Do you still use old-fashioned business cards? 🚫
Perhaps it’s time to bring you and your organization to the next level ↗️.
For over a year, I’ve been networking the modern 💁🏼♀️ way using a digital business card. There are many options out there—from phone cases to wearables and everything in between. I settled on a traditional-looking plastic business card product from Birmingham-based Linq (@thelinqapp).
When I hold my custom-branded card close to a new acquaintance’s phone, it uses near field communication (NFC) technology ⚡️ to automatically open my customized profile (containing links, photos, contact information, and more) on their device. With one tap, they can save my info to their phone’s 📲 contacts, rather than awkwardly stashing my paper business card in their pocket or bag, only to toss it in the trash later.
Could it be time for you and your organization to ditch the waste, impracticality, and expense of old-fashioned business cards and enter the digital age? 💫
#BusinessCards #businesscarddesign #networking #professionalnetworking #schoolmarketing #marketingtips #educationmarketing #indieschools #privateschool #schoolcommunication #nonprofitmarketing #nonprofitcommunications
Does your marketing plan sometimes feel more like a wing and a prayer 🙏🏼 than a data-informed strategy?
I get it. You’re a busy school administrator, and there’s barely time to skim the first page of your unread emails 😩 much less do research on your target audience.
That’s why it’s especially helpful for experts like Angela Brown to distill important survey data 📊, highlighting trends and actionable insights. She did just that in a recent episode of @inspiredschoolmarketers SparkCast 🎧, discussing some of the key findings of the 2023 @nichesocial K-12 Parent Survey.
What were some of the takeaways?
💡 Competition is real. Sixty-four percent of parents considered 3 or more schools in the school search process—23% considered 5 or more.
💡 For the second year in a row, Google search (27%), word of mouth (23%) and school search and review platforms (22%) were the top sources for K-12 families to discover the schools they considered.
💡 Feedback from members of your community matters more than ever. Seventy percent of parents said negative feedback from current parents or difficulty finding reviews would cause them to remove a school from consideration.
💡 Seventy-nine percent of parents said school search and review platforms were their preferred online research tool for comparing schools.
💡 Events could be the new inquiry form—nearly one-third of parents said attending a school enrollment event was the first step they took to engage with the schools they considered.
💡 The appetite for high tuition costs appears to be decreasing. Twenty percent of parents removed schools from consideration due to lack of financial aid, and tuition cost increased significantly as an important deciding factor for the schools they ultimately chose—increasing from 51% in 2022 to 60% in 2023.
💡 Prospective students are becoming increasingly influential in the decision-making process. Sixty-seven percent of parents said their children played a role in choosing their schools, a 6% increase from 2022. For the parents of middle and high school-aged students (7th-12th grade), that figure increased to 79%.
How can you use this data 📊 to inform your marketing strategy?
As marketers, often we’re behind the camera 📸…and occasionally we’re in front of it.
This past week, I was on both 📷 sides 📷 of the lens.
Since 2018, I’ve had the incredible privilege of being involved with Night to Shine, a prom-like event 💃🏾👨🏻🦼 for people with special needs coordinated by @timtebowfoundation and hosted by churches around the globe 🌎. This year, at my church’s event, over 300 volunteers welcomed over 100 honored guests. Afterward, my cheeks ached from smiling 😁—an enviable problem!
When I was a Director of Marketing and Communications at a private school in NJ, I regularly picked up our department’s DSLR 📸 to capture goings-on on campus. Now that I’m a consultant working with schools and nonprofits around the country, I treasure the increasingly rare opportunity to see connection, engagement, and pure joy 💫 from behind the lens. I saw it all at this year’s Night to Shine, and I’m grateful for it.
Also this week, I found myself in front of a camera—as a presenter for the all-virtual Small School Leaders Conference, hosted by the indominable @aubrey_bursch. For nearly an hour, I shared 👩🏼🏫 practical tips and strategies for improving your school’s tuition page, in-house. I loved getting to interact with attendees and field questions, all via my webcam on my home office’s standing desk!
