Recently in Your Higher Education Marketing Newsletter Category

A September greeting to old and new subscribers as the new academic year begins. Many of you have already welcomed your new residential students. Best wishes for a final relaxing Labor Day weekend before the trek to Thanksgiving.

I am looking forward to visiting Dublin soon for our annual Customer Carewords partners meeting. We have a special focus on website task management this year. Already recorded is a webinar on mobile marketing strategy in higher education that will broadcast on September 22 as I fly back. Register (and send questions for response after I land) at bit.ly/bioy2P

The fall conference season begins right after Dublin with a visit to St. Louis for the TargetX iThink panel on September 30, as the NACAC conference gets underway.

After iThink comes the Carol Aslanian conference on marketing online program, a mobile marketing workshop at the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education and new Writing Right for the Web webinars with Academic Impressions. Dates and details are at the end of this newsletter.

Special for people in the Albany, N.Y. area: join me September 9 for the AMA Capital Region chapter lunch. Advance registration at www.nymarketing.org/

And now here are your marketing news and notes for September.
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Explore the Megalog: Viewbooks in the Electronic World

What will happen to the viewbook in student recruitment? The old viewbook designed for a first-time introduction to a college or university is dead. Your website is doing that for you now. But that does not mean that print has no place in a student recruitment communication plan.

What is a megalog? That is marketing-speak for an adaptation of the product catalog long mailed to home addresses, but no longer relevant in the same format in the online era. Today, the megalog includes basic product information but adds a heavy-dose of magazine-format story telling and aims for an emotional connection with the reader.

Create an updated plan for print after you read "Six Reasons Print Belongs in Your Media Mix" at bit.ly/b5tKA7

The "new" viewbook: photo album plus personal stories and minimal "product" content.
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Great Infographic: College in America

If you love important stats in an easy-to-read format, get right along to bit.ly/cfYOzu

The infographic includes data on retention rates by selectivity categories, most popular bachelor's and doctor's degrees, loan default rates, top universities in the world, and more.
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Boston Globe: Higher Ed Tuition Increase Rates are Not Patriotic

The Globe continues long-standing media attacks against tuition increases that far outstrip the inflation rate by "unpatriotic" schools that have "no conscience."

The paper has no sympathy for either private or public sector institutions.

Read another negative influence on the public standing of higher education at bit.ly/asFQS2
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New "College Only" Social Media Site Debuts

Remember the ancient days when Facebook was only for college students?

"College Only" founders hope to recreate that magic with a new site dedicated to "Connecting Student Bodies." Visit the home page from a link in the Mashable report at bit.ly/dAjejz
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Oxford English Dictionary: No Longer in Print?

The folks who publish this venerable pillar of civilization are preparing us now: after comparing online visits to the dictionary website with sales of the current print edition, it is unlikely that there will be a print version of the next edition.

Details are at bit.ly/dz4BV6
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College 2.0 in Asia

Plan now to follow a series of ongoing Chronicle reports on the state of high tech higher education in selected Asian countries, starting in Singapore and including India, China, and South Korea.

Start following increased global competition in the higher education marketplace when you read the introductory article at bit.ly/d9rtre
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Best Practices in Mobile Website Design

Whether you build mobile websites or just need to understand the challenges of those who do, be sure to read about 6 "notable differences" between mobile design and design for traditional websites.

My favorite: the emphasis on simplicity, or single-column design so that you do not force people into the ugly situation of having to scroll sideways to read your content.

To better communicate with web developers in the mobile world, visit bit.ly/cm6Y2g
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Writing Right for the Web: The Perils of Dense Copy and Small Fonts

Web visitors who complete our higher education CCI surveys are eager to answer this question: "If you could change one thing about our website, what would you change and why?"

Do you let people on your website change the font size on your pages?

Read quotes from survey takers about dense text and tiny font sizes when you visit bit.ly/cEJXQH
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Quiz to Create Stronger Landing Pages

If you do not yet subscribe to "Which Page Won" do that soon and start creating landing pages with stronger conversion strength.

You get to vote on which of two landing pages had the highest conversion rates, followed by comments from marketers about why they cast the vote they did. And, of course, the results from real tests are provided after you vote.

A recent result: do not worry about scrolling below the fold or putting the call to action low on the page. The more important point is initial engagement. Sign up at bit.ly/aTuYfv
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Change in the For-Profit Sector?

For-profit sector schools have been under intense scrutiny in Congress, fueled by concerns about the debt load of graduates. Recent "secret shopping" by the Department of Education also found recruitment practices that were not as truthful as expected.

One response from the University of Phoenix: people who were once called "recruiters" are now "admissions counselors" and their evaluation for compensation increases will change as well.

The Inside Higher Ed report details changes at other for-profit schools, including in some cases ending "ability to benefit" as a criterion for admission without a GED or high school diploma. The details are at bit.ly/cOa9mE
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Jakob Nielsen on Mobile Marketing

What web content is best suited for mobile and what is best left for regular websites?

That key question is answered by usability expert Jakob Nielsen in a video interview at bit.ly/cmIV0o

A major point here is that mobile sites are not good environments for in-depth web work. You really do need to keep "mobile" as simple as possible and assume that over the course of a recruitment cycle people will move back and forth between mobile and regular access, depending on the task at hand.
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Web Strategy Manager Position in Denver

My friends at Academic Impressions who bring us on-site and on-line conferences and webinars for higher education have an opening now for a Web Strategy Manager.

Check the details when you visit bit.ly/9tBa8S
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My Upcoming Conferences and Webinars in 2010

Attend an upcoming conference to share questions and answers with people like you who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me at these events.

September 22, webinar: American Marketing Association: "Mobile Marketing: Strategy Challenges for Advancement and Enrollment." Register for this no-cost event at bit.ly/bioy2P

September 30, TargetX: iThink student recruitment panel discussion. More info at bit.ly/aYAIzM

October 28-29, Education Dynamics - Carol Aslanian Marketing Online Programs Conference: "Integrating Social Media and Online Marketing" and "Best Practice Websites for Online Programs." Conference program and registration at bit.ly/If84W

November 7-10, American Marketing Association, Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education: Pre-conference tutorial, "Mobile in the Marketing Mix: Crafting a New Recruitment Communication Strategy." Follow the program at bit.ly/8YAhDV

November 18, webinar: Academic Impressions, "Writing Right for the Web." Details are coming soon.

December 9, webinar: Academic Impressions, Advanced "Writing Right for the Web" with special focus on creating and editing content for social media and mobile sites.

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
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That's All for Now

Be a marketing champion on your campus.

Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
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Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.
• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

August brings a welcome hiatus to a busy July conference season.

Review several of the July presentations (Mobile in the Marketing Mix, International Student Recruitment, Websites for Graduate Student Recruitment and more) from the ACT Enrollment Planners Conference, eduWeb2010 and Carol Aslanian's Graduate Marketing Seminar online. Visit www.slideshare.net/bestbob

Look for more on mobile marketing in an AMA webinar in September and a 3-hour tutorial at the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education in November. Registration details are coming soon.

A new book by my Carewords partner Gerry McGovern was published in July. Read the first chapter in The Stranger's Long Neck and order a copy at www.gerrymcgovern.com/sln-buy.htm

And now here are your marketing news and notes for August.
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11 Schools on Financial Aid Honor Roll

Princeton Review is out with another college ratings list, with financial aid scores of 60 to 99 for 606 schools based in part these criteria: percent of students with need who received aid, percent of need met, and percent of students whose need was met in full.

Ratings in include an honor roll of 11 schools with a score of 99 points. The alpha listing starts with Bowdoin College and ends with Williams College.

Find more on the awards and the other 9 honor roll schools at bit.ly/cnNBxZ
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E-Expectations 2010 Survey Results

E-Expectations results for 2010 went online in July and are already making the conference rounds. As always, different people will find different things of special interest.

One item this year is getting special notice: about 23 percent of college-bound seniors visited a college or university site from a smartphone. Have you tried that lately with your site? Couple that number with the finding that over 20 percent of these students who have an unpleasant web experience when first visiting a higher ed website will drop that school from consideration.

Results like these may help answer the question: do we do mobile apps or create a mobile-friendly website?

Explore the results when you link to the PDF report at bit.ly/spJxC
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Rate My Professors Expands to Facebook

The site many love to hate is expanding into social media with a new Facebook site at bit.ly/aw0LFG

Before you dismiss the role of the rankings here, consider this. Overall evaluations for faculty at most schools I have visited are far more positive than negative. Be sure to check yours to find faculty held in high esteem that you might want to highlight at your website and in other promotional efforts.
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CUNY: Still the Best Advertising Landing Pages

Another issue of the NY Times Education Life supplement came out July 25. And for at least the third time in a row, City University of New York continued to set a premier example of how to create a landing page that repeats and reinforces the ad that brings people to the website.

