08/26/2008

The credit union social media articles and white papers are coming. I hope they include the stuff that matters.

By Tim McAlpine

I have had a half dozen calls recently from writers who are working on credit union social media articles and white papers. The good news is that credit unions are waking up to the possibilities of social media and industry publications are in the midst of preparing best-practice information. The bad news is that these articles and white papers will likely just scratch the surface.

These writers will most likely address:

• Blogging platform choices including free and open-source options like WordPress, Typepad, Blogger, Drupal and other proprietary or custom-coded solutions
• Sources for tracking the blog-o-sphere including Google Alerts, Technorati and Google Blog Search
• Sources for tracking readership including Feedburner and Google Analytics
• Best practices like including photos of your bloggers, signing off each post with the author's name and various linking options
• Podcast hosting options, microphones, portable recording devices, video cameras and editing software choices
• The myriad of free social media services and networks including Facebook, Myspace, Orkut, Second Life, Twitter, Pownce, Jaiku, Friend Feed, YouTube, Viddler, Vimeo, Flickr, Photo Bucket, 12 Seconds and the like
• Best practices for moderating comments and dealing with spammers

But honestly, you can muddle your way through all of the bullet points above without making too many mistakes. And if you do make mistakes here and there you can easily right your ship as you progress.

So, what should these articles and white papers really include?

I just published a seven-part blog starter kit series. As I researched which blogs to include, it was great to see that we now have dozens of credit unions that have caught the social media bug.

What I was struck with, though, was how great the personal blogs by credit union employees are and how mediocre the blogs by credit unions are (there are some exceptions, but not many).

How can you move from mediocre to great? Here are six things that I hope the writers of these articles and white papers consider: your talent, your purpose, your point of view, your content, your frequency and your promotion.

1) Your talent

Recruit a strong writer or group of writers and give them free reign to express real opinions. Don't impose stringent editorial guidelines. Whether they are employees, contest winners or members of your credit union and community, let them do their thing. Trust that you have allowed the right people to be your voice. If they are employees, give them ample time to produce good content. Too often, corporate blogs die on the vine because they are run off the side of an overflowing desk.

2) Your purpose

Publish a differentiated purpose for your blog. With more than 70 million active blogs in the world, we don't need another vanilla corporate blog without a purpose. Within your purpose, define your audience and your subject matter. Who are you talking to and what are you trying to say? By doing this work up front your talent will find it much easier to produce content that's on message.

Your purpose should be different than any other blog in your marketplace, if not the world! Here's a good example that passes this test, "The latest news and announcements from the UFirst Federal Credit Union Board of Directors."

The narrower you go, the more potential you have to create a following. Here's another good example of a simple stated purpose, "Welcome to UTFCU Rocks, the new student site for UT Federal Credit Union. Here you'll find information on special contests, promotions and events."

3) Your point of view

Credit union blogs suffer from the same plight as credit union brands: they are designed to appeal to everyone and therefore appeal to no one. Don't be scared to alienate. If your blogs lacks focus and is interchangeable with all other credit union blogs, why put in the effort?

Take the Currency blog for example. You could ask a regular reader why they follow and he or she would probably say something like. "That Tim guy is a credit union super freak that doesn't like banks at all. I like it when he occasionally loses it."

Could your credit union publish this article? QueerHistoryProject.com. Probably not and that's what makes Vancity's Change Everything community blog so awesome. Not only will Vancity allow a community member to publish this story, Vancity promoted it to their community home page!

4) Your content

Entertain me. Enlighten me. Tell me a good story. Do not repurpose material that is available elsewhere. That includes your newsletter articles and brochure copy. Report on things that matter to your community—not the credit union blog-o-sphere. Make a point. Stir the pot. Call the kettle black. Do not waste your readers' time.

5) Your frequency

Credit unions are posting far too infrequently to create a following. I've heard the 'post at least once per month' rule. Wrong. You need to publish once per week at the very least. Ideally, you should be publishing two to four posts per week. These can be a mix of writing, audio podcasts or video clips. You decide.

Look at The Financial Brand blog. It is less than half a year old and it has vaulted to the top of the pack in its niche. Why? Jeffry Pilcher has an original voice on a niche subject and he publishes up to 10 highly researched, high opinionated and highly educational posts every week.

Take social media seriously or forget it.

