Credit Unions Are… A Little Different
Credit unions are a little different. You always have been. And that’s a good thing–something to embrace and celebrate. Maybe you don’t know it yet, but it gets better. We know it is possible to live...
View ArticleCollaborate your way to social media expertise
The credit union industry has a long way to go in terms of using social and digital channels to the full extent of their power and potential. And that’s okay. The industry has come a long way in the...
View ArticleYoung people are making your jobs harder
It’s one thing to want to draw in a younger demographic to your credit union – it’s up to you to actually do something about it. Here are seven things this industry, and the entire cooperative...
View ArticleThe power of a one-item list
I’ve had it with listicles of arbitrary length about nothing important lazily traipsing through every digital media platform in existence. 17 everyday foods that are surprisingly unhealthy (probably...
View ArticleCredit union boards love social media
Recently I was asked to present on several social media topics during the CU Conferences Social Media Conference in Seattle. When I learned that the attendee list included a large number of credit...
View ArticleAn open letter to Apple RE: my favorite local shops
Hey Apple, Let me first start by saying you’re awesome. When I first heard about the concept of the iPhone in 2007, I remember thinking “What! I don’t understand you, tiny computer in my hand, but I...
View ArticleDon’t be a terrible dinner guest when social media invites you over
There’s a lot that needs to be done before successfully executing a strategic plan to accomplish your business goals—I know this and I feel for anyone tasked with this job. And social media, being the...
View ArticleWhat’s your anti-insanity plan for 2015?
The Internet attributes this famous quote alternately to Mark Twain, Albert Einstein, and Benjamin Franklin: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different...
View ArticleSocial media is great, except for…everything about it
Let me be clear about this. I am not saying I dislike social media, I am saying I dislike the conversation that goes on and on endlessly ABOUT social media. As though social media in-and-of-itself is...
View ArticleDoes your brand take a stand: A container case-study
Credit unions have every opportunity to stand behind their products and services and deliver, hopefully, better, faster, more immediately, more conveniently, more pervasively than any other financial...
View ArticleHow to apply critical thinking for a better credit union movement
It’s time to really look at the principles and values of not only the credit union industry but the cooperative movement as a whole, and ask if we are resting on our haunches on top of these...
View ArticleA big voice for a small credit union: Using employees and social media to...
What has the highest value at your credit union? I’m guessing it’s not something that’s kept in your vault. Look around. It’s who you see all around you–your co-workers, your employees, your...
View ArticleSocial media is not for selling as much as a lawnmower isn’t for painting a...
I was recently talking to my mom about social media and how brands are, and should be, using these platforms to their advantage with all of the new capabilities, uses and connection opportunities they...
View ArticleThe killer “but”
Knowing what we should do, or need to do, or want to do—but not following through and doing that thing—is killing us. I recently spent time at a credit union summit for shops of $100M in assets or...
View ArticleYour credit union members – will you be lonesome when they go?
How’s your relationship with your credit union members? Do you feel confident you’re in a good place with them? According to Knapp’s Relationship Model, created by University of Texas professor Mark...
View ArticleSocial media doesn’t save us, it gives us an empathy outlet—and that’s not...
I had another article written and ready to go for my latest contribution here, but in the minutes before I submitted it on the afternoon of Friday, November 13th, I saw breaking news accounts of an...
View ArticleCredit unions: It’s time to break the rules…
The old adage goes: you need to learn the rules before you can break them. Many wise and famous souls have been attributed with saying some derivative of that phrase, from Pablo Picasso to the Dalai...
View ArticleWill digital technology kill our humanity?
In light of some big social media news, I want to expand on an idea I touched on in a previous article exploring the idea that social media can be used to as an enabler of human empathy if we so choose...
View ArticleFamous authors and green bananas: 5 tips to epic social media storytelling
Ernest Hemingway—some would say he was the greatest storyteller of his time. My grandfather grew up with him in Oak Park, IL in the early 1900s. I always loved his writing and thought it was cool to...
View ArticleEngaged members: Your credit union’s strategic advantage
When asked how cooperatives can differentiate in increasingly competitive markets, Robynn Shrader, CEO of the National Cooperative Grocers said “We are competing against big multinationals that enjoy...
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