Visit Breaking Boundaries in Science Research at www.cuny.edu/site/science.html and compare with landing pages for your advertising.

To review articles in the supplement online, visit www.nytimes.com/pages/education/edlife/
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Mobile Use: Changes from 2009 to 2010

Our friends at the Pew Internet and American Life Project have another useful report to review: changes in the way people use mobile communications from 2009 to 2010.

Higher education marketers will be most interested in the results for people 18 to 29 and 30 to 49 years old. While the younger group is most active, people in their 30s do not lag far behind. Both are heavy users of text messaging and 65 percent of the younger group uses a mobile device to access the Internet. Mobile use for email is strong as well.

Check the full details at bit.ly/cqxi6D
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9 College Visit Alternatives

If you can't visit a campus, what are the next 9 best things to do? That's the focus of a July US News column by Lynn O'Shaughnessy.

Admissions people not yet adjusted to stealth applicants will applaud the first item: get on the college mailing list.

Not everyone will be as happy with Number 4: visit the academic website pages and look for academic credentials of the faculty and course descriptions.

The full list for those who cannot visit is at bit.ly/awfPrX
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Higher Education PR: Another Blow

The WSJ reviews "Higher Education?" by Andrew Hacker and Claudia Driefus and makes special mention of many failings cited by the authors: faculty and administrative salary levels, light teaching loads, research that is less than essential.

A key message may find more traction in this time of economic scarcity: students should seek out lower cost institutions and graduate with less debt. The authors make recommendations that range from Berea College to Western Oregon University.

The review is at bit.ly/bztiSX
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Online Newsletter Done "Right for the Web"

If you need more ammunition to convince people to move away from PDFs and stay away from various forms of "flip" technology to put publications online, refer them to the Sellinger Business Update at Loyola University Maryland.

The current issue is at loyola.edu/newsletter/Sellinger/August2010/
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Email Marketing is Alive and Well

In this era of social media and mobile communications, we just might forget that millions of people rely on email as a valuable form of communication. Indeed, in the emerging mobile era sending email that make a strong first impression when opened on a smartphone is more important than ever.

Take a few minutes to review Michael Brownlow's column on getting "inbox attention" for your email. No matter how much we think we already know it is always a good idea to review and remind ourselves of the importance of from lines, preview panes and more.

Check the advice for better engagement at bit.ly/dbiMlg
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Feedback on Your Website

Do you get regular feedback on how people are using your website?

Gerry McGovern writes about the perils of ignoring the customer experience in "Web teams need constant feedback," with special attention to the perils of forcing people to register to do something online.

Do not make people register to do things at your website unless absolutely essential. Read about the consequences at bit.ly/aoURzH
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Gainful Employment Criteria

The for-profit sector of higher education is not happy with possible plans by the Department of Education to impose "gainful employment" criteria as a condition before their students can receive financial aid. Nobody is quite sure of the possible application of the principle, but many are nervous.

The actual impact will vary. At a recent conference, the DOE's James Kvaal estimated that 40 percent of for-profit schools would not be impacted, 48 percent would have to increase loan debt disclosure to potential students, 7 percent would face enrollment restrictions, and 5 percent would no longer have eligibility to receive financial aid funds.

More about what might be coming is at www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/08/02/kvaal
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My Upcoming Conferences and Webinars in 2010

Attend an upcoming conference to share questions and answers with people like you who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me at these events.

September 22, American Marketing Association: Webinar on mobile marketing in higher education. Date and registration details available soon.

October 28-29: Education Dynamics Aslanian Conference: How to Market Online Programs, Washington, D.C. Program topics are at www.educationdynamics.com/services/market-research/conferences/

November 3, Academic Impressions: Webinar, "Writing Right for the Web." Details are coming later in August.

November 7, Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education, San Diego, CA: Mobile Marketing Tutorial Workshop. Online link is coming soon.

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
____________________________________________
That's All for Now

Be a marketing champion on your campus.

Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
__________________________________________
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.
• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

Best wishes for a fine July 4 holiday weekend to everyone here in the U.S. We expect fine weather in Michigan and I hope you all enjoy the same.

Topics that impact higher education marketing are in the news everywhere, from Senate hearings on for-profit schools to private and public sector tuition increase levels to strategies for using new communication tools. Those areas and more are included here in the July newsletter.

These past weeks I've been crafting new mobile marketing sessions. Join me at pre-conference workshops to explore a future that is already here for some schools at the ACT EPC conference July 21 at www.act.org/epc/ or eduWeb2010 on July 26 at www.eduwebconference.com/

My partner Gerry McGovern is presenting a free July 7 webinar on Web Marketing in the 21st Century. Register in advance at bit.ly/cRvGH8

If you recruit graduate students and you always wanted to visit the Harvard Club in NYC, your stars have aligned. Plan to attend Carol Aslanian's July 29 one-day seminar on marketing to graduate students. Register at bit.ly/cD34VS

And now here are your July marketing news and notes.
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Controversial New Research: ROI for Degrees from 852 Schools

As higher education marketers we are used to the usual stats showing that people with more education earn more money in their lifetime. The facts seem so strong that they have become a fixture in the "value proposition" about the benefits of borrowing for a degree.

Business Week is attacking that marketing element as "vastly overblown" in reporting new research (that includes people who start but never graduate from a 4-year school) to show that life time earnings vary greatly from school to school. Elite schools produce the highest overall earners while public universities are the best values. PR people will want to see the public presentation at yhoo.it/apTQPq

Find the ROI from 852 schools among 18 pages of interactive tables at bit.ly/bYS3IC
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University Website Gets 90% Positive Rating

Amazing. That was how Gerry McGovern reacted after we looked at ratings from 301 parents and potential future students in our most recent CCI (Customer Centric Index) survey client.

We've had other good results but never anything quite this strong. People were even positive about how "search" worked. That has never happened before.

As far as I know, there is no contest that gives website awards based on evaluations by people who actually use the website. Learn more about why Susquehanna University did as well as it did in my blog post at bit.ly/aGHyOw

Note the last item below: Susquehanna has just opened a new Web Content Manager position and is accepting applications.
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Private Sector Tuition Increase in 2010

NAICU is reporting an average increase level for next year of 4.5 percent as showing a strong effort by private colleges and universities to control tuition costs. That amount is still higher than the CPI increase and not everyone agrees that enough cost control is underway.

Read the opinions at bit.ly/bietQD
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Tagline Award Contest for Non-Profits

Do you have a tagline that you are especially proud of?

Enter your institutional tagline or a tagline done for a special campaign in Getting Attention's 2020 tagline contest for non-profit organizations. Read about past contests and enter this year when you visit bit.ly/9vhr8B
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2010 Noel-Levitz E-Recruiting Practices Survey

The 2010 version is online as a 14-page PDF to download at bit.ly/cnjtsz

One finding increases even more the importance of making a strong first impression when potential students visit your website: "secret shopping" continues to grow in popularity. That means carefully crafted communication plans designed to convert an inquiry to an applicant have less and less role to play. Your website had best make a strong first impression.

If you are waiting for the 2010 E-Expectations of college-bound students, that is promised for July.
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Groundswell Survey on Social Media

The folks at Groundswell bring us great books and reports on how people use social media.

Now they are conducting an online survey on how organizations use social media. Complete the survey and get a copy of the results. If you agree that is a fair return for your time, answer the survey that starts when you link to bit.ly/bQ96Td
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Alumni Engagement Online

Academic Impressions interviewed me last week about techniques to engage young alumni in the online world.

Read about 5 website and social media steps covered in the interview (starting point: make it easy for them to complete popular tasks on your website) at bit.ly/bR2CVq
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Mobile Apps vs. Mobile Websites

If you do not have time and resources to do both, how should you best spend your time? A panel discussion group at a recent Mobile Marketing Forum engaged in a "great debate" on that point.

My favorite opinion: mobile access to websites will increase dramatically over the next 12 months so best to make sure your website offers mobile visitors a pleasant experience. More at bit.ly/c1yeWW

Do not be that proverbial frog in the pot on the stove. Check your analytics report each month to track how many people start a visit to your site from a mobile device. Be sure to compare the bounce rate (percent leaving your site without going anywhere else) for mobile visitors with the rate for people arriving from a regular computer.
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Do Millennials Read?

Yes, the do. But not quite like those of us who are not of that generation.

Interesting note: people 15 to 24 years old spend much more time reading than people 25-64 years of age. That rather splits Millennials in half but the main point is clear.