Regardless of the 📷 side 📷 of the lens you’re on today, I hope you revel in the opportunity—and savor the joy 💫.
#volunteering #continuingeducation #marketingphotography #brandphotography #professionalgrowth #schoolmarketing #marketingtips #educationmarketing #indieschools #privateschool #schoolcommunication #nonprofitmarketing #nonprofitcommunications
I’m gearing up to present 👩🏼🏫 at the Small School Leaders Conference, and thanks to host @aubrey_bursch, I’m enjoying steaming hot tea in this snazzy infuser mug while I do it!
I can’t wait to share a host of practical tips ✅ so that a small school’s team can execute an extreme makeover of one of the most highly-visited pages of every school’s website: the tuition page 💰.
Join me Wed, Feb 7 at 11 am online! It’s not too late to register—just visit easyschoolmarketing.com/conference.
#continuingeducation #professionalgrowth #schoolmarketing #marketingtips #educationmarketing #indieschools #privateschool #schoolcommunication #nonprofitmarketing #nonprofitcommunications
🎉 I did a thing.
And I didn’t do it alone. As with any important and successful project, I had a LOT of help 🫱🏻🫲🏽.
For more than 2 years, Seabury Consulting LLC has been slowly growing 📈 based on word-of-mouth marketing.
But any good marketing professional will tell you that word of mouth, while valuable, is not a strategy on which to build a business—including a school 🏫.
It was time ⏰.
Now, regarding that help 🫱🏻🫲🏽 I mentioned.
It turns out that I am the most fortunate and supported person on planet Earth 🌍. Argue with me—I dare you! I must thank just a few of the many people who made seabury-consulting.com a reality.
Katell and Jon of @reverielane: designer and developer extraordinaire, a perfect pair 👩🏽🤝👨🏼 in their inspiration, skill, professionalism, and kindness (and thanks Emily Cretella of @cursivecontent for pointing me their way!).
@andreadawson368 ✍🏼: wordsmith, on-call content strategist, and ardent cheerleader.
@paulgomangoportraits 📸: photography enthusiast who could go pro in a heartbeat, and who took time out of his actual day job to follow me around with his magic lenses.
Julie Méndez 💻: design magician who claims to not have the same gift for words, then uses them to bring me to (grateful) tears.
Heather Burchfield, Rachel Naggar, Andrew Egginton, Nat Conard, and Elizabeth Breidinger: generous recommenders, valuable partners, and long-time supporters.
Friends and family members who are too numerous to name: voices of reason (“Dale, just because you CAN do something yourself doesn’t mean you SHOULD”), feedback, and encouragement.
For someone who has long enjoyed working behind the scenes on other people’s sites 👩🏼💻, it’s more than a little strange to have my name and face on its own domain. It’s…well…
It’s a thing 🎉.
#WebsiteLaunch #NewWebsite #WebsiteRelease #SiteLaunch #WebDesign #LaunchDay #BusinessWebsite #schoolmarketing #educationmarketing #indieschools #privateschools #schoolcommunication #strategiccommunications #nonprofitmarketing #nonprofitcommunication
Do you doodle ✍🏼?
My 7 yo asked me an important question ❓ today when she was captivated by the latest issue of @thepeckschool’s magazine, which had just arrived to our mailbox: What is doodling, anyway?
This gorgeous mag allows one of the school’s English teachers to thoughtfully answer my first grader’s question on the inside front cover: 💡 doodling is spontaneous drawing while one’s attention is otherwise occupied—a window into the subconscious imagination.
Through my editing and proofing of this issue, I learned that research shows that doodling improves memory, relieves stress, and increases focus 🌟. It gets a bad rap as a habit of distraction; instead, it’s a habit of engagement 👍🏻.
