By this stuff, I mean this new stuff. Web 2.0. User-generated content. Social media. Whatever you want to call it.

All this stuff you live and breathe. All this stuff that continues to come in waves. All this stuff that you know is perfect for your credit union. All this stuff that you can’t explain to anyone who is not involved. All this stuff your members are doing online. All this stuff that you know is passing your credit union by.

How about the brand and name experts? No, they’re too busy helping credit unions merge to waste their time on this stuff. They’re telling credit unions, “Skip this stuff. It will pass.”

How about the ad agency? Not likely. They make their money in 30 second increments. If they can’t monetize it, forget it. They, too, are telling credit unions, “Skip this stuff. It will pass.”

How about the PR consultants? Nope. User-generated content with no editorial review is too scary for them. “We need to control this stuff.”

How about the IT department? Yeah right. They’re too busy with bank system security and making sure your in-box isn’t filled with spam. Just try to convince the techies that embedded code from a third-party website is a good thing to do. “Nope, that stuff is not touching my stuff. My job is to block stuff, not touch stuff.”

How about the young person in the organization with a knack for computers? Maybe, but this person will never have the influence or the resources to really implement this stuff. “OK old dudes, this stuff is so cool. Trust me, we really need this stuff.”

How about your marketing and communications department? They would be the natural fit, but with a steady flow of branch requests and with the production of your ingrained annual sales promotions, time and resources are spread too thin. “We’d love to help, but we just don’t have time to do this stuff.”

How about the digital agency or the web consultancy? Possibly. They are definitely capable of doing whatever your credit union wants to do. But they can’t go it alone. “OK, before we do anything, we want to make sure you guys understand this stuff and are comfortable with us doing all of this stuff.”

How about hiring an expert on staff? Good idea. But you better be prepared to listen and give him or her the freedom to experiment or he or she will get frustrated and leave. “I have been telling you about this stuff for months now, but you all still don’t get this stuff. I’m packing my stuff and leaving.”

So, who’s left? Your senior management and, especially, your CEO. Until credit union CEOs and the senior executive team are actually involved in this stuff, it’s not going as far as I know it can go to propel the credit union movement forward.

CEOs and the senior executive team need to feel the anxiety of not being able to see what their Twitter crew is up to while on a flight. CEOs and the senior executive team need to feel the exhilaration of receiving a slew of comments on a controversial blog post that they just posted. CEOs and the senior executive team need to understand the power of this new form of community firsthand. It cannot be explained. It must be experienced.

And CEOs and the senior executive team need to be seen participating in social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn by staff and members. CEOs and the senior executive team need to give permission to experiment and innovate.

As it stands, credit union CEOs and the senior executive team are out of the loop. They see all of this stuff as a waste of time and energy. But guess what, this stuff is real, this stuff is happening right under their nose and this stuff is not going away any time soon, if ever.

Signing off on a message from the president that you didn’t write for your credit union’s quarterly newsletter is not a two-way conversation. Not even close.

Two questions for you:

1. Who owns this stuff at your credit union?
2. What can we all do to prove this stuff is worth doing?

Tim McAlpine is the President & Chief Strategist of Currency Marketing. You can read Tim’s ‘stuff’ on the Currency Marketing blog at www.currencymarketing.ca/blog.

One of the saving graces of the leftover-filled dead week between Christmas and New Year’s Day are the year-end wrap-ups. No wrap-up story ever won a Pulitzer, but they’re interesting to read. So, to the pot-luck of lists and reprisals, I’m going to add my own.

This being a blog, and therefore collaborative, I’m eager to hear everyone else’s contributions to and opinions on the OpenSourceCU.com Top Credit Union Stories of 2007 (Now With Resolutions!). During this week of warmed-over dressing, think of this list as a sizzling sirloin steak, hot from the fire, ready for you to tuck into (for you vegetarians, think of it as whatever it is you tuck into that’s really satisfying…salad maybe? potatoes? tofu?)

My seven top credit union stories of 2007…bon appetit!