Marketers take note: Millennials are scan readers everywhere, not just online. More at bit.ly/9Q6VvT
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For-Profit Sector faces New Pressure

Senate hearings are underway now that question the extent to which for-profit colleges and universities provide employment results consistent with the fees charged and student debt incurred. Interest is fueled by the fact that Pell Grants worth $26.5 billion go to for-profit schools.

Get the flavor of the issue (including 20 comments) when you read the InsideHigherEd report of the first day hearings at bit.ly/9YLTDo
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Strong Online Magazine: Professional School Example

It is always good to see examples of online magazines "done right for the web" rather than falling for the lure of flip technology to move a print publication online.

The McCombs School of Business does fine work using the blog format to bring "Texas" magazine online. Read the latest issue at blogs.mccombs.utexas.edu/magazine/
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Links to 76 Higher Education Mobile Sites

If you are planning a mobile site soon (and you should be doing just that) or already have one and want to check on what others are doing, visit the list of 76 links at bit.ly/ifVmk
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Web Content Manager Position in Pennsylvania

Susquehanna University is hiring for a new Web Content Manager spot.

The scope includes social media as well as the regular website. Details are online now at www.susqu.edu/offices/33868.asp
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My Upcoming Conferences and Webinars in 2010

Attend an upcoming conference to share questions and answers with people like you who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me at these events.

July 21-23, ACT Enrollment Planners Conference, Chicago, IL Pre-conference workshop, "'Mobile in the Marketing Mix': Myth and Reality for 2010 and Beyond" and conference session: "International Student Recruitment: Best Practice Website Features." Program details and registration at www.act.org/epc/

July 26-28, eduWeb2010, Chicago, IL Review the program and register for my mobile marketing pre-conference workshop at www.eduwebconference.com/

July 29, Education Dynamics Aslanian Group Seminar, Marketing to Graduate Students, New York, NY. Register at bit.ly/cD34VS

November 3, webinar: Academic Impressions, "Writing Right for the Web." Details are coming this summer.

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
____________________________________________
That's All for Now

Be a marketing champion on your campus.

Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
__________________________________________
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.
• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

June and the first days of the summer season are here, warmer than expected in Michigan. As the days grow longer, my friends tell me the search for enrollment yield and budget balance goes on. Difficult times, but the best will adapt, survive, and thrive again.

What most matters now in higher education marketing? The experience people have as they select a college or university, from their first moments at the website to the contacts with real people on campus visits and after enrollment that drive social media comments and connections. Word of mouth marketing is more important than ever in the era of social media and quick mobile contact. Are we worth the price we want to charge? The experience people have and tell others about will answer that question.

One constant is the value of sharing ideas and solutions with bright people at conferences. Attend one of these July events that best helps you build new marketing success: ACT Enrollment Planners Conference (www.act.org/epc/) and eduWeb2010 (www.eduwebconference.com/) in Chicago and Graduate Student Marketing with Carol Aslanian (bit.ly/cD34VS) at the Harvard Club in New York.

Check below for my workshops and presentations at these meetings.

And now here are your marketing news and notes for June.
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10 Boston-area Schools Ranked for Twitter Use

What criteria might you use to measure your marketing effectiveness on Twitter?

Check the article by Jennie White that ranks 10 Boston schools by number of followers, list counts, and engagement factors. Yes, followers count but the highest number did not lead to the top ranking.

Boston University was first of the 10 and Northeastern was last. See how eight others finished when you visit bit.ly/aw5hQ1
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NYT on Student Loan Debt

Do you think the way higher education recommends loans to students is equivalent to the way sub-prime mortgages were offered to home buyers?

That is the PR nightmare suggested by the New York Times in a May 28 blog post on "Placing the Blame as Students are Buried in Debt." Higher education, writes author Ron Lieber, shares responsibility for encouraging loan sources without regard to future ability to pay.

Check the argument, with special attention to one NYU graduate, at nyti.ms/cw7rGx
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International Recruitment Change: OK to Use For-Profit Agents

Pressure to maintain enrollment can bring unexpected change to the way higher education in the United States does business.

That is the driving force behind the growing willingness to use agents abroad to recruit international students for universities in the U.S. The new (2008) American International Recruitment Council is certifying recruitment agencies. This is providing a new legitimacy to schools that want to start doing the same thing that Australian and U.K. universities have been doing for years.

Find 13 diverse college and university participants from private sector schools of varying selectivity to large public universities to higher end MBA programs in an InsideHigherEd article at bit.ly/cjG4QI
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Early Critique: Advertising on the iPad

The folks at ClickZ paid $4.95 to download a copy of the new Wired magazine app for the iPad so they could check the ads.

The result: most ads were close to their print versions and failed to take advantage of the interactive capabilities of the new tool. The worst ads were direct lifts from print and included URLs that did not go live to a website.

The future is not here yet. For a primer on how to get it right, watch the ClickZ video at www.clickz.com/3640485
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Pocket Guide to Defensive Branding

In the social media era, you had best pay careful attention to how your brand is treated by those who write about it on Facebook, Twitter, and a host of other places.

Acting in defense of your brand requires great care. Shouting back online will not help you preserve equity in your brand. Ignoring negative comments will not help either.

Whether you are dealing with minor irritations or a major crisis, Pete Blackshaw has some excellent advice, starting with "listen first, engage last" in his AdAge column at bit.ly/dBVrIg
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Prediction: For-Profit Higher Education Stocks Will Fall

Steve Eisman is a hedge fund manager in the public view for a best-selling book about how he predicted the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market and "sold short" to take advantage of it.

Eisman is predicting a similar fate for the for-profit sector of higher education. It will not, he believes, survive government concerns over what he calls "socially destructive and morally bankrupt" lending practices used to enroll students. His argument is that loan restrictions are inevitable. Revenue and profit will fall. Investors will flee.

Bloomberg Business Week outlines the Eisman position while also noting that a new loan policy based on the probability of "gainful employment" after enrollment is not inevitable. Read the story at bit.ly/cmLB7v
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Strong Adult Student Recruitment Websites

Follow links to 6 examples of strong adult student recruitment website features in my new blog post at bit.ly/bf3wwC

The web pages range from payment options to academic program visibility to transfer credit evaluation.

And I added something often requested and never done before: picked a single "best of the best" website for recruiting people to adult degree programs, with an emphasis on graduate and professional programs.
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Mobile Marketing and Radio Advertising: A Higher Education Example

Mobile marketing is breaking out here, there, not quite everywhere in higher education.

Read about results of one effort that used a 10 second call-to-action to send a text message in a radio ad campaign when you visit the report on Columbia College at bit.ly/a3pjpA

The campaign was targeted to returning adult students. Scroll to the end to see a comment about the ethics and/or legality of calling people on the phone after receiving a text message from them.

While at the site, subscribe to the email newsletter from Mobile Marketer to help stay current with this important area.
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"Demonstrated Interest" as Admissions Criterion

This is a topic that's been around since the 1990s: is a college entitled to wait list or reject students who meet their academic criteria but who have not shown serious interest in the school?

In this time of increased focus on yield from inflated applicant pools, the level of interest shown by a person is back in the news. This story from the Chronicle of Higher Education highlights the practice at American University and Hamilton College at bit.ly/ck0pW0 with special attention to the role of campus visits and admission interviews.
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Writing Right for the Web: Press Releases

Rewriting traditional press releases for your web pages can produce not only search marketing dividends but also stronger visitor engagement with the rest of your website.

Shorter paragraphs, more subheads, and hyperlinks will all add value to your effort.

Find more on these points and review 5 other tips from Deni Kasrel for higher impact website press releases when you visit bit.ly/bgLLDD
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Speed on the Web: It Is Not About Page Download

Web pages that take forever to download are not good.

But what really influences opinion about your website is how long it takes visitors to complete a task. A "sticky" website is not a good thing if it means people are stuck trying to get something done.

That's the point Gerry McGovern makes in more detail in "The Need for Speed on the Web" at bit.ly/cydUWd
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If You Write: Highly Recommended Blog

If you write regularly, online or off, visit The Subversive Copy Editor by Carol Fisher Saller at www.subversivecopyeditor.com/blog/
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My Upcoming Conferences and Webinars in 2010

Attend an upcoming conference to share questions and answers with people like you who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me at these events.

June 3-4, Education Dynamics Aslanian Group Seminar, Marketing to Adult Students, Chicago, IL "Adult-friendly Websites: A 'Best of the Best' Review" and "Web Analytics: A Guide to Improving Recruitment Success." Register at bit.ly/d3nu6f

July 21-23, ACT Enrollment Planners Conference, Chicago, IL Pre-conference workshop, "'Mobile in the Marketing Mix': Myth and Reality for 2010 and Beyond" and conference session: "International Student Recruitment: Best Practice Website Features." Program details and registration at www.act.org/epc/index.html

July 26-28, eduWeb2010, Chicago, IL Review the program and register for my mobile marketing pre-conference workshop at www.eduwebconference.com/

July 29, Education Dynamics Aslanian Group Seminar, Marketing to Graduate Students, New York, NY. Register at bit.ly/cD34VS

November 3, webinar: Academic Impressions, "Writing Right for the Web." Details coming this summer.

