Why Your Education-Related Business Should Have a Website

Teachers, by nature, are information junkies. We love to know stuff, but we want our information easily accessible and organized. Which is why having an easy to navigate website, with SEO optimization for education-related key words and phrases, is important if you want to market to educators.

With 40% of the world’s population having access to the internet, chances are your potential customers are already searching the web. Over 50% of Americans purchased a product online in 2015, and we were fourth behind the UK, Germany, and South Korea (wearesocial.com). Imagine how many potential customers you are missing out on if you don’t have a website!

Considering the average internet user spends almost 4 ½ hours on the web each day (wearesocial.com), here are some benefits to having a dedicated website for your business:

• a website increases your credibility, visibility, and accountability
• a website promotes your brand awareness
• a website promotes your business 24/7
• a website allows you to compete with your competition

How does all this translate to the education arena? The same benefits apply as with any other business, small or large, but the education field is becoming more technologically driven. We are tapping into myriad social media platforms and technological tools, so keeping up with current trends is important if you want to market to this field.

Having a hard time visualizing an education-based website? Here are links to three popular and successful websites that cater to the education-minded:

• Edutopia: Edutopia offers myriad resources, both video and written, for educators, administrators, and parents. The website has multiple avenues for visitors to research a specific topic, making it accessible.
• Scholastic: Yes, the company behind the little book magazines you took home as a child has a fully-functioning, dynamic website, where teachers, administrators, librarians, parents, and students can go for information and inspiration.
• Education World: This website is more geared towards educators and administrators. It provides information on all things current in education, from Presidential Candidates’ views on education to non-profit organizations that help students and families.

These are just three examples of education-related websites. To find one that reflects your product or service, simply conduct an internet search of your company’s key words.

Having a website doesn’t guarantee its effectiveness, though. You have to market your website with the education field in mind. Here are some suggestions for marketing your company’s website to the education arena:

• Blog: Add a blog to your website and post regularly. Sharing your blog posts on social media sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin, will drive more traffic to your website.
• Online Discussion Forums: Join education-based online discussion forums, such as The Educator’s PLN. Visiting discussion forums focused on your area of interest allows you to collaborate with like-minded individuals. This can then lead to website visits and clients.
• Comments: Many of the websites I have highlighted in this blog post allow for reader comments. Adding meaningful comments to these online conversations can give your business a “voice”, drawing visitors to your website. I have found, one of the most stimulating websites to engage in intellectual conversation is TED Talks. If you are unfamiliar with TED Talks, please click on the link! You will be inspired, educated, challenged, and, hopefully, engaged. Consider one video, “To This Day…for the bullied and beautiful”, in the education archives generated over 600 comments! You don’t want to participate in these types of conversations for the single goal of promoting your website, though. Instead, you want to engage in intellectual conversations that allow you to share meaningful content, as this will establish your authority on education-based topics and build your brand awareness.

What does all this mean for you? Put simply, a website lays a solid foundation on which businesses can build their online presence and promote brand awareness. If you don’t have a website, you don’t have the groundwork to build a successful business.

Need help writing content for your website, or do you have content that needs optimizing? Contact me to see if I can help!

References

We Are Social (2015). Retrieved from http://wearesocial.com/uk/special-reports/digital-social-mobile-worldwide-2015

Making In-roads Into the Education Arena with Marketing Brochures

Case Studies and White Papers aren't the only marketing avenues into the education field. Whether you provide a product or a service, the power of a well-written marketing brochure will inspire prospective clients to take action and do business with you instead of your competition. 

There are two types of brochures: corporate and product- or service-oriented. For most companies looking to make inroads into the education field, the latter proves most effective. 

This type of brochure highlights your company’s product or service, with the purpose of selling to potential clients. When trying to reach potential customers, you want to not only present the features of your product or service, you will also want to share the benefits. Presenting the benefits of your product or service will tap into potential customers’ emotions, a powerful driving force in the purchasing process.