No. 7: The iPhone

It has its flaws. It’s wildly expensive. It’s great-grandfather was the Newton. But this zeitgeist-expanding gadget moves the bar for mobile computing and, ultimately, mobile banking services. It also allows for easy use of social media and opens the number of communication channels. Think about the annoyed member posting to a blog while in line to wait on a member service representative to fix a mistake another MSR made. If someone using a iPhone actually stands in lines waiting for MSR’s.

Resolution: It’s an antiquated attitude that technology and social media are just toys. I would love credit union staffers to open their minds to new technology and look at it from a perspective of early adopters and ask some simple questions: How is this used? How does this impact me? How could this impact my credit union?

Sub-Resolution: Personally, I need to avoid being a curmudgeon myself and open my own mind and ask similar questions. Keeping up with technology is hard, but invaluable.

No. 6: Gigi Hyland’s calling for a more consumer-centric approach to products.

Said Ms. Hyland in January: “The main themes of my remarks were to urge credit unions to continue to be consumer-centric in product and service delivery and to provide insight into the regulatory perspective on current issues, such as BSA and membership growth.”

Okay, this isn’t earth-shattering, and there are discussions like this all the time, but it’s validation from the top that CU’s need to approach their products and pricing the same way other companies do – with a focus on what the market demands.

Resolution: Credit Unions need to leverage that tax-exempt status to continue (or in some CU’s cases start to) offer cost-competitive pricing, provide dividends and serve immigrants and under-served communities. I’d also like to see credit unions trim their product offerings to better serve their membership and community. If you cannot profitably provide dozens of products and services, then take a good, hard look at your product mix and eliminate those that are underperforming or aren’t profitable. Don’t keep up with the Jones’s. Keep up with your field of membership.

On the surface, this is an oxymoronic request, but really, it’s about finding a niche and drilling down and serving it. Some CU’s can profitably operate wide. Most cannot and need to focus on their core membership, find what that it needs and really serving it in ways banks and other CU’s can’t.

No. 5: Hackers steal 45.7 million credit card numbers from TXJ Companies

The breach of security is the largest in history and reflects the importance of CU ID theft prevention policies. Given that credit unions have a 3.8 percent market share in revolving credit, the breach affected over 1.7 million credit union members. And that’s just credit cards. Debit cards, with fewer consumer protections, were likely part of that mix and even a small percentage would be thousands if not millions of debit card numbers.

Resolution: Credit Unions should treat debit card fraud the same way they treat credit card fraud. See top story No. 4 for support of this resolution. Members need to know all their transactions are secure, credit or debit. From my experience in credit union operations, I know this is expensive, but a credit union should act in the best interest of its members.

No. 4: CURIA momentum

At latest count, 141 members of the House of Representatives are signed on as co-sponsors of H.R. 1537. By raising the percentage of assets from 12-ish to 20 percent, this will allow CU’s to better serve under-served areas and small businesses, which in turn creates wealth in a community.

Resolution: Credit Unions need to mobilize staff and, in turn, membership to ensure members of Congress support H.R. 1537 and understand the difference and mission of credit unions. An adage of advertising says that when the marketing director of a company is tired of hearing his/her advertising message, it’s at that point that its impacting the consumer. Talk about it until you’re sick of it.

No. 3: Wings/Continental credit union flap

Nasty, nasty stuff.

Resolution: Stop doing this.

No. 2: Zopa

Peer-to-peer lending could be a threat to credit unions, given credit unions’ philosophical mission. Instead, Zopa is partnering with credit unions, each improving each other’s credibility and reach. I’m excited about this partnership.

Resolution: Like the No. 7 resolution, credit union staff needs to be more plugged into technology and how it affects their products, services as well as how members use it. It’s a competitive advantage to embrace it and folly to ignore it.

No. 1: The housing bust

Although credit unions didn’t seriously contribute to the questionable practices that puts the country on the precipice of recession, every credit union every member will be affected. As much as credit unions need to compete, they also must council and advice as part of their financial services product mix.

