Most weekdays, I spend 60-90 minutes on my “College of the Day” feature – collecting data, preparing the post, providing links to the College’s website and social media accounts.

It’s a good chunk of time built into every business day as I try to get a new, emerging business off the ground.  And in many cases, that specific college is of little interest to my “usual customers”.  My Facebook fans (yeah, “likes”, I know), my Twitter followers, my clients and my Linkedin connections are mostly from the northeastern part of the United States, in general, and New Jersey, specifically.   Few of them will ever take a college course in Alaska or Oklahoma or Kentucky.

So why do it?

Off the bat, I can think of 4000 reasons why.  College of the Day is less than two months old. And yet, I’ve discovered the Ranger Rangers, from Ranger, TX and the Bailey Mountain Cloggers.  I’ve learned about the the “SnowTube” video channel and a school that offers courses on flash drive. I found out about Miami-Dade’s Emerging Technologies Center and the only school with an alumni chapter on the Moon.  I’ve learned there is a college in the U.S. that is 320 miles above the Arctic Circle. I’ve learned about a cheerleading dynasty in Kentucky, a Bowling dynasty in New Jersey and an incredible educational value in South Dakota.

And, yet,  I’ve written about LESS THAN 1% of the Colleges in this country – only 30 out of 4000!

Simply, this country offers an incredibly (and wonderfully) diverse menu of colleges and we know about far too few of them.

By posting information about a different college each day, I believe I become a better counselor for all of you.  And I share free information for all of you to access, so that you can become better consumers.  I provide links to college websites, athletics pages and social media accounts.  I meet new colleagues (and friends) who can provide me – and you- with insider information.  And I get a daily “B-12” shot, knowing what great schools – and great people – are out there, waiting to be discovered.

And I can do all of this without using up gas, paying tolls,  adding mileage to my old Saturn or waiting in an airport for a connecting flight. These vignettes certainly do not replace an actual campus tour, but they do allow access to the nation’s colleges without cost or travel time.

So, onward we go until (approximately) 2020. Who knows whether there will be Facebook or Twitter.  Who knows if the websites will be on Web 4.0.  But there are thousands of wonderful stories and worthy colleges whose tales shall be told. Let’s enjoy the ride together!