Peck creatively recruited 1️⃣7️⃣ faculty and staff members to doodle on the issue’s cover, building to a full-page doodle by a visual art teacher—chock full of hidden, school-specific elements—on the inside back cover. Their playful approach artfully underscores the theme of the issue: the school’s expertise in honoring the unique needs, delights, and challenges of the middle school years ✅. Check it out!
https://bit.ly/49cGY0f
What a fun issue to be a part of—it almost caused me to reflect on my own middle school experience (before I doodled my way back to blissful denial…I didn’t attend a middle school like Peck 😜)!
#Editing #Proofreading #Copyediting #GrammarNerd #SchoolMagazine #schoolmarketing #educationmarketing #indieschools #privateschools #schoolcommunication #strategiccommunications #nonprofitmarketing #nonprofitcommunication
3️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ million.
That’s roughly the entire U.S. 🇺🇸 population.
It’s also the estimated number of people who are color blind worldwide. 🤯
Wondering where I’m going with this? 🧐
I’ve been learning about accessibility testing for websites. 👩🏼💻
It turns out that color contrast is more than just aesthetics. It’s a crucial choice ❓ that affects the usability and accessibility of websites and other visual collateral—including print pieces. In fact, colors affect the accessibility of your entire brand!
Without sufficient color contrast, a significant portion of your audience may not be able to fully take in your thoughtful design and convincing information 😬.
Stay with me for an example 🤓: the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 specify the minimum contrast ratios for text and non-text elements based on their size and purpose. Failing to meet these requirements can result in negative feedback and lower retention rates from your users—even legal penalties, in some situations.
The goal? Finding a balance ⚖️ between the functional and aesthetic aspects of your design, while taking into account the context and purpose of what you’re marketing.
Put simply: design with the end user in mind—including those 3️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ million who are color blind.
#ColorTesting #WebAccessibility #ColorContrast #InclusiveDesign #AccessibleDesign #marketingtips #marketingstrategy #schoolmarketing #educationmarketing #indieschools #privateschools #schoolcommunication #strategiccommunications #nonprofitmarketing #nonprofitcommunication
Branding is a bad word 🚫.
That was certainly the attitude I encountered most often when I was a private school 🏫 marketing and communications director.
In my experience, branding—and marketing as a whole—are often associated with cold 🥶 , corporate, greedy attitudes and practices by many who work at non-profits. These misconceptions aren’t surprising, especially when some ill-conceived or poorly-executed branding projects fail to involve all stakeholders right from the start.
Executed properly ✅, I see branding differently, and so does @chelseajanke, Vice President Integrated Marketing at @celcreative.
On a recent episode of the Mindful School Marketing Podcast 🎧 hosted by @aubrey_bursch and @tlcbytara, Chelsea shared CEL’s “why” of branding: “Branding is good storytelling, good storytelling is good marketing, and good marketing positively impacts the lives of your community.” 👏🏻
I see the positive, community-impacting effects 🎉 of branding each and every day in my work with clients. Let’s give authentic and effective branding the love it deserves—it will surely love our organizations back!
#brandstrategy #brandidentity #marketingtips #marketingstrategy #schoolmarketing #educationmarketing #indieschools #privateschools #schoolcommunication #strategiccommunications #nonprofitmarketing #nonprofitcommunication
Student blogs ✍️—they can fly or flop. And it doesn’t necessarily depend on who writes them.
I was recently helping a client solve a problem. They wanted to launch a student travel blog, but didn’t want it to be a total fail 🚫 like similar blogs they’d seen.
After I listened deeply and asked targeted questions, we partnered in a lively, productive brainstorming 💡 session. We discussed what makes a newsletter or blog open- and read-worthy. Then, we created a structure for this blog that would help the author overcome writer’s block and help the reader stay engaged and interested in the content.
