Truth be told, I was hoping to launch our new website on the anniversary of our blog on December 14, 2007. My master plan was to launch the new site, provide a rationale for the new design and do a bit of a 2007 retrospective. But as it always happens, life and work chew up the available hours and the calendar caught up with me. I posted a short note to mark the occasion and moved on.
Then frequent commentor, Tony Mannor, left a comment that deserves the actual post I was going to do.
"Congrats Amigo, So do you have any insights that you would like to share? What kinds of posts got the most traffic or response in the form of comments? Did you get any personal satisfaction? I gripe sometimes and find it very cathartic. I look forward to another year of reading your stuff. Keep up the good work."
Do you have any insights that you would like to share?
- There is credit union life below the 49th parallel. For the first 16 years of being in business, I focussed solely on the Canadian market. But now that our entire focus is serving only credit unions, we needed to open our eyes and learn more about the US credit union landscape.
- There is an amazing online community of credit union bloggers and advocates who are passionate about the credit union industry. Being the only marketing agency focussed exclusively on the credit union industry in Canada has made life a little lonely!
But this year by putting Currency out their on the CU blog-o-sphere, I feel like I have finally connected with my peeps! Professionals who are more interested in doing what's good for the credit union movement and less concerned with winning awards and hiding secrets. It's been so refreshing.
This year, I met the professionals from Trabian, Everything CU, Andermahr & Company, FORUM Solutions, Weber Marketing, The Garland Group, Creative Brand Communications and The Filene Research Institute to name a few.
I also hob-knobbed (in person and online) with CU luminaries, Denise 'Modern Marketing' Wymore and Jim 'Netbanker' Bruene; and true client-side advocates including Matt 'The Credit Union Warrior' Davis, Jeff Hardin, William Azaroff, Lydia Johnson, Trey Reeme, Robbie Wright, Ginny Brady, and Shari Storm.
I connected with many CU journalists including Lisa Hochgraf and Christopher Stevenson from CUES.
And then there is Mr. Ron Shevlin—the brilliant and cranky blogger with a soft spot for credit unions.
All this because I asked my friend and client, Gene 'Tinfoiling' Blishen, "so what's this blogging thing all about?"
What kinds of posts got the most traffic or response in the form of comments?
- Between Nala and I, we wrote 66 posts that garnered 245 comments in the past year. I hoped for 50 posts with 50 comments, so we exceeded my goal!
- Popular blogs included posts on user-generated content, microsites, affinity positioning and youth marketing.
- And, of course, my silly YouTube video application.
Did you get any personal satisfaction?
- For sure. Blogging has forced my to pick sides and really figure out what I believe in.
- Unlike other forms of writing, like newsletters, white papers and magazine articles, blogging comes easier for me. I don't feel the need to solve the world's problems in one document. On the downside, proofing you own work does result in more than occasional typos!
- I really enjoy the two-way conversation. Getting a comment is a thrill. It's like discovering that there is life in space—there is actually someone out there!
Full circle
This brings us to the new website design. As the blog has become more important to us, it was clear that burying it on a third level page wasn't giving it the profile that it deserved. Plus the old design was getting a little long in the tooth.
So there you go. That's the post I wanted to do on our blog's anniversary. Thanks for the nudge Tony!
Tim
P.S. If I have missed anyone on our new blogroll, let me know. And if you want to reciprocate with a link on your blogroll, I'd sure appreciate it!
P.P.S. If I met you and missed you in my list above, I apologize. I met a lot of people this year!