Mike McCready

Thanks for stopping by my blog. The focus of this blog is on higher education, marketing, the social web and various other topics related to these three topics.

My name is Mike McCready and I’ve been involved in web development for over eleven years. With the last year being focused in higher education with my new role as Web Services Manager. Over that past few years I’ve become increasingly interested in the impacts of the social web and the phenomenon that it has become.

I believe that social media and the power of the web are an untapped power in higher education. I hope that some of my thoughts and information I find from others in the industry will provide some insight, clarity and excitement into social media and marketing for higher education.

Customer Aquistion vs. Customer Retention

By Mike McCready on February 3, 2012

Advertisements, promotions, sales. These are all about increasing your client pool or customer acquisition. In 2009, it’s reported that companies spent 56% of their marketing budget on customer acquisition activities and only 33% on customer retention activities. Many companies are guilty of wooing in new customers, while disregarding the ones they already have. They dangle [...]

Everyone is Responsible for Brand Management

By Mike McCready on January 16, 2012

If you work in marketing, one of your primary responsibilities is to manage your organization’s brand by positively influencing public perception of your organization – public perception after all is reality. What if you don’t work in marketing? What if you are a janitor, IT specialist or a truck driver? Everyone within your organization is [...]

What’s the Big Deal About .xxx Domains?

By Mike McCready on January 13, 2012

It’s been a few months since the controversial .xxx domain opened up. From the very beginning institutions (include colleges/universities) began snapping them up to ‘protect their brand’. The Edmonton Journal reported that Grant MacEwan University paid $1,875 USD to secure five .xxx domains. I’m just not sure I completely buy-in to the hype. First of [...]