Make Calm your new KPI // Host, Beyond Margins Podcast // I help business owners build calmer businesses with comfortable margins // Speaker, CFO + COO, Consultant

Susan Boles

Everyone tells creators the same thing when safety or privacy comes up: just go private. 

Lock your accounts, stop sharing so much... pull back. 

That advice makes sense if your job doesn't 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 on being visible. But for creators? Your platform IS your business. Going private isn't a safety strategy - it's a career ender. 

And "stay public and hope for the best" isn't' a strategy either. 

But there's a third option. 

𝗨𝗻𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰: Visible where it matters, invisible where it counts. 

It means showing up fully in your public work while choosing exactly what stays private - and making sure it actually is. 

Your content? Discoverable. 
Your home address? Gone. 
Your platform? Growing.
Your family? Unfindable. 

You don't have to choose between your career and your safety. You just have to stop thinking in terms of public vs. private. 

Go Unpublic.

Stay safe when you show up online// Founder at Unpublic & Beyond Margins // I help creators stay safe when they show up online // Make Calm Your New KPI

If you're interested in the behind-the-scenes of building Unpublic... check out this series from Jay Acunzo. 

Or... if you're not interested in the BTS... just check it out to see how many weird faces I make 😆

I help experts become stronger speakers & storytellers. Trusted by authors, coaches, creators, and brands like Salesforce, Mailchimp, & Wistia. Believer in resonance over reach.

If you’re ready to experience greater momentum & clarity as a speaker, coach, or consultant, this behind-the-scenes series is for you.

This year, two clients have given me permission to publish details from my 1:1 advisory engagements publicly with you, so you can see what it takes to refine a mountain of expertise into 1 signature idea, powerful IP, and signature speeches and stories.

In this series, you’ll learn to diagnose why you might feel scattered in your messaging, why your ideas or posts aren’t creating passionate fans, and what it really takes to earn bigger and better stages, both literally and figuratively.

These individuals arrive with plenty of competence. The goal is to help them achieve greater resonance. Like you, they are genuine experts in their industries. Also like you, they’re realizing it’s possible to be deeply respected in your field but still feel replaceable or constantly stuck reacting and chasing. There’s a big difference between being great at Your Thing and being a trusted voice who shapes how people think about the very same topic. 

These clients are...

Kevin Leahy, founder of the podcast strategy and production firm Podcast Pointman. He’s a former producer for Guy Raz (the famous ex-NPR host who created the shows How I Built This and The Great Creators). Kevin previously helped Guy build his production company before he started Podcast Pointman, and today he has achieved real revenue and built a small team. 

Susan Boles, a former COO and CFO who then spent several years running her first business, a consulting and education firm called Beyond Margins, helping entrepreneurs run calm companies through their finance & ops systems. In 2026 however, she moved beyond Beyond Margins (heh…) to start a new business, Unpublic, offering services and education to help creators stay safe online as they get more visible.

I wrote a primer going into more detail about this behind-the-scenes journey. You can read it here, and if you sign up for my newsletter, you'll get 1 edition of this series per month: https://lnkd.in/eFCDk6Ec

Not every parasocial relationship stays parasocial.
 
Sometimes someone in your audience becomes a mutual. A collaborator. An actual friend.

The one-way relationship becomes two-way. You know them back.
 
That's the healthy offramp on the Parasocial Spectrum.
 
The problem is when someone keeps moving down the spectrum 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 that reciprocity. They're not looking for a relationship. They're looking for access.
 
And they don't need your permission to keep going.

For those of you who love "Calm is the New KPI"... you should consider working with Natalia (because she's the one who actually came up with it 😁)

Humanity-first marketer helping you sound like yourself, sell like hell, and harm less.

I'm looking for 4 founders who have a proven offering that is not selling as easily as it should.

By "proven" I mean two things:
1) You've managed to sell it before
2) It's gotten results

I can help you sell more of it by upgrading your messaging, aka the strategy that informs what you say, why they should buy, what makes your offering the obvious choice, the narratives that build trust...etc.

Because if you've tried selling with no messaging, you're doing random acts of marketing.

If you've tried selling with weak messaging, you've got an ignorable offering.

Gimme one week and I'll give you a messaging makeover that brings in more buyers.

This is best for:
coaches
consultants
service providers
creatives
digital product/program entrepreneurs

...who have at least 1K followers or, better yet, a few hundred good-fit subscribers. 


Full details: https://lnkd.in/gENgCvUS
Feel free to DM me with your questions.

SchneiderB Media Inc.

SchneiderB Media helps schools get more inquiries. We accomplish that goal through our SEO consulting, Inbound Marketing consulting, Fractional Digital Marketing program, and our SchoolMakretingCRM school marketing software.

Founder and CEO

MarCom Society

The MarCom Society is a community created expressly for marketing and communications professionals as schools.

