CollegePlannerPro Blog

Becoming an educational consultant can be a financially rewarding and emotionally fulfilling profession.

CollegePlannerPro was fortunate enough to join and sponsor the IECA Professional Members retreat last month in Phoenix, AZ. Participants spent the retreat with their business hats on, learning from small business marketing and branding professionals as well as from one another during group conversations. All members left refreshed and equipped with a wealth of new business strategies to take back and implement in their practices, including the CollegePlannerPro team!

For IECs, your goal for working with first-generation college students is to not only help them get into a school that fits them well, but also make sure they succeed at that college and graduate on time. At Induck, we have interviewed over 200 first-generation college students and asked them about the academic and social struggles they faced and how they overcame them. Below are some takeaways that we believe will help you guide first-generation college students to success.

This recorded webinar, hosted by our partners at Prompt, covers the top essay tips to help you help your students write compelling essays

Pricing your services is hard and getting it wrong can greatly impact your ability to build a thriving college consulting business. That's why we did some research to bring you the most recommended books, relevant for IECs, on pricing strategy and practice. Whether you are just getting started, or a veteran IEC who feels like they never got the pricing thing right, these resources will give you the tools necessary to evaluate your pricing model and deliver your services with confidence.

Small business owners often struggle with getting and staying organized. The brainpower and time associated with the day’s ever-evolving task list leaves us with just enough energy to stay afloat. And typically, the things that get sacrificed in this commotion are the very processes and projects that are meant to keep us organized and confidently on track.

But, we now have a new year and a fresh start to get organized so that we can be our most productive selves in 2020. Here are some tips for making it happen.

As more and more consultants work with students applying to international schools, Canadian and UK school data has been in high demand. After a thorough search for the best possible sources, we’re happy to announce that CollegePlannerPro has added 49 Canadian and 99 UK school profiles sourced from Maclean’s and The Complete University Guide respectively.

Chances are, especially if your IEC business is in its early stages, most clients will find you through a recommendation from a friend or family member. This is a great way to get your first few clients, but eventually, you’ll want and need more prospective clients coming your way. So, what are some proactive things that you can do to increase the number of word-of-mouth referrals that you receive?

As of 2017, 81% of the US population age 12 and older had at least one social media platform. It is no wonder that many businesses, large and small, are harnessing the popularity and power of social media to promote and strengthen their brand to current and prospective customers. However, for many independent college consultants the use of social media platforms remains an underutilized, or oftentimes nonexistent, piece of their business's marketing strategy.

If you are looking to reach prospective clients, stay in touch with current families, or share industry insights and thought leadership with colleagues, then we strongly suggest you commit to building the social media presence of your business. To help you get started, we've prepared our top 6 social media best practices.

The CollegePlannerPro team was recently joined by ArborBridge's Senior Director of Instruction, Dr. Megan Stubbendeck, for a webinar focused on advising students on the optimal testing timeline. A 10-year test prep veteran, it is Megan's job to know everything there is to know about the college admission tests, including which tests students should take and when. She was gracious enough to share her insights with our members and we've provided a quick recap and link to the full webinar recording below.