JD Valerio's Blog - Marketing and other interests

Subscribers and AOL revenue

2009-11-05T06:14:00.000-08:00

AOL has had a downturn in revenue in comparison to last year. It appears that much of that downturn is attributed to AOL subscribers leaving AOL in droves. So where are those subscribers going? Why are they going away? Will the advertising dollars that were being pumped into AOL for their subscribers be redirected to other companies with traffic? If so where. . .

Real Time Search, Chinese language and Social Media

2009-10-30T05:49:00.000-07:00

I found these comments by Eric Schmidt to be quite interesting. Imagine a superfast internet, integrating social media technoloy with search and an online environment dominated by the Chinese language. It never ceases to amaze me at how much things change, and how fast.

Should Marketers Put All Their Eggs in the SEO Basket?

2009-08-19T10:03:00.000-07:00

I’ve devoted a lot of time and energy into researching best practices for SEO and Interactive Marketing.

Recently, I posted a blog about six areas to focus on when optimizing a site. However, I want to make it very clear that I think SEO is only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to effective marketing. In reality, only two or three companies are going to win the SEO race at any given time. When consumers search for information online most of them don’t look past the first page of results. What does this mean? It means that the companies that spend the most resources (Time, Energy, Technology, Money, and Staff) on SEO will win the SEO race and the rest of the companies need to find other ways to compete for audience attention.

So, once the SEO race is won, what do the marketers in 4th and 5th or 37th place need to do? They need to drive business and web traffic in other ways.

Here are a few ways to compete with the big SEO players:

Salespeople calling on companies and consumers
Direct mail targeted to ideal prospects driving consumers to take action
Pay-per click advertising
Traditional product campaigns
Micro blogging and social media networking (spending time on niche sites related to your field) – check out Ning.com or LinkedIN.com for some interesting niche focus groups.
E-mail marketing
Webinars
Community events

SEO is important for many businesses, don’t get me wrong. However, when an organization has less staff and $$ to compete with the dominate players online, they need to get creative with how they spend the marketing budget.

I often hear marketing companies say things like: “Direct mail is going away.”, “Paper is going away.”, “Newsletter marketing is going away.” While I agree that we are trending more and more towards electronic marketing channels, I don’t believe that they will completely replace the need for traditional forms of marketing. Our press runs might be smaller and our audiences might be more targeted, but direct mail is not going away – at least not right away. Radio, TV, and publications will still be around for quite a while as well. So in answer to the question - Should Marketers Put All Their Eggs in the SEO Basket? The answer is no.

Six Areas to Focus On in Search Engine Optimization

2009-08-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

In researching various Search Engine Optimization and Interactive Marketing strategies I’ve discovered that most SEO consulting firms focus these six areas when optimizing a website: Keywords, Content Writing, Website Optimization, Link Development, Submission, and Reporting.

Below is a quick synopsis of each area. I’ve underlined key terms that would be helpful for marketers to research before approaching an SEO consultant.

Keywords – using keyword research tools, a list of the most searched for terms for your website or industry is complied.

Content Writing- copywriters are hired to create content that is well optimized (using keyword techniques etc.), grammatically correct, and appeals to readers and potential customers. Articles that are 300-600 words in length that are keyword rich are written on your products and services and posted online to increase the content at your website.

Website Optimization – technical tweaks to the backend of your website are made to make it search engine friendly. Terms you will want to look up that impact website optimization include: title tags, image tags, meta tags. Some obstacles to SEO a good Web developer will help you overcome include: Flash content getting in the way of search engines crawling your site, broken site maps and internal linking structures, and duplicate content.

Link Development – the number of incoming links from well-established websites back to yours is a major factor in attaining high search engine rankings. Some of the methods and tools used to improve link development include:

· Social Media Optimization and posting
· Press release writing and submissions
· One-way links from directories and industry websites
· Fee-based directory submissions
· Reciprocal link exchanges
· Blog posting

Submission – During this phase your website is submitted to major search engines and directories online.

Reporting – A baseline ranking is established before optimization begins. After optimization, ranking results are tabulated and reported.

