Not just the message but the medium

I've been operating under the assumption that blogging will bring me business.

That's why I started this blog -- to prove that I strive to stay on top of what's happening in higher education and in marketing, ultimately with the hope that some director of admission would find my blog and then seek out Stein to work on their marketing materials and strategy.

In nearly eight months, this exact scenario has not come to pass, but I have enjoyed a growing readership and becoming part of a network of higher ed marketing peeps that challenge what I do every day. As the first Stein staffer to blog, there was some uncertainty but now there's even a company blog, too. Not to mention the fame that being featured on SquaredPeg.com's Higher Ed Blogs You Probably Haven't Heard of Worth Reading. Truly, a month into the game, this was a thrill!

Additionally, the blog has not just helped with peers, it has proved useful in many existing client relationships. Some clients who have google alerts set up for their schools have gotten blog posts about my work with them in their inbox. But again, this is not generating the NEW "leads" that I thought it might.

So after deciding that yes, the content on More Than Rankings is useful and helpful, I had to get the word out to the crowd of decision makers in admission offices who may not read blogs! The quarterly print newsletter was born. Yes, paying for stamps and spending time writing on envelopes was about a three-week task, but actually writing the newsletter was easy! I expanded on the posts I had already written, added some relevant research from others and voila!

The take-away is this: No matter how relevant/important/inspiring your message may be, if it's not on the platform where your audience reads/listens/absorbs, then what's the point? That's why we're taking our conversations from print publications to the Web, from the chat rooms of the 90s to the social networks of today. It's a challenge to find the right words and a bigger challenge to communicate with the right media to ensure your message gets to the intended recipients.

In my own example, I solicited everyone for feedback, including colleagues and current clients, and so far have gotten a positive response. In fact, I hope it inspires Stein as a whole to begin sharing expertise in a similarly public way (and in a print format)! I'm already thinking about what to include in the summer issue and I have a VP Enrollment lined up for an interview which I may record and send out as an audio CD. The true test is yet to be seen, as the final mailing went out on Saturday to another 75 admission professionals who may not have any prior experience with me or the blog. I'll keep you posted...