6) Your promotion

Publishing those two to four blog posts per week is just the beginning. Not only do you need to invest some money in marketing your social media effort in the form of traditional and non-traditional paid media, you need to immerse your credit union in the local blog-o-sphere (not the credit union blog-o-sphere). Are members of your credit union posting comments on local blogs everyday? This is a terrific way to get included on local blogrolls and to have local people reading and leaving comments on your blog.

Is your blog URL plastered all over your branches? Your website? Your newsletters? Your community cruisers? Your statement stuffers? Your advertisements? And your foreheads? It should be! Use every existing communication channel to promote your new blog. Your membership is not going to magically stumble on it.

And now to pick on an innocent bystander

Robbie Wright is a friend and a fellow credit union blogger. I am going to use him as an example to illustrate what I feel is the major issue of under-performing credit union blogs today. I am calling him out, because he is the only person that I could think of that has a personal blog and and also is the main blogger for the credit union he works for. He's also a good sport. Right Robbie?

Robbie has one of the best personal blogs that I read: The Life and Times of a Credit Union Employee. Here are four of his posts from the last few months.

• Lemmings (July 31 with 12 comments)
• I lost a little respect (Posted July 1 with 5 comments)
• Is Discover more thrift oriented than credit unions? (June 10 with 13 comments)
• REI and the credit union spirit (May 9 with 9 comments)

Now, here are four of Robbie's posts on his CUSO's blog from the same time period.

• NACUSO launches new site and blog (July 8 with 0 comments)
• MasterCard’s new Debit Platform (April 7, 2008 with 1 comment)
• The Federal Reserve’s Legal Opinion on Deposit Reclassification (March 31 with 0 comments)
• Our new partnership with CUES (March 18 with 0 comments)

Robbie's personal blog headlines and articles are opinionated, provocative and generate great conversation. His headlines and blog content for the CUSO are safe, boring, infrequent and generate little dialogue.

When employees blog for employers, they self edit and second guess their own instincts. Its human nature. Nobody wants to get in trouble for stirring the pot. A nice safe blog post won't get you fired. Unfortunately, it probably won' get you any online attention either.

I am not saying that every blog needs to be written in the style of the crackpot that the local paper publishes in the letter-to-the-editor section, but make me laugh, cry, question things and make me want to come back for more. Can a blog about Deposit Reclassification do that? I say hell yes! Especially if Robbie writes it in his personal persona without the fear of pissing people off.

This goes back to my first two points: define your purpose and point of view at the beginning and everything from that point on will just flow.

Maybe creating conversation isn't part of your blog's stated purpose. Maybe you just want to push news out there. That's fine. Turn commenting off and stop worrying about it. Seth Godin's blog and Daring Fireball are two of the most popular blogs in existence. Neither allow comments.

The comment conundrum

But it seems to me that you do want comments. "How do I get more comments?" is the most popular question that I hear from corporate bloggers. My quick answer is you have to work at it every day.

I co-presented the Young & Free story in New York with Cathy Graeber from Forrester. You can view the slide deck here. On slide seven there is a graph. At the bottom is a line that indicates what percentage of the Internet users comment on blogs. It looks like about 20% of Generation Y and 3% of Baby Boomers have left a comment on a blog.

Here's the ugly truth about the blog-o-sphere: a large percentage of comments are left by bloggers looking to build cross links to their own blogs in hopes of increasing traffic. It is very difficult for a business blog directed to consumers to garner a lot of comments. Consumers aren't necessarily in the self-promotional game and leaving a blog comment can be really intimidating for a first-timer.

Your content has to be incredible. It has to inspire or polarize the audience. People only comment if they really agree or really disagree with what is being written. And with headlines like "Ten reasons retirement is coming," its no wonder credit union blogs lack any real dialogue.

The Young & Free Alberta blog has had more than 900 comments in less than one year. So it is possible, it just takes hard work and great content.

Final thoughts

Sure you can click over to WordPress and start a blog this second, but social media is not free. It takes a smart strategy and a ton of execution by dedicated resources.

If you do all six of these things well, you might actually get some comments, connect with your members, build your brand, grow your readership, sell some products and services and produce a positive return on your social media investment. You may even acquire some new members along the way!

That's all I have to say about that. What about you?

P.S. I bet I get at least one comment on this post. Sorry Robbie!

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08/25/2008

Blog starter kit part 7: a dozen blogs that are just silly and fun.

By Tim McAlpine

This last list has real potential of making you think less of me!