Crafting an effective brochure to market your product or service to the education arena, you will want to consider the following questions: 

• What is the purpose and/or subject of your brochure?
• Who is your audience?
• How many products, or services, will be featured in the brochure?
• Will your brochure be research-based or experiential?
• What is your budget?
• Based on your budget, will you write it in-house or hire a freelance professional copywriter?
• What will the layout look like? Will there be photos, illustrations, and graphs?
• How many pages will be in your brochure?
• Once the brochure is complete, how will you use and disseminate the brochure?

Let's take a look at an example. Perhaps your company sells curriculum materials for English language arts. Your products help educators teach to their students' learning styles by providing hands-on learning experiences, such as Vocabulary Steal the Bacon and Adjective Scavenger Hunts. Your marketing brochure will not only highlight the materials for purchase but also the benefits of using these manipulatives to engage a variety of learners. Using visual aids, such as pictures illustrating the materials, will enhance the selling power of your marketing brochure. 

Need content for your marketing brochure? A professional freelance copywriter, with specialized knowledge of the education field, can help! 

Break Into the Education Arena with a Well-written, Research-based White Paper

Are you interested in expanding your product or service to the education field, but not sure how. A well-written, research-based white paper might be your solution!

Before we look at opportunities to use white papers in the education arena, let's take a look at the anatomy of a white paper. Broken down into its most basic parts, a white paper consists of a problem, a solution, and credible proof to support your solution. Sounds simple, right?

How you weave these three components into one cohesive document, though, will dictate the effectiveness of your white paper. You see, a white paper isn't just about promoting your product or service; it's about providing quality content to potential customers that will establish your company as a leader in the education industry. Once you can do that, you can tap into the $500 billion spent annually in the education field!

Here are five ways you can promote your business to the education sector with white papers:

1. Let's say you are an admissions recruiter for a college or university. You can write a white paper explaining the decisions, and subsequent challenges, one might face when choosing which college to attend. In this document, you will also provide specific solutions to these challenges, focusing on the unique aspects your college or university offers.
2. Does your company provide strategic reading interventions for young learners? Write a white paper detailing the reading process, highlighting specific strategies that will help students at each stage. Of course, these strategies will be aligned with what your reading interventions provide!
3. With the education field ripe for technological tools and resources, companies offering digital experiences, such as class blogs and online presentation platforms, can write a white paper detailing the challenges of getting teachers and staff on board. In this paper, showcase how districts and administration can overcome these resistances with step-by-step training and tutorials, both of which your company provides!
4. An online assessment company, looking to attract the attention of a K-8 school district, can write a white paper on the importance of differentiated assessment. Since your company's online assessment tools take into consideration the variety of learner styles, you are promoting your service by putting together a well-researched white paper that justifies the use of differentiated assessment plans.
5. Are you a marketing company that wants to tap into the education field? Targeting your ideal client with a well-written white paper might be just the in you are looking for. Districts and administrators aren't necessarily interested in the marketing process, though, so you will want to reach out to them with a document on how an online marketing campaign can help them increase their student enrollment.

What you do with your white paper is equally important as how you craft it; so next week, we will discuss how to disseminate the white paper you have just written. 

Do you feel you need assistance writing a white paper to help your company break into the education field? A professional freelance copywriter, especially one with first-hand experience in education, can help. Feel free to contact me to see if we might be a good fit!

Seven Ways to Promote Your White Paper

You already know the benefits of writing a White Paper - solve a problem for potential clients, build brand awareness by proving your company is a leader in your industry, persuade your audience while informing them - but what should you do once you have completed your White Paper? 

Should you share it? If so, how and where? 

Should you mail out hard copies? If so, to whom?

