Twitter for Your Credit Union

Lately I have been getting a lot of questions about Twitter.  What is it?  How does it work?  How can it help my credit union.  A great conversation follows and lights begin to click.  Below is a short video breaking down the basics of Twitter from the people at Common Craft (watch below).

Credit Union GAC Review - Day 3

Check out Pamela Stephens', CEO of Security One FCU, day two update from the 2009 CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC).

Watch her video below to learn what is going on in DC and shout back with your thoughts, comments and ideas.

Credit Union GAC Review - Day 2

Check out Pamela Stephens', CEO of Security One FCU, day two update from the 2009 CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC).

Watch her video below to learn what is going on in DC and shout back with your thoughts, comments and ideas.

Credit Union GAC Review - Day 1

Many thanks to Pamela Stephens, CEO of Security One FCU, for putting together this brief report from day one of the 2009 CUNA Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC). 

Watch her video below to learn what is going on in DC and shout back with your thoughts, comments and ideas.

Click here to check out the conference schedule for the rest of the week.

It's Time to Come Together, It's Time to Ramp Up "People Helping People"

Gathering together to support each other is even more important in hard times. Looking back, the companies that emerged from the Great Depression stronger and earlier than the competition had this in common: Looking to the future, workers bonded together around a common, well-articulated mission. Meetings are how this is done, and how business is done. It’s how economies are stimulated, and how employees and business partners are motivated to create positive results. For the complete white paper, check out tbaglobal.com's  The Value of Meetings. (Thank you for IAEE for highlighting this.)

Times are serious and business operations are changing. As prudent leaders, strategically managing your ROI is critical. The National Environmental Health Association has posted a list of questions to help you asses the value of a meeting for yourself and your credit union. Here are a few of them:

For the conferences [events] that you are considering attending:

1. Will it be beneficial for you to meet some of the people who will be attending the meeting?

2. Can you imagine: “crucial conversations," which you would want to be a part of even if only to listen, taking place at this meeting?

4. Is high-level interaction available to you at this meeting, and would it be beneficial to you to have such an experience?

5. Is the education available at the conference relevant to your work responsibilities?

6. Could this education enable you to do your job better and/or more cost effectively?

10. Would some of the conference offerings enable you to return to your workplace as an effective change agent?

12. Does the meeting take time to recognize its leaders and achievers with awards so that you might better understand what excellence in your line of work looks like?

14. Does the conference provide important updates on where the profession is? 

When dollars get tight, organizations typically head straight to marketing and training as they start slashing budgets. Though tempting, it's important to look out on the horizon and keep positioning your credit union forward. As a credit union movement built on the philosophy of “people helping people”, we need to continue to practice what we preach.

One new concept might prove priceless for your credit union. Gather together locally and at conferences and seminars to:

·         Share and learn from each other, speakers and vendors.

·         Collaborate to solve problems, creating synergy with innovative solutions.

·         Look for those ideas, processes, and strategic alliances to help you make your credit union more efficient and/or provide better products and services. You owe it to your member/owners and your staff.

·         Stay engaged and help strategically position credit unions forward.

Get creative when it comes to marketing to maximize your results. There has never been a better time to shout out the credit union story.

With the season for Association and League annual meetings starting, make the decision to attend. Arrive prepared to make a difference. Plan to both speak and listen. As challenging as these times are, they are also exciting. Don’t let this moment in time pass you buy as you quietly sit on the sidelines.

Credit Union Blog Talk Radio - Episode Two

Check out the second episode of Blog Talk Radio featuring Dick Ensweiler as he chats with Brian Turner, director of advisory services for Southwest Corporate Investment Services.

With nearly 30 years of senior financial management experience in the financial services industry, Turner is a frequent speaker on various economic and credit union issues.

Ensweiler and Turner discussed the current economic conditions; what’s horizon and what it means for American families. Specifically, the duo addressed how the declining stock market, escalating unemployment rate, the subprime mortgage meltdown and the weakening financial sector have impacted consumer confidence.

Additionally, Ensweiler and Turner weighed in on the recent inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama, and how this change of power might affect consumers’ perception of their future financial circumstances.

Shout back and share your thoughts and comments below.

Position Credit Unions Forward - Be part of the solution

Resourcefullness abounds in the credit union movement. Collaboration and creativity have been hallmarks of our industry. We have member/oweners we are accountable to. Do you have the next great innovation/idea to help position credit unions forward? Or do you think you are not high enough on the management chain, your voice would never be heard? Think again! Seth Godin, in his book Tribes, wrote about how Thomas Barnett changed the Pentagon. From the bottom. No status. No rank. Just a reasearcher. The key - passion for change!