Resolution: With a tax-exempt status, strong capitalization (in general) and sound, conservative policies and procedures, credit unions are primed to be part of the solution, right?

There you have it, my year-end list complete with a side of resolutions, served hot and fresh. Enjoy!

Brent and I gave our “Building your relationship with Gen Y Members” presentation in Wisconsin a few weeks back.

One of the slices of feedback we got:

I was a little disappointed in the Gen Y presentation. They kept talking about social media, but saying not to do it.

That makes me feel good. Too many marketers are looking for a silver bullet, and social media isn’t it. I’ve never said, “Don’t do it.” But I have said, “Don’t do it without a strategy.” And I’ve said, “It’s not a fit for every business.”

During my co-presentation with Shari at Symposium, I showed the following slide:

My next point was:

I then called Tim McAlpine up to chat about Young & Free Alberta, which had just launched.

It’s immediately up there with Change Everything on my best FI social media campaign list. BTW, this outtake video from their CEO cracks me up:

Also gaining ground is what Diva Deb’s doing with the hoopty loan. As Charlie commented,

Talk about promoting thrift and building community. Nice work, CPCU.

So, back to the comment our WI presentation drew. I’d say that the keys to using social media successfully in your business are:

• You’ve got to have something compelling to talk about in the first place.
• It’s got to fit your culture. Thick skin is required.
• You’ve got to treat it as part of a larger marketing strategy.

Sure you can launch a blog or build a MySpace page or get that Jumbalooster account for your CU. But unless you know what you’re trying to accomplish, as Brent likes to say, all you’ll hear will be crickets chirping – or worse yet, criticism for not having it worked out in the first place.

Concerning financial institution websites, Ron says:

On some sites, the blog content might be the central focus of a product’s page, and on others, blog content might be sidebar material. On some sites, blog content will replace the lifestage content that appears on many sites, letting customers themselves dictate the content, tone, and direction of what appears.

Why will FIs do this? Because they’ll learn that engaging customers and prospects in conversations is the best way to sell their products. The trust they’ll build by doing this will outweigh the competitor down the street offering a CD with one-quarter of a percent better rate. That won’t be enough to get consumers to move and switch.

I agree.

The big players get this. Name a big bank – heck, name a billion-dollar CU – who’s not thinking social media right now.

I believe marketing will twist management’s arm to get this done across the board. That said, there will be resistance.

Just like there was resistance to having a website in the first place.

On an Unrelated Note:

Please come say hi to us in Mad-town or Spokane this week at the League events there. Brent and I will have Open Source CU schwag on us and we’re just itching to give it away.

Also, congrats to Team Little Guy for crossing the finish line and raising a small fortune. I had a blast in North Carolina with Jeff and crew last week – even got to meet Dan and Matt!

Here are three cool stories for your Monday morning (er, afternoon – I started on this first thing today and now it’s lunchtime):

CUblogs.org

Robbie has set up cublogs.org, where you or your CU can set up a free blog powered by WordPressMu.

Robbie points out, “And if you are one of the 3000 or so CU’s without a homepage, drop me a line. I would love the opportunity to help out any CU setup a free website!”

He’s had a great discussion going on about Mutual Savings CU who is using WordPress as their content management system.

By the way, it really is depressing that nearly 3,000 CUs have zero web presence. NCUA data from year end 2006 shows 5,524 of 8,362 CUs having websites. That doesn’t mean home banking. Web. Sites.

Filene plans a Radical Sabbatical

Our friends at the Filene Research Institute are creating positions for crazy good sabbaticals. Radical, if you will. So, if your employer can spare you anywhere from three months to two years, you best get to applying.

Mark Meyer explains the opportunities perfectly on their new podcast. Mark’s buttery voice is rivaled only in this industry by Rob’s.

CUNA nears launch of MoneyMix

The folks at CUNA are getting a much-needed update to their youth-oriented product. Don’t know if this means Googolplex is out, but IMHO it should be. Yikes.