This is a collection of hidden gems, time wasters, gut busters and just plain weird blogs. Click if you dare. I have marked a few with asterisks (*). These blogs are not suitable for those easily offended and are best not to be viewed at work. You will have a hard time explaining why you have your earbuds in and Coke coming out of your nose. I crowd sourced a few of these on Twitter, so if any offend you, it's wasn't me (really).

Final warning: This is not the list to give to your boss to convince him or her that your credit union should get involved in social media. That's what part 1 to 6 is for.

1. Feed | URL | Indexed
2. Feed | URL | Fail Blog*
3. Feed | URL | Funny of Die*
4. Feed | URL | LOLZIES!!1@!
5. Feed | URL | Storylog: True Stories
6. Feed | URL | Stuff White People Like
7. Feed | URL | The Alka-Seltzer Great American Road Trip
8. Feed | URL | The Big Picture
9. Feed | URL | The Dilbert Blog by Scott Adams
10. Feed | URL | The Onion*
11. Feed | URL | Violent Acres*
12. Feed | URL | You Look Nice Today*

Previously

• Dozen blogs by credit union service providers
• Dozen blogs by providers servicing banks and credit unions
• Dozen blogs by credit union employees
• Dozen blogs by credit unions
• Dozen blogs by credit union leagues and associations
• Dozen blogs about marketing and social media 

Done. Phew, that was harder than I thought. I have given you 88 hand-selected blogs to pick and choose from. I know that is a lot, but with more than 70 million active blogs worldwide, hopefully I saved you some time finding some good blogs to follow.

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08/24/2008

Blog starter kit part 6: a dozen blogs about marketing and social media.

By Tim McAlpine

These are blogs that I read to keep up with what's new in general marketing, social media and technology. If you are in the midst of creating your own social media strategy or if you are a seasoned pro, I guarantee these blogs will continue to teach you.

1. Feed | URL | Boing Boing
2. Feed | URL | Buzz Canuck by Sean Moffitt
3. Feed | URL | Church of Customers by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba
4. Feed | URL | Chris Brogan
5. Feed | URL | Copyblogger by Brian Clark
6. Feed | URL | Groundswell by Josh Bernoff
7. Feed | URL | Logic + Emotion by David Armano
8. Feed | URL | Mashable
9. Feed | URL | Problogger by Darren Rowse
10. Feed | URL | Techcrunch by Michael Arington
11. Feed | URL | Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel
12. Feed | URL | Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang

Previously

• Dozen blogs by credit union service providers
• Dozen blogs by providers servicing banks and credit unions
• Dozen blogs by credit union employees
• Dozen blogs by credit unions

• Dozen blogs by credit union leagues and associations

Next up:

• Dozen blogs that are just silly and fun

When I first thought about creating a blog starter kit series, I thought it would be easy! Needless to say, its taken more work than I thought to come up with a list that I am willing to put my name behind. Feel free to add to it in the comments.

---

 

08/23/2008

Blog starter kit part 5: a dozen blogs by credit union leagues and associations.

By Tim McAlpine

These are blogs that represent credit union chapters, leagues and associations. I had to scrape to find nine including a couple that are just news aggregators and a couple that seem to be dormant. That not to say there aren't gems here—I particularly enjoy Jeff Hardin's CU Communicator and CUNA's YES Summit Blog.

1. Feed | URL | Austin Chapter of Credit Unions
2. Feed | URL | CU Communicator
3. Feed | URL | CUNA News Now Headlines
4. Feed | URL | YES CU Blog: Serving 18-to-30s
5. Feed | URL | Fort Worth Chapter of Credit Unions
6. Feed | URL | NAFCU Compliance Blog
7. Feed | URL | NCUA Recently Posted Information*
8. Feed | URL | The Mica Minute
9. Feed | URL | WOCCU's International Partnersips Blog

And, since I could only find 9, I'll round out the dozen with two more credit union blogs that should have been in the previous list and one wild card that I don't know where to fit!

1. Feed | URL | Coor's Credit Union Blog
2. Feed | URL | What are You Saving For? by Member's Credit Union
3. Feed | URL | The CU Skeptic

Previously

• Dozen blogs by credit union service providers
• Dozen blogs by providers servicing banks and credit unions
• Dozen blogs by credit union employees
• Dozen blogs by credit unions

Next up:

• Dozen blogs about marketing and social media
• Dozen blogs that are just silly and fun

You know the drill! If I missed any of your favourites, add them in the comments.