Founder

ChalkBooks

Advisor

ByDesign

Advisory Board Member

Teachers College, Columbia University

Guest Lecturer, Marketing Class

Sewickley Academy

Oversight for all external functions of the school including admission, alumni, development, marketing, and communications.

Director of Advancement

Director of Admission & Financial Aid

Assistant Boys' Varsity Lacrosse Coach

edsocialmedia

Contributing Blogger for edSocialMedia which explores the role of social media in education.

Contributor

AISAP: The Association of Independent School Admission Professionals

Board of Directors, Secretary

Hootsuite

- Advocate on behalf of the Hootsuite brand
- Amplify Hootsuite messages to their existing networks
- Provide feedback on the Hootsuite dashboard and regional insight
- Create a stronger presence for Hootsuite regionally through participation in events and online advocacy

Hootsuite Ambassador (Volunteer)

Western Reserve Academy

Director of Enrollment and Financial Aid

Head Boys Basketball Coach

Assistant Varsity Boys' Lacrosse Coach

Dean of Students

Director of Technology

Web Publishing

Faculty Member

Founder and CEO @ SchneiderB Media Inc. | K12 Digital Marketing Consultant

👋 Hi, I'm Brendan. 

A decade ago, I was immersed in traditional K12 school marketing, following the conventional playbook that everyone else used. After years of expensive advertising campaigns and diminishing returns, I discovered something transformative: inbound marketing—a methodology that would revolutionize how schools attract and enroll new families.

That revelation led me to pioneer a new approach to education marketing, helping schools move beyond outdated tactics to build sustainable enrollment systems.

In 2025, I captured these insights in my new book "School Marketing The Right Way," which became an instant Amazon bestseller in Education Marketing. The book reveals the system I've used to help schools transform their enrollment outcomes.

Today, I share what I've learned through:
→ My weekly newsletter read by 5,000+ education leaders
→ Speaking engagements at major education conferences
→ Consulting with K12 schools ready to use the Internet to drive inquiries
→ Training workshops and community through the MarCom Society
→ My Marketing automation software, School MarketingCRM

My mission is simple: help tuition-charging schools earn more inquiries and empower marketing, communication, and enrollment professionals with the tools and knowledge they need to thrive in the digital age.

Want to transform your school's marketing approach? 

→ Get my book: https://amzn.to/4hH0syP
→ Subscribe to my newsletter: https://schneiderb.com/subscribe-school-marketing-insider
→ Book a consultation: https://www.schneiderb.com/booking

The future of education marketing isn't about selling—it's about creating genuine connections through inbound strategies that showcase your school's true value and transform casual inquiries into lifelong community members.

Twitter: https://x.com/schneiderb
BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/schneiderb.com

Brendan Schneider

One of the biggest mistakes I see schools make? Using "marketing" and "communications" interchangeably.

It sounds like semantics, but this confusion creates real problems.

I've watched schools hire "Directors of Marketing" who spend 90% of their time on internal newsletters. I've seen "Communications Officers" get frustrated because they're measured on enrollment metrics they can't influence.

The result? Scattered efforts, unclear accountability, and underwhelming results on both fronts.

Here's the clarity that changed everything for me:
Marketing = Recruiting (attracting new families) 
Communications = Retaining (engaging current families)

Both are critical. Both require different skills, strategies, and measures of success. And both deserve dedicated focus and resources.

When schools understand this distinction, they can finally build the right team, set the right goals, and stop wondering why their "marketing person" isn't moving the enrollment needle.

What's your take? Does this distinction resonate with your experience?

#SchoolMarketing #EducationMarketing #SchoolLeadership #EnrollmentMarketing #MarketingStrategy

28 years inside K-12 schools taught me what actually fills seats. Now I help tuition-charging schools get more inquiries through SEO, Google Ads, Meta Ads, and marketing automation. Book a call to see if we’re a fit.

My wife and I visited our son this past weekend at Denison University to watch him perform in Macbeth.

In the theater building, I read this quote from Adam Weinberg, the president of Denison.

"I know of no society that remained open, free, and just without strength in the arts and humanities."

It's more true today than it was in 2019.

Thank you, President Weinberg.

A parent sits down on the couch after dinner. Instead of typing "private school Atlanta" into Google, they ask their phone a question.

"What is the best private school near me?"

And just like that, Google gives them an answer. Not a list of ten blue links. An answer.

This is what's happening right now. And most schools aren't ready for it.

The shift from Search Engine Optimization to Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is real. Parents are asking full questions. AI tools like Google AI Overview, Bing Copilot, and ChatGPT are delivering direct answers before a parent ever clicks a website.

Here's what that means for your school:

If your content isn't structured to be the answer, you're invisible.

Not buried on page two. Invisible.

I put together a carousel that breaks down what AEO is, why it matters now, and five strategies your school can start using today.