The thing I like most about the MoneyMix product (slated to launch 8/31) isn’t the blogging functionality – it’s the savings tracker. I can’t tell too much from the screens, but it’s a good idea if it gets pulled off correctly. For starters, a Facebook app would be ideal, as the social aspect of goal-sharing shouldn’t be overlooked. Consider Wesabe, which, by the way, makes your online banking interface look like a baby-hating seal clubber.

Teach the kids, as Javelin says.

Matt linked me to this Techcrunch post today asking Will The Last Corporation Leaving Second Life Please Turn Out The Light.

Without getting into the numbers (which are worth a look),

The crux of the piece [originally at the LA Times] is that despite the hype, real life businesses are closing down their Second Life outposts due to little to no interest in them.

I blame this on the Field of Dreams Myth: “If you build it, they will come.”

Apply the following to a house in Second Life, MySpace page, blog, podcast, wiki, Twitter account, Facebook app, Ning network, etc. I call them my Social Media Field of Dreams Myth-busters™ (note the hyphen and™, which ward off the copyright infringement claims):

• If the cause behind a campaign isn’t compelling, it will fail.
• No one ever woke up saying, “I want to look at Company X’s marketing today!!!”

I’d like to share an IM conversation I just had with Brent on the matter:

Trey Reeme:
off the top of your head, what percentage of CUs could successfully launch a social media campaign today?

Brent Dixon:
im not going to throw out a number, but a very small percentage.

Trey Reeme:
I’m thinking close to 1%.

Brent Dixon:
not to be confused with “what percentage of credit unions could successfully use social media,” thats different.

Trey Reeme:
right.
actually, less than 1. More like .1.

Brent Dixon:
successfully launch a campaign though, id agree 1% or less.

Trey Reeme:
you know what’s frustrating?
it has nothing to do with assets or budget but everything to do with culture.

Brent Dixon:
yup.

Trey Reeme:
and a lot of CUs who think they could pull it off can’t.

Well, I hope everyone had a happy 4th of July and are reading your emails this morning with all your digits. Mine was excellent despite my back seizing up while I wheeled the smoker out of the garage. He fought me, but the sign clearly read, “No Smoking: Violators will be wheeled out.” BA-DUM! Get it?

But SRSLY, folks.

It’s our custom to keep up with all the bits of the social media we can manage so we can make right-on recommendations to you. One of the communities I’m in is on a video sharing site called Vimeo. It’s very different from YouTube in that you are only allowed to upload a video you made, no TV shows, no commercials, no viral marketing. It’s genuinely just a bunch of folks sharing their videos with each other and their families. They have excellent privacy options if you don’t want everyone to see everything (i.e. baby’s first bath is only for family).

But I’m not just recommending a fun site to surf. They recently redesigned (It’s gorgeous by the way, but not my point either.) and added some new features, and with any major overhaul there comes hiccups. Last Sunday their upload page broke and no one could upload their videos. They got it fixed and the site’s creator wrote a blog post apologizing for the hiccup. His apology and the responses are what I’d like to recommend your reading. The own-uppins from the founder and the love and understanding from the community is an excellent example of cultivating a loyal community. But it doesn’t read like a guy following “best practices” for web community management, but rather like a guy honestly responding to a group of people he’s built a relationship with.

Here’s what I saw when I logged in for my Monday morning surf: Blazing Notification. It was right there in my face when I logged in, not buried in an internal page.

Here’s a little snip of the post:

I want to personally apologize for the problems with the site in the past few days, especially with uploads. It’s the result of a small, careless technical error that had wide-reaching consequences. We screwed up.

And the closing sentence:

If you have any questions, please post them in the comments below and I will address them directly.

Which he did. You can read the whole thing here and see the responses and his directly answering their questions.

So, who cares, right? They aren’t a credit union. But they are members of a community. And the people in charge of that community are very reachable and very visible and shoot straight with their members. Can credit unions learn something from this? Can your CEOs be more reachable, more visible? When you need to address your members, can you do it easily and conspicuously so they don’t have to hunt for it? When they have questions, is it easy for them to get those questions to you and hope for a direct response from someone, or are the sent to an FAQ page?