An effective SEO marketing campaign takes a ton of time, energy, expertise, and can be costly (staff time, directory placement, etc.). In my opinion, if SEO is an important ingredient to the success of a business either a full-time staff member(s) need to be devoted to the projects or outsourcing is required. Often times a blend of outsourcing and internal staff time is the best approach for a long-run SEO strategy.

Mobile Malware

2009-08-12T14:05:00.000-07:00

Today I read an article in the NY Times; the headline read, “Cellphones Largely Immune to Viruses, For Now”. Here is link to the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/13/technology/personaltech/13smart.html?_r=1&ref=business

Does this mean that I am going to have to get anti-virus software for my phone soon?

It seems that in the insurance and security fields there will always be niche business to chase. . .

Maybe this article was injected into the news stream to generate hype so that CompanyX can launch a new integrated computer/phone anti-virus software.

Hmm . . . have we seen this tactic somewhere before. . .

Small Business Lending An Answer in 2009

2009-08-05T15:32:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine pointed me to an article published last week in The Star Tribune. Here is the link - http://www.startribune.com/business/51633817.html?page=6&c=y

The article basically points out the increased risk credit unions in Minnesota have taken on in business lending and the problems they are facing as a result.

So, instead of huge multi-million dollar business loans for high risk start-ups, how about focusing on the little guys/gals?

Stricter lending practices and improved credit checks should always be "par for the course", but credit unions need to explore the opportunities in the small business sector as a viable option for future success - (read the article to get the golf pun).

I don't have a crystal ball on the economy, but it makes sense for credit unions to explore bringing on more small business members. They will get more credit card transaction revenue, more exposure in the small business sector, and increase loan $$. A diverse lending portfolio with a smaller threshold of loan caps will bring down the risk factor as well.

The solutions are complex, but the basic direction is simple. . . or is it?

In 2009 Businesses need to invest in face-to-face Business Development

2009-08-01T09:18:00.000-07:00

Economy decline slowing - opportunity never stops growing http://tiny.cc/P0HRw

Time and time again, the most successful businesses are the ones with folks wearing out the rubber on the soles of their shoes and building face-to-face relationships with customers.

One way the financial industry can grow their revenue stream (especially banks and credit unions) is to knock on the doors of small businesses. Go make some friends! Think about it. . . a small business that do 2.5 million in business per year can often times run 80-90% of purchases through a business credit card. That credit card transaction revenue adds up for a bank or a credit union. How many banks and credit unions are actively calling on all of the small businesses in their immediate service area around the branch??

And what about small businesses themselves? If you own a pizza shop, what about bringing some fresh hot pizzas in for free to the small businesses in your area? Drop off a few business cards, coupons, and magnets with your phone number on them and then say, "Please give us a ring and tell us how it tastes". That is a lot cheaper than mailing a million postcards or buying a TV or Radio spot. And who do you think they will think of next week when someone in the office says, "Who's hungry? Anybody want to go to lunch? Where should we go?"

Don't get me wrong, we need marketing. But in times like these we also need to sell our way out of recession.

I think we are on the upswing in our economy. 2008 and early 2009 was rough. It might take a few years, but businesses need to focus on long-term gains now. Stop cutting, start building.

Ideas For Credit Unions Reaching Youth

2009-07-24T10:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.yescucommunity.com/video/living-young-free-show-002

The Young & Free program was first launched with a credit union in canada. Now credit unions in the USA can use syndicated programing and a customizable integrated marketing strategy to attract younger audiences to the credit unoin movement.

I've been watching this program and blogging about it for over a year. I think this is a great business idea and I've enjoyed watching it grow.

Twitter 101

2009-07-24T09:41:00.000-07:00

Today I was reviewing http://business.twitter.com/twitter101/. The site provides tips, case studies, and lingo for businesses who are looking to use Twitter. I've heard some great stories, but I remain a skeptic somewhat. . .

How does Twitter stack up to other social media outlets? Will it last? Is Twitter hype just a result of a good PR and Marketing strategy?

