MESSAGE FROM Jean-Marc Hachey, author and publisher of The BIG Guide Online: When schools decide to partner with us, we provide marketing support materials to promote the availability of our service to your students and staff. We not only help you market The BIG Guide Online, but more importantly, we help you market the importance for students to acquire global career skills while still in school. We are committed to helping you implement an annual marketing campaign so that you can achieve your objectives and derive maximum value from your school’s subscription with The BIG Guide to Living and Working Overseas. The following list of marketing support materials should get you started. We are proud to be partnering with our client schools and we re-state our commitment to providing you with quality advice and materials to promote the availability of our service to your students and staff.

• PHASE ONE: Launch (Planning & Initial Marketing)
• PHASE TWO: Maintaining Momentum
• PHASE THREE: Special Projects

PHASE ONE: Launch (Planning & Initial Marketing)

1. Link to The BIG Guide Online from your institution’s Web site
   Getting started is easy! Set up one or more links on your school Web site so that students can register for free access to The BIG Guide Online (example of link URL for Colgate University: www.workingoverseas.com/colgate). Career Center, Study Abroad and departmental Web sites are the best places to post links. Download suggested logos and recommended text.
2. Design a marketing plan and review our Essential Checklist
   You can audit and focus your marketing efforts with our one page Essential Checklist of sure-fire ideas to increase student registrations to The BIG Guide Online. 
3. Identify staff to help you promote global career skills
   There are a number of people on campus who have an interest in promoting global career skills. See our list of suggestions, which includes ideas on how you might engage them.
4. Staff training webinars
   We are pleased to invite you and your colleagues to participate in our staff training webinars. These opportunities are provided for new staff or for those who may not have had an opportunity to take previous training, or simply those who want a refresher. Note that students, student ambassadors and assistants are also welcome to join our training sessions. 
   • Monthly staff training webinars: the first Wednesday of each month. Sign up for either or both of: (1) Exploring The BIG Guide Online and (2) Marketing The BIG Guide Online and promoting global career skills. Register here.
   • 12-Minute Tutorial: Choose this video if you are pressed for time. View video
   • Pre-recorded video training tutorials: Encourage your staff to view our series of 15 short video tutorials located in the Help section of our Web site (NOTE: To see these videos, you must first sign into the site, and then choose “Help” in the main horizontal menu bar.) We have broken up our videos into short segments (most are 3-4 minutes long), making them quicker to load and allowing for follow-up discussions and review after each segment.  For more detailed information see How to organize a staff training session and use the Reader Tracking Sheet to organize a group training session for staff or students (see the last page for a training plan outline).
   • Customized training for your staff: We are happy to provide a customized training session for groups of 5 or more staff. Staff can assemble in one room, or they can watch individually on a PC in their office. Contact to book a customized training session.
5. Mass email to students, faculty and advisors
   Email is one of the best ways to pass along important information to members of the school community, especially at the beginning of the academic year. The more faculty and staff who know about free access to The BIG Guide Online, the more students they can pass it on to. See suggested audience-specific email message. 
6. Encourage staff to register for The BIG Guide Online. The individual or team in charge of College Site Access at your institution can see which staff have registered as users. To access this list, login to the site, go to the My Guide menu, choose My School Network (left hand menu) and use the Keyword search feature to search for “staff.” You will then see those who have self-identified themselves as “staff” in The BIG Guide Online registration process.
7. Publish a press release
   Make it official! Publish a press release announcing free access to The BIG Guide Online. See the official press release.

