Talk of the (Virtual) Town: Bloggers Spread the “Buzz” About Credit Unions

That ringing in your ears could be the sound of your members’ computer keys clicking away. What are they saying about credit unions?

 
 

From members ranting about credit card fees to a first-time auto buyer driving towards a great rate, one increasingly popular Internet tool brings together the shared experiences of credit union members: the blog. Blogs, a type of Internet page that lets you post content and receive comments, are searchable by anyone online. Typing the phrase “credit union” on Technorati yields more than 34,000 blog postings. The number of posts mentioning credit unions has risen dramatically over the past year from just a few per day to an average of about 100. Since you don’t have time to read every post, here are three common types of postings and why we should take notice.

Hey Guys, Let’s Build a Credit Union!
Black Rock Federal Credit Union. Have you heard of it? Did you see its year-end results? No. That’s because it’s not a credit union…yet. But they do have a blog, http://www.blackrockfederal.com, where community members have a chance to see the steps in the development of the credit union. Another blogger in northern California mentions his progress towards creating East Palo Alto Credit Union. These two examples point to increasing potential for communities to band together and form collective financial cooperatives by combining blogging and the credit union charter.

Feelin’ the Love (and Hate)
Credit union members are also bloggers. One post discusses a family’s mortgage hunting process and mentions two credit unions whose rates the family is deciding between. They write about their excitement at the prospect of both financing choices. Another blog entry mentions that during a vacation when their car broke and they had to get a new one, the blogger could easily get full financing from their credit union.  This availability was a life saver.

Of course, not every blogger loves their credit union. One laments over what they deem “offensive” advertising from their local credit union. Another blogger is upset about overdraft fees charged on a credit card and comments that the issue would be easier to resolve if they were dealing with a bank.

The lesson? It’s about the member. If they’re happy, their blog postings will reflect this, but if they have trouble with their credit union, the virtual world will hear about it.  But we can learn from their messages and how others respond in their comments.

Credit Unions as the “Cool Kids”
A posting about an upcoming Battle of the Bands competition at the University of Iowa mentions the local credit union sponsor. Another post mentions free tickets to a college basketball game thanks to the local credit union. A third post about someone’s day mentions they stopped by the local credit union to sell Girl Scout cookies. You get the picture - credit unions are serving the community. If credit unions are associated with things community members enjoy doing, they automatically have a seat at the “cool kids” table as both the community’s trusted financial institution and community participant.

The growing prevalence of blog posts about credit unions as well as the examples mentioned above reflect the need to pay closer attention to what’s being said about credit unions online. Members and communities are paying attention to what credit unions are doing for them. Are we paying attention to what they are saying back?

To learn more about how credit unions have joined the conversation through blogging, watch our recent educational seminar on “Blogging Basics: A New Way to Approach the Member Experience”.

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March 26, 2007

Comments

 
 
 
  • Looks like the last post is a blogger with buddies searching for readers. That''s all we need is more more thing to take our staff away from doing their job. The blog provides a virtual soap box for anyone that thinks they have something important to say, but what is the true payback for a credit union and its members? Where''s the beef?
    Anonymous
     
     
     
  • There are many good blogs out there about the CU movement too: www.opensourcecu.com www.dougtrue.net www.thatcreditunionblog.com
    Anonymous
     
     
     
  • How many candidates actually referred to their blog and how many would have still become employees even if the blog did not exist? Social networking is the new rage, but like any investment of resources should be subject to an ROI analysis. It does appear like social networking has potential, but only if implemented with a focus on objectives and expected payback.
    Anonymous
     
     
     
  • It''s true-traditional marketing is difficult to track and then when you throw in a new type of "non-traditional" marketing it becomes even more difficult. But here''s an example- Verity CU-they have hired numerous new employees since their blog launched in 2004 who want to work there because they read the blog. This shows that the blog is being read, is at least benefitting employee retention and hiring, and on a larger scale, is positioning Verity as a part of the community. This should be an argument to give blogging a shot. Any others?
    Paris Ward
     
     
     
  • You just had a webinar. How about calling out some tangible payback to credit unions for blogs?
    Anonymous
     
     
     
  • And a quick important correction: in #17, "generation" should''ve been "society". So, "...You''re losing out on reaching a society that''''s getting more ingrained online daily." I avoided joining this thread until I got dragged into it. Thanks to Callahan for letting this conversation go on. Best of luck on your new blog, CUSP, by the way.
    Trey Reeme
     
     
     
  • Plus, Paris isn''t saying "start a blog." She''s saying "Pay attention to bloggers." Google "worst bank ever" or "Vancity customer service" or "credit union hostile takeovers" and you can see that she''s completely correct. This thread got all jacked up. And you most definitely can measure ROI on blogging. Google "blogging ROI". And since Verity was dragged into this, BTW they had to add a referrer code in their system for new members'' reasons for joining for "saw your blog" because of the MSRs kept getting that response when setting up new accounts.
    Trey Reeme
     
     
     
