Big Ideas for Credit Unions
No pain, no change
As you might remember, I broke my left leg and right arm last November in a collision with one of Bambi’s errant relations. (More of that mournful tale). I’m recovering quite well, but I’ve been attending physical therapy for the last few weeks to rebuild strength and flexibility. Naturally, I’ve started thinking about what else…
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Go find some weirdos
Quick, tell me about your members. No, not the average members. They’re boring. And you already know plenty about them. And so does everyone else. Find some weirdos. People out on the fringe. The ones who were in New Guinea last week, and are currently somewhere in Kazakhstan. The family thinking seriously about what kinds…
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The pain isn’t enough to make the switch
About every week someone calls us “on behalf of AT&T” to try to give us a better deal. We just hang up on them. Why? Because it’s painful. They’re third party resellers, and their “deals” are almost as confusing as the those from AT&T. Why AT&T seems to be actively supporting them, I have no idea. …
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Creativity: only the story we want to hear?
I’ve always been high on creativity. My whole life has focused on the well-designed, the interesting, the entertaining, the cleverly crafted. I read a lot of books by others in the creativity field, from small nuggets of marketing insights to essays to way-too-many-page tomes on the subject. I enjoy watching TED talks to see how…
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What if your credit union isn’t the best financial option?
I know that CUs are great, and for most people they offer a much better deal on almost anything financial-oriented. But for most credit unions, you simply can’t offer everything to everyone and do it all well. You may be able to go after more business accounts now, but you may not have a very…
Read MoreIf I weren’t in Marketing, I’d probably be…
I never thought I’d be creating marketing for credit unions when I was growing up. I had no idea what advertising was, or a logo, or that people got paid for designing the cereal boxes I looked at every morning. Heck, I didn’t even know what a graphic designer was when I went to college.…
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You assume too much
You have a wonderful product that is going to revolutionize the way things are done. It’s fun to use, easy to use, and doesn’t cost a lot. You’ve been talking about it with all of your friends, and they’re super-excited about it. So you refine the product, put as many resources as you can behind…
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Five things I believe about Change
I’ve seen a lot of change in my life. As a preacher’s kid, we moved every few years — new school, new friends, new town. As I got older, my interests changed from bikes to cars, from boy scouts to girl friends, from high school hallways to college campus. After graduating, I moved from single…
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On ditching RFPs, picking brains, and drawing lines.
Is it really okay to pick someone’s brain? I recently met up with a friend who works at a local credit union to get his take on all the changes that CUs have experienced over the last few years. He listened to what I had to say, agreed with some of my observations, and challenged…
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I could never lie as a kid
I could never lie as a kid. At least not successfully. I was so bad at it, all you had to do was take one look at my face and you’d know. Every time I tried to cover something up, all I managed to do was get deeper in trouble. So I gave it up.…
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