What Education Marketing and Sales Executives Need to Know About Telemarketing to Schools

Marketing to schools, especially for products with a long sales cycle, is a real challenge. Education sales managers need to speed up the process and, in some situations, the telephone is just the right tool. Is it right for you? Here’s valuable free advice from a veteran of K-12 telesales and telemarketing.
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Five Ways to Integrate Tele-Services into Your School Marketing Mix

Πώς θα μετατρέψετε μια παραδοσιακή εκπαίδευση σε eLearning;

1. Ποια είναι τα κριτήρια που καθορίζουν τη μετατρεψιμότητα μιάς συμβατικής εκπαίδευσης σε ηλεκτρονική (eLearning);

2. Έστω ότι η εν λόγω εκπαίδευση μπορεί να μετατραπεί σε eLearning, τι πρέπει να λάβουμε υπόψη ώστε να καθορίσουμε ποιο είδος ηλεκτρονικής μάθησης είναι καλύτερο: η σύγχρονη, η ασύγχρονη ή ο συνδυασμός των δύο;

Αρκετοί επαγγελματίες στη βιομηχανία της εκπαίδευσης επιθυμούν τη μετατροπή παραδοσιακών εκπαιδεύσεων σε μορφή eLearning. Ωστόσο, πολλοί από αυτούς επαναλαμβάνουν συνεχώς το ίδιο λάθος. Πιστεύουν ότι αυτό μπορεί να επιτευχθεί απλώς και μόνο μεταφέροντας το περιεχόμενο της εκπαιδευσής τους (παρουσιάσεις Powerpoint, βίντεο, ηχητικά αρχεία και έγγραφα) σε ένα Σύστημα Διαχείρισης Μάθησης. Κατά τη γνώμη μου, το μόνο που καταφέρνουν είναι να προσδώσουν ηλεκτρονική μορφή.

6 Things Really Productive People Do

Have you noticed that some people just seem to accomplish tons and still appear happy and relaxed? Here are six tips for becoming more productive.

People often ask me, amazed, how I manage to do so many things. Aside from writing two columns every week, I speak regularly, travel, create videos, manage my business, write books, consult with five companies, network, socialize, cycle, run, read, cook, sleep six to seven hours a night and have dates with my wife. Oh yeah, I watch a lot of television while hanging out with my dog as well.

Okay, I know it sounds ridiculous. But accomplishing my preferred future requires this level of activity. I have the same 24 hours in a day that you do, but I have made specific choices that allow me to make the most of every day, and still feel happy and relaxed. Perhaps these tips will help you make the most of your time as well.

Το μέλλον της εργασίας ανήκει στους νέους με γνώσεις...

Ειδικά για τη χώρα μας, όπου αντιμετωπίζουμε επιπλέον και το πρόβλημα της μετακίνησης όλο και περισσότερο εξειδικευμένων εργαζομένων και πτυχιούχων προς άλλες δυτικές χώρες, ενώ η ανεργία και η υποαπασχόληση αυξάνονται αλματωδώς με τη γήρανση του πληθυσμού και ιδιαίτερα των εργαζομένων υψηλών προσόντων, να προβάλει απειλητικά, οι παρακάτω παρατηρήσεις πρέπει να ληφθούν σοβαρά υπόψη, τόσο από τις επιχειρήσεις όσο και από το κράτος και να αρχίσουν να γίνονται γρήγορα οι αναγκαίες προσαρμογές.

