"Build Your Business" Support Program

$500.00

This monthly subscription program for college planners and financial professionals includes four types of benefits:

1.  One hour of consultation time with Ben Kaplan per month.  This includes phone consultations, media research, client conference calls, seminar training, school outreach, and more.  We keep track of Ben's actual time spent and you can use the remaining time each month on anything else you need done.  So if one task only takes Ben 10 minutes to get done (he's one of the fastest workers we've ever seen), you retain the other 50 minutes for use until the end of the month.  (There are no "rollover" minutes, however.)
 
2.  Question and answer service.  E-mail Ben Kaplan your questions and he will reply with the answers.  You can e-mail Ben up to five questions per month on a wide range of topics including timely media pitches, media follow-up advice, specific questions from clients, advice on signing up prospects, and more.
 
3.  Team member branding.  Subject to our approval, you are permitted to include Ben Kaplan as a member of your client team on your website and in other electronic promotional material.  This includes use of Ben's name, picture, and bio (along with a "Consultant" title at your organization if you would like).
 
You'll be able to let prospects know that the nation's leading scholarship and financial aid expert (who has helped tens of thousands of families save half a billion in college costs) is part of your client support team.  To clients and prospects, your service team will look bigger and better (without you having to incur the cost of additional employees).  You'll be able to build your own brand by leveraging off of Ben's brand.
 
4.  Reduced consulting rates (if you need additional time).  Ben Kaplan's standard per-hour consulting rate is $400 per hour.  Program participants may purchase additional time, if necessary, at a reduced $250 per hour rate.
Topics Covered: 

As for the variety of topics that the support program covers, anything involved with building your business is fair game. Some ways you could utilize Ben's services include:

  • Seminar Optimization:  Ben can help you revise your seminar presentation to convert more leads into paying clients. Just show him your Powerpoint slide deck (or a video of your seminar) and he'll help you focus on what's most important.  Learn more >>
     
  • Scholarship Suggestions:  Let Ben know some personal details about a client and he can suggest college scholarships that would be perfect for that client.  Learn more >>
     
  • Financial Aid Appeals:  Facing a particularly sticky financial aid case?  Ben can help you find the right appeal strategy by drawing upon his experiences in helping thousands of families increase their financial aid awards.
     
  • Mass Media:  Ask Ben to gather up for you TV, radio, and print media contacts in your area.  Or ask him to write up a timely media pitch for you to send to media outlets (and coach you on how to handle the interviews).  Learn more >>
     
  • Conversion Rate Optimization:  Ben has helped hundreds of college planners refine and streamline their workflow for converting prospects into clients.  Or ask Ben to help you set up an automated prospect follow-up system (including squeeze pages, autoresponders, and SMS messaging).  Learn more >>
     
  • Teleseminars and Conference Calls:  Arrange to have Ben participate in a teleseminar with your existing clients and promising prospects.  Or do a special conference call with Ben and a high-value prospect.  You'll impress them by being able to get the nation's best known scholarship and financial aid expert on the phone.
     
  • Live Presentations:  Ben can help you create slides, talking points, and handouts for an important upcoming presentation you're scheduled to deliver.
     
  • School Outreach:  Consult with Ben about how to best reach guidance counselors in your area.  This includes organizing professional development counselor workshops (which help you network with counselors and lead to regular seminars for students and parents at their schools).  Learn more >>
     
  • Social Media:  Let Ben show you how to optimize Twitter, Facebook, and other social media channels to get new clients and better support existing ones.  Learn more >>
     
  • Website Development:  Ask Ben to review your website and offer specific suggestions on how to improve conversion rates.  He's an expert web programmer and has personally built and coded dozens of websites.  Or do you want your website to show up at the top of the Google search rankings for college planners and financial advisors in your area?  Let Ben show you how!
 
Because Ben is so experienced and knowledgeable in all of these areas, hiring Ben is like hiring a whole team of subject experts, marketing gurus, branding specialists, media trainers, and website developers.
 
The best part is that the program is totally flexible based on what you need:  If a pressing issue comes up related to supporting your clients or building your business, Ben is reachable with a quick e-mail or phone call.