Silence is not golden. You have a forum. Your voice can be heard. It's time to get in the game, to "slinky up" (anti up, belly up, step up, roll your sleeves up - you get the idea - only have fun while you're doing it).

Credit union and SCMS faculty rock star, Denise Gabel, writes: Feeling stimulated yet?

Whether you supported it or not, Congress and the Obama administration have served up a massive spending package aimed at the economic crisis. Rather than waiting for that money to trickle down, Filene wants to help credit unions innovate in the new environment.

Read more.

Thank you to the LoneStar Leaguer for the heads up on the "Filene Future Focus" oppourtunity. And high five to Filene for their focus forward!

 

Guest Post - Managing Your Social Networks

As social media continues to be a hot topic in the credit union world, and a great way to build relationships online, it's important to manage social networks while not getting overwhelmed by them.  I know for a fact that this is so easy to do.

For example, I run Facebook, Twitter, email, text and voice all from my phone.  Some days I have to hide my Blackberry or turn off the alerts to get anything done. Other days, I wanted to be uber connected to the social network world.

Check out the great tips below from Susan Fletcher, Ph.D. when she first got into social networking with Facebook:

I was resistant.  How do I have time to get on that site and isn't that for kids and college students?  Then we went on vacation this summer and we were watching our friends check their Facebook pages and I got curious.  They didn't fit the profile I had drummed up in my head as the type of people who would be social networking.  As we talked about it, they set up a page for me in what seemed like just a few seconds.  Soon I had a profile picture, was listing my favorite books and began searching for people I was curious to find.  I'm hooked.  I am the face of Facebook, or as some call it, FB.

Social networking used to mean going to Chamber of Commerce meetings and then it got real fancy with targeted opportunities like organized weekly networking groups. With online social networking, now you can stay in your PJs and network. I don't even have to do my hair!  There are currently 39,911,920 people active on FB.  When I looked to see how many people in the U.S. ages 35 and up were on FB, I found out there are 9,823,660. And I'm one of them!
 
Here is how being on Facebook and social networking keeps you in the Smart Zone.
 
Stress Management:  I believe everyone has a bucket inside of them that gets full when they feel aggravated or frustrated.  We need things in our lives that empty our bucket so it doesn't get full.  When it gets full, we have what I call an exaggerated response.  While I don't always have my FB up throughout the day, I do get on it sometimes between patients, at the end of the day, and when I am hanging out in the airport waiting for my flight.  It empties my bucket and I enjoy some of what my FB friends post.  Here is a video that came recently from one of my friends.

Relationships Build Business: Many of the speakers I present with and many of those who hire me to speak are people that I really enjoy getting to know.  There is an excitement about the speaking business and there are so many things we may have in common. A recent article in Fast Company shows how those who use the social networking site, LinkedIn, make more money.  While I never intend for my FB page to be an advertisement, it is only natural that there are opportunities that will come your way.

Social Networking supports the Smart Zone Secret:  The Smart Zone Secret is to get out of your head and put the focus on someone else.  I believe we all have the tendency to take ourselves too seriously.  Recently I had a bad fall on an icy day. (What is a Florida girl doing in Texas anyway?)  The fall ended up being serious enough that I got a few staples in my head.  One of my best friends growing up, Don, is now a professor at Oregon State University. He and I stay in touch on FB and he called me "metal head."  Only Don can get away with that.  Don knows how to remind me to not take myself too seriously.  He knows the Smart Zone Secret.

One caveat: Sometimes FB can fill your stress bucket.  Using it during productive work hours can waste time and is unfair to your employer. Or if you stay up until the wee hours of the morning it can steal needed sleep time.  This is an issue with all of us as we have the ability to work 24/7. 
Keeping the above caveat in mind, I'd love to be your FB friend!  So please send me a friend request.

Shout back and let us know how you have handled getting into social networking. Or... let us know what fears you have about getting into social networking. We look forward to hearing your thoughts and comments.

Objective Glimpse into Credit Unions

Kudos go out to The Boston Globe's columnist, Steven Syre, for an objective article about credit unions in today's market - Paying a giant's price. Take a quick moment to read this insightful and straight forward article.

Thanks go out to several credit union friends for sharing this timely article.

Strategic Thinking...Are You Making History?

As we drive to position the credit union movement forward, I came across a blog of Tom Asacker's with seven questions to challenge and make you think, leading up to "Are You Making History?"

Asacker also referenced what looks to be a source of inspiration - "This coming Monday, February 16, PBS Nightly Business Report will celebrate three decades on the air by revealing the 30 most important innovations from the last 30 years based on the seven questions. Watch the show, and then sit back and really soak in the fact that the original 'idea" behind each and every one of their chosen innovations was rejected by the prevailing orthodoxy. Just like you're rejecting the ideas that will make you great today."