PHASE TWO: Maintaining Momentum

1. Visit our media page for more downloads
   If you want to add some extra color and zip to your online links, press releases or marketing materials, visit www.workingoverseas.com/media for access to logos and images of Jean-Marc Hachey, author of The BIG Guide to Living and Working Overseas.
2. Promote The BIG Guide Online link:
   The www.workingoverseas.com/register URL and your school’s direct URL (e.g. www.workingoverseas.com/colgate) is the number one call to action for students to use The BIG Guide Online. Post either of these links on message boards and on pages of your school's Web site, create and hand out flyers, ask professors to promote The BIG Guide registration – and advertise the link everywhere!
3. Poster, Poster, Poster!
   Catch students on their way to class, in cafeterias, in libraries or even at the gym. Posters are a simple way to spread the word about the importance of global career skills and free access to The BIG Guide Online. Contact  directly to receive the custom poster that we have designed for each one of our client schools. Alternatively, you can access a second style of poster and create your own (the poster will load in MS Word, which is easy to modify): English Poster; French Poster.
   The three ideas below are effective and easy to implement:
   
   • POSTER IN LOBBIES: Design a BIG Guide poster and post it permanently in the lobbies of the Career Center, Study Abroad office, International Student office and other similar offices on campus.
   • POSTER ON BULLETIN BOARDS IN EACH FACULTY: At the start of each school year, have the poster printed in full color and then mail it with a cover letter to each faculty/department asking them to post this on their bulletin board. (Note that snail mail is more successful than e-mail to encourage faculties to post this on their bulletin boards). Here is a sample poster from one of our clients who found this strategy to be effective.
   • POSTER ON THE BACK OF QUICK GUIDES: When distributing the Quick Guides found below, print The BIG Guide poster on the reverse side to encourage students to register for free subscriptions.
4. Distribute Quick Guides in public waiting areas, during international events, or to students taking international courses
   Print out multiple copies of your favorite Quick Guides and leave them for students to peruse in your Career Center, Study Abroad or International Student office lobbies. This is easy, fast and the footer at the bottom of each Quick Guide lets students know how to register for free access. (Consider printing the poster above on the flip side of the Quick Guide as mentioned above.) Subscribers have access to all 27+ guides from the Tools area of The BIG Guide Online. Have student advisors, staff or student ambassadors distribute Quick Guides at all international events or to students taking any type of internationally oriented course on campus.
5. Create Links To Our Quick Guides
   The URLs for each of 27 Quick Guides are not password protected. You can therefore easily advertize links to any of our Quick Guides in a host of different venues.
   • YOUR COLLEGE WEBSITE: Place multiple links to our Quick Guides on various pages of your college web site. Different Quick Guides have different themes, and you can therefore choose different Quick Guides for different pages on your college web site. Some example of these pages may be the Volunteer Abroad page, International Internship page, Study Abroad page, International Student page, Work Abroad page.
   • MASS E-MAILS, TWITTER, FACEBOOK: Send a mass message to your students with direct links to our Quick Guides. Choose a different Quick Guide each week to advertize the availability of this information.
   • WORKSHOP RESOURCES: Include links to relevant Quick Guides in your student workshops, pre-departure or re-entry orientation handbooks. For example, every student who is participating in a study abroad session should be aware of our Quick Guides and other online resources. Add a link or printed copies of Quick Guides to freshman orientation packages, use them during pre-departure orientation for students going abroad, during re-entry orientation, or when an international student has just arrived on campus.
   • SAMPLE WORDING TO ACCOMPANY A LINK TO OUR QUICK GUIDE: Here is an example of how you would add a link to one of our Quick Guides. (Note that you will need to first log into The BIG Guide Online to collect the individual URLs for each guide.)
     • QUICK GUIDE: Job Strategies While Studying Abroad: Double the value of your time abroad with these easy to implement career strategies. Students at Colgate University can access a treasure trove of similar information by registering for a free subscription to The BIG Guide to Living and Working Overseas. Register now at www.workingoverseas.com/colgate.
6. Cross-promotion with other international events on campus
   Consider “piggy-backing” on all your upcoming international events to market the availability of The BIG Guide Online to your students. Cross-promote with International Education Week (in November of each year), International Development Week (February of each year in Canada), career fairs, volunteer or study abroad fairs, workshops on international careers, etc. Work with the organizers of these events to insert a footer on all their advertising to encourage students to access The BIG Guide Online registration page. International events have the same mandate as The BIG Guide (i.e. helping students build global career skills), so if an international event is taking place on campus, be sure to take advantage of the cross-promotion potential.
   