Bonus Round! Because I have neither the emotional nor social nerve-endings that stop most people from making fools of themselves, I’ll give you my latest video contribution: Don’t Go No Farther (with out-takes).

Have good days.

The Mica Minute. Yes, one of the best-known names in our industry is embracing social media (hat tip to Rob and his latest Frivolous Friday post).

It wouldn’t be an Open Source CU post without some constructive criticism. Gotta say I’m not too keen on the “guidelines” post (why not just put it on a separate page?), but I’m pretty happy about everything else. Hey, I’ve beat up on CUNA once or twice before, so now it’s time for some CUNA-love.

I’m pleasantly surprised that comments are posted immediately – a good call. Heck, I’m just thrilled that comments are allowed! Way too many folks wouldn’t allow comments. Also, I’m on board with the simple Blogger theme as a start. It’s a real, genuine blog. (I shouldn’t have to point that out, but I’ve seen way too many “blogs” that aren’t really blogs.)

For future posts, here are some pointers. Dan/his staff probably already gets this:

• I hope that he’ll keep the same voice in his writing as he has in the YouTube videos. The “guidelines” post smells like the legal department, and I doubt Dan wrote that. Hey, that’s OK.
• I hope to see occasional participation on other credit union blogs either by staff working with him on this or by the man himself. (Think John Edwards’ Twitter page, and his “from staff” tweets. i.e., it’s OK for your staff to get out there for you – just be transparent about it.) I mention participating on other CU blogs (like Filene, UFirst, or Rob’s blog/podcast, for example) because when you enter social media, you’re not on an island to yourself.

All in all, I’m impressed. Kudos!

Dan, how about an email interview about social media and why you’re taking the plunge? You can reach me at trey [at] trabian [dot] com.

Everyone else feel the way I do about this? Impressed?

A comment thread on another blog has made me realize that most credit unions don’t get social media. By now they’ve all at least heard of “blogs,” but few understand that social media can make business sense. I’ll get to the comment thread in question later in this post, but first I want to start with a story about one credit union exec who does see the value in social media. His CU was even a sponsor of Northern Voice 2007!

Gene Blishen writes the Tinfoiling blog. He’s the general manager of Mount Lehman Credit Union, which he describes as “a small credit union just outside of Vancouver B.C. We live among the giants (Vancity, Coast Capital, Envision, Prospera). We are small but nimble and have a purposeful strategy – Serve the member.” (BTW, I love their brand.)

On a recent post, he writes (emphasis and formatting added):

Someone once told me that small credit unions are a conscience for larger credit unions. We have this symbiotic relationship. As organizations grow larger it is apparent that their social conscience diminishes, not out of choice but because their size creates difficulties if not impossibilities on trying to maintain a focused and understood social conscience. That coupled with the new realization that marketing/PR is not appreciated when it is shoved in your face without any regard to who you are or what you think.

It’s like most advertising is in ‘black and white’, absolute, with the agenda to BUY. We have changed. Blogs and the internet have begun a very different dialogue between the buyer and the seller – there should be an eBay rating for all companies.

This difference produces marketing/PR that is in colour with every hue available. You have to now prove what you state and you don’t get a second chance. You could call it coloured no chance marketing. Because if you are wrong, or if an employee takes a stance that is at odds with what you are trying to idealize and that party that you offended understands blogging then watch out. From their small network someone has started pulling the thread and everything your business has done begins to unravel.

Does it mean much? Absolutely.

It is the lethal injection to the word of mouth buzz that is critical. It is permanent. What is posted on the internet is like something written on stone tablets. Pretty tough to erase and there for the world to see for a long time.

Brilliant. I wish the anonymous cowards commenters on this creditunions.com thread would see Gene’s post.

Note: I avoided getting involved in that conversation until someone tried to rip Verity for (a) blogging and (b) hiring Trabian. If you want to see what my writing looks like when I’m irate (and it takes a lot), comments # 17, 18, and 19 give a glimpse.