Social Media – The Digital Manifestation of Word-of-Mouth

2009-07-23T07:27:00.000-07:00

Social Media – the digital manifestation of Word-of-Mouth

Today, 7-23-09, I was reading in the New York Times about Curtiss Kimball. Kimball owns a crème brulee cart in San Francisco. His business has been so successful that he quit his day job as a carpenter to keep up with demand. He attributes much of his success to Twitter, on which he has about 5,400 followers. Customers apparently wait for his tweets about where his cart is going to be and what the flavors of the day are!

I think it is great to see technology like this helping small business owners. And the best part, this advertising is free!

One thing to keep in mind about social media for marketing use is that a business must have something buzz worthy or truly compelling in order to get” tweeted” about. In Kimball’s case, his cart offers great tasting desserts. If his desserts tasted like diesel fuel – he may get a lot of people tweeting about him but for the wrong reasons – “Don’t ever buy from this dessert cart guy, his crème brulee made me puke!”.

But bravo to Mr. Kimball and other small business owners who have stumbled into positive cyber word of mouth and used it to their advantage. Social media is the digital manifestation of word of mouth and the beauty of it is this, it has the power to spread like wild fire.

Location for the article in the New York Times:
http://tinyurl.com/lbcf6o
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/business/smallbusiness/23twitter.html?th&emc=th

One Year Without a Car

2009-06-10T18:51:00.000-07:00

A year ago today I donated my car (I had actually stopped driving it earlier than that, but who’s counting. . .)

For the past 365 days I have relied on my bicycle, bus or carpool to get where I need to go.
Benefits:

Saved at least $3,000 (and that is without a car payment factored in!)
Didn’t gain weight because I was biking so much
Learned how to get around the city of Minneapolis better
Got to know the businesses in my neighborhood much better and felt a stronger sense of belonging to a community
Felt less stress (biking helped me energize before arriving to work and unwind my mind before getting home)
I also felt better about doing my part to save the earth

Other changes:

Was Loosing track of new music and local radio programs so turned to Pandora.com and 89.3 the current online for music.
Used my iPod more for podcasting and music listening since I wasn’t listening to radio in my car
Bought a “Go Pass” for the local transit system
Treated my bike better (more tune ups, oiling the chain etc.)
Had to plan events with friends in advance because getting to things like Friday night happy hour took a little longer
My friends and I established new norms for hanging out such as: they gave me a ride, I bought the first round, or they would bike with me!

All in all this has been a good experiment. I don’t plan to get a car yet. Maybe I’ll make it another year. . .

Three Stats to Start the SEO Conversation With Your Organization

2009-05-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

319 million searches are performed each day (Nielson/NetRatings)
82% of Internet users never make it past the 3rd page of results (iProspect)
85% of Internet users use search engines to find products and services (Nielsen/NetRatings)

Three words to incorporate into the marketing agenda: Search Engine Optimization

Wolframalpha – Hoax or a dreamy new online search tool?

2009-04-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

Today I was reading BBC News about http://www.wolframalpha.com/.

Apparently, this new search tool uses a technique known as natural language processing that will aim to answer questions directly as opposed to just bringing up a bunch of optimized web pages.

The search tool will answer simple questions like, “What is the height of the Empire State Building?” or “Who was the king of England in 1875?”. Much of the content is supposed to be sceintific but there will be some limited cultural information on topics like pop stars and films.

Today I googled, “what is the fatality rate of the swine flu” and I did not find a direct answer. I probably could have found the answer at the CDC site but the answer was not really that important to me to keep searching.

I wonder if this wolframalpha.com site will answer questions like, “what is the fatality rate of the swine flu?”

I guess I’ll have to wait and see. The site goes public in May 2009. I’m a skeptic when it comes to searching for quality information on the Web so I’m hoping this wolframalpha thing isn’t just another let down. Dr. Wolfram, the mastermind of the search tool, claims that the goal of the site is to, “make expert content accessible to anyone, anywhere, anytime” according to this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8026331.stm

Well, I hope you reach your goal Dr. Wolfram.

