dhabi; the world’s first sustainable, carbon free city.

Being on the road I have not put enough time into Christmas shopping. When I was in Beijing I put a dent into the shopping list by visiting the Silk and Pearl Markets, but I had better get to those malls (sigh) to finish off the list. How are you doing at this time of the year?

With HEG now working in three different continents in a variety of cultures and economies I have the time to read many newspapers espousing on our current economic situation. For the most part it is not positive. Of course bad news always sells newspapers. However, I came across an article written in our local newspaper talking about how to Bust The Recession. The premise of the story focused on NOT buying into the doom and gloom of what the papers are telling us and get out and promote your organization even more. I love the quote – “I have heard about the recession thing and I have decided not to participate.” Is your school taking action or are you shutting down and cutting back on your marketing budget?

Please read on to find out more, why you should be spending more on your marketing budget when others are cutting back.

Doug Halladay

President and Founder

Halladay Education Group Inc.

www.HalladayEducationGroup.com

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In This Issue

================================

1. In The News

2. Services Your School Needs

3. How To Bust The Recession

4. Products To Invest In To Start And Lead Your School

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1. In The News

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Two Area Private Schools Heading In Opposite Directions

A Portage private school will be adding another grade next year, but a Catholic elementary in Three Rivers is ``strategizing'' on how to remain open in the face of falling enrollment and revenue.

The Cost of Losing Students

When public schools lose students to private facilities, they also lose funding

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2. Services Your School Needs

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>>> (A) STARTING YOUR OWN SCHOOL

Starting a school can be challenging and you never have a 2nd chance to make a first impression. This is why you need a firm that has experience starting schools in USA and Canada. Our services include:

1. One-Day Comprehensive Overview Session

2. Formal Feasibility Study

3. Detailed Business Plan

4. Turn-Key School Formation Services

6. Ongoing Consulting Retainer

7. Ongoing Management and Operations Services

If you would like more information about our services related to starting your school, please call us at 1-604-868-0002, email at info@halladayeducationgroup.com, or click on here to download our brochure outlining services.

>>> (B) STRATEGIC PLANNING

We can develop a comprehensive Strategic Plan that will build consensus, motivate donors, and define critical priorities for your Board and Administration to improve your school.

Click here to download our brochure on our Strategic Planning process, or call us at 1-604-868-0002, or email at info@halladayeducationgroup.com

>>> (C) BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOPS

Do you want your school to have better leadership? Our full-day governance workshop and interactive online survey will fine-tune your board’s performance and refocus their mandate. Please email us at info@halladayeducationgroup.com , call us at 604-868-0002 to find out more about how we can help you, or click here to download our brochure.

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3. How To Bust The Recession

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I have had to market for enrollment during SARS, mad cow disease, 9/11, closing of local industries, and have always been able to increase enrollment. Why? Because I never cut back on marketing. Never. I belief is that you must continue to plant your seeds today to be able to harvest tomorrow. Yet, I see so many schools decide during hard times that marketing is the first place to cut back. This is a bad mistake.

As I read the article in our Vancouver paper I am again reminded of this solid business decision. Karo executive, Warren Baxter is the managing Director of Vancouver-based marketing firm and shares some of these gems about boycotting the recession. He spent more on marketing and improved his organization’s services. He even increased prices. When the recession ended, he had gained enough market share to transform his company.

His mantra is to resist the impulse to save money during hard times by weakening your brand. However, research shows that organizations that focus on maintaining or building brand value increase their market share coming out of the recession.

Companies that cut marketing may get a short-term savings. However that boost will not last. Organizations that protect or enhance their brands will gradually expand market share and profitability as the recession ends.

Organizations that discount prices and trim service in a recession risk eroding the value of their brand. Only 10 percent of the marketplace is solely motivated by price. This means that 90 percent is motivated by something more than price. So he believes that the best strategy is offensive not defensive.

However, in an economic era when consumers are tightening their wallets, it is a strategy that takes courage to implement.

