Video: Leverage the Power of Social Media With Any Budget

This past spring we attended the Texas Credit Union League Annual Meeting in Austin, TX.  Matt Davis (on Twitter: @CUWarrior) who is the Director of Public Relations at Members Credit Union ($200 million, Winston-Salem, NC) spoke on the power of social media.  As a member of the Filene Research Institute’s 30-Under-30 Group and author of “The Credit Union Warrior” blog, Davis has been at the center of credit union innovation since 2004. This session explored the power of social media and its vast potential for developing community with your membership. Matt discussed past successes and failures in credit union blogging and strategies that your credit union can use to succeed in this new form of media - regardless of your asset size. Credit unions of all sizes can be successful in social media and the failure to initiate may be far more risky than the failure to launch such a promotion!  Check out the video below and let us know how your CU is leading the way with social media!

Credit Union Podcast - Retirement Planning

Listen to this credit union podcast as host Dick Ensweiler, President and CEO of the Texas Credit Union League, and retirement specialist, Andrea Inman-Rodgers from the CUNA Mutual Group, discuss how to successfully members navigate their retirement years, as well help avoid common traps and pitfalls often encountered in retirement planning.

Join the conversation! How are your helping your credit union members plan for retirement.

Credit Union Podcast - Payday Lending

Listen to this credit union podcast as host Dick Ensweiler, President and CEO of the Texas Credit Union League, and Lily Newfarmer, President and CEO of Tarrant County Credit Union in Fort Worth, discuss the appeal of a payday loan and the potential pitfall for unsuspecting members, who may very likely find themselves in a payday lending debt trap.

Join the conversation! Shout back and share your thoughts about how your credit union is helping members avoid the pitfalls and dangers of payday lenders.

Video - NJCUL: Man on the Street, What's a Credit Union?

Watch the "man on the street" video below produced by the New Jersey Credit Union League.  This video was shown at the opening of their 75th annual meeting and NJCUL President/CEO Paul Gentile asks "what's a credit union".  Watch to find out the sometimes comical answers people have to questions...only in New Jersey!

Video Update - New Jersey Credit Union League Annual Meeting

The credit union blog is alive and well as we wrapped up day one at the New Jersey Credit Union League Annual Meeting.  Below is a quick video recap.  It was exciting to get interaction from some of you while in sessions, asking questions and getting involved even though you are not here.  That is what it's all about: innovation, communication and collaboration.

Give Galveston a Hand: Marketers Make a Difference

In about six weeks, credit union marketers will make their way to Texas to help "Give Galveston a Hand".  "Give Galveston A Hand" is a networking and team building community initiative integrated into the Texas Credit Union League's Marketing and Business Development Conference.  It is a way for credit union marketing and business development conference attendees to GIVE BACK to a community hit so hard by Hurricane Ike in September 2008.

In the true spirit of the credit union movement and our passion of helping people and community, we will focus our efforts on November 4th for approx. 4 hours to rebuild and restore sand dunes along the beaches of Galveston Island. Watch the video below and click here to learn more about Give Galveston a Hand.

How are you making a difference in your community? Shout back and share your story.

Do You Have a Fowarding Quotient Strategy?

New term for me today - Forwarding Quotient (FQ). Are you strategically and thoughtfully taking time to forward content of value to your clients, peers, work team, and friends?

I learned about FQ through a weekly update from a LinkedIn group I follow - twitter innovators Innovation & Creativity Network of Tweeters . Scott Jacobs posted a link to Harvard Business Publishing (a source that I also follow through RSS feeds) "Conversation Starter - The Disadvantage of Twitter and Facebook" by Michael Schrage.

As I read along, I was nodding in agreement. Whether we grow our relationships through face to face contact or online connections, special are those who know us well enough to share pertinent information that build us up, help us with projects, or provide inspiration and spur innovation.

I've found useful information through posts to this LinkedIn group. Scott's post, his choosing to participate and not just observe, gave me value. HBP posting timely articles with attention grabbing headlines keep me coming back.

Have you made the commitment to participate in social networking communities? Twitter? Facebook? LinkedIn?

Do you add value by forwarding information or commenting on blogs that grab your attention?

Do you have a lesson learned, aha moments, informative articles that will help someone position forward?

Add value. Be a contributor to the communities and dialogues around you. Share!

Learning Continues Through Social Media Channels & E-mail Communications

Social media is simply another language. One where those who are fluent or even learning themselves are often more than willing to share their knowledge and coach novices. Today, Sean McDonald was gracious enough to take the time to educate me and open my mind to yet another way to share lessons learned.

Once I decided Twitter did have value, I typically begin my business day with a quick overview of tweets. This morning a post by @ConversationAge caught my attention:

RT @ConversationAgeListening is a basic, human element of your business. Why is it so hard? http://ow.ly/pyHG  

For those new to Twitter - RT is a "re-tweet" or repeat of someone else's message.

Since I still consider myself new to a lot of the social media channels, and sage advice I continue to receive is to listen, the tweet reference caught my attention. After reading it, I wanted to share the message with others. I emailed Sean directly, seeking permission to repost as a guest blog on this site. 