Consumer Education

2009-04-22T17:45:00.000-07:00

You can say what you want, but I am glad that the financialstability.gov website has a "decoder" for financial jargon. Education is important.

http://www.financialstability.gov/roadtostability/decoder.htm

On that note, education has long been a tactic (an effective one) for financial institutions. Think about it. If you educate your customers/members on financial literacy what can that do for your bottom line?

Fill in the blanks:
If my customers/members learn to save more, and about the tools our financial institution provides, our deposits will _______.

If our customers/members learn how to invest and grow wealth our deposits will ________.

If our customers/members learn how to use mortgages to their advantage our loan numbers will be _______ today and _______ tomorrow.

If our customers/members learn the importance of credit ratings our loan default rate will _______.

If our customers/members view our financial institution as a resource for financial knowledge they will_____________(let me help on this one: tell a friend, trust us with more money, carry multiple accounts with us, use more products and services, bank with us for life).

Education is a great way to expand value for your customers/members etc. The same applies to other industries (health care, travel, sports, music, etc.).

A Positive Perspective From A Credit Union CEO in Southern Oregon

2009-04-19T14:51:00.000-07:00

Today I read a blog post from a CEO of a credit union in Southern Oregon.

The post provides a response to the barrage of bad news and “down-and-out forecasts” regarding the state of our economy. He advocates for supporting local businesses by spending instead of penny pinching the economy to death. In the post he suggests ways to fuel his local economy:

“with one purchase that you were putting off, with one employee that you chose not to layoff, purchasing a new car because the price is lower than you could ever imagine, attending one concert that you thought you couldn’t afford, or supporting one charity that can multiply the value of your donation several times over.”

Link to post: http://askgeneatrogue.blogspot.com/2009/04/rally-caps-on.html

His credit union is building a new branch in Medford, OR. That expansion will create construction jobs in his local market and other jobs related to public relations, marketing, staffing for the branch, etc. It was inspiring to read this CEO’s post, especially when it seems like all I read in the news is that companies are laying people off, budgets are being slashed, and that it will take eons for the nation to recover from this economic crisis.

Organizations across the nation have had the case of the “Chicken Littles” and I believe pessimism has contributed to our falling sky. On the other hand, in some instances the cutbacks of the big corporations are not entirely bad because smaller organizations, like this credit union in Oregon, have the opportunity to grow and increase market share.

I’m still not going to go out and buy a car (On June 10, 2009 I will have been without a car for one year); but in the spirit of putting my “Rally Cap” on as this CEO blogger suggests, I’m off to enjoy a nice dinner at a restaurant. . .

Before I sign off, there was one more thing in his post that got my mind cranking. In the post he writes, “We must look to the future and find ways to create jobs in our community and rally Southern Oregon to economic revival!”. I’m not sure if his credit union hires companies and individuals from other states or not, but I hope they do. If every state in our union chose to only support locals, how would that impact the big picture of our national economy?

Social Media Sites Creating a Smaller World for Businesses

2009-03-29T09:24:00.000-07:00

According to an article in the The New York Times 3-28-09, Facebook will register its 200,000,000th user this week. Taking into account that just eight months ago Facebook celebrated their 100,000,000th user, the growth is staggering.

I wonder if Mike Zuckerberg, Facebook's 24 year old CEO, even has time to consider the ramifications of such a rapidly growing social media site? With a million new users every day from all over the globe, what will Facebook look like five years from now?

With online translating tools, the decline of language barriers, and the speed of information exchange online, the biblical symbol of the “Tower of Babel” seems to be melting away.

As more people connect in cross-continental romance, idea exchanges, and commerce online, I don’t think anyone can predict the full extent of globalization we’ll experience over the next decade.

Facebook has a goal of being used by everyone in the world to share information seamlessly. While 200 million out of 6 billion is a tiny number, it will be interesting to see where the number of Facebook users is at another eight months from now.

Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, or a new Google application – I think one thing is certain; companies that have been watching from the social media sidelines need to dive in now to compete effectively.

One of the blogs I’ve been reading lately is Jaffe Juice; if you are looking for a great idea exchange about conversational marketing, I highly recommend checking it out.

Time to go update my Facebook status. . .

Marketing. . . Where does it all begin?

2009-03-24T20:20:00.000-07:00

Marketing. . . Where does it all begin?