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
____________________________________________
That's All for Now

Be a marketing champion on your campus.

Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
__________________________________________
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.
• What Visitors Love & Hate about Your Website: A Survey
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

May greetings to everyone as the first count of enrollment deposits here in the U.S. tells many of our colleges and universities how their fall enrollment classes will compare to their expectations. Best wishes that everyone had a successful early May tally.

You'll see from the first Seth Godin item below that attention is building around the transformation of higher education that started in 2007. Old school higher education marketing from the past 15 to 20 years is dead and done. Exactly what will replace it is not entirely clear, but value for money is likely to play a much more important role. Be sure to check the Eastern Michigan University entry here to see how one school is making a bold move to gain marketing advantage from this.

Adult students will grow in importance for many of our colleges and universities. That is why I am looking forward to the upcoming interaction with many adult enrollment specialists at Carol Aslanian's next adult student recruitment conference in June. To join us, register now at bit.ly/d3nu6f

Do you have a friend or professional colleague who might enjoy this newsletter? Recommend they subscribe at bit.ly/17Letl

And now, here are your marketing news and notes for May.
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Seth Godin on the "Meltdown" in Higher Education

While he is not raising new issues for many people in higher education, a recent blog post from Seth Godin gives wider exposure to the idea that higher education as it has existed for the past 20 years or so is about to "crash and burn."

His six reasons range from dated marketing to high prices to bad accreditation requirements. All of this is in the context, of course, of the crashed economy.

For the details, check the Godin blog entry at bit.ly/dvQ12T
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Berea College and Shell Oil

Fortune Magazine used the example of Berea College to highlight "scenario planning" at Shell Oil as one way for colleges to examine their alternative futures.

Fortune notes that while this might sound similar to strategic planning, the method is better suited to organizations that must contract rather than grow. And Berea is looking at a serious contraction in the total college budget from $43 million to $37 million next year and more in future years.

Read more from Fortune at bit.ly/9HNR3z
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How Important is Your Home Page?

Your home page is declining in importance. Review the reasoning and the stats behind that message from Gerry McGovern at bit.ly/9ZjlUJ

One culprit is Google. A typical Google search for any college or university brings up 8 popular alternatives starting places to the home page, often including admissions, athletics, alumni, and academic programs.

If you have Google Analytics on your site, check the stats for "landing pages" most used by people coming to your site, especially for new visitors. You might well find that while the home page still leads, it gets less than 60 percent of new visitors. Plan to track that stat quarterly as one objective measure of the importance of your home page.
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Email in the Social Media Era

If you still doubt that email is alive and well as a marketing tool (or you need to convince others on your campus), then be sure to read the Writing Matters column that reports on two different sources of the same information: the more people use social media, the more they use email.

Email is not the same tool today it was 10 years ago. That said, email remains a strong conversion technique for people interested in who you are and what you do. As always, the secret is in providing beneficial content to those you seek to influence.

Check the details at bit.ly/d49CUe
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Taglines: Take this Higher Education Quiz

After reading the last New York Times Education Quarterly, I put together a quick two-part tagline quiz based on 8 actual college and university taglines.

As you read the taglines, imagine what type of school each seems to fit. Then follow the link to the home page of the school using that tagline. Does the tagline help you imagine the college or university that uses it?

Next search the home page for the tagline. Hint: in some cases, you'll see it almost immediately. In others, you will not find it at all. Integrated marketing is not alive and well everywhere.

Take the tagline quiz at bit.ly/ddXc51
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Mobile Marketing and Fund Raising

Most of the mobile marketing attention right now is focused on student recruitment but a new generation of people is willing to donate money online. That especially important for the success of annual fund campaigns.

The inevitable result is that people are developing iPhone apps for the not-for-profit sector. For mini-reviews of three introduced earlier this year visit bit.ly/cGox28

Pay special attention to the caution that it might not be wise to ask for an email address right up front before a person even downloads the app.
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Adult Student Recruitment and Social Media

Allow me a moment of shameless self-promotion. If adult students are an important part of your enrollment mix, read my interview with Education Dynamics on "Attracting Adult Learners in the Social Media Era" at bit.ly/9IvZzz

Recommendations include creating very clear content on transfer credit practices, including how to get an early review before applying for admission, and making this content easy to find from the first special landing page created for potential transfer students.
_________________________________________
How Rural Students Select Colleges

The Chronicle of Higher Education summarizes results of new research on the best way to recruit rural students, particularly those that aspire to prestigious graduate schools.

The report notes that elite schools do not do well in recruiting students from rural areas. On the academic side, top rural students are very interested in attending elite graduate schools and make success at this an important criterion as they begin to search for an undergraduate institution. This is yet another indicator that outcomes information indeed is an important marketing element early in the recruitment cycle.

More on this and other factors at bit.ly/dzGMMC
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Tuition Freeze to Gain Market Position

Eastern Michigan University, one of 4 large regional universities in the state, is using $300,000+ to promote a just-announced freeze on tuition, room, and board for 2010 as part of an "Affordable Tuition First" campaign.

That is not yet a position taken by other public universities in the state at a time when state funding is being reduced. EMU has created a web page to highlight tuition increases at other public universities. To see the unusual competitive online presentation visit www.emich.edu/zero/

Details of the marketing strategy are included in an article by the Ann Arbor News at bit.ly/cTh58d
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New in Online Publishing

If you're interested in online publishing, be sure to subscribe to the new UMagazinology blog at umagazinology.jhu.edu/

Content is eclectic, for sure, but topics are easy to scan for what most interests you.
___________________________________________
Mobile Marketing 101

If you are new to the topic, visit the ClickZ column by Ron Jones for a quick summary of the technology behind four types of mobile marketing at www.clickz.com/3636406

Jones isn't quite convinced that 2010 is indeed the often predicted mobile marketing year but if it is not, 2011 will arrive soon. All signs are that mobile will continue to grow in marketing value.
________________________________________
My Upcoming Presentations in 2010

Attend an upcoming conference to share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me at one or more of these events.

May 4-6, J.Boye Philadelphia2010, Philadelphia, PA. "Perils, Pitfalls, and Pleasures: Moving Print Publications to Life Online" and Bates College case study by Jay Collier. Register at bit.ly/bk5Yxz

June 3-4, Education Dynamics Aslanian Group Seminar, Marketing to Adult Students, Chicago, IL "Adult-friendly Websites: A 'Best of the Best' Review" and "Web Analytics: A Guide to Improving Recruitment Success." Register at bit.ly/d3nu6f

July 21-23, ACT Enrollment Planners Conference, Chicago, IL Pre-conference workshop, "'Mobile in the Marketing Mix': Myth and Reality for 2010 and Beyond" and conference session: "International Student Recruitment: Best Practice Website Features." Program details and registration at www.act.org/epc/

July 26-28, eduWeb2010, Chicago, IL Follow the conference program as it grows at www.eduwebconference.com/

July 29, Education Dynamics Aslanian Group Seminar, Marketing to Graduate Students, New York, NY. Register at bit.ly/cD34VS

November 3, webinar: Academic Impressions, "Writing Right for the Web." Details coming this summer.

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
____________________________________________
That's All for Now

Be a marketing champion on your campus.

Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
__________________________________________
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.
• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

Spring greetings to everyone north of the equator. May your marketing activities flower as well as early warm temperatures are boosting the blossoms here in Michigan.

The spring and summer conference season is busy this year and I hope to see many of you between May and July. ACT pre-conference workshops for the Enrollment Planners meeting just went online at www.act.org/epc/ at a price of only $50, including my new one on mobile marketing and student recruitment.

If you have a special interest in web content, organization, and management come along to the J.Boye Conference in Philadelphia in May. People from colleges and universities receive a 40 percent registration discount at bit.ly/bk5Yxz

There is still time to organize a team for my April 20 "Writing Right for the Web" webinar. Register at bit.ly/c1jKkN

And there is more. Check the links below for Carol Aslanian's "Marketing to Adult Students" in June and eduWeb 2010 in July, both in Chicago.

And now here are your marketing news and notes in April.
_____________________________________________
Admit Rates Fall at Top Colleges

The only real question this year was how far would admission rates fall at top schools deluged with applications.

The Washington Post reports on decreases at 20 schools that vary between Harvard at 6.9 percent and George Washington at 31.5 percent.

