Get Lean

I can think of one near-absolute truth in these days of uncertainty: Value prevails.

I recently read that "crisis" comes from the Greek word meaning to sift, as in to shake out the excesses and leave only what matters most. (Source: Glennon Doyle). Given all the ways we can un-pack that wisdom, let's focus on its implications for International Enrollment Management.

We have been offered the gift of crisis (again). What will we do with it, personally and professionally?

Since USjournal's inception in 1996, I've always thought it served as a small canary in the coal mine or some sort of early-detection-device for international enrollment managers: Prompting prudence to be prepared to pivot when appropriate. For example, we launched a dozen independent multi-lingual domains to recruit non-US students in the early 2000s -- when non-native English speakers accounted for only about 20% of all online users (today that figure hovers around 80%). We've since shifted our attention away from generating student inquiries as, quite frankly, the value of those initial inquiries diluted.

Mid-career, I became quite obsessed with Measuring Return on Investment in the industry, fully aware that those elusive yet vital metrics extended well beyond numbers with dollar signs in front of them. We've since relinquished our interactive ROI site to co-creator George Kacenga.

The most valuable / highest-performing page within USjournal has always been our schedule of events that promote study in the USA, so we've concentrated on that over the past few years: Practicing what we preach to Get Lean, while diversifying our family's portfolio outside of international education.

Now, it's time for USjournal to pivot yet again, while maintaining our commitment to advance global student mobility, and ultimately minimize the damage resulting from this latest gift of a crisis.

We're expanding USjournal.com/fairs beyond a simple listing of in-person recruitment events. Rather, we've started promoting colleagues and companies that accommodate the complexities of International Enrollment Management, including but not limited to:

• Virtual Recruitment Events
• Software Solutions
• Insurance Providers
• Credential Evaluators
• Consulting Services

The true value of USjournal.com/fairs: International recruiters pro-actively engage the page when seeking cost-effective ways to allocate their limited budgets. Advertising on that page provides a superior alternative to more traditional interruptive marketing such as cold-calling or unsolicited eMessages.

Contact us for our very latest user statistics, or review our Rate Card. We'd be delighted to schedule a conversation, and craft a customized proposal for you!

---