Where does a good marketing strategy begin? Well, I guess that depends on how we define strategy. But in a perfect world, here is my off-the-cuff-rough-sketch of my view of a good business/marketing set up.

Company: People of Integrity, Passion, Intelligence and like-minded values form a company. The company has a strong leadership team and the best employees available. Hire people that share common goals, vision, incentives. . .

Consumers: The Company gets to know their target audience(s) really well: what they need, what they want, how they go about finding information to fill their needs and wants, where they hang out and tell their friends about how they get their needs and wants met, etc.

Products and Services: After finding what the consumer wants, the company develops the *best products and services to fill those needs/wants. *best can be in value, price, or quality

Branding: Develop a brand linked to company values, consumer wants, and the products and services that the Company offers. Make sure the brand is true to who you are, and resonates with consumers. Don’t guess.

Training: Train your staff to live the brand.

Marketing*: Develop a comprehensive marketing strategy and series of plans that use a blend of push, pull and conversational marketing tactics/plans/strategies. Marketing must be linked to ROI. In today’s age, the best (successful) companies are tapping into cutting edge or even bleeding edge technologies and methods. Blending social media, word-of-mouth marketing, direct mail, radio, TV, (other traditional media outlets relevant to the target audience). *Disclaimer – this is an off-the-cough-rough-sketch, feel free to chime in with your ideas and edits bloggers.

Measurement: Track responses to marketing elements (each individual outlet and call-to-action) and associate the number of responses with actual dollars saved, earned or lost. In the best case scenario it looks something like this: consumer A calls because they saw postcard C to buy product Y and after the advertising costs and man power were factored in brought the company $40,000 profit.

Tweak: Tweak the marketing plans for the future based on results, segments, new products, new challenges, new competitors, new buying habits, new anything. . .

Openness: Be open to new ideas and solutions. Listen to critique and invite the “red ink”.

Ongoing Customer Service: When you screw up, listen to your customers and fix it.

Never say, “I have it all figured out”, the second you do, somebody else will figure out something better. At least that has been my experience. The times I’ve lost to my competition are when I’ve had my guard down. I’ve lost, not just in marketing or sales but also in soccer, debate team in college, paintball, chess and poker. I’m not saying business is as simple as playing a game, but it is a lot more fun when I think of it that way.

On that note: if you read this blog – I invite your input and “red ink”. . .

The Evolution of Web Space and the Impact of Internet Ghosts on Brands

2009-03-03T19:19:00.000-08:00

Time travel may or may not be possible in the "real" world, but it certainly is possible online!

Tonight I was having a conversation with a friend about a Web site that I made in 1999 for my music endeavours, www.johnvalerio.com. I was lamenting that I couldn't access the site and would love to see that site again because I am building a new one, www.jdvalerio.com (not up yet).

She told me about the "Way Back Machine". Using the tool at this link, http://www.archive.org/index.php, I was able to input my old URL for www.johnvalerio.com and view my old site all the way back to 2001! This tool can take you to various Web site versions from different points in time. I've experimented with tools like this before for clients looking to redo their Web sites within the context of a re-brand, but our interactive staff usually do most of the research like this.

Tonight, I am having a ton of fun with this little "internet time traveler".

I've been playing with the "Way Back Machine" and looking at popular brand web sites like www.nike.com and www.starbucks.com

For a quick example try these links:
Before 2001: http://web.archive.org/web/20010505234435/www.starbucks.com/Default.asp?cookie_test=1
Today - 2009: http://www.starbucks.com/

I am loving this! I have always been a big fan of before and after case studies and this tool is perfect for that. However, this has prompted me to establish some new rules for my online activities:
1. Consider the future before posting, creating, etc.
2. Work to align behaviors and personality on and off stage, at work and off duty, online and offline (you never know who is taking pictures and sharing them at MySpace, Facebook, etc.)
3. Continue watching how brands, consumers and communities interact online
4. Learn, try, learn, try, learn, try

Actions always have consequences and it is good to be mindful of every action online and on offline.