Scan the full list at bit.ly/9CtUlp
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22 Immutable Laws of Marketing: Not True Any More?

Remember the classic 1994 book by Al Ries and Jack Trout, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing? Augustine Fou has written a 3-part review on the changes that digital technology and social media have created since then in a world where consumers rather than marketers are dominant.

Add to your marketing erudition when you check how and why immutable laws lose their power at www.clickz.com/3639951
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Tuition Discounting Soars in 2008

Not many schools talk in public about their tuition discount rate but new financial realities have indeed forced many private sector institutions to increase tuition discounting to maintain enrollment goals and market position.

The average discount rate reported to the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) increased 3 percent from 2007 to 2008 to a high of 41.5 percent.

Expectations are for another but smaller increase when 2009 results are reported.

InsideHigherEd reports more tuition discounting details at bit.ly/9kOEiX
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New Online Magazine Done Right

Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences has just converted the college's online magazine from a PDF format to a style that is "right for the web."

Is your magazine online as a PDF? Do you use a form of "flip technology" that makes it difficult for people to quickly scan the content and connect in 5 seconds or less? This Penn State example will give you more ammunition to help you move in the right direction.

Read the new Winter/Spring 2010 issue at agsci.psu.edu/magazine
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Recruiting International Students: Instant Response Required

Potential students around the world are no different in one respect than potential students right here in the United States. About 50 percent expect an answer to questions asked online to arrive that same day.

That information and more was reported at a recent UK conference on international student recruitment that focused on recruitment at the graduate level. Note the differences and similarities among students around the world reported at bit.ly/cE4hQv
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Social Media Addicts Defined

Are you addicted to social media?

Do you check Facebook or Twitter whenever you wake up at night or first thing in the morning or before you turn on a TV show? Hint: iPhone uses get addicted more often than anyone else.

Check interesting charts and graphs to see if you are addicted or not at bit.ly/bwjMy0
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Invest in Mobile Apps or Mobile Website?

Is this a marketing issue right now on your campus? If not, it likely will be soon.

AdAge asked this question in a recent poll: Are marketers wasting online budgets by focusing so much on apps rather than the mobile web?

More interesting than the results (62 percent said yes) are the varied comments you'll find at bit.ly/chIxUM
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Scrolling on Your Website Is Not Evil

The question of whether or not scrolling is OK is still often asked at my presentations and client visits. Now Jakob Nielsen is out with a new Alertbox that tells us that scrolling is indeed OK but also warns us that it can be overdone.

Nielsen reaffirms what many of us have been saying for years. If you engage people initially "above the fold" of the web page, those people are willing to scroll down the page for more of the same interesting content.

But that does not mean that people will scroll forever. Ruthless editing is still more important on a website than just about any other place. People are impatient. Brevity counts.

Find more on an important topic in the March 22 Alertbox at bit.ly/aCUSRY
_____________________________________
Quiz: How Millennial are You?

The Pew Internet folk who do continuing generational research are giving everyone, Millennial or not, a chance to see how Millennial-like we are.

Answer 14 quick questions from TV watching to text messaging to tattoos to interracial marriage and more at pewresearch.org/millennials/quiz/

When you finish the quiz, download a February 2010 in-depth 149 page report on Millennials who are "Confident, Connected, and Open to Change."
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5 Reasons to Deep Link at Your Website

Online marketing at your website is all about the experience people have when they visit. When that experience is bad, your brand suffers.

With that in mind, I was pleased to see that increased usability was the first of 5 reasons for creating links direct to content within your website in this Search Engine Land article.

This maxim is still violated too often in higher education print ads that include a URL. Instead of taking people direct to the content highlighted in the ad, links often go to the general home page or at best to the entry page for an academic area. From that point, visitors are abandoned to puzzle out the way forward. All too often they will not bother to do that.

Links from social media sites sometimes make the same mistake.

Review the other 4 reasons to link direct to valued content at selnd.com/dh7Jjs
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Analytics and Mobile Marketing

Are you tracking access to your website from mobile devices?

In one client report done last month, access by new visitors from iPhones, iPods, Androids and the like was just under 2 percent for the month of February. That is not high right now, but how fast will it grow? At this university, there was a definite change from the last quarter of 2009 to the early part of this year.

Google Analytics makes it easy for you to see if there is indeed a growth trend in the months ahead. You don't need to watch every day or every week, but do it at least monthly for the next 6 months.

More about watching for a mobile trend in my blog post at bit.ly/bPrnsH
______________________________________
Shrinking Scope of Higher Education

Pennsylvania is not the only state to plan a centralized review of the majors offered by 14 public universities within the state, but the process underway there understandably is not popular with faculty in smaller departments.

A review is mandated if a major has graduated less than 30 students in the last 5 years for undergrad programs and less than 20 for graduate programs. Some programs likely will disappear.

In a time of greatly diminished resources (that will not soon return to levels of the last 20 years) too many institutions are offering too many courses in too many majors with few students. Tuition cannot increase to the level needed to sustain all programs offered in 2007. The dilemma is sad but real. Higher education degree programs will shrink.

Details of the Pennsylvania process are reported at bit.ly/aAKq21
________________________________________
My Upcoming Presentations in 2010

Share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me at one or more of these events.

April 7, Magna Publications Webinar: "Web Analytics for Enrollment Success." Program details and registration at bit.ly/6y2l0A

April 20, Academic Impressions Webinar: "Writing Right for the Web." Check the program outline and register at bit.ly/9ad2rj

May 4-6, J.Boye Philadelphia2010, Philadelphia, PA. "Perils, Pitfalls, and Pleasures: Moving Print Publications to Life Online" and Bates College case study by Jay Collier. If you work at a college or university, you receive a 40% registration discount. Register at bit.ly/bk5Yxz

June 3-4, Education Dynamics Aslanian Group Seminar, Marketing to Adult Students, Chicago, IL "Adult-friendly Websites: A 'Best of the Best' Review" and "Web Analytics: A Guide to Improving Recruitment Success." Review the program and register online.

July 21-23, ACT Enrollment Planners Conference, Chicago, IL Pre-conference workshop, "'Mobile in the Marketing Mix': Myth and Reality for 2010 and Beyond" and conference session: "International Student Recruitment: Best Practice Website Features." Program details and registration at www.act.org/epc/

July 26-28, eduWeb2010, Chicago, IL Follow the conference program as it grows at www.eduwebconference.com/

July 29, Education Dynamics Aslanian Group Seminar, Marketing to Graduate Students, New York, NY. Details coming soon.

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
____________________________________________
That's All for Now

Be a marketing champion on your campus.

Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
__________________________________________
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.
• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

Writing this as the sun shines on the first March day in Michigan. Nice introduction to the arrival of spring not long from now. May all your marketing endeavors thrive in the new season.

Attend a web strategy conference with a strong international flavor here in the U.S. Check the program, with a higher education track, at J.Boye Philadelphia 2010 at bit.ly/bk5Yxz

Ready for webinars in April? Join me for "Web Analytics for Enrollment Success" (bit.ly/6y2l0A) or "Writing Right for the Web" (bit.ly/9ad2rj).

Here are your marketing news and notes for March.
________________________________________
Update on Millennials from Pew Research

Most Millennials are out of their teens now (18-29 years of age) and many plan to continue in graduate or professional school after college graduation if they can balance that with work and finances.

Pew Research released a February report that describes Millennials, despite the current economic state, as "confident, connected, and open to change." Keep that in mind as you plan stories and outcomes information for your website and social media network.

If Millennials are important to your marketing plans, read the executive summary and download the 149-page report (with special attention to Chapter 5 on "Education and Work") at bit.ly/drDNVi
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Videos for Admission at Tufts University

Is this an exception or the start of a new wave?

For 2010 applicants, Tufts University is giving applicants the option of using a YouTube video as part of their admission application materials. According to a New York Times story, about 1,000 of 15,000 applicants have taken up the offer.

The NYT article at nyti.ms/d6iYw5 includes a link to the most popular video with nearly 79,000 views as I am typing this.

Will you be doing anything similar soon?
________________________________________
Top 10 Online Degree Programs in January 2010

How many can you get right? Make a list before you visit.

The most popular based on online searches and inquiries reported by elearners.com are at bit.ly/cEFL8h
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Myths and Realities of Distance Education

A recent Chronicle of Higher Education explores what is true and what is not quite so true in the ongoing debate over distance education.

Just as interesting as the article by a Yale librarian are the comments that follow on the merits of everything from the motives of administrators who promote distance learning to the deficiencies of software used to run the courses.

Be better informed for your campus discussions after you visit bit.ly/dvXf1C
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Quick Test for Keyword Popularity

If you need a break for something that is both fun and informative, visit Googlefight.