 

Pricing Information: 

The cost for the program is $500 per month. There are no long-term contracts so you can try it out and cancel anytime (just give us 15 days notice). The goal is to provide so much value that the monthly cost is insignificant compared to the revenue you generate from it.

When you order this product from our online shopping cart, we will charge you only for the first month on the credit card that you provide. We will make separate payment arrangements with you for charging your card in subsequent months.

About Ben Kaplan: 

Ben Kaplan is one of the nation’s leading experts on college admissions, scholarships and financial aid, student success, career planning, and youth personal finance issues.  He has helped tens of thousands of families save half a billion dollars in college costs over the past 10 years.

Kaplan has authored 12 best-selling books and CDs, including How to Go to College Almost for Free (HarperCollins Publishers), the leading book in the genre with more than 500,000 copies in print.  The book is based on his experiences in winning two dozen scholarships worth $90,000—enough to cover virtually the entire cost of his Harvard degree.

Now age 34, his popular "Scholars & Dollars" education column was launched in The Oregonian (Portland's daily newspaper) in 2006.  In 2008, he launched a companion radio feature on KMOX-AM, the #1 rated station in St. Louis.  Both are now syndicated nationally.

Additionally, Kaplan is a regular guest expert for leading media outlets:  He has been featured on more than 2,000 TV and radio programs, including interviews on Oprah, Good Morning America, Nightline, NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, Fox News, NPR, and the BBC.  Known internationally as “America’s Scholarship Coach,” Kaplan has also written columns for major publications such as The New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, and Time.

Kaplan delivers live presentations to 30,000 families each year at high schools, colleges, corporations, and community venues worldwide.  He previously served as Fastweb’s "resident scholarship coach," and has advised leading Fortune 500 companies and educational institutions such as Citigroup, American Express, Sallie Mae, Fidelity, UCLA, Texas A&M, and the National Parent Teacher Association.

A Harvard-trained economist, Kaplan has served as a speechwriter for the Nasdaq Stock Market’s chief economist, written case studies for Harvard Business School and the U.S. Department of Commerce, and authored investor education materials for the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD). 

Graduating from Harvard in 1999 magna cum laude with a degree in economics, Kaplan conducted original academic research examining the timing of stock market IPOs.  He is a recipient of the Morris Kronfeld Prize in Economics.

Among other awards and honors, Kaplan was selected as the “Top Student Leader in America” by the National Association of Secondary School Principals.  He currently resides in Portland, Oregon.

What They're Saying: 

Indy College Funding

"Our results have been amazing.  We have been featured on talk radio, local news and local talk shows for free.  We have been flooded with new prospective clients who look at us as experts due to the credibility that TV and radio has brought our firm.  We have used many consultants and marketing programs in the past that have been useless.  The best part about Ben's system is that he tells us exactly what to do, it is easy to do, and it works.  It is a huge benefit for our clients and we make money."

--Kurt Supe, President

Summit Financial Group

"As a result of Ben's program, we have developed relationships with several of the largest high schools in the area, providing them with exclusive financial instruction for the parents of their college bound students.  The immediate impact was an avalanche of appointments.  The long term impact of sponsoring the event, has been the resultant recognition as the experts in the field of college planning."

--Andy Hickman, Vice President

Wisconsin College Planning

"Not only has Ben's content and expertise added an exciting new dimension to Wisconsin College Planning, but the demand for follow-up consultations was so strong that we could barely keep up with all of the great leads!"

--Steve Nimmer, President

Generations Financial Advisors

"We used Ben's system to host a free scholarship seminar. It was scheduled with a tight timeline and we were concerned about being able to generate interest and attendance. That was until we unleashed Ben's incredible public relations machine. The seminar was attended by 220 households with about 600 people total! This event went further to brand me and our firm as 'the college planning expert' in our community than we ever could have done on our own. Thanks, Ben!"

--Billy Vail, Personal Financial Advisor

Wisconsin Association for Independent Colleges and Universities

"The school counselors who attended the Ben Kaplan workshop RAVED about the information shared on scholarships, financial aid, and college admissions. Ben even offered suggestions, strategies, and resources to make life easier and more efficient for overworked guidance counselors. Ben’s own energy was contagious. There was a true sense of opportunity for all of our students as we left the session."
--Brooke Konopacki, Vice President for Student Access
List Price: $500.00