Networking for IECs: Building Partnerships and Expanding Reach
Networking is essential for independent educational consultants looking to grow their practice and enhance their professional network. Building strong partnerships and expanding your reach within the community can lead to increased opportunities, valuable collaborations, and a more robust support network.
Building Partnerships
Creating meaningful partnerships within the industry involves identifying and connecting with other professionals who can complement and enhance your services. These professionals can include fellow consultants, school counselors, tutors, educational psychologists, and admissions officers. By collaborating with a diverse group of experts, IECs can offer a more comprehensive suite of services to their clients, and gain valuable knowledge from other industry leaders.
Some ways to build your network:
- Join accreditation organizations like Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) or Higher Education Consultants Association (HECA). These organizations provide networking events, valuable conferences, and online forums where consultants can meet and interact with like-minded professionals and gain feedback on questions and issues that arise along the way. For example, the IECA Talk List is a great place to seek input from seasoned colleagues on specific colleges, financial aid, and technical/nuanced questions from clients.
- Explore regional groups through accreditation organizations like IECA’s Regional Groups. These smaller cohorts meet virtually and in-person to share best practices, discuss changes in the profession, and coordinate college tours to help members deepen their knowledge of colleges worldwide.
- Check out the CollegePlannerPro Member Facebook Group. In this forum, CollegePlannerPro members share tips and advice for getting the most out of the tools available on CollegePlannerPro. Members also talk about ways to integrate features of the platform into their work and share best practices.
- Subscribe to industry newsletters and attend webinars to stay informed about changing policies and practices. Cyndy McDonald hosts forums to coach college counselors, ArborBridge has Lunch & Learn sessions for IECs, and College MatchPoint publishes a rich newsletter about changes in the college admissions landscape.
Expanding Your Reach
Expanding reach within the college consulting community involves engaging with peers and potential clients. Establishing a strong online presence through a professional website, social media platforms, and newsletters can significantly enhance visibility. Sharing valuable content, insights, and success stories helps establish credibility and positions consultants as leaders in the field.
Some ways to expand your reach:
- Consider sharing relevant blog posts and articles with your clients and prospective clients through Broadcast Messages on CollegePlannerPro. Some thought leaders in college counseling include Rick Clark and the team at Georgia Tech (check out/subscribe to their blog here), Ethan Sawyer (learn about College Essay Guy and their outstanding resources), and Jeff Selingo (higher education journalist and author of Who Gets In and Why). These are just some of the incredible blogs and websites available for you to share with your network.
- Leverage the power of LinkedIn! Posting interesting articles, connecting with admissions officers, and sharing your own blog posts helps create an online presence.
- Joining online forums and discussion groups related to college admissions and education consulting is another effective strategy. These platforms allow consultants to share knowledge, ask questions, and provide support to one another, fostering a sense of community and collaboration. IECA, HECA, and the National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC) all have active member forums for IECs to connect.
Networking is a cornerstone of success for IECs. By building strategic partnerships and actively engaging with the broader college counseling community, IECs can enhance their service offerings, stay informed about industry developments, and create a supportive network that benefits both their practice and their clients.