School marketers are brilliant at what you do. You fill seats with qualified students. You build positive brand awareness for your school. You help raise money and sustain alumni/ae loyalty. You help retain families and promote positive word-of-mouth. You’re there during a crisis to calm and lead. And so, so much more.

It’s no wonder, then, that you sometimes need outside help with marketing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, writing, etc. Small shops need help all the time but generally can’t afford it. Larger shops need help when something is outside the staff’s skill set or available time. At one time or another, you’re going to look for a business or consultant to give you the leg up you need.

Let’s examine options.

FREE!

A parent is in the kind of business that is exactly what you need right now and volunteers their services for free to the school. Free. Who can refuse free? Wow! Just your luck. But….caveat emptor. Sometimes this is the gift the school is looking for and it works out wonderfully for all involved. Sometimes, not.

Sometimes free means, “if a paying client isn’t ahead of you,” or “when we have time,” or “you don’t get to make decisions; remember you’re getting this for free.” Free often means losing power and/or control over the project and ending up with something that not only isn’t successful but also puts the project behind for months and months.

It might also mean that while the parent is in the business, it’s for B2B, but not for education or non-profits—and certainly not for our little niche industry: private schools. Our industry is nuanced, tricky, specific, and relational. Choosing a private school is an expensive and emotional buy…not a combination you’ll find with many other industries.

CHEAP!

Imagine your delight when you find a company that can do what you want, and it’s a bargain compared to the other quotes you got. Yes!

But…If it’s a little bit cheaper than the company you prefer, maybe that difference is worth it to go with the higher-priced one. If it’s a lot cheaper, then you have to ask yourself why.

Perhaps the cheaper company is just starting out and wants to build their business. Perhaps the cheaper company has less overhead. But perhaps the cheaper company is not delivering what the other company is and that may mean you’ll get less in terms of expertise, insight, value, and deliverables. Be sure to compare apples to apples to yield the harvest you need.

FAST!

We live in a world where everyone wants everything now. Right now. Some businesses are well equipped to deliver products quickly—copies at Staples, a burger at McDonald’s, or a widget in two days from Amazon. These things are objects, not services.

We’re talking about services for your private school. Not a janitorial service that could start next week or pest control that can start in an hour. This kind of service requires the company to research who you are, your market, your message, your goals, and your expectations. This is where not all companies are created equal. This is where it’s sometimes difficult to uncover the differences and determine which one is the best match for your school and project. This is where some fall into the trap of being lured by their speed or being influenced by a board member’s demand for results “yesterday.”

GOOD!

You want to select a company that is results-driven, has a proven track record, years of experience in the private school market. This company should “speak private school” and have boatloads of recommendations to achieve your pre-determined goals.

This company should have great references—schools like yours that were wowed by their services and benefited greatly from their work. Private schools like yours (or like you’d like to be) that will tell you that they got what they paid for (even if it was a lot) and were impressed by this company’s ability to under-promise and over-deliver.

The old adage is: good, cheap, fast…pick two. But in this case:

you just want good

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Liza Fisher Norman

Master Electrician, InspirED School Marketers

Master Electrician isn’t just a fun title for me. It’s how I feel about sparking school marketers to do their best work, connecting them to one another, and helping to make their jobs easier. After working with close to 100 schools in the firm I founded — Turnaround Marketing Communications — I realized that school marketers needed a place where they can find brilliant ideas and brain food to make their job easier and feel supported. InspirED School Marketers was born in 2013 to fill that void and with the help of my fabulous Best Boy, Rob, we are on a quest to make InspirED a resource you can't live without.

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