   Use one of the suggested taglines below in the footer of any type of announcement from emails to event posters, Web site announcements and printed Quick Guides (Note: Where you see "colgate" in the example URL, you will replace your institution's acronym or abbreviation):
   
   • TAGLINE (Alternative One): DEVELOP YOUR GLOBAL CAREER SKILLS: Students interested in building international credentials are encouraged to activate their free subscriptions to The BIG Guide to Living and Working Overseas ONLINE at www.workingoverseas.com/colgate.”
   • TAGLINE (Alternative Two): GO ABROAD TO STUDY, TRAVEL, VOLUNTEER, TEACH, INTERN or WORK and develop your global career skills. Students are encouraged to activate their free subscriptions to The BIG Guide to Living and Working Overseas ONLINE at www.workingoverseas.com/colgate. This service paid for by New York University Career Center, University Library, and Peggy and Marc Spiegel Center for Global and International Programs.
   • TAGLINE (Alternative Three): Students are encouraged to sign up for free access to The BIG Guide to Living and Working Overseas ONLINE at www.workingoverseas.com/colgate. This service paid for by New York University Career Center, University Library, and Peggy and Marc Spiegel Center for Global and International Programs.
7. Tweet this message to your Twitter followers
   Many college departments are asking their students to follow them on Twitter. If you are doing so, share any one of the following suggested messages. Twitter allows a maximum of 140 characters per message. The suggested tweets below have been written with this in mind. Each tweet should allow you sufficient space to customize slightly.
   • TWEET (Alternative One): Colgate students, access BIG Guide to Living and Working Overseas for free at www.workingoverseas.com/colgate (105 spaces)
   • TWEET (Alternative Two): FIND HELP to study intern volunteer travel work ABROAD -The BIG Guide to Living & Working Overseas www.workingoverseas.com/colgate (131 spaces)
8. Send a text message to your contact list
   If your department is using text messaging to reach students, consider sending one of the following sample text messages to your contact list: 
   • Text Message (Alternative One): Go ABROAD to study, intern, volunteer, travel or work with help from The BIG Guide to Living and Working Overseas. Colgate students can register for free access at www.workingoverseas.com/colgate
   • Test Message (Alternative Two): FIND HELP to GO ABROAD (study, intern, volunteer, travel or work) from The BIG Guide to Living and Working Overseas. Colgate students can register for free access at www.workingoverseas.com/colgate
9. Keep tabs on your school’s usage stats 
   It's easy to find out how many students have registered for The BIG Guide Online. Consider tracking usage before and after your information seminars, email campaigns or international events. If you would like to perform a detailed analysis of your users, you must be designated as a "school administrator" in our system (see instructions on how to download a detailed users report). You can also request your school's historical usage statistics; we maintain records of each school's monthly usage stats. 

