InspirED School Marketers SPARKCAST

Our guest for this episode is Andrew T. Weller, Director of Admissions for Avenues: The World School in Manhattan which was recently featured in the HBO documentary Class Divide. We dig into the concept of institution-wide branding, the benefits it brings to enrollment and development, how roles of enrollment and development are more similar than they are different, and how school leadership still struggles with investing in areas of the school such as marketing that don't look like they serve students.

For show notes and more brilliant ideas and brain food for school MarCom, go to http://www.inspiredsm.com/podcasts/. While there, sign up for our newsletter to make your job easier

Jack Rogers knows how to achieve and sustain fundraising success at a private school. As Chief Development Officer at William Penn Charter School, a Quaker school in Philadelphia, Jack's is approach involves stewarding donors over time by combining his school's mission, ethos and institutional goals with the goals of the donors. One of the keys to success, Jack believes, is exhibiting patient engagement.

For show notes and more brilliant ideas and brain food for school MarCom, go to http://www.inspiredsm.com/podcasts/. While there, sign up for our newsletter to make your job easier.

Cami Colarrosi knows that a private school marketer's job is significantly easier and more effective if her colleagues collaborate with her. As Director of Communications at Notre Dame Preparatory School, a girls Catholic school, Cami accomplished this by proving her department's worth and giving her colleagues a sense of pride that makes them want to be a part of her work in the future.

For show notes and more brilliant ideas and brain food for school MarCom, go to http://www.inspiredsm.com/podcasts/. While there, sign up for our newsletter to make your job easier.

Jennie Winton knows independent school branding and the positive impact it has on enrollment and development. As founder of Mission-Minded, a branding agency that focuses on non-profits, higher ed and independent schools, Jennie talks about how great branding gives a school new ways to about itself as well as focuses and improves its marketing and communications. With valuable takeaways, she explains what needs to be in place for branding to work, and how her firm re-branded The Enrollment Management Association (formerly SSATB).

For show notes and more brilliant ideas and brain food for school MarCom, go to http://www.inspiredsm.com/podcasts/. While there, sign up for our newsletter to make your job easier.

Finally understand what private school inbound marketing is all about and how to start an inbound effort to improve enrollment and communications. In this episode, we talk to Bart Caylor, President and Owner of Caylor Solutions, an Indianapolis-based marketing agency working with colleges, universities, K-12, and education organizations to improve communication, enrollment and development efforts. With a background in design and development with corporate, education, and non-profit clients, Bart now focuses his expertise on marketing for education. Bart is a member of CASE and is often asked to speak at universities and conferences on topics related to web design, emerging media, and interactive marketing. This podcast will help anyone understand what inbound marketing is, how to start an inbound effort at your private school, or how to enhance existing inbound efforts to accomplish your marketing and communications goals. What you'll learn…

• How does inbound marketing differ from traditional marketing efforts.
• The best kinds of content to create when designing an inbound program.
• How the kind of content you create for inbound marketing can support your brand.
• How to create an inbound marketing campaign to nurture prospective families of your school.
• How the available software tools such as Hubspot and Sharpspring can help you create the most effective campaign workflows to increase the effectiveness of your inbound marketing.
• How to know if your inbound marketing efforts are successful.
• How to use analytics in assessing your inbound marketing efforts.
• What's the first thing to do when embarking on an inbound marketing program.

For show notes and more brilliant ideas and brain food for school MarCom, go to http://www.inspiredsm.com/podcasts/. While there, sign up for our newsletter to make your job easier.

What happens when you put 35 private school administrators in a room to share their favorite marketing ideas? Magic. For the second year, InspirED organized the MarCom track at the AISAP Institute which was held in Fort Worth in July. Listen to what they shared.

Some of the sparks include:

• Putting students in charge of making annual fund appeal videos
• A social action event aimed at preschool families that attracted 130 families
• A STEAM Day for grade 1 thru 8 boys to attract day student prospects
• A kindergarten exploration night for PreK kids and their parents where the kids experience what kindergarten is like and their parents hear a talk about school readiness
• The creation of a coloring book based on photos of the school and free software
• Ways to get teachers to help market the school
• Shooting 30-second video testimonials on graduation day to capture the emotion and love families have for the school

For show notes and more brilliant ideas and brain food for school MarCom, go to http://www.inspiredsm.com/podcasts/. While there, sign up for our newsletter to make your job easier.

