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Some schools blindly plunge into online education, spend a fortune on technology and course creation, only to realize they have no way to attract online leads and turn them into enrollments. These are the schools we read about (some well known) who end up closing down their online division after 12-18 months.

Other schools shy away from offering online courses because they are inexperienced or uncomfortable in the online space. Questions such as, “How do we get leads?” and “How do we know they’re any good?” can be paralyzing. On top of that, there’s conversion, follow-up, financial aid and enrollment to worry about. How is all that done without ever seeing a prospect face to face? The process can seem so overwhelming that many administrators end up sitting on the sidelines - and perhaps throw away a significant opportunity.

The enrollment marketing challenge is the one critical area where the big conglomerate schools have focused a significant amount of their financial resources and personnel. They understand that it is THE key piece of the puzzle if they are going to have online learning success. As a result they have dedicated a huge percentage of their spending to go into the market in a very aggressive manner and in a way that will bury the enrollment marketing messages of many of their smaller competitors. Heavy media advertising and lead generation is quickly followed up by very fast, persistent and methodical outreach by teams of highly trained student registration staff.

If you ever get the opportunity to tour the enrollment marketing offices of one of the large for-profit schools – just do it. While we all know or have heard the stories about how important this part of the process is to growing and maintaining success you will still be amazed when you see it in action and see how smooth and efficient these departments are.

School administrators are right to be cautious. Generating leads online can be more complicated and risky, and does require a different skill set, than getting leads offline. Plus, the Internet world is rife with unprincipled vendors who prey on the inexperienced. Sometimes you don’t even know your pocket’s been picked until you have burned through a big chunk of your budget.

So while it’s probably not an area where you want to “do it yourself,” there are ways to greatly decrease risk and still ensure enough enrollments to make your eLearning program profitable from the start.

One way is to hire an outside agency or consultant who specializes in online enrollment marketing (although this can be expensive). Another way is to work with an eLearning vendor who provides the online lead generation and marketing for you as part of their all-inclusive package. Although this service is not very common, there are a handful of providers who will supply a steady stream of new, qualified student prospects every month to help ensure the school reaches its online enrollment goals.