Not handing it off to a colleague. Not, better yet, selling her practice. Just closing it down.

It was a reminder that too many IECs misunderstand the market value of their consulting practices—and then make decisions in the final years of their careers that make selling nearly impossible. And, as you’ll see below, the importance of decisions you make, waaaaaay before you’re even contemplating winding down.

Over time, I’ll use my Substack to explore pricing, selling and transitioning ownership of an IEC practice. Today, let’s start at the beginning: Where does an existing practice get its market value?

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Today I offer a quick hit: a quote from a Wall Street Journal reporter that I tried to keep in mind over my many years at IECA. There I sought to make sure the MEMBERS were the central focus of our story.

Today, let’s take a look at what this quote means for indepencdent educational consultants themselves.

“Make the customer the hero of your story.”
— Ann Handley, Wall Street Journal

It’s good marketing advice.

And for an IEC, it’s also good practice.

The student should always be the hero of the story.

When we talk about our work, it can be tempting to say we got them into X, we helped them achieve Y, or our guidance made the difference.

But the student did the hard work.

Our job is to help them recognize their strengths, tell their story, navigate the process, and showcase their accomplishments.

So even when we are marketing ourselves, the spotlight should remain where it belongs:

on the student.

That may be the best marketing of all.

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Miss any of the marketing articles this week? Here a quick link to the archive: https://marksklarow.substack.com/archive

First, an IEC with a relatively new practice talking reservedly, but directly-to-camera on TikTok about openings she has for clients right now.

Second, an IEC sharing a detailed—VERY detailed—report on a visit to a regional university, linked to an Instagram campus photo.

Third (and trust me, I could go on and on), a very experienced IEC sharing test-anxiety strategies on LinkedIn.

On one hand, you want to applaud professionals willing to use new ways of communicating to get the word out.

Unfortunately, all three of these independent educational consultants were using social media in ways that missed the mark.

One had the wrong message.

One had the wrong platform.

And one was probably talking to the wrong audience altogether.

Earlier this week I wrote about the right messaging to sign clients at this specific time in the application cycle. Today, let’s tackle one year-round marketing tool—social media—and how too many IECs are wasting their effort.

Because here’s the thing:

You don’t need to be everywhere. You need to be somewhere for a reason.

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And so it can start to feel like Class of 2027 clients must all be long-signed to other educational consultants, essay coaches, test-prep tutors, and everyone else in the college-admissions ecosystem.

It is especially tough when you look around social media and it seems like every other IEC is announcing that they are “full” for this year.

First, here’s a secret:

What you see publicly is not necessarily what is happening across the profession. I know many more IECs who are not turning away clients.

The IECs who reach their maximum caseload are the ones most likely to announce it—and often to ask where they can refer new inquiries. The IECs who still have room are understandably less likely to announce that fact.

And one more thing: based on what I’m hearing, many IECs were a little slower to reach their maximum this year.

Some years are just like that.

The dilemma I’ve been hearing from IECs—and the questions sent to me last week—are about how to market existing openings without looking:

• desperate;

• lesser-than because you aren’t full; or

• somehow unworthy of a parent’s confidence.

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If you missed it:

It …

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But bear with me.

The DAY I turned 16, my mother took me to get my learner’s permit. On the…

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The section formerly known simply as “Activities” is now called “Activities and Experiences.”

At first glance, this looks like little more than a two-word edit. But I think it gives Independent Educational Consultants an opportunity to consider a better version of one of the questions we routinely ask students.

Let’s stop asking students to work on their activities list, and instead pose this question: What’s life like for you outside of the classroom?

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Not me.

I’m asking you to look back. To revisit last year one more time—and to do so in a specific and targeted way.

Think back to your most difficult client of last year.

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More importantly, writing has forced me to think more carefully about what I truly believe about independent educational consulting.

Some of those beliefs have evolved. Others have only grown stronger. Looking back, I also realized that so much of what I’ve written falls into three broad themes: professionalism, expertise, and purpose. How we conduct ourselves. How we continue to learn. And why our work matters.

As I publish my 100th article, here are ten things I know for sure.

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“An elite college now is almost exclusively defined by how hard it is to get into. It’s like the rope line at a hot nightclub—it’s about having the ticket to get in… But why does…

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Here’s your link…

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It’s a fair question. New consultants entering the profession want a benchmark as they establish their practices, while experienced IECs often revisit their fees before the start of a new school year.

There isn’t a single answer—but there are clear trends.

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I spent last week at the Jersey Shore. Over and over—in completely unrelated situations—I was advised, “Trust me.” (It helps if you hear that in your best Jersey accent.)

When I asked for the lettuce to be left off my hoagie because of the current cyclosporiasis outbreak, I was told, “Trust me, bro, our lettuce is good.” An overloaded parking attendant collecting keys assured me, “Trust me, you’re good.” Later, when one of my grandkids kept feeding credits into a malfunctioning claw machine, the attendant waved me off before I could explain: “I got you. Trust me.”

That’s when I realized how much I dislike the phrase. It’s quick. It’s easy. But it doesn’t show that the concern was heard, understood, or appreciated. Instead, it shuts down the conversation.

And it made me wonder: What phrases do we use in admissions, educational consulting, and test prep that unintentionally do the same thing?

Here are ten I’d be happy to retire. I’d love to hear yours in the comments.

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The One Thing has become one of the best-selling business books of the past decade because of its simple premise: identify the most important task, focus on it completely, then move on to the next priority.

That’s valuable advice.

But as I read the book on the beach last week, the line that has stayed with me is this:

“Success is about doing the right thing, not about doing everything right.”

There’s a powerful message here for independent educational consultants, test-prep professionals, essay coaches, admission representatives—and, frankly, anyone whose work depends on judgment and trust.

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Rather than disappear completely, I thought I’d share 5 articles that generated tremendous interest and/or …

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39.7%

4 out of 10 high school students report experiencing persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.

In a typical suburban high school of 2,500 students, that’s

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“What’s the most important issue our profession isn’t paying enough attention to?”

There are plenty of possible answers. Artificial intelligence. Affordability. The return of standardized testing. Federal policy. Enrollment challenges, among others.

Those topics dominate conference agendas, webinars, and social media discussions. But I think these are being attended to.

My answer surprised them.

Demographics.

But hear me out…. this isn’t really an article about college or school enrollment. It’s an article about where your next 500 clients will come from.

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When my good friend and colleague Joan Koven and I taught together at the IECA Summer Training Institute, one of our favorite traditions was comparing the latest marketing books we’d each discovered.…

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