Your White Paper will do little good if it just sits idly, so here are seven ways to promote your White Paper and get people reading it:

How Customer Case Studies are Impacting the Education Field

I was in my second year of teaching, at the elementary level, when a fellow second-year colleague of mine and I decided we wanted to pilot a new computer-based grading program. Up until that time, our district still recorded student grades and progress the old-fashioned way, pen to paper. Many of our veteran colleagues clung to the old adage, “If it ain’t broke!” 

But, as we would all soon learn, the "traditional" way of grading was broken, antiquated, inefficient, and in desperate need of repair!

The grading program I piloted, Online Assessment Reporting System (OARS), was effective and easy to use. Unfortunately, it wasn't marketed in a way that appealed to teachers, especially seasoned teachers. 

Hidden Opportunities to use Case Studies in the Wine Industry

A well-written case study can help potential clients see your business from a familiar perspective - that of another consumer. When crafting a case study, the writer focuses on a specific problem, obstacle, or challenge the potential client might face - one that the company writing the study can help resolve.

Traditionally, case studies have been used in tech companies and the business industry. But, that doesn't mean they won't work in other fields.

Take the wine industry! One wouldn't typically think of the wine industry aspresenting problems or challenges that can be shared in a case study. But, there are! Here are just a few opportunities for using case studies in the wine industry:

• Bottles and labels - You've just finished crafting your most recent vintage of wine and are ready for bottling. How your wine is packaged and marketed matters just as much as the quality of wine inside, so you turn to the internet for options. As with any product or service these days, there are myriad of companies trying to sell you their wares. How do you choose? Check their website for customer case studies. 

Case Study: Red Dirt Coffee House Promotes their Business with Social Media

A Small Business Gains Big Exposure through Social Media

The Birth of a Business

Jackye and Paul Balegal had always dreamed of opening up a coffee shop, but with both of them working full-time and raising two children, the dream remained just that. Until, one evening, while enjoying a Happy Hour drink, the couple wrote out their business plans on a cocktail napkin. Their kids were now teenagers, and Jackye had recently taken a break from full-time employment, so they thought the time was perfect!

Reach New Heights in Your Industry: Promoting Your Business with Case Studies

Case studies...

From an academic point of view, case studies present a researcher's observations of a phenomena or subject in its natural setting: how it works, what struggles or successes it experiences, and how to help it improve. Academic case studies are not so much outcome-based, as they are focused on the process. At the heart of academic case studies is discovery, resulting in a journey.

In many ways, marketing case studies do the same thing!

Grow Your Business in 2015 with a Successful Social Media Campaign

Are you looking to grow your business in 2015, but not sure how?

I have three little words for you: social media campaign.

Sure, you might already have a Facebook page, a Twitter account, or a YouTube channel, but that doesn't necessarily mean you are running a successful social media campaign.

I would like to share a special report with you titled, “Social Media & the Wine Industry”. In this book, you will learn how vineyards and wineries, large and small, all over the world, are using social media to promote their businesses. From the Outback to the Canadian desert (yes, there are deserts in Canada!) to right here in the good old US of A, you will read about vineyards and wineries who are using social media to attract new customers, nurture existing relationships, and build their brand awareness. Just sign up on the right for your complimentary copy of “Social Media & the Wine Industry”!

Sustainability in the Wine Industry

“We cannot hope to create a sustainable culture with any but sustainable souls.” 

~ Derrick Jensen, Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization

With over 1,000,000 acres of American soil dedicated to vineyards, sustaining the land has become a priority for an increasing number of viticulturists. According to the World Commission on Environment and Development, sustainability ensures that humanity “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (Sustainable Development, par. 1). To do this, those who work the land must do so with, what the Iroquois Indians coined, the “next seven generations in mind”. 

Sustainability in the wine industry takes on many forms, from water conservation to natural pest control methods to alternative power sources. According to the California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA), a nonprofit organization created to promote sustainable winegrowing practices, identifies 227 “best practices for the environment and communities from grapes to glass”. No matter what practices, or how many, a vineyard implements, taking any steps towards sustainability is a step in the right direction! 

