In times of financial crisis, cutting learning and development budgets appears to make sense. But for higher education, cutting those budgets disempowers the very values that we stand for.

Addressing big issues in a university environment is fraught with tension. There are practical challenges to overcome - systems, processes, technology - but there’s also the human element. 

I’ve lost track of the amount of times I’ve heard, “But our budget is too small for that!”

Resource can be a constant struggle in education. We’re so committed to delivering the best experience for our students that sometimes our efforts and finances are focused elsewhere. Yet for those students, from recruitment to graduation and beyond, content design and strategy are fundamental assets that need to work. And when you’re working with a limited budget, it’s easy to become frustrated.

But a small budget doesn’t have to mean mediocre work.

I spoke with Pickle Jar Communications CEO & Leader Tracy Playle about her experiences - and asked for her advice on delivering quality while considering a small budget.

There are very few things that I think are “wrong” in how we might approach any project. But today, I’m going to share ones that I have some pretty strong opinions about when it comes to website redesign, and why your planning for any redesign probably needs to start sooner than you think.

Do you really understand the landscape in which your content exists? The systems, the people, the processes? Creating a content ecosystem map can help you to make sense of it all.

We’ve reached that time of year when we start to receive a flurry of project requests aligned to end of financial year spend. In this post we explore your options and offer advice on making the most of this time and those remaining pockets of budget.

A brilliant project manager is worth their weight in gold. But how much do you also pay attention to how you’re getting in your own way in bringing a project to a successful resolution? Not just what you’re doing, but how you’re being about it?

Do you go food shopping without a menu plan? Okay. But would you do the same when it comes to a costly website redevelopment or new CMS purchase? If you’re not developing your content strategy up front, then you’re shopping without a menu.

Budget cuts aren’t anything new to the education sector – but this pandemic may tighten the marketing budget even more. Our CEO shares five places to look to in order to still win with a reduced budget.

Who will help you develop a content strategy for your institution? What skills will you need in your team? Our CEO shares the key skills capabilities that you may need to assemble.

Our Head of Strategy shares three key areas to make sure your content creators are well motivated and highly skilled to do the best job they can.

Our CEO and Chief Content Strategist highlights five non-content skills and qualities that you need to excel your content strategy expertise.

How do you build a career in content? We asked five experts, working in-house and consultancies, how they got into content-focused roles.

Our Senior Content Strategist, Rachel Smith, shares her five top tips to help you prepare to pursue your dream career in content.

Our CEO, Tracy Playle, shares five key elements that you should consider when designing a strategy to ensure it gets implemented, including accountability, actionability, flexibility, compatibility, and transferability.

How effective is your university’s content strategy and content management approach? Use our ten pillars of content strategy maturity to improve.

How to create a web redesign project for your school, college or university that places audience needs and a content-first approach at its heart.

Pickle Jar CEO, Tracy Playle, shares the sector’s and her own personal insights on how to keep your student content creation team engaged.