Consumer Revolution

2009-02-27T13:34:00.000-08:00

I am in the middle of the book “Join The Conversation” by Joseph Jaffe and I am really compelled by the fact that consumers have so much power.

Sites like this: www.my3cents.com are popping up everyday giving consumers places to vent and be heard. You can read horrible stories of lack of service, up charges, and shady contracts.

Other sites focused on ranking particular industries are popping up everyday too:
http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/
http://www.ratemds.com/social/

Organizations that are not tuning in to what consumers are saying will benefit from listening and as Jaffe says, “Joining the conversation”. I am also digging his blog: http://www.jaffejuice.com/
I don’t want to become a “mouse potato”, but it is going to be hard with all of these interesting conversations going on about business and marketing!

Hey stalkers

2009-02-26T18:04:00.000-08:00

Tonight when I googled "JD Valerio" I noticed that this blog came up first in my organic search rankings. It got me thinking, what if someone googled my name looking for one of my music performances, and they found this site first? Might as well make it easy for them. So, I am going to start posting my performances on this blog (when I remember to do so).

Tomorrow night in Minneapolis, I'll be playing at the EP Atelier. It is located at on 10th between Park and Portland. Here is their website: www.epatelier.com

Social Media Marketing in 2009 and Beyond

2009-02-23T18:13:00.000-08:00

I just started reading a book called "Join The Conversation" by Joseph Jaffe. According to the front cover, the book is about "how to engage marketing-weary consumers with the power of community, dialogue, and partnership". The book inspired me to post here.

Part of "joining the conversation" means being transparent. I heard a perfect example of the power of transparency marketing last Friday.

My friend and I were talking about the value of transparency on retail website blogs and he told me about his experience shopping online for a hiking shoe. The company that he buys hiking shoes from allows consumers to post their opinions about the shoes they sell. One of the posts for a shoe my friend was considering buying read something like, "I don't think this shoe is very good because it slips easily on granite." My friend told me that since the company didn't remove that post, he trusted the site even more. My friend has trust in the company and is likely to buy his next pair of hiking shoes from that company because they are willing to showcase both the strengths and weaknesses of their product online from their customers' point of view. Guess what, since my friend shared that with me, I am interested in checking out that shoe company too!

I like this idea of transparency in marketing and hope it continues to take off.

Credit Unions, Podcasts, Local Music, Increasing Web Traffic, Sticky Content

2008-11-19T09:30:00.000-08:00

I’ve been thinking more about how to get youth interested in credit union web sites. One great way for credit unions to attract web traffic is to offer music downloads from local bands. This tactic can help credit unions to leverage their “hyper- local” advantage over national banks. It is a win-win-win scenario in that the credit union gets more web traffic, local bands get more exposure and credit union members get to hear new music for free!

Current credit union podcasts that I am aware of focus primarily on education. You can visit these links for examples:
http://www.omnicommunitycu.org/rc_podcast.php
https://www.ornlfcu.com/feed/1/

I think education is a great application of podcast technology, but the idea of using music to capture member attention is intriguing to me.

This idea isn’t new of course. For example, Starbucks made headlines by providing a free song download every week (see lower right hand action item at this site): http://www.hearmusic.com/

Umpqua Bank has an “Umpqua Life” section at their website https://www.umpquabank.com/ , and they have an entire section called “Discover Local Music Project” where members of the communities Umpqua Bank serves can sample songs by local artists: http://www.tangibledata.com/umpqua/index.cfm?

The name of the game is sticky content and getting people to stick around at your web site once they find it.

As a podcast listener/user, I think it would be great to see credit unions creatively use podcasting to educate and captivate younger members.

Lately I've been downloading podcasts like crazy. Back in the spring I donated my car and decided to take the “green pill” for a while. Riding my bike to work has been great and I enjoy the challenges of shopping, gigging, and socializing without a car. However, my car time was my time for catching up on radio shows! For example, here in Minneapolis there is a great radio program called Musicheads http://minnesota.publicradio.org/radio/services/the_current/ that I listen to so I can stay in touch with the latest music hitting the airwaves. This morning while listening to yesterday’s edition of Musicheads on my iPod I thought about these ideas and thought I’d post them here.