Thanks Tom for keeping vision and dreams out there!

Dream, Imagine, and Make it Be! Are you creatively seeking solutions to position the credit union movement forward? Care to share?

Promoting Thrifty Tips to Members

As the trend of thrift becomes the financial direction for 2009, what can credit unions do to help their members succeed in saving more? Promoting useful tips for saving is one way to reach out to your members and show that you understand the need to cut back in order to save more. Here are a few ways to implement this idea:

• First, compile a list of money saving ideas (simple tips). Getting ideas from your employees and their personal thrifty tips is a great way to personalize this list.
• Next, print a flyer with these tips and have employees hand them to members after completing a transaction. The employee has the opportunity to point out their tip on the list, showing the member that these are "tried and true" thrifty ideas.
• Finally, consider including a free offer at the bottom of the flyer, something along the lines of, "Looking for help getting your finances together? Make an appointment between 'this date to that date' for a free financial assessment, which is exclusively available to our members."

Instead of offering special rates and promotions, you are offering members free tips and financial guidance. You are expressing a genuine interest in their struggles to save and cut back on spending.

Do you have any tips that have helped you save a little extra money? Shout back and let us know what you are doing to cut corners and save.

Don't Get Overwhelmed In a Big World...

Overwhelm a niche.  So true are the words from Seth Godin. "The secret to being the best in the world is to make the 'world' smaller."  In his blog, Seth shares the story of Alan Scott.

"Alan Scott was the best community-focused artisan pizza oven builder in the world. A niche that didn't exist before he got there, but one that spread, that engaged people, that created a tribe and that supported him.

Alan was passionate about his craft and wasn't shy about sharing it. He trained others, turned it into a movement.

It's entirely possible that you will choose a niche that's too small. It's much more likely you'll shoot for something too big and become overwhelmed. When in doubt, overwhelm a small niche."

Instead of making pizza "the way it has always been done" and swimming an a red ocean, Alan creating a blue ocean and his own niche.

Take for example Whitefish Credit Union who offers only two services. They provide primary high interest savings and mortgages.  There is no checking.  There are no auto loans.  Just those two.

Being in Montana, the area is full of summer homes. So they decided to offer the two services most needed by the consumers of the area. Savings and Mortgages. Simple. If a member requests a checking account, they refer them to a "competitor.

Upon the latest findings, they have 50,000 members with assets of $943 million. The credit union, opened in 1934, has 62 full time employees and 3 part time employees, or 794 members per employee, compared to a national average of 457.  Not too shabby for "being small and overwhelming a niche."

It's true that not every credit union can have this strategy.  However, it's also important to note that an organization can not be all things to all people.

It's a choice I had to make when deciding to grow my company.  We decided to focus on a niche market and be the best we could be.  After working with allot of different markets, our ideals and philosophy matched up with the credit union movement.  The more time I spend in the movement, the more I love it. That's where our passion lies.

But, where does your passion lie?  Where do credit unions stand on this thought of "being small and overwhelming a niche"? Has your credit union tried to become everything to everyone?  Or do you focus on being the best at a few things.

"Where Are We Now and Who Is on First?"

Thanks to two credit union friends for sharing the following - Dean Borland and Dennis McCuistion.

Global economic stress isn’t created overnight and it does not result from isolated, micro-economic influences. And, once created, global economic stress cannot be remedied quickly or easily. So, as plans were being laid in the fall of 2008 for the January 2009 TCUL Chapter Leaders Conference, it seem that a review of current the economic and political climate would be a timely topic for credit union leaders.

With that objective in mind, Dennis McCuistion, a former banker, internationally known speaker, author, and host of PBS’s syndicated "McCuistion," a "Donahue-style" program focusing on economic, social, business and political issues, was engaged to speak to Chapter Leaders about the events and issues that led us into the current economic downturn and what it will take to pull ourselves out. Dennis’ white paper, “Where Are We Now and Who Is on First?” was prepared as a handout for the TCUL Chapter Leaders Conference. It stands as a sobering chronology of the events that have led to what may be one of the worst economic downturns this nation and the world has seen in the last half-decade.

Credit Union Resources, Inc. and its OnBalance service are pleased to have been able to bring Mr. McCuistion to the Chapter Leaders Conference and would now like to share Dennis’ insights with you, the present and future leaders of the credit union industry. Our hope is that you will learn from the mistakes of the past in order to move forward and forge a better future for credit unions and our members.

