There are some interesting things shaping up in the booming for-profit edu space. If you are a regular reader of this blog you will know this is not the first time I have said the EDU space is facing troubled times. Even though this may be the case it doesn’t necessarily mean it doesn’t make sense for lead gen companies to continue their pursuits of market share. It does mean you should be diversified in the space and probably should be looking at partnering with traditional schools as well as for-profit establishments. Okay, aside from my opinions, I came across a great article by Anne Ryman at AZCentral.com that did a great job of encapsulating a number of the issues that the EDU space faces. If you want a quick read on what is going on with the space regarding student loan default rates, possible new marketing regulations and the high costs, the article is a must read.

The traditional schools should be looking at the online space and quickly figuring out how they can take away market share from these schools. It is quite possible for state schools to offer online classes and service more students at lower cost. It won’t be long until enter the market and begin building downward pressure on the enrollment costs of the higher priced for-profit schools.

Here is the article

Defaults on student loans rising

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Aside from a great LeadsCon event the 2nd Annual Poker Tournament @ LeadsCon was equally as great. Granted, I did not win the event or even finish in the money, but we had a group of 100 lead gen players from CEO’s, CMO’s and company founders had a chance to mingle and argue over all-in-calls and bad-beats. Everyone was hooked up with a cool marketing shirt and had a chance to win $500.00 from Leads360.

Below you will find the results of the tournament. The winnings were broken out differently at the end of the tournament, however this was the original breakdown of winnings. So without further adieu I will leave you with the results.

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New for LeadsCon Las Vegas. The Launch Spotlight is a chance for the selected company to leverage the platform of LeadsCon to announce a major release, new venture, major shift in direction, or other newsworthy development. The company’s release should impact not just how they operate their business but have a broader impact for online lead generation and customer acquisition.

Launcher: Tree.com, Doug Lebda, Chairman of the Board & CEO

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One of the major themes for 2010 is disruption. Its impacts can be both good and bad, an enabler for many and the end of business as they know it for others. Of the many disruptive forces impacting the world of online lead generation, none compares to Google’s decision to sell not just clicks but now leads to certain clients, a 180 from their decade old business model. What does Google’s Comparison Ads mean for the existing buyers and sellers of leads? Is it death to the short form as we know it or a catalyst for overall growth?

Moderator: James Cham, Vice President, Bessemer Venture Partners
Panelists: Marc Diana, Founder & CEO, LeadPoint
David Thacker, Associate Partner, Greylock Partners
Owen Raun, RMC Vangaurd.

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I am going to give a shot at live blogging LeadsCon. I am not sure how this is going to turn out or if it will be at understandable, but lets give it a shot. Please accuse the spelling and grammar.

First Session:

What’s in Store for 2010 – Industry Leaders

Despite the lackluster economy, the online lead generation space had no shortages of successes in 2009. From companies going public, to already public companies deciding to shake up the world of online lead generation. To help us look into what the future holds, we have gathered a group of industry leaders, those who have been through good time and bad, to help us all read the lead gen tea leaves.

Moderator: Bruce Eatroff, Partner, Halyard Capital
Panelists: Matt Coffin, Investor, Coffin Capital
Thomas Evans, President & CEO, Bankrate, Inc.
Ronald Pruett, Jr., Chief Executive Officer, MercuryMedia
Ty Taylor, Group President, Experian Interactive

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The time has come and I am looking forward to hopping on a plane Monday night to Las Vegas for LeadsCon.

The event has really shaped up to be THE event for the lead generation industry and this year is expected to see over 1700 lead gen peers and over 600 companies. Additionally, the 2nd Annual Poker Tournament @ LeadsCon is also shaping up to better then last year. Currently we have just over 80 confirmed players and expect to be sold out at the time of the event. We will be allowing people to sign up and pay at the door. The event will start at 9pm, but we will be allowing people to buy in up until 9:30pm. So, if you have dinner meetings this should give you plenty of time chow down your steak at Morton’s and head back to the poker room.

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LeadsCon 2010 is right around the corner! Sign up if you have not already!

