Just over five years ago I started .eduGuru as a New Year’s resolution. My goal at the time was to do some networking with other higher ed web professionals, establish myself as a thought leader, share what I was learning and enhance my resume for the future. In those early days twitter was a baby, the whole social media revolution hadn’t really started and there really wasn’t any online collaboration like there is today. There are dozens of great higher education bloggers today but back then I can honestly say only three come to mind as being credible and established resources that still exist today. Here is a little shout out to CollegeWebEditor, mStoner and Andy Careaga’s Higher Ed Marketing. Blogging for years is HARD but it has to be about the passion.

Looking back I think it’s safe to say I have accomplished my original goals. It’s also safe to say that over the years we have had great writers come and go and do some pretty impressive things in our industry. Higher Ed web is hopefully a little brighter and more fun place to work because of our efforts. .eduGuru has established itself as a credible thought leader in our higher education web niche; at least I hope that you feel that way. I have personally been humbled by the support and encouragement .eduGuru has received over the years. Because of all this I’m happy to announce a major pivot that the brand is taking.

Introducing .eduGuru Expert Consultants – A Real Consulting and Teaching Resource

There is no doubt in my mind that we are in the middle of a major transition in the way higher education institutions look at the web and the web’s importance as a central marketing channel. We are uniquely blessed to be in an industry where rivals share information and best practices openly, but sometimes we still need more help. We’ve watched the internet revolutionize everything else we do on a day to day business so why shouldn’t it revolutionize our consulting partners?

The saying, “it’s not what you know but who you know”, has never been more true. After months of planning and figuring out all the logistics I’m happy to introduce .eduGuru Expert Consultants. .eduGuru Expert Consultants is a collection of our some of our favorite thought leaders and doers in High Ed Web who are ready to help you. These individuals have years of experience in our industry. We have been told over and over again that one of the hardest things to find is great individuals who can consult with or teach your team. .eduGuru Expert Consultants are now available for just that purpose!

Check out our .eduGuru Consultants section.

Questions and Answers

I’m sure there are lots of questions about this pivot so I’m going to attempt to answer a handful of them before they arise. We are officially launching this today but the selection and offerings will definitely be growing in the months to come.

Q: Will .eduGuru still post awesome free content?

A: Absolutely. We don’t plan on changing any of those practices. After all it is our great free content that made you trust and believe in us in the first place. We’re also hopeful that you will continue to read and share our content which helps us to continue to establish the brand and build trust with individuals who have never heard of .eduGuru before.

Q: How is .eduGuru able to offer these services?

A: .eduGuru has signed an agreement with Converge Consulting to help us manage all the backend “sausage making” that goes into running a business. Converge will be helping us with managing the accounting, contracts, insurance and all of the other details that happen behind the scene. This enables our consultants to focus on doing what they love best and not have to worry about these details.

Q: Why would I want to use an .eduGuru Expert instead of contracting with a traditional consulting company?

A: Well first of all we are hopeful that if you read this blog on a regular basis that answer is already clear. Our consultants all have had the experience of working at schools and have that unique understanding of the environment. Many of us still work at schools. Also because you can contract directly with one of our experts we feel like we can offer our services at a lower rate than going through a large consulting company that also has to pay for all of their additional overhead. You can also read thought leadership content that our consultants have produced and see presentations that they have given at conferences. Our experts have their own trusted brand which we hope speaks for itself.

Q: I looked through your team and I didn’t see someone with the skill set I need?

A: You should contact us and let us know. We might have someone who just didn’t mention that they have that skill set. It also means we have a gap in our coverage that we need to cover. Finally wouldn’t you rather have us go look for someone for you then you do the work?

Q: I’m interested in becoming an .eduGuru Expert how can I sign up?

A: We want to launch this program with a small team of experts and see what happens. We do hope to expand the team but initially there will be hurdles and roadblocks that we still need to figure out and it is easier for us to do that with a smaller team. Despite all of that we’d still love to talk with you. Please fill out our Consulting Interest form and let us know you are interested in joining the team.

So that is it. We have lots of work and decisions still ahead of us but we are excited to share this publicly. We’d love any and all feedback that you have. This is a service by higher ed for higher ed so let us know what we can do better.

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