If your credit union is using some of these tactics (supporting local musicians, providing educational podcasts, providing free music downloads), I’d love to hear about it and how it is working for you so far.

An Integrated Approach to Service Line Marketing

2008-11-14T07:54:00.000-08:00

This summer on the way to the Minnesota State Fair, I saw a URL on the side of a bus which read, “www.thewarriormovie.com”. I noticed the movie was produced by a local health system and as a health care marketer I was intrigued.

When I got home I watched the trailer. That was in September or August and I had to wait until Thursday October 23rd to see the movie.

The health system actually released three movies last month which are basically patient testimonials for key service lines.

10 minute versions of the videos are available at the online locations listed below. Early in 2009 these patient stories will be aired during a half hour special on Twin Cities Public Television.

Earlier this summer, I signed up for e-alerts to notify me when the movies were released. I thought the e-alerts were a great reinforcement tool. To be honest, if they hadn’t sent me the e-mails I may have never gotten around to watching them.

The movies are placed on various online outlets such as YouTube and Vimeo. I don’t know much traffic the movies have received in the past 22 days, but I am curious about the mileage they get out of these movies.

I imagine that the health system will position the movies at many Web sites including their own. Perhaps they will repurpose the videos in their patient waiting rooms and release them to local news stations?

I applaud the health system for integrating online marketing, event marketing and awareness marketing to roll out these testimonials.

Here are the links:

Courage Girl
The Courage Girl website: http://www.couragegirlmovie.com
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEMWcGxw6mA
Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/1978139

The Warrior
The Warrior website: http://www.thewarriormovie.com
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArzqTCgtCwQ
Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/1978415

Ceil's Story
The Ceil's Story website: http://www.ceilsstory.com
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjHdwRE0Nq4
Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/1992359

Internet Based Credit Union! Another Reason For Financial Institutions to Beef Up Their Web Pressence

2008-11-07T07:33:00.000-08:00

I read in several notable publications that NCUA will be presenting a new charter for Realtors Federal Credit Union today. This will be an Internet based credit union for an estimated 1.2 million members of the National Association of Realtors.

According to The Credit Union Journal, today, the Realtors group is announcing the new credit union to its membership at its annual meeting in Orlando, FL to about 23,000 attendees!

You can go to the National Association of Realtors website to learn more about the credit union using this link http://www.realtor.org/about_nar/creditunion_index

As a financial and health care marketer, these are exciting times for me. The rapidly changing market place calls for consistent innovation, creativity and adaptability. Realtors Federal Credit Union will be one to watch in 2009, which I am calling "The Year of the Credit Union".

2009 Will Be The Year of The Credit Union to Gobble Up Market Share

2008-11-05T14:44:00.001-08:00

One of my clients is heading into a budgeting meeting next week. They are looking to slice 6 million from the overall budget. As usual, marketing dollars are first in line for the chopping block. I sent my client this e-mail in hopes to protect budgeting dollars:

Client,

Thanks for sharing about your budget meetings. I hope you are able to secure as many marketing dollars as possible next week.

I think the magazine is a great tool to implement in 2009 for your top depositors and members who have mortgages with you.

Three primary points for your budget committee to consider:

1. The majority of your top depositors have multiple accounts at other institutions. You can leverage the magazine to steer more deposits your way, especially in light of new insurance levels.

2. Offset Attrition: Given a 2% per month attrition rate, at any given time 8% of an existing household’s deposits are in transition. The magazine is a great way to keep the benefits of your credit union in front of your members.

3. Your magazine will generate referrals. Because there is a heightened mistrust in the banks in your market, 2009 is going to be a pivotal year to gobble up market share for your credit union. According to Cook Research, publications still have a high pass along readership level; 21% of surveyed readers of publications from financial institutions have shown an article from their publication to someone else.

Attached is a paper with other reasons to hold steady or devote even more dollars to your marketing efforts.

Also, this link will take you to an article that provides the average marketing budget for U.S. credit unions according to annualized 2008 market data: http://www.creditunions.com/article.aspx?articleid=2844

I hope this is helpful,

JD Valerio