Why is Digital Learning Day Important for Educators, Policy Makers, K-12 Publishers and EdTech Companies?
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Yesterday was the first-ever national Digital Learning Day organized by the Alliance for Excellent Education headed up by former WV governor, Bob Wise. 15,000 educators and 1.7 million students from 39 states participated in this remarkable event. In addition, an untold number of education advocates, enthusiasts, reformers, policy wonks, journalists, consultants and K-12 vendors also participated via web broadcast and social media.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski kicked off the national town hall meeting with an announcement that the Obama administration wants digital textbooks to be implemented in every U.S. public school within 5 years. Yes, 2017. Continue reading
Social Proof: What is It and Why Do Educational Publishers Want It?
Wikipedia defines social proof as a psychological phenomenon where the actions of others are indications of correct behavior around a particular situation.
In social media, social proof is reflected in the number of Twitter followers you have; the number of fans on your Facebook page; the number of RSS readers your blog has; the number of views for your YouTube videos, etc.
Why is this important? It’s a clear indication to your prospects that you have content worth reading – that your opinions will be important to them. Continue reading
Does the New 80/20 Content Rule Apply to Educational Publishers?
Yesterday I read that companies should plan to give up to 80% of their content away for free and generate sales and profits from the remaining 20%. As publishers, that seems an unrealistic metric.
Content is our stock and trade. We've invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in developing the best-of-category, and now we should give it away for free?
How is that a viable business model?
Yet more and more companies are allocating larger amounts of their resources each year to this effort as reported by the Content Marketing Institute. Continue reading
3 Reasons K-12 Publishers Need to Accelerate Development of Mobile Content Delivery
It's well established that technology is disruptive. K-12 schools have certainly found this to be true. But the next wave of disruptive technology for schools has already begun.
Across the country schools and districts are struggling to develop and implement BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies.
Protecting school and student data is a concern.
Overcoming the objections of administrators and educators who have to give up some control of the learning process is another.
Parents are putting pressure on schools to allow their children to use mobile devices in school. In many cases the students have better technology than the schools including more and more tablets. Continue reading
Authentic Marketing 101 for K-12 Publishers
Teachers have long been savvy consumers of educational products.
They can spot marketing jargon and marketers from 100 feet away, and do what they can to avoid both.
K-12 educators don’t generally have a lot of brand allegiance. Their primary concern is - does the product work in the classroom?
Given that educators are particularly resistant to marketing, how should educational publishers begin the marketing and sales process? Continue reading
Inspiration, Affirmation, & Motivation from Educational Publishing Hall of Fame
Each year in the week following Thanksgiving, K-12 educational publishers gather in New York for annual events sponsored by three different organizations scheduled together for convenience. And who doesn't love seeing New York City decked out for Christmas?
The Educational Publishing Hall of Fame is sponsored by the Association of Educational Publishers (AEP). It honors those industry leaders and visionaries whose integrity and achievements have inspired us and whose work leaves a lasting legacy. Past inductees have included Mr. (Fred) Rogers of PBS fame and Dick Robinson who heads Scholastic Publishing. Continue reading
Keith Krueger on Parents, Students, Schools and Mobile Technology
Keith Krueger of Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) speaks about the changing landscape for students and schools and their use of mobile technology. Although the conversation should be led by parents and schools, students should also be involved because they… Continue reading
Interruption v Invitation Marketing for K-12 Publishers
The seismic shift that has occurred in marketing is that we have moved from an interruption model to an invitational model in marketing our company messages.
For years, the interruption model was effective in using broadcast and advertising media to inform prospects of a company's goods and services. Now, despite the channel, prospects are experts at dodging and ignoring broadcast and print ads.
The new effective method of marketing is through an invitation model where a company builds relationships with its community and freely shares content that is important to that community. Companies accomplish this through outbound communications such as newsletters, white papers, videos and social media while letting prospects know they are ready to serve when the prospect is ready to buy. This is called content marketing. Continue reading
How Many Times Have You Started Over?
Whether it's revising a marketing campaign, repainting the dining room or being laid off, there are times in life when you have to start over.
This is that kind of time for me. Just over two years ago, I went to work full-time for my largest client. We did some terrific work together, but that job has come to an end. Basically I worked myself out of a job. Sometimes that happens.
So, I've redesigned my website and relaunched The Teich Group.
Most of the archived blog posts came with me to this new site. Although all the archived posts are posted in November 2011, when you open them to read, you'll see that each one has the original publishing date at the beginning of the post. You'll see them all when you select by categories. Continue reading
SEO Series: Part 1 – Why SEO is Important to Educational Publishers
First published February 24, 2008
As the Internet becomes an increasingly mainstream part of everyone's life, connecting with educators, schools and districts online has never been more important to educational publishers than it is right now. Fortunately, the highly interactive nature of today's websites makes it easier than ever to facilitate conversations that highlight the need for your products and also draw visitors deep into your website to investigate your offerings.
But building a strong website isn't enough. K-12 educators and industry decision makers need to be able to easily find your products and services online. Neglecting search-engine optimization strategies (SEO) for your website, means limiting visits to your website and leaving educators unaware of the help that you offer. Continue reading
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