---

 

08/22/2008

Blog starter kit part 4: a dozen blogs by credit unions.

By Tim McAlpine

This category may be the only one that really matters! These are credit unions involved in social media and actually engaging in dialogue with members and potential members online.

1. Feed | URL | Carolina Postal Credit Union's I Love My Hoopty Blog
2. Feed | URL | Forum Credit Union Unofficial Spokespeople Blog
3. Feed | URL | Hamilton Community CU Blog
4. Feed | URL | Hopewell Federal Credit Union's Blog
5. Feed | URL | Piedmont Credit Union Member Connect
6. Feed | URL | Tech CU Money Savvy
7. Feed | URL | The Addison Cafe
8. Feed | URL | The Boardcast by UFirst
9. Feed | URL | UTFCU Rocks
10. Feed | URL | UWCU Source Code—The Web Branch Blog
11. Feed | URL | Vancity's Change Everything Community
12. Feed | URL | Verity Credit Union Our Voices Blog

Previously

• Dozen blogs by credit union service providers
• Dozen blogs by providers servicing banks and credit unions
• Dozen blogs by credit union employees

Next up:

• Dozen blogs by credit union leagues and associations
• Dozen blogs about marketing and social media
• Dozen blogs that are just silly and fun

This category was extremely difficult to narrow down to just 12. If I missed your credit union's blog, I apologize. My criteria for selecting blogs to include was based on how interesting the writing is, how frequently new articles are posted, does the blog have a differentiated point of view, does the blog demonstrate a personality and does the blog give me any reason to come back for more.

I mentioned above that these are credit unions engaging in dialogue. Perhaps a better phrase would be attempting to engage in dialogue. If I went by comment count, this list would be pretty sparse! In general, credit union blogs don't generate many comments. That's a topic I will explore in an upcoming blog post.

There are far more than a dozen credit unions blogging now, so please build on my list by adding more to the comments.

P.S. I left Young & Free Alberta and Young & Free Texas off the list to make sure I included room for an unbiased dozen (that was hard)!

---

 

08/22/2008

Blog starter kit part 3: a dozen blogs by credit union employees.

By Tim McAlpine

This category was a little tough since I follow quite a few credit union employee blogs. To narrow the list, I have intentionally excluded personal blogs that aren't centered around credit union issues since these folks probably wouldn't want a bunch of credit union marketers and technologists following their personal adventures in life!

This list includes a board member (Luis) and a great new blog by a former credit union employee (Mark) and the most prolific blog in the credit union space (Bruen and Bensley). None of these blogs are sanctioned by their credit union employers—I will list those blogs in the next post.

1. Feed | URL | Bruen/Bensley Credit Union Blog
2. Feed | URL | CreditUnion2Zero by Luis Barros
3. Feed | URL | It’s Accrual World by Mark Sadowski
4. Feed | URL | Nancy Zimmerman (a Canadian money coach)
5. Feed | URL | No Brand Pimps by Butch Holley Evans
6. Feed | URL | The Credit Union Warrior by Matt Davis
7. Feed | URL | The Life and Times of a CU Employee by Robbie Wright
8. Feed | URL | The Loop by Andy LaFlamme
9. Feed | URL | Thwart Mediocrity by Trey Reeme
10. Feed | URL | Tinfoiling by Gene Blishen
11. Feed | URL | William Azaroff
12. Feed | URL | Wired CU by Gabriel Garcia

Previously

• Dozen blogs by credit union service providers
• Dozen blogs by providers servicing banks and credit unions

Next up:

• Dozen blogs by credit unions
• Dozen blogs by credit union leagues and associations
• Dozen blogs about marketing and social media
• Dozen blogs that are just silly and fun

I know I must have missed somebody important! Please add them to the comments.

---

 

08/21/2008

Blog starter kit part 2: a dozen blogs by providers servicing banks and credit unions.

By Tim McAlpine

Next, providers that offer advice for both banks and credit unions.