He was kind enough to take the time to introduce a new term to me "pointer post" to me, including an example:

Thank you for the kind words, glad the post is helpful to you. Best approach for you sharing my blog post is to do a pointer post.  A pointer post is where you write a short intro on cugrow.com (intro can be how it applies to the CU business, what you liked about the post, or something as short and sweet like, “this is what we have been discussing at cugrow, thought you would benefit from another point of view”) and then link over to the original post.

Thanks Sean for taking the time to reach out and help educate others along the way. For me, this is one of the many values just waiting for folks as they learn to embrace a wide variety of communication tools.

Do you have lessons you've learned about social media to share with others? Shout back and share.

Credit Union Podcast - Overdraft Protection

Listen to the latest Credit Union Podcast with host Dick Ensweiler and special guest Carolyn Jordan, senior vice president at Neighborhood Credit Union in Dallas, for this thought-provoking discussion about a product hailed by some as a lifesaver, and opposed by others. The duo will also get to the root of the issue, and that is financial literacy, or the lack thereof.

Join the conversation. Shout back and share your thoughts about credit union overdraft protection.

CU Grow is Running to New Jersey

After wrapping up a very exciting time at the Texas Credit Union Leadership Conference last week, the credit union blog is headed to the New Jersey Credit Union's 75th Annual Meeting and Convention.  It's a bit of a trek from Texas to New Jersey but credit union man has been working hard to get in shape and is ready to make the journey.

Watch the video below and be sure to follow us on the adventure as we Tweet from breakout sessions and bring you the conference live as it happens.  To stay in the know, follow @jrwlay, @mrjlay and @acm1985.

Video - Fun at TCUL Leadership Conference

In addition to getting to interview speakers from awesome breakout sessions, it is important to enjoy the sites and sounds of the cities we get to visit.  For the Texas Credit Union League Leadership Conference, we were in San Antonio, Texas.

Known for the River Walk, one night our credit union blog guys went out to enjoy the sites and sounds only to pick up two unknown friends.  Watch the video below with the guest credit union blog hosts.

Video - TCUL Leadership Conference Recap Day 2

Check out the recap of day two from the Texas Credit Union League Leadership Conference.  A lot of great breakout sessions to help everyone innovate, communicate and collaborate.  The full interviews will be coming shortly to our credit union blog.

TCUL Leadership Video - Hunt for Leadership Success

Watch the video that @mrjlay put together from the first day of the Texas Credit Union League Leadership Conference. A lot of great thoughts and words from credit union leaders.  Share your thoughts about how you will lead change in 2010 at your credit union.

Video Update - Afternoon Greetings from TCUL Leadership

A quick hello from Aaron after a lunch of bandwidth from the TCUL Leadership Conference. Follow Aaron, Jonathan and James Robert to stay in the know.

Video Post: Morning Update from TCUL Leadership

Watch the update below to get the goods and follow me @jrwlay. Another update to come soon.

Video - The Ten Worst Security Mistakes

While we were at the Texas Credit Union League's Annual Meeting in Austin, we caught up with Barry Thompson, who spoke on the worst security mistakes a financial institution can make.  Mr. Thompson is a writer who contributes to Bankers’ Hotline, Bankersonline.Com and "Bank Security Report" published by Sheshunoff Information Services. He is a security and compliance “guru” for Bankersonline.Com and organizes security conferences for trade groups. There are hundreds of ways to make critical security mistakes within a financial institution -- and there's so little time to deal with the aftermath created by those mistakes. The session gave participants a whole new perspective on viewing risk in their credit union. Check out the interview with Mr. Thompson below!

We're Going Green and Going to San Antonio

We are kicking off the fall credit union conference season after leading a few sessions at the Southwest CUNA Management School this summer. First up on the agenda is the Texas Credit Union League Leadership Confernce. 

I will be leading three breakout sessions there in addition to @mrjlay and @acm1985 helping out and doing the whole CU GROW video interview thing with speakers.  Just as we have done in the past for other conferences (TCUL Annual Meeting and Net.Finance), we have put together a fun little video starring "Credit Union Man" for your viewing pleasure below. 

Be sure to get the RSS feed in your reader and check back soon as we will be posting videos from the conference.  We will be in New Jersey for their 75th Credit Union Annual Meeting in about two weeks.

Also, be sure to follow all of us on Twitter (@jrwlay, @mrjlay and @acm1985) as we will be live tweeting the conference and breakout sessions.  Don't hesitate to get involved and shout out your thoughts, ideas and questions to us to interact with the session.

Together, we can do great things through innovation, communication and collaboration. 

Video - Trends & Innovation: What 2009 Trends Will Drive Innovation in 2009 & Beyond?

While we were in Austin, at the Texas Credit Union League Annual Meeting, Lisa Renner spoke on innovation and trends.  Lisa is CEO of CU Holding Company, LLC. Credit unions have traditionally coasted along with follow-the- leader strategy. But in a world of increasing competition from every angle, credit union survival is dependent on both monitory trends and innovation in order to capture market share and get ahead of the competition. Engage in critical thinking and collaboration by watching this video: The hottest consumer trends, innovations form around the world - including the latest from Filene's i3, how consumer trends can be applied to our industry and how to implement trend watching and innovation in your organization. 