PHASE THREE: Special Projects

1. Recruit interns / student ambassadors
   Students are always keen to volunteer. Perhaps at your school there are students who have already been abroad, or are eager to take the plunge – why not recruit a few of them as ambassadors to promote student registration to The BIG Guide Online? These students could poster the campus, make presentations about how to use the resource, or make announcements in world issues and/or international studies classes to spread the word on the ground, student-to-student.
2. SEMINAR: My Global Career Skills
   Present our two-part SEMINAR My Global Career Skills to your students; PART ONE: A 30-minute pre-recorded WEBINAR by Jean-Marc Hachey (you can also book a live webinar with a Q&A session); PART TWO: An hour-long WORKSHOP run by a facilitator at your school and making use of our online quizzes (see Power Point slide versions at My Inventory of International Skills). We have a detailed Project Manual (Word version, pdf version) to help you present on four subjects: (1) My International Experience (our most popular subject), (2) My International Jobs and Internships, (3) My International IQ, (4) My Political, Economic and Geographic Knowledge. Call our client support staff for a personal consultation about delivering these seminars at your school (1-416-925-0479). NEW in 2010!
3. Create new seminars, using The BIG Guide as your main tool
   Once staff and student advisors have viewed our video tutorials, they’ll be comfortable using The BIG Guide Online. Why not conduct a short seminar for students – either about going abroad, or about how to use The BIG Guide? Make use of our printed Quick Guides to design courses on skills for succeeding abroad, landing internships, re-entry shock, teaching English abroad, or any number of related topics.
4. Invite author Jean-Marc Hachey to speak at your school to help increase student interest
   Schools that subscribe to College Site Access to The BIG Guide Online benefit from special pricing for Jean-Marc’s on-campus seminars. He can present up to three seminars geared towards motivating students to go abroad and increasing student registrations. Jean-Marc’s seminars are a great way to help build momentum about the importance of building global career credentials while still in school. See the College Seminar page for more details.
5. Use the My School area to promote the My Student Network feature of The BIG Guide Online
   Encourage students to make use of the My Student Network feature of The BIG Guide Online. Student networking is a chance to help your school build a community of like-minded individuals interested in gaining global experience. Imagine the value of a first-year engineering student who wants to go abroad connecting with a third-year who just arrived home after a study abroad experience. There are countless ways in which student connections can be beneficial. Have internationally-focused staff fill out their profiles first.
6. Hold an International IQ Quiz event
   Set up a bank of computers during an international event on campus and have students register for The BIG Guide Online and then complete one of the many International IQ quizzes. Offer prizes or print out scores.
7. Publish articles, info and Quick Guide excerpts in school papers
   Use the suggested press release, get a student to write a review, or publish an excerpt from one of your favorite Quick Guides as a way of spreading the word in print! (Please note that all printed Quick Guide excerpts must include the following phrase: “This excerpt printed with permission of ©The BIG Guide to Living and Working Overseas by Jean-Marc Hachey. All rights reserved.”)
8. Work with faculty and deans: Encourage professors teaching international subjects to encourage their entire classes to register for The BIG Guide Online and to complete the International IQ quizzes (see My Inventory of International Skills).
9. Celebrate student writers by promoting the Reader Contributions feature of The BIG Guide Online
   Students who go abroad have stories to share with other reader, and they can easily do so by using the Reader Contributions feature. Hold a special event (e.g. essay contest) to promote student writers who are abroad or have just returned. Work with the Study Abroad or International Students' office. See suggested announcement message which can be posted in the My School area.
10. Insert Bookmarks inside the book versions of The BIG Guide located in campus libraries
    If you have The BIG Guide to Living and Working Overseas book in your libraries (main library, Career Center library, Study Abroad library), insert a bookmark inside The BIG Guide book to inform students that they can register and access The BIG Guide Online. Use the following sentence: “ABC College students have free access to The BIG Guide to Living and Working Overseas ONLINE by registering at www.workingoverseas.com/register.” (Note: you can use your school's domain name instead of "register" such as www.workingoverseas.com/colgate.)
11. Print small poster-cards with The BIG Guide Online registration information  (EDITOR'S TOP RECOMMENDATION)
    Create a small poster-card (like a business card) with The BIG Guide registration instructions that can be printed and handed out at events or placed in the waiting areas or common areas of student advising offices. See our sample Word document which you can edit (don't forget to change the registration link to match your school's BIG Guide registration page). A number of schools have had good success with this marketing strategy.
12. Invite alumni to access The BIG Guide Online
    If your alumni have school email addresses, they are free to access The BIG Guide Online in the same way as your students and staff.  If your alumni do NOT have school email addresses, alumni can be given access to The BIG Guide Online by a staff person at your school (most likely someone in the Alumni office). These instructions show you how.