We’re excited to announce the biggest update of our book since we first wrote our book.

We’ve added three great new topics: Watching Football, Mortality, and Interviewing.

You’ll also notice a complete redesign of the pages. Compare our new pages (top) to old pages (bottom):

We think your readers will love the ‘minimal’ approach and focus on detail:

Request your free sample to see our book update. We think you and your readers will love it.

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One of the favorite parts of my job is creating new life 101 content for our book and app.

Our topics reach tens of thousands of readers annually, so we’re thoughtful when we add something new. Is the topic worth adding? Is it helpful?

After starting with an initial list of fifteen potential topics, we narrowed the list down to three. And the winners are…

Watching Football (sneak peek) – How can you enjoy watching “the big game” with friends when football doesn’t interest you?

Mortality (sneak peek) – What happens when a loved one passes away? And do I really want to be an “executor”?

Interviewing (sneak peek) – How do you get the big job after landing the big interview?

Look for these updates in our book and app soon. We think you and graduates will love them!

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Two blocks from my house is a big open field. My kids like to run in it, neighborhood dogs like to fertilize it – in short, it is generally enjoyed by everyone around us.

The other day, it turned vibrantly purple.  Soon, perfectly rational adults were staging pet photo shoots and roving bands of little girls were gathering weedy bouquets. In short, something good got even better.

Our customers customize the outside and inside cover of our book and give it as a thoughtful gift. Graduates love our content and our buyers love the branding.

So how do you make it even better?

Add 8 pages of custom content to the front of the book. It’s not quite a field of wildflowers, but the 8-page insert is a great way to share a lot of specific information about your institution.

We love to read the creative ways our customers use their insert:

Keeping In Touch: Showcase the ways your alumni or members can stay connected.

Benefits: Share details of your alumni benefits program.

Career Services: Let your alumni or members know about career services you offer.

Our 8-page insert is an inexpensive way to include substantial information about your institution. We can even print color pages (at a slightly higher cost) if your information looks better nestled against something bright, like say a field of purple wildflowers.

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As I mentioned in a previous post, Cap & Compass started as a seminar company. Here’s one of our very first high-quality promotional pieces:

Duke University seminar (2001)

Our client schools liked the seminars, but they wanted something that could reach ALL of their graduates. So, the content from our seminars grew into our popular book, “life after school. explained.”

Customization

At first, I only gave schools the ability to customize the cover with a few lines of text. The gold star on the cover was my groovy idea. I’ve since learned the value of a graphic designer.

First book cover design (2001)

In 2005, Dartmouth College wanted to buy the book for their seniors, but they wanted to customize the book on their own. I begrudgingly said ok, and they used a big photo:

Dartmouth College cover (2005)

It looked fantastic. I learned to get out of my own way, and let my customers brand the book.

Here are some more examples of customized covers over the years…

Syracuse University cover

Procter & Gamble cover

Alpha Sigma Alpha cover

So I started marketing the book with a host of customization options, including inside covers and 8 page custom text inserts. Sales took off.

To date, some 500,000 of our books have been given out at graduations, senior picnics; and as corporate welcome gifts to recruits, interns and new hires.

Our book at St. John's University graduation

Today, many of our college and corporate buyers were recipients of the book when they graduated from college.

Our customers recognize that our book is more than just a gift. It’s a way of providing value to graduates in their post-college journey. And when you provide value, you build loyalty.

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