Video - Courting Boomer Members as Key Growth Strategy

At the Texas Credit Union League Annual Meeting in Austin, John A. Vardallas, spoke on reaching out to Boomer Gen Members with products and services.  John is an International Credit Union Business Consultant and Founder/CEO of TheAmericanBoomeR. His personal mission centers on helping develop future leaders who can keep our credit unions not only surviving, but thriving! Boomers are the largest most powerful demographic group around in terms of buying power and influence. This video is focuses on strategies for appealing and marketing to this group of members with suggested products and services that should be directed at Boomers and their families to help sustain the long term future of your credit union will be highlighted.

Watch the video below to learn more:

Guest Post: How to Leave Stress at the Office

I can truly relate to this post as I love what I do and do what I love... working with credit unions to help them connect and build relationships with members.  However, sometimes I can get so busy and into what is going on at PTP NEW MEDIA, I sometimes get lost in my own little world and it becomes hard to disconnect when I get home and have some downtime. 

Have you ever had the same challenges?  As we live in a uber connected world, the boundaries of work and personal cross more and more.  It is important to be aware of burnout and the stress it can cause for us and the ones around us.

Check out the guest post below by Susan Fletcher, Ph.D., psychologist, author and speaker who specializes in helping individuals, professionals and organizations apply strategies for fast improvement.  Her Smart Zone™ strategies provide ways to be a top performer at work and home. To learn more about how to be in the Smart Zone please visit her website at www.FletcherPhD.com.

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One thing I hear when working with managers and executives who work long hours is that, at the end of the day, it is difficult to shake the feeling of being at work.  Even when they get home they don't feel "at home." They feel disconnected and preoccupied with what took place during the workday or are anticipating the problems of the next day.

Part of the issue is that the intensity during our workday is different than the intensity of our home lives.  Although our home and work life both take considerable mental and physical energy we still have to shift gears when we walk in the door at home.

In my business we provide strategies to stay in the Smart Zone that will improve productivity at home and work. But don't do this!  Here are Smart Moves for leaving stress at the office:

Do you leave work and then use that same part of your brain at home?  When I work on my financials at the office and then come home and work on bills, my brain is going to get overwhelmed.  I've recently started taking serious Yoga classes near my home so I can balance how I use my body and my brain.  As my instructor Carlos says, "Bring peace and calm into your world."

Are you finally energized by 3:00 in the afternoon?  Eat a late afternoon snack that is high in carbs but low in fat and protein - like a granola bar, fresh fruit or a bagel.  This type of snack jump-starts the amino acid in the brain that promotes a relaxation response. 

Do you immerse yourself in work related content 24/7?  What is by your bedside?  Business books, financials, proposals?  I have taken a sabbatical from business books to read bestsellers so I am exposing myself to more than just business and psychological literature.  Right now, want to know what is by my bedside? The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb.  All 723 pages.  I will be sorry when I finish it because it is such a great book.

Set aside 10 minutes after lunch to return personal phone calls.  This will eliminate your need to talk on your cell phone on the drive home at the end of the day.  Instead you can listen to good music or an audio book.  Click here for ways to maximize your lunch break.
Carve out transition time.  Devote the final hours of your workday to some of your least-pressured tasks.  I like listening to music on Grooveshark and doing paperwork.  Thanks to my buddy Rex, I've now got speakers mounted on the inside of my desk so I can really enjoy my end of the day paperwork. You will feel a sense of accomplishment by completing at least one thing before day end.

Don't talk about work when you first get home.  When you walk in the door at home resist the urge to immediately start talking about your day. Cooper and Sawaf, authors of Executive EQ, call this a "transitional buffer zone."  This is time to renew your spirit of being home.  Don't run to your computer to return emails.  You might first greet your family, get your children a snack and change into some comfy clothes.

Shout back with your thoughts about how you disconnect and leave stress at the office.  We would love for you to innovate, communicate and collaborate to help us all grow together.

Video - The Young Adult Market - Strategies to Fuel Growth

While attending the Texas Credit Union League Annual Meeting, in Austin, Kris Wickline (on Twitter: kriswickline) spoke on growth strategies for the Gen Y market.  Kris is a Consumer Program Manager for CUNA Mutual Group in Madison, Wisconsin. She focuses her efforts on helping credit unions attract and retain young adults, people between the ages of 18 and 30, also known as "Gen Y." It's no secret that credit unions share of the young adult market, those aged 18-30, lags that of other financial institutions. Nationally, credit unions have their lowest membership penetration among this age group. Yet, since they are near or in peak borrowing years, it's a crucial market to fuel growth and profitability. Understand the segment's core needs, key product solutions, buying behaviors, channel preferences and communication dynamics. Learn practical strategies, first hand, from credit unions that have success in attracting and penetrating this market.

Watch the video below to learn more: