After many discussions with some of the top aggregators & lead providers it became clear that most noted a lack in demand by the major schools.  This softness in demand seems to be continuing from the first 8 months of the year by the major EDU players. Not all lead providers indicating lack of demand, a select few of the highest quality providers tell us that the demand for their leads (even at the higher prices) continues to be strong.

Vendors have noted schools being slow to test new campaigns, delays in providing campaign approvals, and restrictions pertaining to taking on new partners/affiliates.

For most schools the demand for leads softened last year and has continued thus far this year.  Many site internal changes, program changes, more emphasis on direct acquisition, branding compliance fears as well as internal admissions process changes.

ForProfitEDU would like to extend an exclusive invitation to you to attend The Capital Roundtable’s conference on Private Equity Investing in Education Companies, being held on Thursday, July 21 in New York City.

As a partner, we have the privilege to put your name on our VIP list, allowing you to register for a special rate of $995 — $400 off the standard registration price.

This day-long conference is being chaired by Daniel Black, Managing Partner at Wicks Group of Companies, and features 20 experts.

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I hope to see you on July 21 for what promises to be a great day.

P.S. Since we expect this conference to attract a strong attendance, please register as soon as possible to reserve your seat.

Last nights front line piece was not as one sided as expectst expected.  To view the segment visit: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/collegeinc/#

Clearly there were some negative comments made from former employees of a few schools, but overall the segment appeared not completely biased.  What is clear is the necessity and role the for-profit play in helping America again reach the goal of being the nation with the highest college graduation rate.  For-profits spend much more on marketing and utilize more aggressive admissions tactics, but clearly it is what’s needed to gain the attention and help drive the decision to go to college for a growing sector of the population which are not well suited to traditional institutions. 

Other than a few bad employees, some questionable tuition cost benefit equations at a few institutions and some programs of questionable value,  the industry as a whole is providing a beneficial service to the under-served segment of our population. 

I would hope that what comes out of the Govt. sessions addresses only the problems specifically and helps pave way to increased growth opportunity for the majority of the quality institutions.  Using a machete instead of a pair of pruning sheers would be a huge mistake, which would backfire on the educational goals we all share…

Over the last few months both schools and lead generation firms have become increasingly nervous over pending regulation changes.  More schools seem to believe that changes will come effecting cost per lead marketing, most vendors while increasingly stressed just don’t think it will happen.  Arguments can be made against the proposed changes include:

• That lead generators don’t contact/interact with the student prospects
• The the entire process is driven by the prospective student choosing and requesting
• That non-profits buy data on people who aren’t aware and the directly market them
• That the vendors are not in any way involved in the enrollment process
• That the education directories provide a valuable free service for prospective students
• That the lead generators have created much more outreach promoting education

Schools seem to think that if lead gen CPL has to either go away or change that CPC cost per click will remain…that doesn’t make any sense to me as ultimately the value of a click can be identified by conversions just as the value of a lead.  However, many mention that Google CPC is different as they set the price.  Other schools feel that placement fees/clotting fee will become the new normal. 

What do you think?

With 2009 being a perfect storm for EDU lead gen, how will 2010 play out?  

Almost all of the EDU lead vendors we have spoken to feel 2010 will continue to be strong for EDU lead gen, though most don’t expect a repeat of last year’s explosion.  Clearly the data suggests that most of the second half of 2009 showed a steady decline from the first half.  While year over year was still exceptional, the aggregate consistently began to decline in August continuing thru year end.  However November & December did not decline from October as much as previous years.

ForProfitEDUis proud to welcome future contributions from veteran journalist Andrea Foster.  Our relationship with  Andrea Foster is a positive step in our continued efforts to provide you with quality industry content.  We look forward to the work she will be sharing in the coming months.

Andrea Foster is a veteran journalist whose specialty is education, technology, and Congress. She wrote for eight years about the intersection of academe and technology for The Chronicle of Higher Education, and before that, for The National Law Journal and Congressional Quarterly, among other publications.

Former Omniture executive brings extensive online marketing experience to Lead Performance Management firm

October 15, 2009 – Toronto, ON – Sparkroom, an innovative provider of Lead Performance Management™ software solutions for direct marketers, today announced the appointment of Dave Datars as the Vice President of Sales. With his extensive experience selling SaaS-based solutions to senior executives and marketers, Dave will lead the continued growth of Sparkroom’s sales activities in the higher education sector, while helping the company to expand and penetrate additional verticals.

“We are thrilled to have a sales leader of Dave’s caliber joining our team to help us continue growing our revenue and meet our rising sales targets,” said Jamie McDonald, Sparkroom’s Chief Executive Officer. “He is a great addition to our executive team, bringing extensive experience in revenue generation and business development, paired with a deep understanding of the online marketing space.”

Dave brings over 10 years of sales and management experience with world-class technology companies to the Sparkroom team. Previously, Dave was the Director of Business Development at Omniture Inc., a leading provider of on-demand software for online marketers. Prior to Omniture, Dave held sales management roles at DoubleClick (now Google) and Delano Technology. Dave also previously founded three businesses in the retail and commercial services sectors. He holds a bachelors degree from Wilfrid Laurier University.

About Sparkroom
Sparkroom delivers innovative solutions to direct marketers, including its comprehensive Lead Performance Management software and services. Sparkroom Lead Deliver and Lead IQ deliver a hosted business intelligence platform to give direct response marketers the tools and expertise needed to measure, manage and optimize their lead acquisition spending across every direct response channel. Sparkroom’s software, which it hosts and delivers to its customers on-demand, enables customers to capture, store and analyze information generated by their lead buying activities and to gain critical business insights into the performance and efficiency of marketing and sales initiatives and other business processes. Founded in early 2007, Sparkroom is privately-held, with funding from private investors and Matrix Partners. For more information, visit www.sparkroom.com.

Press release submitted via forprofitedu.com press release submitter: http://www.forprofitedu.com/press-release-submit/

Some very interesting data coming in which may lead to the conclusion that the growth rates may be slowing.  While the industry is still growing and at rates which would make most extremely happy, the percentage growth may be showing some signs that it’s leveling out a bit.

It was great to see the crowded halls & conference rooms at the BMO Back to School conference in NYC yesterday.  Jeffrey Silber & group attracted a full house of who’s who from both the EDU crowd & the financials who are interested in them.  Over 800+ people registered for this event and it sure packed the conference with plenty of energy.  Lots of great sessions & speakers all of which couldn’t have been more positive on what’s going on within the industry.  One of the best comments was when a panel was asked “what scares you” in connection with compliance and the growth of the industry.  Dr. Michael Clifford answered:  He mentioned that the experienced operators are not the problem.   What scares me is that there are just so many firms and so much money looking to go into this industry that he feared an inexperienced operator funded by one of the many firms looking to get into the industry, could besmirch the image of the industry as a whole.  Overall the conference was a hit, and clearly a strong indication of how the industry is doing.

Just wanted to share with you that we have surpassed the 1000+ member mark for our linkedin group.  There are many hot topics & discussions on that group from many of the leaders in the industry.  People seem to share more within that closed group than freely on the web.  If you are within the for profit EDU industry please feel free to join.

If you have not yet joined our linkedin group: For-profit Education, you can do so by clicking here and requesting to join: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=1786509&trk=hb_side_g#h150-254