Along with LeadsCon we have the 2nd Annual Poker Tournament @ LeadsCon right around the corner too. The poker tournament is going to sell out this year so please sign up soon. (And that is not a sales tactic to get more sign ups, it WILL sell out soon)

The good news is that aside from the 1st place take home of $3,200 you will now have the chance to win $500.00 more, thanks to Leads360! Just announced on their lead management blog they will be holding a raffle for all the attendees at the poker tournament that will give you the chance to win $500. Pretty cool stuff. Frankly, I hope I win!

If you have not already signed up for the tournament, get your act together and sign up today here.

LeadsCon Poker Tournament

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The fellas at Sparkroom sponsored a benchmarking survey put together by forprofitedu.com, which I believe is run by the founder of CUNet, which just acquired Sparkroom. The report surveyed 102 marketing professionals in the for-profit EDU sector and asked a number general questions that reaffirmed the evident speculations most industry insiders have been making.

The survey found that almost 70% of the respondents plan on increasing their budgets. Not all too surprising being that EDU industry could easily be considered counter cyclical to the economy. People are looking to go about to school to increase their chances of earning more income in today job market. Once the economy begins to improve, not instantaneously, but soon after those same people will remove themselves from the continuing education market. It is also my speculation that many will begin to drop out or end their schooling prior to completing their degrees because of their secure job situations. They simply will not have the need and will find something better to do with their $1k+ per month. Regardless of this speculation, schools are doubling down on the current boom. No brainer there, but they should be cautious and have a close eye on key market indicators. On the same token, and I think I mentioned this before, but if Obama’s efforts continue on to completion and provide funding for citizens looking to go back to school through the state school system, which is making the same strides of bringing classes online, could bring a market turn quicker then expected. So it makes sense that schools are looking to spend more money on leads. They are currently raking in money hand over fist.

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Are they really “branded leads”? Better yet; Are “branded leads” really exclusive?

The EDU space is different then any other vertical slightly different then other verticals in how leads are captured. I am tempted to cross out the whole sentence and say that it is no different then any other vertical, but I will give the vertical a little credit and say it has a few differences. The key difference is the attention that lead buyers give to “branded leads”. Even though directories have been around in other verticals of ages, like the mortgage vertical, the attention to buying branded leads has never been so strong.

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LeadsCon is right around the corner. More specifically it is taking place next month! With that in mind it is now time to officially announce the 2nd Annual LeadCritic Poker Tournament @ LeadsCon.

Last years event was a big success and sold out right before the event. I suspect the event this year will sell out weeks prior to the event, so do not wait until the last minute. This year will have a bigger pot for the winners and 1st place may take home up to $3,200!! Along with the winnings there will be excellent opportunities to network and meet industry peers that you would have never before met. Couple that with poker and free beverages, you are bound to have a good time.

Here are the Details:

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It is no secret that the for-profit education vertical is seeing some very nice growth on both the supply and demand side of the lead gen table. A few weeks ago the guys at Sparkroom commented on the excellent growth that DeVry currently realizing and this week the Apollo Group is expected to release their earnings reports as well. If they meet the streets expectations they will post 25.9% YOY growth in enrollments, which would be almost 6% more then DeVry posted just weeks ago.

The growth stems from a number of factors, but there are two that clearly stand out from the rest. The first being the increased access to the Internet. The more people have access to the Internet inside their homes the more likely they are going to use it for continuing education. There is an obvious convenience factor at play. Couple that with the increase in corporate layoffs, increased unemployment rate and fewer jobs, more and more people are going back to school. The for-profit edu space is benefiting from being a counter cyclical to a declining economy. Cleary two very obvious factors.

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Their are so many factors that affect lead quality. The list is long, so you are not going to find it included in this post, but there is one specific item that is on that list that I do want to discuss. Ask anyone that has been involved in the lead generation industry for longer the 5 years and they will tell you that the space has been growing at an amazing pace. Right or wrong I think I have seen articles stating that the industry produces tens of billions of dollars every year and is growing at a rate of 20%+ per year. The bottom line, the industry is growing at a healthy pace.

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