Juvenile courts and probation departments don’t choose programs based on marketing language or polished websites. They choose based on structure, documentation, and whether your program helps them manage risk responsibly. If you want referrals from courts, you must understand how they evaluate youth programs, what they expect from treatment providers, and why their decisions focus...Read More

Educational consultants don’t choose programs based on marketing, modalities, or how polished your website looks. They choose based on credibility, consistency, and whether your program makes their job easier or harder. Consultants protect their reputation every time they refer a family. If a placement goes badly, it hurts them—not just you. That’s why consultants filter...Read More

Many program owners assume Tribal Nations choose youth treatment providers the same way states or consultants do. They don’t. The selection process is more formal, relationship-driven, and documentation-heavy than most programs realize. If you want to work with Tribal Nations, you must understand how decisions are made, what requirements matter most, and how to build...Read More

Most programs don’t have a traffic problem. They have a conversion problem. Families inquire, talk once, sound interested, and then disappear. It feels random, but it isn’t. The inquiry → enrollment path breaks when parents don’t feel guided, understood, or safe enough to move forward. Fix that path, and admissions rise even if inquiry volume...Read More

One unfair review can destroy trust instantly. It doesn’t matter if it’s false, exaggerated, taken out of context, or written by someone who was never part of your program. Parents don’t investigate—they react. Removing negative reviews—legally and ethically—isn’t about “managing optics.” It’s about protecting families from misinformation and ensuring your admissions team isn’t being quietly...Read More

Nothing kills admissions faster than a damaged reputation. One negative review, one old article, or one angry parent post can shut down trust before a family ever reaches out. Programs rarely lose admissions because they’re “not visible enough.” They lose admissions because parents find something online that makes them hesitate—and hesitation is fatal in this...Read More

When admissions drop, most owners look outward—“We need more traffic, more content, more visibility.” But admissions rarely collapse because not enough people saw you. They collapse because the families who did see you didn’t understand you or didn’t trust what they saw. Admissions slow down when your message, your website, your process, or your reputation...Read More

When admissions drop, most programs do the same thing: panic, then throw money at tactics. More ads. More posts. More “SEO.” More noise. Very little changes, because the real problem was never volume. It was clarity, trust, and how parents experience you from the first Google search to the moment they decide. The Real Reason...Read More

By the time they find you, they’ve already Googled everything and trust almost nothing. If you don’t understand that, you’ll keep talking to parents like they’re starting at zero. They’re not. They’re showing up overloaded, exhausted, suspicious, and numb from weeks — sometimes months — of late-night doom-scrolling. The Research Phase Happens Long Before You...Read More

Going head-to-head against the competition has long been the default way of doing business for companies hoping for sustained, profitable growth. Unfortunately, in today’s overcrowded industries and marketplaces competing head-on results in noting but a bloody “red ocean” of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool which leads ultimately  to imitation of competition, competing on...Read More

I’ve worked with Perry Marshall for a number of years.  We meet together several times a year – I use him as a sounding board for my biggest ideas and toughest problems. I’ve watched the 80/20 principles he covers in his book percolate in his mind and discussions over the years as he was pulling it...Read More

Here’s the truth most programs never say out loud: nobody wakes up wanting to buy your program. They’re not shopping for your campus, your modalities, or your perfect paragraph about being “trauma-informed.” They’re hunting for a better version of their family, their kid, and themselves. Your program is just the vehicle. Programs Fail When They...Read More

Programs exhaust themselves trying to impress parents — polished buildings, credential lists, perfect language, clinical jargon, and endless reassurances that they’re “the best.” But parents aren’t looking to be impressed. They’re looking for someone who finally understands what the hell they’re going through. Parents Aren’t Shopping for Prestige — They’re Searching for Relief Most programs...Read More

I heard about Ryan Holiday years ago as a marketer for American Apparel and as they guy who pulled off some pretty incredible publicity promotions through subtly controlling and feeding the news machine ever hungry for stories and ever willing to be “duped” for the sake of a clicks and page views. You’ve seen it...Read More

This is a classic book.  One that I’ve consistently kept on my bookshelf through several moves and “dejunking” exercises at my office. Published in 1985 it’s pretty old, but the principles he outlines are timeless.  Often overlooked and forgotten in modern advertising thought, David Ogilvy’s ideas have proven to be even more effective in todays...Read More

Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable Seth Godin says that the key to success is to find a way to stand out—to be the purple cow in the field of monochrome holsteins. Godin himself may be the best example of how this theory works: The marketing expert is a demigod on the Web, a best-selling...Read More

There’s a psychology trick almost no program in this industry understands — yet it’s the fastest way to build trust with a parent who’s terrified, overwhelmed, and one bad night away from total collapse. If you can describe a parent’s situation better than they can… they will trust you more than anyone else. Parents Don’t...Read More

This is a book that I wrote in 2005 when I began focusing the bulk of my consulting efforts on high-cost products and services.  I was being contacted regularly by small business owners who had great ideas and great products, but there were too many that I couldn’t work with.  It was just too much...Read More

— It’s the Family Choosing Nothing at All   Every program thinks the enemy is the school down the road, the cheaper wilderness program, the “luxury” residential treatment three states over, or the new startup doing Instagram ads. The real threat — your biggest competitor quietly wiping out more admissions than anyone — is the...Read More