Are you building your school’s brand?

If you would like more information on to improve your school’s marketing and admissions strategies, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to set up a time to chat about your needs.

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4. Products To Invest In To Start And Lead Your School

============================================

Here are a set of popular Tool Kits to help you start and/or lead your school more effectively.

>> (A). STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOLKIT (#1 BEST SELLER)

Learn how to develop your own Strategic Plan effectively with our step-by-step, Strategic Planning Toolkit and Manual. Click here to get more details.

>> (B). START-A-SCHOOL TOOLKIT (#2 BEST SELLER)

Are you still struggling with starting your School? We share with you how to start a school from the ground up. Click here to get more the details.

To your success,

Douglas Halladay

President and Founder

Halladay Education Group Inc.

P.S. Do not forget to check out our secure Online Store for ways to invest in improving or starting your own school or non-profit. Here is the link:

--> http://www.halladayeducationgroup.com/products/products.php

Stay Connected With Your Community

Hello:

I would like to thank all of you for your kind regards on my 50th birthday yesterday. I am not big on these types of milestones, but I had a great family dinner and celebratory birthday cake, along with some very rude birthday cards from my friends and relatives. You can see a photo of me with my birthday cake on my blog.

I must apologize for the length of time between eNewsletters. My firm has been swamped with new school formation projects and school management services around the globe, and I have not put enough time into staying connected with my Inner Circle Members. I must reprimand myself since I am always the one to push staying connected with your client base to build trust and resulting enrolment. However, I am here now reconnecting with you and sharing what is happening in my life and providing some insightful tips to help you start and manage the performance of your private school more effectively.

Some of you have been kind enough to inquire into where and what HEG is working on. Here is snapshot of what we are focusing our services on:

1). Feasibility study to start a Private Gr. 7-12 Christian-Environmentally Sustainable Academy in Maui

2). Business plan to start a private multi-sports boarding academy in Canada

4). Formation contract to start a “Red Seal” trade and technology institute in Vancouver, BC

5). Develop a strategic plan for a private Adventist boarding school in Tennessee

6). Business plan to develop a for-profit private PreK-12 American school in Singapore

7). Retainer to guide the formation of a PreK-12 Private Adventist school in San Antonio

8). Develop a business plan for a K-12 British Columbia certified offshore school in Abu Dhabi

9). Feasibility study to transition a Chinese school in Beijing into a K-12 British Columbia certified offshore school

10). Selection to develop a feasibility study to develop the private K-12 school system for the world’s first carbon free city, Masdar, just outside of Abu Dhabi

11). Develop a strategic plan for a private International Baccalaureate day school in Vancouver

12). Selection to support the formation of 15 mega Technology in Education Learning Centers or secondary schools in Africa

13). Selection to assist a Dubai-based investment group to partner with a US-based school

There are even more projects coming up in Dubai and the Middle East that I will mention in the next eNewsletter. Suffice to say, HEG has become the go-to firm for founders, investors, and land developers looking for an experienced international firm who can support the comprehensive development of K-12 and post secondary institutions, from concept to turn-key.

Enjoy the eNewsletter,

Doug Halladay

President and Founder

Halladay Education Group Inc.

www.HalladayEducationGroup.com

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In This Issue

================================

1. In The News

2. Services Your School Needs

3. Stay Connected To Your Community

4. Products To Invest In To Start And Lead Your School

==================================

1. In The News

==================================

Local Private Schools Expanding
Charlottesville Daily Progress - Charlottesville, VA, USA
By Sharon C. Fitzgerald Daily Progress correspondent Several private schools in Albemarle County and Charlottesville are growing to accommodate current and ...

Private Schools Unhurt By Economy
Durham Herald Sun - Durham, NC, USA
Several private schools in the area have seen an increase in enrollment from last school year. Kathleen Davidson, admissions coordinator for Carolina ...

UK's Biggest School Scraps Homework
Times Online - UK
Geoff Lucas, general secretary of the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference of independent schools, warned that, if widely adopted, the policy would ...