The schools that figure this out early won't just rank higher. They'll be the ones families find first, trust first, and choose first.

What's your school doing to prepare for this shift? I'd genuinely like to know.

#SchoolMarketing #IndependentSchools #AEO #SEO #DigitalMarketing #EnrollmentManagement #SchoolMarketingTheRightWay

Answer Engine Optimization: The Future of School Marketing

Helping private & independent schools align message, mission, and community.

🎙️ Cutting the marketing budget to save money is usually the most expensive decision a school can make.

Why? Because when you pull back on your marketing initiatives (for any reason), you don't stay even ... you fall behind. And buying your way back into the market costs a lot more than staying present ever would have.

I recently joined Peter Baron on the MoonshotOS podcast to talk about the data schools actually need to advocate for their budgets (specifically Customer Acquisition Cost) and why your Marketing Director needs a seat at the leadership table.

If you’ve ever struggled to justify your marketing spend, this one's for you. ⤵️

Open article: Why Cutting Marketing Is the Most Expensive Decision a School Can Make by moonshotos.com

Why Cutting Marketing Is the Most Expensive Decision a School Can Make

More than half of independent school marketers rate their burnout between 7 and 10 out of 10.

That's not a wellness problem. That's a leadership problem.

The 2026 MarCom Society Salary Survey surveyed 358 professionals. Here's what the data shows:

• 53.2% rate burnout frequency between 7 and 10
• 61.7% report evening and weekend work sometimes or often
• 18% work more than 50 hours per week
• \~27% may leave their role within 1-3 years

The median salary sits at $85,000-$89,000. That's a reasonable number on paper.

But salary doesn't fix a role that bleeds into evenings, weekends, and every major school event on the calendar.

When burnout is this widespread, it's not a personal resilience issue. It's a structural one. It means the role has expanded faster than the resources, headcount, or boundaries around it.

And the retention signal is the part school leaders should pay closest attention to. Losing an experienced marketing director isn't just an HR inconvenience. It's months of lost momentum, institutional knowledge walking out the door, and a costly rehire.

The fix isn't a wellness stipend or a mental health app.

It's an honest look at what you're actually asking one person to carry.

Download Survey: https://lnkd.in/eaFu8Kdz

358 independent school marketing professionals shared their salary data this year.

That's the most we've ever had in four years of running the MarCom Society Salary Survey.

Here's what stood out.

The median salary rose to $85,000-$89,000, up from $80,000-$84,000 in 2025. About 35% of respondents now earn $100,000 or more.

But this year, we asked questions we've never asked before. And the answers were hard to ignore.

Over half of respondents rated their burnout at 7 or higher on a 10-point scale. Nearly 60% say their school has no clear career advancement path for marketing professionals. And about 27% indicated they may leave their current role within the next one to three years.

One respondent wrote that they had just taken off the school mascot costume. If that tells you anything about the gap between title and actual daily responsibilities.

This report is 67 pages of real data from the people doing this work every day. Salary breakdowns. Reporting structures. Team sizes. Budget ranges. Remote work. Professional development funding. Job satisfaction. Burnout. Career outlook.

Whether you're a marketing director preparing for your next salary conversation, a Head of School trying to understand what your communications team is experiencing, or someone trying to figure out your next career move, this report was built for you.

Download the full 2026 MarCom Society Salary Survey. Link in the comments.

Thank you to every professional who participated. Your willingness to share openly is what makes this possible. And it's what makes our profession stronger.

If this data is useful to you, share it with someone who needs to see it.

Nobody warns you about the crash.

You spend months in survival mode. Inquiry season. Open houses. Application deadlines. Decision day. Running on coffee, adrenaline, and sheer will.

And then it stops.

The phone gets quieter. The inbox slows down. The urgency that defined your life for the last four months just lifts.

You should feel relieved. And you do, for about a day.

Then something strange happens. You feel flat. Tired in a way that sleep doesn't fix. A little lost. Like you've been sprinting toward a finish line for so long that you forgot what it feels like to just walk.

I've felt this. More than once.

For a long time, I thought something was wrong with me. Everyone around me seemed fine. And there I was, dragging myself through the day, wondering why I couldn't shake it off.

That crash is real. It happens to a lot of us in this work.

The 2025 MarCom Society Salary Survey found that a significant number of school marketing and communications professionals reported struggles with burnout and mental health. These are not people who don't care. These are people who care deeply, give everything they have, and have very little left over when the season finally ends.

If that's you right now, hear this.

You are not weak. You just ran a very long race, probably without enough support, and your mind and body are asking for something you haven't given them in months.

The work will be there when you're ready. Make sure you are there too.

If you are a school marketing or communications professional, I'd love to know: how do you recover after enrollment season ends? Share in the comments below.

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The Battle

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Brendan Schneider

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Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Susan Boles's LinkedIn Performance

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