I am personally very active in the professional organization attending all board meetings, regular meetings, and serve as chapter representative at the state meetings. Since the school is very small, I urge students to participate in the professional organization and their community outreach programs. During the Hurricane Katrina, members signed up to do the transcription of the hospitals that were disabled by the hurricane. Recently the association participated in the Susan Komen Walk for the Cure for breast cancer. I do a graduate survey in addition to the TWC form to determine if the books and supplies the students are… >>>

To get the word out about the medical transcription school, the website is mainly used. We also rely on word-of-mouth (which I consider the best advertisement) and informational sessions every 3 months. Having a column on the right for current happenings is a fresh idea to incorporate. Taking credit cards in the past was so expensive that I went to strictly to checks and money orders for payment. It has definitely hurt enrollment. Recently the credit card companies have sent out promotional material to take their credit cards online. This is worth the time to investigate. Have any of you… >>>

Creating a press release kit and press releases about newsworthy events will be a prime focus for this year. The module was loaded with marketing strategies. The school has 100% placement. This fact is probably not marketed as well as it should be. Stories about student successes is also an idea that has not been developed fully. Testimonials are used on the website as well as biography of the owner/instructor. Employer satisfaction is high for our program. This also needs to be developed in some of the suggestions in this module. I am a sole owner/instructor/marketing person. If there are… >>>

The school teaches medical transcription online. Approximately every 3 months, we hold a face-to-face information session and publicize with the professional organization, potential students who have inquired about the program (if local) and local newspapers. These have been done using a PowerPoint presentation with question-and-answer session following. I have conducted these either by myself and with having a current student and graduate of the program. More admissions come when the current student and graduate also make presentations. At these sessions, they field most of the questions. The website for the program with the testimonials also is effective. Just one-time ads… >>>

Our school has a great banner that we hang on the street side wall of our building. This banner is also great to take to health fairs, etc. and helps bring attention to the rest of our display. We have an advisory board that meets periodically to offer advice, however, they don't seem to promote us throughout the community like they could. I think they just need to be more aware of some of the support they could provide. Also, we are working on creating an Alumni Association which would also include a board. We are a fairly new, and… >>>

In the past, we have participated in numerous Health Fairs in the community. We have an annual Open House and this year have a brief television spot on a local educational channel. As the Dean of Student Services the full responsibility for these events has been allocated to me. Usually, I have had alumni and students to help. We are very small and consequently, there is not a large population of "workers" to draw from. I have several ideas from this section on how to improve our brochures, flyers, and website. I would love to begin a newsletter, time being… >>>

Definitely a very important part in the Marketing Plan is evaluation. You will never find out if you are being effective. At our institution we always ask prospects who call or walk ins, how they heard about us. With that info I prepare a report that has help us to maximize our advertising budget. We also give a survey to all our students on the last day of their courses. That gives us feedback about what we are doing right or wrong and is a very important tool for retention. At the time you are developing your marketing plan, is… >>>