J. Lohr: A legacy in California's Wine Industry

Visit J. Lohr's website

"As a company, it is important to embrace sustainability on a cultural level, and once you start thinking in this way, you will find more and more opportunities to make positive changes," ~ Kathryn Teissier du Cros – J. Lohr, Sustainability Coordinator

The Birth of a Legacy

Forty years ago, Jerry Lohr planted more than just wine grapes on California’s Central Coast; he planted the seeds that would become a family legacy. A pioneer of California’s wine industry, Jerry set down roots on the Central Coast in the late 1970s. With a farming background to spur his passion and engineering expertise to drive his research, Jerry took a chance on the untapped terroir, now-acclaimed as one of the premier winegrowing regions of the wine industry.  

Reaching Out Through Facebook: How Peloton Cellars uses Facebook to “Keep in Touch”

 “I'd say the majority of those who attended our Grand Opening were informed through FB (Facebook). That made a huge impact. I can reach out to those who I don't see nor communicate with on a regular basis.”

Trish Kesselring

Peloton Cellars

Avila Beach, CA

Why the name Peloton?

French for “group”, how does a winery get the name Peloton? Founded by four friends who share a love of wine rivaled only by their love of cycling, Peloton Cellars marries the two worlds in creative ways.  Using the winery’s tasting room as a canvas, Peloton Cellars brings its love of wine and cycling to the forefront of its operation, providing décor to please the eye while the palette feasts upon its wine. From the winery's name, French for a close-knit pack of bicyclists, to the cycling quotes found on each finely-crafted bottle of wine, you are sure to appreciate Peloton’s passion for wine and cycling.

“Fate Brought Them Together”: How the owners of Ampelos Cellars became hands-on viticulturists

“You’re worried about how you’re going to feel at the end of your life? What about right now? Live. Right this minute. That’s where the joy is at.” ~ Abigail Thomas

It was as if Angela Thomas were speaking those words directly to Peter and Rebecca Work, the founders of Ampelos Cellars. Having purchased 82 acres in the Santa Rita Hills appellation in 1999, Peter and Rebecca continued their “corporate” lives, leaving their son to oversee the start-up process of the vineyard. But fate would have other plans.

After narrowly evading the Twin Towers tragedy in 2001, Peter and Rebecca decided it was time to start living the life they wanted, “right this minute”. And so, they moved to Santa Ynez, where they learned hands-on how to “nurture the soil and prune the vines".

How Tinhorn Creek stays “Mainstream” through “Twitter-stream"

“We are born at a given moment, in a given place and, like vintage years of wine, we have the qualities of the year and of the season of which we are born.” ~ Carl Jung

Tucked away in the rolling hills of British Columbia, Tinhorn Creek stays “Mainstream” through an established presence on “Twitter-stream”.

Desert Vineyards Provide a Unique Terroir for Tinhorn’s Wines

            One wouldn't expect to see regal grapevines mingling with desert-dwelling sagebrush, but at Tinhorn Creek Vineyards, the two flourish side-by-side like old friends.  Set atop a hillside in the middle of British Columbia’s famed Golden Mile wine-growing district, Tinhorn Creek Vineyard and Winery crafts quality wines from grapes harvested from their 150-acre vineyards.  Planted on two distinct benches, the Diamondback Vineyard and the Tinhorn Creek Vineyard produce grapes of both the red and white varietals, allowing the vineyard’s winemaker, Sandra Oldfield, to harvest only the best fruit for the winery’s esteemed Pinot Gris, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, and Gewürztraminer vintages.  Each of Tinhorn Creek’s wines boasts the unique terroir of its desert topography.

A History of Social Networking and Its Influence on Social Media

          In the early morning hours of March 4, 1971, I was born.  The same year saw the birth of email - two computers sitting side-by-side communicating for the first time.  Not as Earth-shattering as the first images of man walking on the moon two years earlier but the implications of this seemingly insignificant moment would prove to be the spark that ignited the launch of social networking and, ultimately, social media as we know it today.

