RUA Fan?

     About five years ago, I published a Marketing Matter called "Email is Free Mail."  It encouraged Development Directors and School Leaders to communicate via email rather than printing a newsletter, copying it (may on ditto machines), and then giving it to the children to take home to the parents.  It also advocated creating online eNewsletters to communicate with alumni rather than spending money on print newsletters.

     Isn't it amazing how, in five years, the world has changed - yet, many things still stay the same.  MANY companies are now in the electronic communication business - from eNewsletter creation to online donor tracking.  Many schools now require an email address of parents (and if you're not one of them, you're going to be completely lost in the next few years when members of the Millennial Generation become parents of the children in our schools.  They don't want paper - they want to communicate with technology.

     And all this leads to the value of social networking and communication.  Yes, there are dangers, but there are significant advantages.

     So this week, three things - two are things you need to be aware of, and the third is a way to safely market your school via social networking.

     First - Playskool.  The company that has built its reputation on making education toys for children 6 years of age and under has some VERY interesting technology-based products for the upcoming holiday season.  Their latest commercial is for an interactive device that connects to a video monitor.  A young boy swings a bat to hit a virtual baseball toward the correct sum of 3 + 4; then another child swings a tennis racquet to hit a virtual ball toward the shape that an electronic voice announces; a small girl then runs on a plastic pad to help a turtle move to the correct sequence of letters to put them in alphabetical order.  They are truly serving and developing the abilities of the kinesthetic learner.  How will we be able to replicate that experience in the classroom?

     Second - Facebook.  It's being used by businesses when young college graduates apply for jobs.  Just Google their name (something you wouldn't even think of doing 10 years ago - try it...Google your own name and see what happens) and a list of potential matches appears.  If the potential hire has a Facebook page, and the photos there aren't something that is becoming of the demeanor of a new hire, the young learner can kiss that ideal job goodbye.  Talk about a learning experience that builds character.

     Even if you're afraid of using Facebook to promote your school, you should create one for your school.  The reason - if you don't, someone else probably will.  However, Facebook rules state that you need to create a Facebook page in YOUR name.  You can do that, but then make sure there is another person that has administrative rights to it.  It is then up to you whether or not to accept friends or make your profile public.

     Third - Reach out to "Fans" of your school.  After you make your own Facebook page, scroll down to the bottom and click "Advertising."  That is where you can create a "Fan" page for your school.  You can then use that page to promote the activities of your school, and accept the requests of individuals that wish to become "Fans" rather than "Friends."  The amount of information sharing among "Fans" is limited as compared to the amount of information that "Friends" can share with each other.

     This is important - you must make a commitment to check your Fans page EVERY DAY - perhaps 10 minutes.  If you can reserve a half hour, take ten minutes to pray, ten minutes to take some silent time to allow God to speak to you, and then ten minutes to edit/update your school's Facebook page.  Include something new that happening at your school every day.  If there's nothing noteworthy that's happening at your school every day, that should be a wakeup call for you.  Today's parents want a vibrant experience.  If they see great things happening at your school every day, the more likely they are to check out your school.  You need to look for those great things and then go and tell the good news about your school.

     In the spirit of practicing what you preach, you'll notice there is a Facebook "fan" icon on the SchoolAdvancement site!  If you're on Facebook, click it and become a fan.

© Michael V. Ziemski, SchoolAdvancement, 2009 (Original Publication Date - 20091115)

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