The XpertTips Blog

My colleague Jeff Kallay and I spent last Friday on campus at Philadelphia University, where we helped the “Rambassadors” prepare for another semester on the front lines of the campus visit.

At lunch, we got to talking with our clients Christine Greb and Kathy Kissane about what to expect on campus tours this year.

Our response? “Different parents.”

We were referring to the fact that the parents of visiting prospects are beginning to shift from “Boomers” to “X-ers,” and that with this shift comes a whole new set of values and expectations.

Jeered as the “Baby Bust,” members of Generation X were born roughly between 1965 and 1980. These “latchkey kids” are marked by the emergence of working moms and the prevalence of divorce. They are generally characterized by their rebellious, individualistic nature and healthy sense of cynicism.

The idea is to think less Leave it to Beaver and The Beatles — and more Nirvana and The Simpsons. And their children are starting to go to college.

As you would expect, this new crop of moms and dads do not value the same things that their Boomer counterparts do. Especially when it comes to the college search.

So what can you expect?

Well, for starters, X-ers don’t care much for costly amenities and are not easily impressed by bragging points and rankings. On the whole, they are not as concerned with your “big name” as much as they are your big price tag.

X-er parents will “hang back” for the most part, pushing their child to interact more. But don’t count them out — they’ll have tough questions for you about financial aid and the return on their investment.

Ultimately, colleges and universities will need to do a much better job of answering the question that’s top-of-mind for Gen-X parents: “Is it really worth all of this money?”

When it comes down to it, X-er parents want to know that their child will get a decent education for the right price and will be able to find a job upon graduation. They want to watch Wayne’s World — not have their son or daughter recreate it in their basement.

So even if you are the last person we’d ever find in a mosh pit, it’s time to pay a bit more attention to this often misunderstood generation.

Before your school’s reality “bites”;)
Think you’d like to learn more?

Check out X Saves the World: How Generation X Got the Shaft but Can Still Keep Everything from Sucking, by Jeff Gordinier.

Time Magazine tells us more about the book and the generation that gave us YouTube, Amazon and Google in their article Gen-X: The Ignored Generation?

It’s a busy day at TargetX — we’re hosting a blood drive here at Canal Works (our illustrious headquarters;)

In the spirit of the day (and in lieu of an XpertTip), I thought I would invite you to learn a little more about our philanthropic effort — the “Power of X.”

Under the leadership of CEO Brian Niles, we’ve agreed to give 1% profits to a local cause, 1% of products to associations that support college recruiting, and 1% of payroll (to allow employees to work for three days with a nonprofit organization in the community).

Read more about the Power of X here

Our friends from Albright College even joined us today to participate (and donate!) It has been a fantastic day and we’re so excited to count clients as part of the Power of X story.

As we wind down our busy day here, please accept our best wishes as you prepare to head into another semester.

And, as always, thanks so much for your support.

Two of my best friends and college roommates are high school guidance counselors.

When they aren’t working with students on the college selection process (or wearing one of the myriad other hats that come with the counselor gig), they rely heavily on technology to keep up with their personal lives.

They text message, share YouTube videos and post to photo-sharing sites. And they’re on Facebook. A lot.

Is this your image of the school counselor? If it isn’t, perhaps the way we communicate with prospects isn’t the only thing that needs to change.

Modern guidance offices want what we all want — a better way to keep up. That means making it easier for them to stay updated on important things like new programs and facilities or changes to admissions requirements.

Here are a few ways you can better communicate with the guidance community:

• Do a series of emails focusing on different aspects of the admissions process (think visiting campus, financial aid/scholarships, etc.)

• Host a lunchtime chat for guidance counselors in the fall to talk about the application process or what’s new on campus. Have the Director of Admissions on hand for a real attendance draw.

• Develop an interactive “Counselors” page for your website.

• Ask counselors to check out your social network so they can encourage interested students to join.

• Do a “Top 10 Reasons to Choose XYZ University” poster and/or campaign. Focus on the things that differentiate you from your competitors.

• Promote your student blogs to the guidance office. It’s a great way for them to get an “inside track” on student life (bonus points if one of the bloggers just happens to be a former student…;)

• Invite them to subscribe to receive emails on a regular basis reminding them about news, events and admissions deadlines.

As with all things, authenticity matters most here. You’ve got to be (really) honest about the kinds of students who get in and the kinds of students who thrive on your campus. It’s the only way counselors can help make that “best fit” match.