1. Feed | URL | Banking on Customers
2. Feed | URL | GonzoBanker by Cornerstone Advisors
3. Feed | URL | Mobile Banking
4. Feed | URL | NetBanker
5. Feed | URL | Ron Shevlin's Marketing Whims
6. Feed | URL | The Bankwatch
7. Feed | URL | The Banktastics by the Garland Group
8. Feed | URL | The Bank Channel
9. Feed | URL | The Better Banking Blog
10. Feed | URL | The Financial Brand by ICONiQ
11. Feed | URL | The Story by Creative Brand Communications
12. Feed | URL | Visible Banking

Previously

• Dozen blogs by credit union service providers

Next up:

• Dozen blogs by credit union employees
• Dozen blogs by credit unions
• Dozen blogs by credit union leagues and associations
• Dozen blogs about marketing and social media
• Dozen blogs that are just silly and fun

Again, tough to pick just 12. Who did I miss? Please add them to the comments.

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08/20/2008

Blog starter kit part 1: a dozen blogs by credit union service providers

By Tim McAlpine

"What blogs should I follow?"

I have been asked this question a few times recently by credit union folks interested in getting involved in social media. To make things easy for you to pick and choose, I will publish a six-part series of my favourites in various categories. Naturally, you need to subcribe to our four blogs to get you started (hee hee)!

1. Feed | URL | Cuckoo
2. Feed | URL | Currency Marketing
3. Feed | URL | Young & Free Alberta
4. Feed | URL | Young & Free Texas

A dozen blogs by credit union service providers

1. Feed | URL | CU Hype
2. Feed | URL | Cult-ivation
3. Feed | URL | CUES Nexus Connection
4. Feed | URL | Current Issues in Credit Unions (blog and podcast)
5. Feed | URL | Doxim
6. Feed | URL | EverythingCU.com World 2.0
7. Feed | URL | Filene Research Institute
8. Feed | URL | FORUM Solutions
9. Feed | URL | Open Source CU
10. Feed | URL | NACUSO
11. Feed | URL | Payment Industry Insider
12. Feed | URL | What's the Difference

Next up:

• Dozen blogs by providers servicing banks and credit unions
• Dozen blogs by credit union employees
• Dozen blogs by credit unions
• Dozen blogs about marketing and social media
• Dozen blogs that are just silly and fun

At the end of the series you will have 76 blogs to pick and choose from. If you are new to blogs and social media, I encourage you to test these out, kick some tires and leave a comment or two. It's a great on-going conversation to be a part of.

It was tough to pick just 12 and I know I missed some good blogs. Did I miss any of your favourites? Please add them to the comments.

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07/31/2008

A veritable buffet of consumption choices.

By Tim McAlpine

You now have five ways to consume our blog content.

1. Standard fare—visit our blog page
   Stop by from time to time to see what's up. Chances are you'll miss some stuff though unless you remember to check in a few times a week.
    
2. Fancy dining—subscribe to our RSS feed
   + http://feeds.feedburner.com/CurrencyMarketing
   Add this feed to your RSS reader of choice. I use Google Reader, but there are many others to choose from. If you are not sure what RSS is, click here to watch a video from Common Craft that explains RSS in Plain English.
    
   If you have been a long-time RSS subscriber, you may be subscribed to an old feed. If you can switch to this feed, I'd really appreciate it. Feedburner offers great tools for bloggers to analyze feed traffic.
    
3. Roadside diner—subscribe by E-mail
   This is a brand new feature. Submit your e-mail in the field in the right-hand column and all new blog posts will be automatically e-mailed to you. It's like magic! You can also unsubscribe at any time.
    
4. Fast food—follow me on Twitter
   + http://twitter.com/CurrencyTim
   I post links to a number of my blog posts on Twitter. If you follow me, I will definitely return the favour.
    
5. All you can eat—follow me on Friend Feed
   + http://friendfeed.com/CurrencyTim
   Not only will you see every new blog post, you'll also see other people's blog posts that I have shared plus any other content that I have added to the ever-expanding Interweb! This option is not for the faint of heart!

Thanks for following along and partipating! It is an honour to have such loyal readers and to have met so many great people through blogging. I just received my 800th comment last week. Every single comment is so appreciated.

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06/28/2008

Shout out: You Belong at Premier.

By Tim McAlpine

I am excited that more and more credit unions are embracing the social web with initiatives that differentiate their organizations.

Case in point, Colorado's Premier Members Federal Credit Union has launched a new microsite complete with videos and a blog. The site is called You Belong At Premier.

It is smart, simple and very personal. The member videos that have been transformed into professional TV commercials are great. The production value, animation and fresh look is awesome.

Well done Premier!

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