Enter two competing keywords and see which is more often used on Google Analytics. Try your competitors, various academic programs combinations, or my old favorites, "scholarships" vs. "financial aid." Results just might help you plan title tags and key headings for your website pages.

Get the stats at googlefight.com/
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Short Forms Increase Online Inquiries

Does your online inquiry form ask for so much information that it discourages people from completing it? Direct marketers know that the shorter a form, online or not, the more people will use it.

If you want more people to leave stealth status and inquire online, make your form short enough to fit "above the fold" on your web page. Review elements to consider dropping and follow a link to one university's excellent online inquiry form when you visit bit.ly/cc0Vq2
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Pre-Paid Tuition Plans at Risk

The shaky future of pre-paid tuition plans in many states was the feature of a Wall Street Journal article that will make many readers who use them nervous about meeting higher education tuition costs in the future.

WSJ reviews various "shaky guarantees" in states "across the nation." The anticipated pattern: states will restrict the amount of tuition covered by the plans at the same time that public universities are raising tuition to offset declining state appropriations.

Read the full article at bit.ly/9nWRSe
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Marketing Wisdom 2010: Dark Space of the Marketing Universe?

MarketingSherpa is offering this collection of stories, notes, and observations from a long list of marketers for free. While this is not a detailed roadmap to marketing success, you will likely find worthwhile nuggets in the 34 pages to help shape your marketing plans.

The report notes a major change this year in attitudes toward social media: Social Media is viewed as "the dark matter of the marketing universe, filling the space between all other channels, and quietly shaping the activities that take place within them."

For more on that and many more topics download the report at bit.ly/99wiUn
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Nielsen on Website Usability Progress

In a recent Alertbox column, Jakob Nielsen outlined the progress he believes website creators have made over the last 10 years in creating a better online experience for their visitors.

His conclusion is that the glass is half-full rather than half-empty. How long will it take to fill to the top? About another 74 years.

Review the progress made and the hurdles to overcome at bit.ly/bsFtd8
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Higher Education Slips in Public Opinion

This might not be a surprise, but a new public opinion poll details how attitudes toward higher education institutions continue to deteriorate. While people continue to believe that a degree is valuable, most do not believe that universities are acting in the public interest. Most people believe that schools can make more cuts without hurting the quality of a higher education degree.

Check the important details at www.publicagenda.org/pages/squeeze-play-2010
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Middlebury Limits Tuition Increase to CPI + 1%

Can your college or university survive and thrive if tuition increases are limited to 1 percent above the Consumer Price Index?

That's the new strategy announced at Middlebury College, along with a series of other financial restraint measures that recognize that for most institutions the era of growth enjoyed for the past 15 years or so has ended and will not return soon.

Expect contraction more than expansion over the next 10 years. Middlebury has taken an unusual first step in recognizing the new reality. Details at bit.ly/b8itJl

If more schools did the same, public opinion polls might start to change.
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9 Tips for Social Media Marketing Proposals

Are you concerned that VPs and other "higher ups" at your school do not understand the realities of what is needed for effective social media communication, especially the budget?

I especially liked the note here about expected viral results: "It (viral) is as much a strategy as a lottery ticket is a retirement plan."

Find what might work well for you in "Tips for Talking to Your Boss About Social Media" at www.clickz.com/3639596
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Especially for Web Writers: Mission Impossible?

Is it impossible to write a Mission Statement that anyone will actually read and remember?

Especially online, where people have to scan and connect quickly, in about 5 seconds?

Note the difference between the examples from Brannigan's Restaurant and CARE: you can scan the latter but not the former. It would take about 60 seconds to make the weak example friendly for online readers with bullet points.

Dean Rieck offers worthy tips at www.procopytips.com/mission-statement
________________________________________
My Upcoming Presentations in 2010

Share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me at one or more of these events.

April 7, Magna Publications Webinar: "Web Analytics for Enrollment Success." Program details and registration at bit.ly/6y2l0A

April 20, Academic Impressions Webinar: "Writing Right for the Web." Check the outline and register at bit.ly/9ad2rj

May 4-6, J.Boye Philadelphia2010, Philadelphia, PA. Follow higher education track sessions at bit.ly/cYBLD5

June 3-4, Education Dynamics Aslanian Group Seminar, Marketing to Adult Students, Chicago, IL Check the topics and register at bit.ly/6RUBUi

July 21-23, ACT Enrollment Planners Conference, Chicago, IL

July 26-28, eduWeb2010, Chicago, IL Follow the conference program as it grows at www.eduwebconference.com/

July 29, Education Dynamics Aslanian Group Seminar, Marketing to Graduate Students, New York, NY

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
____________________________________________
That's All for Now

Be a marketing champion on your campus.

Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
__________________________________________
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.
• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

February has arrived, telling us that 2010 is well underway and the recruitment cycle for traditional freshmen is nearing the final months. Spring arrives not long from now, a most pleasant prospect.

Two webinars are set for April. We start with "Web Analytics for Enrollment Success" at bit.ly/6y2l0A and continue with "Writing Right for the Web" at bit.ly/9ad2rj

Here are your marketing news and notes for February.
______________________________________
Yale and YouTube: A New Admissions Approach

Watch this video and ask yourself the question: would my school use song and dance to explain why students picked my school? Would your version get 334,000+ views?

See the latest in 16 minute Ivy League admissions videos at bit.ly/5g1pjw
______________________________________
Fast Track Applications: Questioning the Motivation

The NY Times took note last month of 100+ public and private sector schools spending increased admission dollars on "fast-app" mailings to high school seniors.

Mentioned in the article are Marquette, RPI, University of Minnesota, University of the Pacific and several others. The pre-completed, no-fee applications sent to seniors have resulted in large increases in applications pools.

Marketing goals vary from increased selectivity and ethnic and geographic diversity to more national awareness and, the Times suggests, higher US News rankings.

The article compares the practice to pre-approved credit-card invitations and cites "white lies" about the exclusivity of the mailings. It also reports enrollment results at the College of St. Rose that are positive enough for the enrollment management officer to call the program "priceless."

The story is at bit.ly/7KtpsE
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Apps Surge at Elite Schools as Admissions Budgets Shrink

If your reputation is strong enough you do not need more applications and reducing your admissions budget, especially for travel, will not have a negative impact on your applicant pool. Harvard travel dollars are down 50 percent and Brown by 30 percent. Applications have soared.

Bloomberg news service reports the details for record applications for 2010 admission for Harvard, Stanford, Brown, Chicago and several other top tier schools at bit.ly/5Ano87
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134 Higher Education TV Ads

Planning to add TV advertising to your marketing mix? Just like to watch TV ads?

Elizabeth Scarborough has started a collection of college and university TV ads with 134 entries so far at www.youtube.com/elizscar

If you have a TV ad that is not there now, why not upload it soon?
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101 5-Minute Steps to a Better Website

If you need proof that incremental changes can improve your website, take time to scan through this list and plan your web enhancement activities over the next few months.

Start with 19 writing tips and go on to 5 other categories: usability, SEO, accessibility, design and legal. Truly, there is something for everyone here.

Give yourself a score for what is already done or in progress when you visit klck.me/ASx
______________________________________
Ready for the Splinternet?

Groundswell researchers are reporting the end of 15 "golden age" Internet years when everything was nicely integrated. In the future, say these usually wise folk, we will not have things as easy as we have had them in the past.

Marketing communicators had best take note. If this is correct, we have to learn new ways to do web analytics, search engine optimization, online advertising and more. Why has the Internet splintered? Blame the variety of social media and mobile devices now in play.

A synopsis of the report is at bit.ly/5l2FcZ
_______________________________________
Williams College Drops "No-Loan" Policy

InsideHigherEd reported yesterday that Williams College is dropping the "no loan" policy for financial aid awards, effective with the entering class in fall 2011. The announcement was made Sunday. That is a not surprising result of decreases in endowment revenue and other fiscal challenges. Will other "no loan" schools follow Williams?

As of Monday night, the Williams website had not quite caught up. Read about the "no loan" policy at
www.williams.edu/admission/finaid.php but do not get the wrong idea if you are a high school junior this year.
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Does "Branding" Work on the Web?

Do you make a special effort on your website to make sure people find what they want to find when they visit (the academic programs offered, the real cost of enrolling, the academic profile of people who attend)?

Or do you insist on telling visitors what you think they should know about you?

Branding on the web is all about creating the right experience for your visitors.

Gerry McGovern writes about the perils of annoying web visitors at bit.ly/8N8PE9
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Congrats to University Presidents in Oregon

Presidents of public universities in Oregon are taking pay cuts and freezing salaries.

The step is no doubt symbolic in the face of overall financial challenges, but the higher education sector can use more symbolism like this in the months ahead after a recent Chronicle of Higher Education report on a continuing trend to higher salaries.

