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.