Κατά τις τελευταίες τρεις δεκαετίες, οι αναπτυσσόμενες βιομηχανικές οικονομίες άρχισαν να ανταγωνίζονται και αυτές στις παγκόσμιες αγορές, με αποτέλεσμα να δημιουργηθεί μια παγκόσμια αγορά εργασίας. Καθώς περισσότεροι από ένα δισεκατομμύριο άνθρωποι εισήλθαν στο παγκόσμιο εργατικό δυναμικό, μια μαζική μετακίνηση από τα "αγροκτήματα στα εργοστάσια" οδήγησε σε έντονη επιτάχυνση της ανάπτυξης της παραγωγικότητας και του κατά κεφαλήν ΑΕΠ στην Κίνα και άλλα παραδοσιακά αγροτικά έθνη, βοηθώντας εκατοντάδες εκατομμύρια ανθρώπους να βγούν από τη φτώχεια. Για να αυξηθεί η παραγωγικότητα, οι αναπτυγμένες οικονομίες επενδύουν σε τεχνολογίες εξοικονόμησης εργασίας και αξιοποιούν πηγές, σε παγκόσμιο επίπεδο, με χαμηλό κόστος εργασίας.

Preparation Is Good Manners

I’m a huge fan of improv acting, when you start with nothing but a premise and more than one person just moves an idea back and forth to entertain others. I’m not especially good at it, though the concepts are partly what fuel my best talents. On stage, I love to speak from my domain knowledge and not follow a very tight script. This has served me well, and yet, I’ve been really enjoying deep preparation lately.

Preparation Can Be Beautiful

How to Cultivate Creativity: What Science Teaches Us About Freeing the Mind

Do you struggle with creativity in your writing?

Have you ever spent hours racking your brain trying to solve a creative problem, with no success?

Do you try to force creative moments through sheer effort?

The science shows this may not be the best approach.

The Worse-Than-Average Effect: When You’re Better Than You Think

People underestimate their ability at stereotypically difficult tasks like playing chess, telling jokes, juggling or computer programming.

Recently I covered the Dunning-Kruger effect which explains why the incompetent don't know they're incompetent.

But there's a flip-side to the Dunning-Kruger: sometimes the competent don't know when they're competent.

The Creative Push

When does creativity strike?

I struggle with this concept on a daily basis. An old friend of mine is a creative copywriter. I remember back when we were in university how consumed he was with great advertising creative. At the time, there was no Internet and he would wait - patiently - for the latest advertising annual to come out. He would go through these annuals like a detective surveying a murder scene for the first time. These magazines were never loaned. They were reference material and a mythical gateway of ideation. With a notepad constantly in hand (in case an idea struck), there would be times in our friendship when he would simply disappear because something had come to him and it needed to come out (dozens of napkins died by his pen). One summer, a bunch of us did a roundtrip to visit him at university. Over some chicken wings and beer, he said something that stuck with me to this very day about the creative process. We were ruminating about how stressful it can be to have to come up with great ideas on a tight deadline with a limited budget. He said: it's like jumping off of a cliff naked and hoping that there's a branch somewhere on the way down to snag some part of your skin (at the time, I think he said an eyelid!). Sounds like more luck than experience, but it isn't.

Top MBA Schools Taking to Social Media Channels

Virtually all of the nation's top MBA schools are using popular social media channels to promote their programs and recruit students, according to a study by the Center for Marketing Research (CMR) at the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth.

Moreover, 82% of the MBA schools surveyed plan to increase their investment in social media over the next year, and all agree that social marketing is worth the investment.

Below, additional findings from the report titled "The Missing Link in Social Media Use Among Top MBA Programs: Tracking Prospects," conducted by the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth CMR, based on the 2012 US News Best Business Schools Rankings.

Among some 70 US schools studied, 100% use at least one social media platform or tool to promote their programs. Facebook enjoys 100% penetration among the top schools, followed by Twitter with 96%, LinkedIn with 87%, and YouTube with 77%.

How To Enjoy Radical Commitment Through Four Simple Steps

Commitment, now there’s a word filled with trouble.

For so many the idea of commitment, while generally seen as a good thing, also contains elements of sacrifice, hard work, repetition, and even pain. I happen to believe that commitment, most especially the kind that I’ve come to call radical commitment, is all about joy and happiness.

But, that’s because I don’t think commitment comes from the place most people seem to think it does.