So this year, do a better job of “influencing the influencers” and reach out to the guidance community with more than a new copy of the viewbook.

Because the need to build dynamic relationships doesn’t just apply to prospects.

Brad Ward writes for a great blog called SquaredPeg (which you should all subscribe to if you don’t already).

His latest post points to some fantastic student blog research done by Karen Sines Rudolph, Coordinator of Public Information at McLennan Community College.

Her research examined 2,471 blog posts from 349 individual bloggers at 92 institutions during the 2005-2006 school year. Now that’s a mouthful.

It’s the kind of stuff we all dream of doing “as soon as we find the time…”

For those of you managing student blog initiatives (or even thinking about it) — get over there and download the study now!

Brad was kind enough to pull a few “teasers” from the research if you need more convincing:

• Less than 20% of bloggers (n=463) acknowledged the specific audience they were blogging for: prospective students.

• This study suggested that blogs lose their effectiveness when bloggers post more than once or twice a week.

• Junior year bloggers were most likely to speak on academics.

Visit Brad’s SquaredPeg post entitled “YOU SHOULD PROBABLY READ THIS” for the full download.

Our sincere thanks to Karen for putting this together and sharing the knowledge! (And kudos to Brad for a title that certainly gets attention;)

Are you guilty of sending narcissistic email messages?

Ok, perhaps “narcissistic” might be a bit too harsh.

But I’ve seen quite a few messages that seem to focus more on what the college wants to say than what the reader wants to hear.

It’s the email equivalent of someone shoving a flyer into my hand as I’m walking down the street. Sure, they may have something they want to say, but hey, I’m busy and I never asked for it.

With email, there’s no need to launch into a three-paragraph history of your school’s origin or your founder’s vision.

It’s probably safe to say that no one wants to scroll through the academically-long-winded description of a new major they’ve never heard of, either.

All of that fun stuff should live on your website. They’ll look for it there if they want to know.

These days, email works better for things like announcements, event registrations, reminders, promotions, surveys, follow up communication, etc. All things that address the “what’s in it for me” question and allow for the interaction that made the medium so popular.

This week, I ask you to take a moment to review the last few email messages you’ve sent to prospects.

Is your content solving a problem or providing value to the reader? Or is it all about you?

This year, try and focus less on what you want to say. Don’t wait until May rolls around to make it all about them.

Excuse the shameless self-promotion — but do you read Brian Niles’ blog?

One of his recent posts announces his foray into the world of Twitter.

For those of you who have tried numerous times to wrap your mind around the concept (only to end up feeling more confused), perhaps his real-life example will help.

Brian offers readers a little peak into his world via frequent posts of 140 characters or less. It’s called “micro-blogging,” and plenty of people are paying attention.

Our own Ray Ulmer even did an Email Minute on it back in May.

It’s clear the TargetX team gets pretty excited about how these technologies could change the way we build relationships with students.

When it comes down to it, tools like Twitter are changing the (online) face of communication. And as much as we’d sometimes love it to, higher ed does not exist in a vacuum.

Now you may be nowhere near ready to embrace Twitter as a recruiting tool (still trying to get buy-in for that social network?;) But it’s still important to stay educated and keep up as much as you can. It’s the only way to really prepare for what’s to come in the years ahead.

That’s why we do our best to use new tools in our personal lives — so we can give you insights as to how they could affect change in your corner of the world.

Will Twitter replace blogs? That remains to be seen. But you can count on your friends at TargetX to give you a front-row seat on the action.

“How the heck do we keep them interested and posting regularly!?”

It’s the question I get most often about student bloggers.

It was also a popular topic of conversation last week at our Boston workshop. More than a few clients told me they have trouble keeping their bloggers…uh…regular;)

If you’re dealing with blasé bloggers, here are 7 strategies that could help spark a renewed interest:

1. Reinforce that brevity is ok.

• Hey, it’s a blog, not a book. A three-sentence post is fine! If students feel like they have to write something long and drawn out, they’ll put it off. Plus most readers prefer short posts.

2. Meet with them regularly.

• You should treat your bloggers like any other student organization — and that includes meeting regularly to listen to concerns and go over your expectations. Shoot for once every week or two (once a month at least). Think you just don’t have the time? Be sure to read #5.