Check what is happening at various schools as reported by The Oregonian at bit.ly/8RklOT
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Myths and Realities: Teen Media Use

Nielsen reviews the differences and similarities between teens and adults. Time spent on TV, radio, and the Internet might not be as different as conventional wisdom has us think.

Check a quick summary at bit.ly/2XNziS and move from there to download the 17-page PDF report.
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Mobile Marketing: Controlling Expectations

Yes, mobile marketing is growing in importance and marketers should not ignore it.

However, it is important to balance the actions of "early adopters" with those of most other people and keep expectations under control while we plan activities in this new sector.

Read the ReadWriteWeb report that 76 percent of people do not use their mobile phones to access the web. (Higher for teens but not yet 40 percent.) Mobile users will increase but the difficult question is "how far and how fast?"

More including pro and con comments is at bit.ly/6YrJYs
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Future of Marketing Communications

If you like to think ahead 10 to 15 years, then do not miss the NY Times article that imagines how 2-year old children will communicate not long from now.

That is not the only learning point. Equally important is the finding that important generation gaps in how people communicate are only a few years apart. If you think you know what works for a 17-year old, do not be silly and assume that it will work for a 14-year old three years from now.

Get ready for the future at bit.ly/882LFF
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Time on Social Networks per Person: What Country Leads

A quick-to-scan ClickZ chart lists the top 10 countries around the world. No, the United States does not lead. Japan is last.

Find the leader and the rest at www.clickz.com/3636321
________________________________________
My Upcoming Presentations in 2010

Share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me for one or more of these events.

February 2, ACT: "Social Media in Marketing Communications," Lansing, MI

April 7, Magna Publications Webinar: "Web Analytics for Enrollment Success." Program details and registration at bit.ly/6y2l0A

April 20, Academic Impressions Webinar: "Writing Right for the Web." Check the outline and register at bit.ly/9ad2rj

June 3-4, Education Dynamics Aslanian Group Seminar, Marketing to Adult Students, Chicago, IL

July 21-23, ACT Enrollment Planners Conference, Chicago, IL

July 26-28, eduWeb2010, Chicago, IL Follow the conference program as it grows at www.eduwebconference.com/

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
____________________________________________
That's All for Now

Be a marketing champion on your campus.

Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
__________________________________________
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.

• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

Happy New Year!

This marks the 15th year since I started writing this newsletter when it was primarily a promotional tool for the AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education. Both the Symposium and the newsletter have enjoyed continued success since then. A special thanks to the many people who have been subscribers since the 1990s.

The challenges that plagued higher education in 2009 remain in 2010 as we continue to adjust to reduced financial resources, resistance to tuition costs, and demands for new programs and delivery systems. For marketers, it will be a time of special efforts and new accomplishments.

At the Iowa State social media summit in December, someone asked me what the next "new marketing thing" would be in 2010. That is always hard to predict but the mobile marketing world is sure to be at or near the top as we move further toward the world of Web 3.0. (The Iowa State presentation slides are online at bit.ly/7APwg3)

Join me this year on Twitter at twitter.com/HighEdMarketing and LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/bobjohnsonconsulting

And now, here are your marketing news and notes for January 2010.
_______________________________________
US News Rankings: New Reality Marketing Challenge

The 2010 US News college rankings are out and the overall results are not surprising. Harvard and Princeton lead the national university list. Williams and Amherst lead the national liberal arts colleges. The usual suspects fall below them.

What caught my eye was the category for "A+ schools for B students" with "less than stellar test scores or so-so grade point average." The schools are listed within four regions. After a quick scan of the Midwest schools, I am very curious to see how this ranking is reflected on university websites over the next month or so.

Is your school included as a special place for B students? See where you and your competitors stand at bit.ly/8mGeiM
_______________________________________
Master's Degrees Mean $$$ for Higher Education

The NYT Education Life issue for January includes an article on the "New Universe" of master's degrees in higher education. Narrative Medicine opens a review of 10 popular offerings that closes with New Media.

As elsewhere in higher education now, market forces are driving these new programs as schools discover people are willing to pay major dollars for a chance at expanded career opportunities.

See the 8 others at bit.ly/4ynUHl and compare with your offerings.
_______________________________________
4 Mobile Marketing Trends to Watch in 2010

Marketing Sherpa makes an important recommendation here: focus first on making your website accessible from mobile devices rather than on developing special mobile apps.

Although the data is from early 2009, the trend is clear in every age group: growth in smartphones (although not near 50 percent yet) and text messaging (over 50 percent at age 50 and much more for younger age groups) that will continue in 2010.

More details are at www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31481#
_______________________________________
Secret Lives of Admissions Officers: Daily Beast Report

Not much has changed since the 1970s: low pay and rapid turnover still characterize life for new admissions professionals. Read this and stay up-to-date with what the public is learning about what the article describes as the "secret police force" in admissions.

The article, with mini-profiles of 10 admissions counselors, is at bit.ly/8lEF7E
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500 Web Editors and More: University of Southern Denmark

If your school struggles with the best way to organize itself for maximum website impact, you will not go wrong reading the detailed plan used at University of Southern Denmark.

One key to the plan is initial screening and ongoing training for 500+ plus web editors responsible for keeping web content accurate, current, and easy to read throughout the university.

Download the details from my SlideShare site at bit.ly/51A85h
_______________________________________
Market Shapes Career Relevant Higher Education

The feature story in the January 3 NYT Education Life supplement was titled "The Utility Degree" and returns to the old discussion about the extent to which higher education should aid people to find career employment after graduation. This time, however, the overall tone seems to reflect an acceptance of current market pressures from the current economy.

With few student majors, programs in Philosophy and American Studies are at risk.

Higher education is an expensive investment and people are focusing more on immediate returns. And so curriculums change to better meet demand.

Michigan State and St. Michael's College are highlighted in the report at bit.ly/4q9p2M
________________________________________
Purdue University: Transparency in Financial Crisis

Higher education continues to walk a fine line between public acceptance and public disillusionment. The varied responses of major public universities to new fiscal conditions in 2009 often added to the disillusionment rather than the confidence.

Purdue University is putting weight on the transparency side of the scale with a website page that promises to keep the campus community and the public current with the last plans to weather the storm.

This is a risky step if people perceive the site as too much public relations rather than open public disclosure. Time will tell. Plan to check regularly at bit.ly/5KsymR
________________________________________
Top 10 Intranets Add Mobile, Social Network Strength

In our Customer Carewords research this year for 14 colleges and universities, internal website users were almost always more critical in their evaluations than external groups. Faculty and staff were the least satisfied.

One conclusion: it is not easy to build one website that combines the best features of both internet and intranet sites.

Now Jakob Nielsen has identified 10 Intranet sites and the features that will make them especially successful in 2010. While none are in higher education, reviewing the list will help build a stronger case for a more efficient intranet. Give special attention to the move to easier mobile access and to the increase in social networking features within the organizations.

Check the report at www.useit.com/alertbox/intranet_design.html
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For-Profit Sector Capturing Military Students

Business Week magazine lays out in detail how the for-profit sector has won a 29 percent market share of college enrollments from active-duty military personnel. Call it aggressive recruiting or an enhanced "customer service" orientation, not-for-profit schools are falling behind.

University of Phoenix, for instance, has increased recruiters of military students from 91 in 2003 to 452 this year.

What lessons might the not-for-profit sector learn? Study the details at bit.ly/6dWjha
________________________________________
Online Virtual Recruiting

Rachel Reuben at SUNY New Paltz gives a detailed review complete with screen shots of the online virtual college fair experience offered by CollegeWeekLive.

If you have a special interest in minority students or people from outside your primary recruitment area, check Rachel's report at bit.ly/4tL58S
________________________________________
New FAFSA: The Marketing Impact

Kiplinger applauds changes in the new FAFSA, noting a reduction of 22 questions.

Down in the middle of the article is news that people completing the form will also have direct access from it to information about retention, graduation, and transfer rates as well as information about cost and programs available.

Is this a new chance for a late-in-the-recruitment-cycle comparison of finalist selections before sending off the form?

The Kiplinger article is at bit.ly/8ABedQ
________________________________________
100+ Higher Education TV Ads on YouTube

Interested in TV advertising? If yes, visit regularly a new YouTube site created by Elizabeth Scarborough at Simpson-Scarborough. Right now 102 videos are available. Expect that number to grow.

Pick your favorites at www.youtube.com/elizscar
________________________________________
Future of Search Engine Marketing

If you are debating how much emphasis to put on search marketing in 2010, then you will want to read a recent column by Danny Sullivan, a genuine search marketing guru.