Jeff Shields, President and CEO of NBOA, takes a deep dive into the effect that the 2008 economic downturn had on virtually ever facet of operation of independent schools, especially the marketing office. Challenges are many: the effect rising tuition, ever-expanding facilities, increasing sophistication of both the business offices and the MarCom offices, and virtual schools. What you'll learn…

• The changes in the business side of independent school management over the last 10-15 years.
• The effect that the 2008 recession had on independent schools both as it regards the business side of schools and on how schools market themselves.
• How tuition levels, which have been hyperinflationary for 15-20 years, affects the ability of independent schools to attract students.
• How the economic downturn of 2008 set in motion a widespread effort to increase the sophistication and capabilities in of the business offices at independent schools, including increasing the understanding of the markets we operate in.
• How a renewed focus on building new facilities is affecting they way schools market themselves, talk about themselves, and compete with other schools.
• The critical and changing nature of how a school describes its value to the families in its market.
• How schools are adapting their focus and spending on MarCom departments in the face of an increasing number and sophistication of communications channels that need to be managed.
• How virtual schools compete with and enhance traditional bricks-and-mortar schools.
• The challenges that independent schools face in the next five+ years.

For show notes and more brilliant ideas and brain food for school MarCom, go to http://www.inspiredsm.com/podcasts/. While there, sign up for our newsletter to make your job easier.

Autumn Graves, Head of Girls Preparatory School, Atlanta, knows that very independent school's dream is to get on the map as the school for [fill in the blank] to boost their brand recognition. You can do the hard work of branding and marketing (and you should), but you can also get creative and think outside the box.

Autumn created Mad, Bad and Dangerous, a conference on entrepreneurship for girls and women, to do just that and more. The response to this event has been overwhelmingly positive with requests to hold it in other cities. Ever entrepreneurial, GPS is in the process of licensing it so that other organizations, particularly those with a female based mission, can launch one in their area.

This podcast is bound to make you want to "ditch expectations and start something" yourself to put your school on the map.

For show notes and more brilliant ideas and brain food for school MarCom, go to http://www.inspiredsm.com/podcasts/. While there, sign up for our newsletter to make your job easier.

Every independent school marketer's dream is to get their school on the regional, national or international map as the school for [fill in the blank]. We all want our school to be known for something to boost our brand recognition. We also want our local communities to know what lies behind our gates, bust myths and misperceptions, and promote positive word-of-mouth. So how do you make a name for yourself? You can do the hard word of branding and marketing (and you should), but you can also get creative and think outside the box.

That's exactly what Girls Preparatory School in Chattanooga, TN did two years ago with the launch of Mad, Bad, and Dangerous, a conference that promotes entrepreneurship in women and girls and encourages them to "ditch expectations and start something." It's the brainchild of Autumn Adkins Graves who arrived as GPS' new head of school in July 2014, gave birth to a baby boy at Thanksgiving, and welcomed Chattanooga to campus for the first MBD in February 2015. Autumn loves to tell the tale of the three female founders of GPS who were entrepreneurs of their time. Autumn saw this event as a continuation of their work to educate and advance girls and women.

Caitlin Garzi knows how easy it is for Directors of Marketing and Communications at private schools to get buried in the avalanche of jobs that come across their desk on a given day. From the simplest post on the website to an entire website redesign, the quantity of jobs can be astounding. Keeping track of them is like herding cats. In this episode, Caitlin, Associate Director of Digital Marketing at Cheshire Academy, shows you how to be an effective project manager to get jobs done on time and on budget.

For show notes and more brilliant ideas and brain food for school MarCom, go to http://www.inspiredsm.com/podcasts/. While there, sign up for our newsletter to make your job easier.

Simon Hepburn, founder of Marketing Advice for Schools, makes a great case for looking to corporate transfers when private schools need to fill seats late in the admissions cycle. Simon shares how to do that successfully with tried and true methods and little known tricks that might surprise you.

Simon's website marketingadviceforschools.com offers free, relevant advice for school marketers. He has trained over 50 schools in marketing and wrote a comprehensive book titled Marketing Your School which is available on Amazon.

For show notes and more brilliant ideas and brain food for school MarCom, go to http://www.inspiredsm.com/podcasts/. While there, sign up for our newsletter to make your job easier.