Photo Credit: Jackie's Page

Social Media & Social Networking Defined

Many argue as to whether this moment in history truly was the birth of social networking. To answer this, we first need take a look at what the term “social networking” means and why it isn’t synonymous with “social media”. Social networking is the act of engaging with like-minded people with the purpose of sharing knowledge, while social media provides the vehicle for us to share this information. Confusing? Here’s another distinction between the two: try to view social networking as a verb, denoting what we do online, and social media as a noun, the network of online platforms that enable us to do what we do online.

"In the Land of Lynfred": How Lynfred Winery promotes its brand awareness through blogging

Lynfred Winery, Roselle, Illinois

“My entire blog ‘In the Land of Lynfred’ (a word play on ‘In the Land of Lincoln’ since we are in Illinois ) is really about the lifestyle that comes with working at and being a patron of your local winery – we’re fun, a little kooky and very approachable.”

Christina Anderson-Heller, Marketing Director
Lynfred Winery
Roselle, Illinois 

A True “Mom-and-Pop” operation becomes a nationally renowned winery

             A pioneer of the Illinois wine industry, Fred Koehler made his debut batch of wine in the basement of his Roselle home in 1975.  With his ingenuity along with the creativity and encouragement of his late wife, Lynn, Fred continued to craft quality wines in their renovated basement for four more years. When the “Mom-and-Pop” operation outgrew the couple’s basement, Fred and Lynn opened up Illinois’ first official winery, Lynfred Winery. A clever play on the couple’s names, Lynfred ensured the legacy of its founders would live on for years to come.

Twitter & the Wine Industry: How Fix St. James crafts stories for its Twitter Community

Wine Selection at Fix St. James

Small on Space but Packed with Personality

 Located in the central business district of Sydney, Australia, Fix St. James provides its patrons with more than just wine.  Through its diverse selection of wine and modest but modern ambience, this intimate wine bistro offers a true wine lovers experience.  At Fix St. James, every one of their 200-plus bottles of “juice” has been carefully chosen to express the bistro’s eclectic tastes.  The owner of Fix St. James, Stuart Knox, stocks his wall to wall shelves with little known varietals crafted by the “hands-on makers, small growers, crazies and fanatics”. 

Six Benefits of a Successful Social Media Campaign

Social Media evens the advertising and
marketing playing field.

Through my most recent work, I have not only uncovered just how deeply social media has rooted itself in the wine industry, I have also accumulated quite an arsenal of reasons why all businesses, not just vineyards and wineries, need to implement a consistent social media campaign.
While the benefits are immeasurable, I have narrowed my findings to those that have surfaced and resurfaced consistently throughout my research. 

Here are my top 6 reasons why all businesses should establish a social media presence:

YouTube's Impact on Jordan Vineyard & Winery From a Business Standpoint

My final installment of how Jordan Vineyard & Winery uses YouTube highlights its impact from a business standpoint.

Jordan Vineyard & Winery

How YouTube has impacted Jordan Vineyard & Winery

Reflecting on the impact YouTube has had on Jordan Vineyard & Winery, from a business standpoint, Lisa says, “It’s truly brought a face to the winery. Many faces, in fact. That’s so important to consumers nowadays. They really want to know the people behind the wines—and how the wines are grown, the events created, the recipes developed, etc. The videos have demonstrated our ability to be an established elegant winery of the 1970s and a modern, approachable brand.”

Why I Chose to Write Memoir

My inspiration for writing memoir.





I began writing memoir without realizing I was writing memoir. 

Memoir is often mistaken for autobiographies but it is, in fact, quite different.    According to Webster, memoir is “the story of a personal experience”.  This differs from autobiographies in that a memoir tells one story from your life while an autobiography tells the entire story of your life.