There is a popular phrase used in the digital marketing world that relates to having all you ever need. The idea is that if you get 1000 true fans, 1000 people who will support you, you will be able to live a good life, provide for your family, and serve a small group that is big enough to support you.
Today, on Seth Godin’s podcast, Akimbo, he talks about how large business (Heinz and Proctor & Gamble, for example) are struggling because what they are built on is no longer possible. Companies are not selling to average people anymore. People are filtering out what they don’t want and companies need to be adaptive to this new way of doing business.
This is just as true in the education field. Think about your school. How many students are in it right now? What if you had 1000 raving fans of your school that were beating down your door to enroll? What if you had 1000 raving families who wanted their children to go to no other school than your own?
There is real opportunity for developing this in education. If schools can manage to promote themselves in a way that says “You 1000 people, please join us!” They will likely find those 1000 people.
Our real problem right now is that we too often see ourselves as just another school. People come to our school because that is their boundary. This is not the case with magnet, charter, and private schools. They need to differentiate themselves in some way to make it so people want to come to them!
And it is high time for all schools to take this approach. Why would someone want to come to your school?