Parents push for private high school Downtown
Downtown Express - USA
Two women with children attending Village private schools came up with the idea for GVHS independently of each other two years ago. ...

==================================
2. Services Your School Needs
==================================

>>> (A) STARTING YOUR OWN SCHOOL

Starting a school can be challenging and you never have a 2nd chance to make a first impression. This is why you need a firm that has experience starting schools in USA and Canada. Our services include:
1. One-Day Comprehensive Overview Session


2. Formal Feasibility Study
3. Detailed Business Plan
4. Turn-Key School Formation Services
6. Ongoing Consulting Retainer
7. Ongoing Management and Operations Services

If you would like more information about our services related to starting your school, please call us at 1-604-868-0002, email at info@halladayeducationgroup.com, or click here to download our brochure outlining services.

>>> (B) STRATEGIC PLANNING

We can develop a comprehensive Strategic Plan that will build consensus, motivate donors, and define critical priorities for your Board and Administration to improve your school.

Click here to download our brochure on our Strategic Planning process, or call us at 1-604-868-0002, or email at info@halladayeducationgroup.com

>>> (C) BOARD GOVERNANCE WORKSHOPS

Do you want your school to have better leadership? Our full-day governance workshop and interactive online survey will fine-tune your board’s performance and refocus their mandate. Please email us at info@halladayeducationgroup.com , call us at 604-868-0002 to find out more about how we can help you, or click here to download our brochure.

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3. Staying Connected With Your Community

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What better theme to discuss today than my own slacking off of communicating with my own community, you, members of HEG’s Inner Circle. I can come up with a bunch of excuses of why I have not sent out an eNewsletter (hey it is my birthday after all!! and my firm’s been swamped by clients wanting to start schools around the globe), but there is no excuse. Research indicates that for people to know, like, and trust you, they must be in contact with you at least 5 to 7 times. This means that if you want parents to enroll their son or daughter at your school, you must reach out to them more than a half a dozen times.

How can you do this? Here are a few quick suggestions:

1). Set up an opt-in box on your web site to encourage parents to give you their name and email address. Once you have this, you then start to send out a weekly eNewsletter sharing with them what wonderful things you are doing at your school. Remember, once you set this up, sending emails is almost free. Furthermore, parents will forward this email to other parents (which is free and great). This is almost like word-of-mouth marketing, which is the most powerful marketing you can have – testimonials.

2). Set up an RSS feed on your web site so that every time you update it, your clients will know this too.

3). Set up a multi-step email system on your web site for parents who opt-in (have a free downloadable report that can go out in a 7 step process). This allows you to build up the relationship over time.

4). After parents visit your school or make an inquiry, set up a multi-step post card mail-out system with a third party vendor that will go out automatically in a 3-5 part mailing.

What ever you do, make sure it is systemized so that you are using your time wisely and you are reaching out to as many prospective parents and students as possible, building up that relationship of trust.

If you would like more information on to improve your school’s marketing and admissions strategies, please email HEG at info@halladayeducationgroup.com to set up a time to chat about your needs.

============================================

4. Products To Invest In To Start And Lead Your School

============================================

Here are a set of popular Tool Kits to help you start and/or lead your school more effectively.

>> (A). STRATEGIC PLANNING TOOLKIT (#1 BEST SELLER)

Learn how to develop your own Strategic Plan effectively with our step-by-step, Strategic Planning Toolkit and Manual. Click here to get more details.

>> (B). START-A-SCHOOL TOOLKIT (#2 BEST SELLER)

Are you still struggling with starting your School? We share with you how to start a school from the ground up. Click here to get more the details.

=======================================================

To your success,

Douglas Halladay

President and Founder

Halladay Education Group Inc.

www.HalladayEducationGroup.com

=======================================================

P.S. Do not forget to check out our secure Online Store for ways to invest in improving or starting your own school or non-profit. Click here for the link.

Copyright © 2007 Halladay Education Group Inc – All Rights Reserved