For the record, this isn’t at all against Callahan & Associates, it’s against the anonymous commenters. I love how Callahan is embracing social media with Scott’s work on his two blogs and I applaud yesterday’s launch of the CUSP blog. They understand social media.

But most financial institutions still don’t. Thank goodness for the ones who do, for the folks in that thread on the pro-social media side – the ones who are leading the charge.

P.S. I’m considering a move to Canada. Ok, just kidding – our landlord absolutely gets social media – but I do need to go visit Vancity, Social Signal, Currency Marketing, Gene C., Gene B., Darren, and Colin all on an extended road trip up north.

It’s good to be back and blogging. Thanks to Gene for picking up the slack in our absence, and to everyone we met in Seattle: thanks for making us feel so welcome!

Brent and I were presented a tough dilemma after our social media roundtable last week from a CU that we’ll keep anonymous:

One of the companies we work with has [an internal-only] blog and the employees comment about restaurants, banks, credit unions, health clubs, etc.

We’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of good comments [on the internal blogs] at most of our sponsor companies but every once in awhile, we get an angry member who airs grievances against us on a company intranet blog. Often, I get a copy of the blog forwarded to me.

Most recently, there were inaccurate claims made by the angry member.

I have no way to respond to the member … and I don’t really know how to call and let the member know I saw the blog either. [It’s been suggested that we ask someone to] respond on the intranet blog but I am concerned about that escalating the situation.

I’d advise your credit union to launch a blog of your own and allow comments. You’d provide a forum for this discussion and others like it to take place on your turf. Speaking from experience, I’d rather take and respond to criticism on one of our blogs than anywhere else.

I agree that planting comments on the internal blog you reference would be a bad idea, as would directly contacting the member. I’d imagine that could jeopardize the job of the person sending you the posts.

Instead, you could make a post on your own blog that says something to the effect of “We’re launching this blog to give you an opportunity to talk directly with us about where we’re falling short. So here goes: how can we improve?”

Ideally, a commenter or poster on the internal blog will notice that you’re reaching out and will link it up – the conversation will continue on your blog with your participation, apologies will be issued, the fog lifts as the sun bursts forth, and the crowd of angry commenters will spontaneously join hands to sing “We Are The World.” Ok, so maybe all that flowery stuff won’t happen, but I believe your efforts will show that you’re listening and are sincere about opening up the conversation with your members.

Have any other folks out there been facing the same issue, and what alternatives to launching a blog (while still finding a way to participate in the conversation) am I missing? Am I giving bad advice here?

I was about to head out for the day when I found this open letter to a credit union. I couldn’t resist sharing it.

The post reads, in part:

When I was 19, you gave me the run around for a couple weeks, treating me like a stranger when I asked for a loan to buy my first car. You made me get a co-signer and locked in their assets. When I was in my early 20s I paid off the entire $21,000 and you treated me like a stranger yet again. When I was 24 I wanted to get a new car, and you were no help.

Your telephone help desk operators were always rude, you made me jump through 20 hoops just to prove myself worthy of your business, and you continue to surcharge me $5.95/month on an account I haven’t used since 2004. Better yet, you will not “allow” me to close said account. I especially like how you used to hold every one of my ATM transactions/deposits and put 10 day holds on all my cheques. That was always really helpful.

For an institution that I have dealt with for over 20 years, you sure have a funny way of showing any kind of appreciation or at least giving me the common courtesy of pleasant and helpful customer service.

I’m going to repeat some advice I gave to a credit union months ago when they were given the title “worst bank ever.”

• If you have a contact at this credit union, clue him/her in on what’s going on so they can help themselves.
• For said credit union, publicly (through comments) explain yourselves to the blogger who wrote the post. They’d probably amend the post with your response.
• And by all means, take it seriously. If you don’t think this will climb up the search results, ask the “worst bank ever” what they learned (or maybe didn’t).

Two days after Shari blogged about how Verity means the state or quality of being true or real, they got a big chance to prove it. Their website got hacked.