Each blog post will answer prompts like:
❔ I’m learning…
❔ I’m looking forward to…
❔ Life draining for me right now is…
❔ Life-giving for me right now is…
Each prompt will be numbered and formatted to draw the reader’s eye 👀, each prompt’s response will include an authentic image, and each answer will be brief yet thoughtful.
With just a bit of structure and thoughtful strategy, I think this blog is set up for success—and in this case, success looks like getting teenagers to engage in reflection 🤔 and draw their audience into their educational journey!
What gets you to actually read 🤓 (ie not skim!) an article or blog post?
🤩 Credit goes to @emilypfreeman, the writer/reflection guru, for inspiring some of these prompts!
#studentblogs #studentwriter #marketingstrategy #schoolmarketing #educationmarketing #indieschools #privateschools #schoolcommunication #strategiccommunications #nonprofitmarketing #nonprofitcommunication
✨ New year, new you? ✨
When it comes to the business…sort of!
Seabury Consulting got a brand makeover for Christmas 🎁, and I’m thrilled to provide a sneak peek!
“Brand is about having clarity around who you are from the beginning, and baking it into the foundation of your business,” says Emily Heyward, co-founder of @redantler, a Brooklyn-based agency renowned for working with many early-stage start-ups. On Jenny Blake’s Free Time podcast, Emily encouraged businesses to see brand strategy as an investment, not a cost.
Investing in the future seemed a great way to kick off 2024 🚀!
More to come…and in the meantime, I’ll be here geeking out 🤓 with the brilliant and talented Katell of @reverielane on the next phase of this project!
#brandstrategy #brandidentity #marketingtips #marketingstrategy #schoolmarketing #educationmarketing #indieschools #privateschools #schoolcommunication #strategiccommunications #nonprofitmarketing #nonprofitcommunication
✨ Generosity.
I’ve been the recipient of it in more extravagant ways than I could ever adequately express.
I’ve also experienced incomparable joy by practicing it.
In preparation for a recent meeting involving branding work for Seabury Consulting (exciting things are afoot 🎉), I was prompted to reflect on my business values. I’ve come to deeply esteem the practice of reflection, so I was particularly eager to engage.
✨Generosity was the first thing that came to mind.
🎁 Generosity of spirit in assuming the best of my clients, colleagues, and vendors
🎁 Generosity in offering my full attention, authentic interest, and deep listening
🎁 Generosity in the form of gifts—I love to dream up and deliver a thoughtful token at an unexpected time
In this season of generosity, it’s a true gift to reflect on the role it has played—and continues to play—in my life and business. Here’s to the generous givers and the grateful receivers; I am humbled to be both 💞.
#generosity #gifts #gratitude #giving #schoolmarketing #educationmarketing #indieschools #privateschools #schoolcommunication #strategiccommunications #nonprofitmarketing #nonprofitcommunication
“It is not often that someone comes along who is a true friend and a good writer.”—Charlotte’s Web 🕸️
✍🏼 E.B. White is brilliant. So is my friend, colleague, and gifted writer @andreadawson368.
That’s why it’s such an honor to continue to work with Andrea doing what we both ❤️ . We began our collegial relationship in-house in 2015—her as Senior Writer and me as Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing at @thepingryschool. Now, we have the joy of periodically teaming up as we both run small businesses.
We had a blast partnering on this profile ✍🏼 for @ssfs_springers of a fascinating, joyful, brilliant young alum who happens to be attending my brother’s alma mater, @william_and_mary (I’m tagging his wife @frizzyalbert since he is one of those rare humans who avoids social media altogether).
Telling people’s stories—and those of the schools 🏫 that deeply influence them—truly is a privilege.
Enjoy William’s. 🔗 bit.ly/46YOASy
#StorytellingInMarketing #MarketingNarratives #BrandStorytelling #alumniprofiles #schoolmarketing #educationmarketing #indieschools #privateschools #schoolcommunication #strategiccommunications #nonprofitmarketing #nonprofitcommunication