3. Share the stats.

• Are you sharing your stats with your bloggers? It’s a great practice to report back on things like page hits, time spent on the site, etc. Sometimes all it takes is printout from Google Analytics to inspire results-driven Millennials (who want to know that their work is both effective and appreciated).

4. Keep the focus on quality.

• Try not to pay per post. Shift the focus from quantity to quality by providing incentives and recognition. Have you considered hosting an awards ceremony at the end of the month or semester? Consider giving awards for “best single post,” “best photos,” or “most popular blog.” Even better, make it interactive by giving readers the ability to vote.

5. Hire a student supervisor.

• Don’t be afraid to liberate yourself. Upperclassmen do a fine job of staying on top of who is posting, how often, who needs help and who needs a talkin’ to. Plus you’ll create a position other bloggers want to compete for.

6. No comments? No problem.

• Students are easily disheartened if no one comments on their posts. But comments aren’t the only way to measure success (hey, no one comments on this blog, either;) Keep in mind that blogs are the ultimate place for “lurkers” who may just want to read and don’t have much to say.

7. Play up the prestige.

• Make “University Blogger” a prestigious title at your school by making it as selective as possible. Try having a writing contest or interviews as part of your hiring process. Play up the position’s value as a “resume builder” and see if you can facilitate a dinner with the President, Dean or Director of Admissions during the year.

Remember that the goal is for current students to share stories about what it’s really like to be a student at your school.

As you would expect, a little motivation never hurts.

Guy Kawasaki did a blog post yesterday pointing us to “If You’re Open to Growth, You Tend to Grow,” a New York Times article that he calls “required reading for managers and parents.”

Since many of you are both, I thought you might find it interesting.

His post praises the work of Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck and highlights a key passage from the article:

“Those who believe they were born with all of the smarts and gifts they’re ever going to have approach life with what she calls a ‘fixed mind-set.’ Those that believe that their own abilities can expand over time, however, live with a ‘growth mind-set.’”

Basically, Dweck is arguing that it’s not necessarily what we’re born with that counts as much as our own ability to keep learning along the way — something that can seem increasingly difficult given the hectic schedules of today.

But that’s exactly why my role as Client Concierge was created — to help you keep learning so you can approach our tools with a deeper understanding of admissions marketing.

Our hope is to provide the technology you need along with a dedicated resource to guide you along the way. We stay on top of what’s working and what’s changing so we can pass that on to you.

So whether you call, email, listen to the podcast, catch up with me in the Knowledge Center, read the tip every week, attend a workshop or just IM me with a question, don’t hesitate to seek me out (or the rest of the TargetX team for that matter).

I think we could all benefit from adopting a “growth mind-set” towards our work together this year.

Have a good time at your regional ACAC conference this year?

Chances are you sat in on some great sessions, caught up with colleagues, ate and drank too much and slept way too little (but hey, it was worth it, right?;)

Hopefully, you even got a chance to say hello to Jeff Kallay (a legend on the ACAC circuit) or meet other folks from TargetX’s colorful cast of characters.

But have you continued the conversations you started while in “conference mode?”

Jeff has been kind enough to create groups in the TargetX Knowledge Center for every ACAC conference we participated in this year. As a member, you can download presentation slides, participate in forum discussions and connect back to your experience.

Just head over to the “Groups” tab to view the list and find your group:
http://knowledgecenter.targetx.com/groups

Don’t forget you can also create and join other groups for your specific interest areas. It’s a great place to post questions and benefit from the thoughts and ideas of other interested members.

So enjoy catching up with friends in the Knowledge Center and have some fun this holiday weekend.

I look forward to reading your posts!

It seems that the more messages I review for clients, the more I encounter a very serious problem: putting too much information in an email.

Want a quick tip for writing better messages? Don’t forget the power of the hyperlink.

There’s no need to try and stuff every last fact about an event or program into one message. It only muddles your point and clutters the call to action, ultimately negating your original intent to provide information.

A better strategy is to think of the email and your website as partners, working in tandem to deliver content and invite interaction.

Think of the email as the “hook,” or a quick teaser that serves to drive readers to the web. It really can be just a few sentences for most messages (provided you’ve added the content to your website).

Huge email messages only provoke the natural “I don’t have time for this” reaction. It’s much better to invite visitors into a dynamic web environment where they can skim, read, click, interact and share content at will.

Next time, avoid the “quick delete.” Make it easy for readers to digest your idea by stating your point quickly and providing links for more information.

When it comes to email — it’s all about the power of the link.