In responding to a recent prediction that search marketing has lost importance, Sullivan harkens back to a similar 1997 prediction and gives good reasons why the current forecast is no more valid now than 12 years ago.

Search engine marketing is one component of an overall online marketing program and it doesn't make sense to ignore it. Read more at bit.ly/4oJnfh
________________________________________
Upcoming Presentations in 2010

Share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me for one or more of these events.

Thanks to everyone who attended a presentation or webinar in 2009. I'm looking forward to meeting many of you again this year, as well as adding new friends and colleagues. Presentation event dates are included here for your advance planning. Look for updates to here and on my website as they become available. Exact titles below might change but the major focus will not.

February 2, ACT: "Social Media in Marketing Communications," Lansing, MI

April 7, Magna Publications Webinar: "Web Analytics for Enrollment Success"

June 3-4, Education Dynamics Aslanian Group Seminar, Marketing to Adult Students, Chicago, IL

July 21-23, ACT Enrollment Planners Conference, Chicago, IL

July 26-28, eduWeb2010, Chicago, IL Follow the conference program as it grows at www.eduwebconference.com/

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
____________________________________________
That's All for Now

Be a marketing champion on your campus.

Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
__________________________________________
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.
• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html

December is upon us and that means the rapid arrival of the holiday season and a New Year. My best wishes to everyone over the next few weeks as 2010 approaches.

Record attendance of more than 600 people at the recent AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education showed that higher education marketing continues to have a critical role to play in the success of universities here and abroad. Next year's meeting is in San Diego in November. Look for the exact dates soon.

Thanks to everyone who has attended one of my conference presentations or webinars in 2009. It was indeed a busy year and it was a pleasure to meet old and new friends. Look for the first listing of 2010 events in the January newsletter.

Close out your marketing year by joining me on Twitter at twitter.com/HighEdMarketing or by connecting on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/in/bobjohnsonconsulting

And now here are your December marketing news and notes.
________________________________
Xavier Works to Reduce Stealth Applicants

Doug Ruschman, director for web services at Xavier University, sent word this week of a new effort to reduce stealth applicants.

While many schools have online scholarship calculators, most do not require the person using them to reveal their identity. That is a legitimate marketing tactic to get quick information to people about possible sticker price reductions in the hope that interest will increase.

If you are bothered by the growth in stealth applicants, why not offer a concrete benefit in return for identity information rather than give the benefit for free? The results of this approach will help Xavier learn more about early explorers with high interest.

Early results: 300 people who were not yet in the database completed the form in the first weekend.

Check the approach at bit.ly/5poe51
_________________________________
5 Pending Facebook Changes

For student recruitment, alumni relations, athletics and more, Facebook gets more attention as a higher education marketing tool than other social media sites.

And that's why you might want to visit an early preview of 5 new Facebook page changes brought to you by the social media watchdogs at Mashable.

One key element: more prominence for the search feature.

See what's coming soon when you visit bit.ly/4OFpuB
_________________________________
NSSE 2009 Survey Results

Results of the 2009 National Survey of Student Engagement are available now at nsse.iub.edu/NSSE_2009_Results/

Despite new challenges to the survey methodology and use of results, this remains a useful way to compare trends at your institution and to compare yourself with similar schools.
_________________________________
4 Top Mobile Marketing Points

Sean Carton is one of my favorite writers about online marketing.

With the advent of a new Android phone for Verizon, he notes that mobile marketing has received another boost (not everyone wants an iPhone from AT&T). If you are not yet thinking about the best ways to add this to your marketing mix, add the topic to your resolutions for the New Year.

Sean recounts the pitfalls of a mobile marketing strategy and urges attention to 4 simple but key elements (Where, What, Who, and Why) at www.clickz.com/3635583
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Sweet Briar College Pays a Price

In this year when nobody was quite sure what impact the economy would have on student recruitment, the question of whether or not to raise the tuition discount rate no doubt was widely discussed, especially in the private sector.

Sweet Brian College decided not to raise the 42 percent rate. The result was a drop in enrollment from 650 to 605 students and a drop in revenue of nearly $1 million.

Details and frank talk from the president about future options are at bit.ly/69gigS
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ACT Gains Market Share vs. SAT

Fortune reviews the contest for market share between the two test-taking giants, noting that since 1999 ACT has achieved virtual parity with the SAT exam with respect to number of students taking the tests.

Fortune attributes this weakened market position to a decision by College Board to begin letting students who take the SAT more than once to send only their highest score results to colleges and universities with a new Score Choice program. ACT has always had that policy.

Read more from Fortune at bit.ly/8pTCO7
_____________________________________
Students Protest Pittsburgh Tuition Tax

Pittsburgh wants to raise revenue with a new 1 percent tax on student tuition. If the city succeeds in breaking the exemption enjoyed by non-profits, will others be far behind?

Expect legal challenges, of course, so the final outcome is not clear.

Meantime, students are protesting. Watch the video and follow the story at bit.ly/8tAIk9
_____________________________________
Web Analytics: New vs. Returning Visitors

If you need ammunition on your campus to convince people that web analytics can play a valuable role in understanding what happens on your website, read Shelby Thayer in her Trending Upward blog post at bit.ly/7WXxHB

One point is important for admission offices: be sure to separate new from returning visitors in the data you are looking at. Then check the bounce rate (percent who leave the page without continuing anywhere else) and the average time on your page.

Pay special attention to your admissions entry page and to the first page people visit after that.
________________________________________
Creating Effective Web Links

Little things really can kill your online marketing efforts. One of the most common is poorly created website links.

Gerry McGovern     offers insight on creating more effective links at bit.ly/2dxRHt

A very basic point: make sure your text links appear in blue and are underlined.
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Opt-In Email Lists Grow in 2009

Here is another note for anyone tempted to believe that email is dead as an effective online marketing tool. Business to consumer email lists grew slowly (56 percent) or rapidly (11 percent) in 2009. Another 30 percent reported neither growth nor decline.

The message is clear. Give people a beneficial reason to subscribe to your email and they will do it. Details from Marketing Sherpa at www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31459
________________________________________
Engagement Marketing Revisited

Alex Brown, an old friend from his Wharton days, returns from his current world of horse racing to update an earlier article on Engagement Marketing in the social media world.

To help understand how to integrate social media marketing into your overall marketing plan, his concept of three circles of marketing (traditional, engagement, and free) is well worth a visit at www.zehno.com/news-resources/?p=2532
________________________________________
Social Media for Mass Advertising

Maybe mass marketing to create brand awareness is not dead yet. Maybe it has just transformed itself and emerged again in the social media world.

Ford Motor Company for the past 6 months has used social media to create brand awareness for a new Ford Fiesta that will first go on sale in 2010. The campaign produced 4.3 million video views on YouTube, 540,000 photo views on Flickr, and 3 million impressions on Twitter.

The result, Ford reports, is 60 percent brand awareness in the United States at far less cost than the estimated $50 million for a traditional campaign.

The core element of the campaign was a website.

Read more and link to the Ford Fiesta website at my blog at bit.ly/ou7kB
________________________________________
5 Search Engine Optimization Fears to Overcome

If you're concerned that your search engine visibility is too low, an article by Stoney deGeyter at bit.ly/OwUSO might help.

Read his rationale for long-term commitment, continuous change, and sometimes the deconstruction of an existing website. Effective SEO is not easy. Understanding what is required for success will help create reasonable expectations.
________________________________________
Upcoming Presentations in 2009

Share questions and answers with people like yourself who are building a competitive edge in higher education marketing. Join me for one or more of these events.

Here are the last presentations from a very active 2009. Thanks to everyone who attended this past year. A new list for 2010 will start in the January newsletter.

December 3, Ames, IA: Iowa State University, Social Media Marketing Summit.

December 8, Webinar: "Writing Right for the Web." Program outline and registration at www.academicimpressions.com/web_conferences/1209-web-writing.php

December 12, Webinar: "Maximise Your Website to Recruit International Students." Australian Education International, Washington D.C. By invitation to Australian universities.

Increase ROI from your online marketing. Expand the writing, editing, and search marketing skills of people on your campus. Host a campus workshop on online marketing.

Contact me at bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com
____________________________________________
That's All for Now

Be a marketing champion on your campus.

Bob Johnson, Ph.D. (bob@bobjohnsonconsulting.com)
President and Senior Consultant
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC
__________________________________________
Bob Johnson Consulting, LLC

Increase your online marketing success with these 6 services.

• Customer Carewords Research with Gerry McGovern    
• Writing Right for the Web On-Campus Workshops
• Marketing Communications Website Review
• Competitive Website Reviews
• Content Copywriting Services
• Usability Analysis

Start now at www.bobjohnsonconsulting.com/whatwedo.html