Will You Do This @ Your Credit Union Branch?

This is freekin' awesome and can deliver such a unique member experience!

Will your credit union be first to market with it?  Or will your credit union take the wait and see approach before going this direction. I am not saying this is the end all be all but will surely create a buzz with your members and in your community. Remember the iPhone?

Watch the video below...

Many thanks to Robbie Wright for the note on this.

Credit Unions can Make it Work in a Down Economy

While it seems the economy news is getting worse every day (or hour/minutes if you are on some social networks), it’s so important to keep a positive attitude and not get stuck in the here and now.  Yes, the credit union world has been rocked in the past few days with some not so happy news.

Yet… check out what Seth Godin has to offer.  Andrew Warner is an Internet entrepreneur and the founder of Mixergy.  He interviewed Seth Godin who provided “7 Tips for Startups in a Down Market”.

Check out the video below:

Texas Credit Union Marketing Council Seminar

Your invited to join in and attend a Texas Credit Union Marketing Council Seminar near you.  Check out the details below or click here for more info and to download a registration form.

5 Steps to Achieve High Impact PR
Each year PR accounts for up to 25% of your marketing budget, so isn’t it time to create a stronger focus, more accountability, specific measurement and bottom‐line results? This interactive presentation will give you specific success strategies and the tools to help you accomplish them in the areas of:

Focus and Direction: What sponsorships and events should you do and what should you drop? When should you lead initiatives, and when should you follow?

Resources and Budget: How much should you spend if you’re the market leader? The newcomer? The underdog? Create your Top 10 List of partners and partnership events.

Integration with your culture and marketing: How do you create synergy between your brand, your culture
and your marketing plan?

Media Relations: When you’re competing for press without a large budget, how do you get your word out? Learn what media reps are looking for and how to provide it.

Measurement: What do you measure and what tools should you use to show success and set goals? How will you express your results convincingly?

Presenter, Becki Drahota, EMBA
Becki founded Mills Financial Marketing in 1975 with a staff of two, and one loyal client. Today the
Mills team serves financial service clients in 15 states. She is a regular speaker on topics ranging
from branding, and strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions to public relations. Becki’s first
position after graduating was to serve as the Marketing Coordinator for the Iowa Credit Union
League and today she works with several credit Union around the United States.

Event Dates and Locations
Dallas/Fort Worth, February 24, 2009
Austin, February 25, 2009
Houston, February 26, 2009

Schedule of Event
8:30 am - 9:00 am Registration/Coffee & Pastries
9:00 - Noon Seminar
Noon - 1:00 pm Box Lunch (included in fee)
1:00 pm - 4:00 pm Seminar Continues

Click here for more info or to download a registration form

To bank or not to bank...

Thank you all so much for all your comments and feedback on WWUP- What Would you Pick- the post asking for suggestions on a new credit union tagline. I received so many clever and fun suggestions. The Task Force met recently and we went through each suggestion one by one. One of the main topics that came up during the meeting was whether or not a credit union message should contain the word bank in it. There were several arguments on both sides of this subject. One of the arguments was that we (the credit union industry) have always tried to differentiate ourselves from banks and if we include the word bank (bank as in a verb term) in a tagline that will defeat our purpose. Another argument is if we use the word bank negatively this will this cause us to seem like we are attacking the banking industry? However, if we are trying to explain what a credit union is to a non-credit union person it is hard not to use the word bank, even if we are saying that is what we are not. What do you think? Blog back and tell me if the word bank positively or negatively should be used when trying to get the word out about credit unions.

Connected Communications Via LinkedIn – One of Today’s "Tools of the Trade"

In today’s business environment:

• It’s critical we learn how to maximize our communication options, informing members/customers about valuable products and services, providing ways for those same members to share their knowledge/experiences and connect in a “safe” community. We need to be a trusted resource that they keep coming back to, or are attracted to, because we add value. We care about their well-being and success.
• As a movement, credit unions have been built, and continue to thrive, upon the philosophy of “People Helping People”. With hectic schedules, often crazy commutes, project overloads, lean staffing and more, it’s even more important we not only maintain our network, but grow a base of contacts to share challenges and successes with.

There is an online tool to help! It’s simple, easy to use, can be updated immediately and best of all: it’s free!

Is LinkedIn something you have just heard about? A place where you set up your profile (information) a couple of years ago, but haven’t really thought about since then?

If you haven’t visited LinkedIn in the last three or so months, I recommend you take a moment to visit and explore this social media communication and networking tool.

For more information, click over to “I’m on LinkedIn-Are You?”. A big thanks to Brian McCue, Member Service Centers, Inc., for sharing the article.