From yesterday’s Spoofing Alert post:

It appears that our log-in button has been re-routed to an unauthorized website. We are in the process right now of trying break the link or pull down our site.

Please do not log in to home banking at this time.

If you did try to log on earlier today and were asked for your credit card numbers AND YOU GAVE THEM, please call this number immediately to notify us at 1-800-444-4589 option 2. Please leave us a message and we will return your call as soon as possible.

We will keep you updated on this blog site.

They’ve since pulled the main website down completely – and their blog is, from what I can tell, the primary point of online contact for their members. From an exchange in the comments:

Anonymous: I answered some screening questions the last time I logged in e.g mothers maiden name, etc. Were these authentic or spoofed?

Shari: It appears that the spoofing happened about 10 am this morning …. Unfortunately, those questions you answered were not from us. Without saying too much (because the perpetrators can read this site as well as we can) we have done a few things to shore up the problem but are not ready just yet to announce that everything is fixed.

Anonymous: It was actually already happening this morning at 6:30… long before 10.

Shari: Thank you for letting us know that. I had logged on at 5 am yesterday morning and everything was fine. The next confirmed log-in that we received was 10:00 am. So we now know it happened sometime between 5:00 am and 6:30 am.

Jim Bruene picked up on this first, and he points out there’s a “silver lining.”

As bad as this is, Verity should be applauded for the rapid response, using both its website and blog to get the word out.

Shari, this drama will pass. The last two posts you’ve made have probably been the toughest ones you’ve ever had to write, knowing that all of your online members’ eyes are now being directed to your blog. Keep your chin up; you’re making Verity’s name match the definition.

To everyone else, this should long serve as a case study of a blog’s potential as much more than a corporate marketing tool.

I recently got an email from someone ready to blog.

He wrote, in part:

I need someone to get me going…. I am attaching my press release so you know more about what I am doing….

Here’s what I need:

• someone to put together the first entries
• help getting my blog linked to others in the blogosphere
• create the look of the blog

I have been told this is such a great way to drive people to a website.

I’ve recently had other conversations similar to this, and it seems we’re at a point where most businesspeople have heard of blogs and have even picked up on the business case for blogging – but there’s a big distinction in “hearing about it” and “getting it”. And if you’re going to blog as part of your business strategy, you’ve got to get it first.

Yes, blogging can definitely increase your exposure on the web, build a community around your ideas, and introduce you to many thoughtful, interesting people. But here are a couple of important things to consider before diving in:

• Blogging is great for spreading ideas – but not so much for spreading press releases. In fact, bloggers who come across as self-promotional get ignored and sometimes lampooned by other bloggers. On our blogs, we’re careful not to promote our company’s products and services. We might announce a new client, but we try to tell a story about that client rather than being self-promotional. And we disclose the relationship to our readers.
• If you’re going to blog, you’ve got to do it in your own words. Your blog must start out and remain transparent and honest, and it’s got to be authentically yours. Most bloggers can spot inauthenticity a mile away, so I’d strongly advise against having anyone else write for you.
• Link to other bloggers first. If you make quality posts, you’ll get incoming links. And always, always, always give attribution if you write about something you see elsewhere. For example, if you write about something you see on our blog, we’ll probably link back to you either immediately or shortly after we discover the mention as a courtesy. While we’re on this topic, it’s come to our attention that we’re not getting citation in mainstream industry publications apparently using this blog as fodder. We always link (even to print publications) and we expect the same in return. Golden rule. There. I got that off my chest.
• Read many blogs and leave plenty of comments before you start your own. So I guess it’s best said, “Don’t dive in.” Get a feel first. If you’re in credit unions, visit blogs on our blogroll and actively participate in other conversations by commenting (both on those blogs and on blogs dealing with other topics that may interest you) to see examples of what’s acceptable. Pay attention to posts that get conversations going. Buy some blogging books while you’re at it. Naked Conversations rocks and is required reading.
• If you’re starting a blog and you’re unsure if you’re going to stick with it for the long haul, go free first and move to a custom design later. Creating the look of the blog comes when you sign up for a free blog hosting service like WordPress or Blogger. There are plenty of templates available, and there’s nothing wrong with using one of these at first. I’d suggest you get your feet wet with a ready-made template first then you can decide if a custom design is worth the investment. Some free services even allow you to customize the design if you can find someone to edit the CSS.
• Be prepared to make a major time commitment. I get this question often: “Does it take a lot of time?” Yes, it does, especially if you want your blog to be a success at getting more traffic, spreading ideas, serving as a creative outlet, introducing you to new folks, and enhancing your brand. If you can’t make that time commitment, you should probably hold off until you’re ready. In my case, I might make two to three posts per week (sometimes only one), but I’m always reading and commenting on other blogs. I probably spend an hour of each workday doing something related to Open Source CU, even when I’m not writing a post. (This one has taken about four hours). It’s not for everybody, but if you can invest the time and creative energy, it’s worth it.
• Be prepared to hear crickets chirping for a while. Comments are hard to come by and so is traffic, for that matter (especially on a niche blog). For many months the only conversation going on here happened when Brent would leave a comment on something I’d posted. But persistence pays off. And mildly controversial posts don’t hurt either.

