ZKQ Blog

Three Months New

Tuesday, February 9, 2010, was the three month launch anniversary for SmartCollegeVisit. A quick review of the first quarter of this startup includes the following highlights:

• A change in business status from sole proprietorship to corporation
• Fresh content creation: 79 blog posts written/edited -- roughly the same number of articles/posts I wrote as a freelancer during the entire year prior to the site's launch date
• Two custom tools developed:

* Smart College Evaluation form to help students and parents keep notes and track their college visits

* Smart Fuel calculator developed to help travelers estimate fuel costs for their college visits

• Branded hotel search page created
• Shop SmartCollegeVisit, an Amazon Affiliate store developed with product focus on travel and college guide related books and electronics
• Development of an evolving social media marketing strategy
• Development of an evolving traditional media marketing strategy
• Established series of college and university Twitter Lists
• Inclusion in the The Top 50 College Info Websites created by Suzanne Shaffer, founder of Parents Countdown to College Coach 
• Sponsorship of the First College Visit series on Handshake 2.0
• Membership in the VT KnowledgeWorks business acceleration program
• Authorship of the CollegeVisit TravelingMom column for TravelingMom.com

Things I have not done: printed business cards, found college student interns interested in learning how to build a social media marketing and public relations strategy, or figured out how to get more done faster. The "to do" list keeps growing as does the excitement and joy over creating a business based on passions of my own: the importance of a college education, the marketing of colleges and universities, and helping families through the college search and college visit process. People keep telling me the key to success in business is to follow your passion. I hope they're right.

Startup Lesson: People Will Surprise You

It's not exactly a news flash that people are full of surprises, but when my HARO query for the Smart See, Smart Do column on SmartCollegeVisit targeting colleges and universities asking for input about what not to miss during a campus visit resulted in responses from people other than admissions and public relations officers, I admit the "other responders" surprised me. In addition to responses from my target response group, I also received responses from tourism departments, alumni and community citizens. 

Tourism Departments and Visitor Bureaus

As I read through the emails from these other responders, I realized how fortunate are the schools who work closely with their city or state tourism office. By working together, the school gains a powerful ambassador of good will, often with access to resources outside the realm of traditional college PR. 

Alumni

There's nothing more heart-warming than to read a response from a school's alum sharing his or her opinion on what prospective students should see or do when they visit campus. This opens up a whole new aspect to college visit promotions. The information comes from someone who has "been there, done that," loved it, and hopes you will, too.

Community Citizens

It really speaks volumes about a place when someone not associated with a school is moved to voice an opinion about what should not be missed on a visit to campus. Knowing that people outside the college environment also love the campus and live in the college town or city adds value to the overall package represented by the school. 

What all of this shows me as a content creator, web site developer, marketer, and founder of a startup to promote college visits, is that if I'm to provide a valuable service to college-bound students and their families, that even I need look beyond the traditional college PR channels so I don't overlook the extended community that helps make the college visit experience the best it can be.

SmartCollegeVisit launched November 9, 2009.