How would you have responded to his email? When I refine this list down the line, what other tips should I include?

We’ve been looking for a credit union CEO to blog with members in a setting that allows comments and offers RSS. Thanks to The Better Banking Blog, we’ve found one.

From the post:

Online Banking Review first wrote about blogging and banking in 2004, but I think it’s fair to say blogging has now gone mainstream. In the current issue’s feature on Web 2.0, Hothouse founding partner Simon van Wyk says “Anyone who runs a business needs to run a blog.”

.... Google the words “bank blog” and you’re more likely to find a hardened blogger complaining about poor customer service from a bank rather than a contribution from the industry.

But while the banks may be silent on the blog front, a credit union chief executive in South Australia has taken up the challenge. Greg Connor, who runs Savings & Loans Credit Union, uses his blog to communicate to the credit union’s 170,000 members and even takes the time to respond to their posts.

Connor is making some great posts, and his members are responding. There’s a community in his comment threads. It’s a great example of how CU executive teams should be conversing with their members.

It has, however, been a couple of weeks since his last post, but a lot of C-level blogs in other industries follow this pattern. Hey, in that position, your readers understand: you’re a busy guy. The infrequency does make a good argument for using a group blog approach, but even we’ve been known to push two weeks between posts on Open Source CU (we still have that problem on the Trabian blog).

Is it just me or has there been a recent spike in financial institutions participating in the social web?

Colin has the scoop on Wells Fargo’s new blog, The Student LoanDown℠. In typical WF fashion they made sure to include the service mark. (Brent will be working on a new banner for Open Source CU℠ today.)

It’s their second niche blog with the first being Guided by History℠, which eloquently deals with disaster preparedness. I’ve followed it since March and still subscribe. If you’ve never seen this blog, just imagine the Red Cross joining forces with Lifehacker.

I’m not very excited about this new Wells Fargo launch. For a topic as dry as student loans, my take is you’ve got to set it up to be both entertaining (see UMB Bank’s My Ugly Room campaign) and uniquely informative (stuff you can’t get anywhere else). Think: What’s the incentive to subscribe? That’s the key.

Something about this doesn’t make me think they’re going for entertaining. Maybe part of it’s their “Blog Roll” and the links to, um, four dot-govs (including FAFSA, gee that’s an acronym I thought I’d never have to say again).

Plus, aren’t student loans typically made and forgotten until graduation? There goes your long-term reader base (if you’re not careful to keep it relevant, that is). So who’s the readership here? Might this be too narrow a niche?

The design is bearable – a little on the MySpace side with a WF feel to it. The authors aren’t anonymous and comments are allowed. All good things. But I feel like I’m having to look too hard for something good to say here. Maybe the content will prove me wrong.

Of course I’m rushing to judgment – after all, the official WF announcement isn’t slated until tomorrow. If they prove me wrong, I’ll certainly write about it.