  • Blogging is not for every credit union. There are about 10 credit unions out of less than 9,000 who blog directly with their members. I believe the number will (and should) stay small - few CUs are progressive enough to enter into new media, and they''d make a mess of it if they did. If you don''t want to blog, or you push it to your marketing department, you''ll fail. Social media (blogging, podcasting) targets a niche audience of influencers. Others much smarter than me have expounded on the importance of reaching influencers (the most vocal members you have, your evangelists). In layman''s terms, it''s more bang for the buck. For the ones who do blog, Google loves them. It''s a drop in the bucket as far as technology costs go. It amplifies your voice in a way that sending spam (email newsletters) or junk mail (statement stuffers) just can''t. Many blogs (Verity''s up to this point) run on a free template that doesn''t keep great metrics. That''s one thing we''re (Trabian) going to help them fix. To all the anonymous commenters: you''re participating in blogging RIGHT NOW. Creditunions.com is a blog. You''re leaving comments on a post. It''s delivered via RSS (you need to know what that is if you don''t already). You know the authors. It''s in reverse chronological order. This comment thread is part of a blog post. You are all participating in a blog right now. Now argue that this blogging thing makes no business sense. Tell that to Wells Fargo (with their four blogs), or Vancity, or ING Direct, or UMB Bank. Social media is worthless. This internet thing is a waste of time. I''ve covered the issues in this thread on Open Source CU in hundreds of posts, if you want to read how the CU blogosphere has grown over the past two years. Take a look at Ron Shevlin''s Marketing ROI blog or Colin Henderson''s Bankwatch blog for all you number crunchers. If you don''t see a value in blogging, that''s fine. In an age of TiVo, relevant search, podcasting, YouTube, Twitter, Wesabe, Zopa, Rails and Lonelygirl 15, you''re stuck putting together your quarterly newsletter and losing out on reaching a generation that''s getting more ingrained online daily. For those of us who are blogging, I can assure you it''s worth it. It is our voice. It''s more about building long term relationships than adding to the bottom line for this quarter. Good thing for us is it does both.
    Trey Reeme
     
     
     
  • Paris, Denise, and Ron are right! The concerns that #1, #3, #5, #6, and #11 have are reason for them NOT to blog. Blogging is about sharing YOU, YOUR MISSION, and YOUR IDEAS with the world in an open forum. You don''t blog to advertise. You blog because you want to! The advertisement comes when people connect with what you are blogging. Take the time to read Seth Goodin''s blog; read his "ideavirus" (it''s free so no I''m not pitching anything that I benefit from). I know that blogging looks like a chicken or the egg question, but I also know that if honest open, blogging comes first and continues, then the benefit will come!
    Travis Carnahan
     
     
     
  • It appears that Verity has been blogging for over 2 years now. They should be able to speak to tangible benefits and associated costs by now. What justification did they give to their board before signing an agreement with Trabien to work on their blog? There are lots of potential good causes to expend resources, but why should blogging be given any priority? Comparing member education with blogging has no basis. Member education can help members make better financial decisions. Blogging about how blogging is great -- like Verity has done in their blog -- does what for members? Blogging may very well provide some benefits to a credit union, but it needs to be subject to the same evaluations as any expenditure of members'' money.
    Anonymous
     
     
     
  • Amazing commentary! Blogging has definitely triggered interest. Keep up the fantastic introductions of new ways to position credit unions for member growth and important education. Realizing a boost in ROI may never be directly attributable to such things as blogging and member education. That should not stop credit unions from building their strategies around new technology and innovations.
    Jane
     
     
     
  • I agree with the previous comment and applaud Callahan for bringing these kind of innovative topics to the table for discussion. For those looking for ROI justification I doubt you will see any kind of meaningful numbers in the near future. Even it was possible to capture this kind of information, blogging in this capacity is so new that there is not nearly enough historical data to support any meaningul assumptions. As with any untested concept or idea those firms that are first movers and find out how to make it work will benefit the most.
    Anonymous
     
     
     
  • Paris Ward''s article provides a practical, down-to-earth summary about blogging. IMHO, some of the "unknown users" here are missing a key point: blogging is a hobby, primarily practiced outside of regular business hours. It isn''t meant to be a "professionally managed" public relations function. Blogging and other 21st-century social media provide a means of information sharing between individuals with similar interests....from many age groups and walks of life.
    Ron Bensley, Jr.
     
     
     
  • Deinse, I am gl;ad you are so enlighted. For those of us that have financial responsibilites and limited resources, how about coming up with some tangible benefits for credit unions offering blogs rather than just grandstanding? It is not important who asked the question but rather if the question is legitimate. A question of payback is always reasonable and prudent.
    Anonymous
     
     
     
  • With the exception of the author, NONE OF YOU "GET" BLOGGING!!!!! Here are the blogging DON''Ts: 1. DON''T post your comment as anonmyous. Ever. Don''t YOU hate it when you get a scathing review of your credit union from an ANONYMOUS member? How much credence do you give it. Zilch. If they didn''t have the guts to post their name, I do not care what you have to say. (although I''m making an exception right now because I can''t stand it!!!) This is really important stuff. 2. Asking for ROI on the blogging is like asking for ROI on building a website. OR for having a phone, for that matter. I can''t give you the math, but I guarantee there will come a time (and sooner than you think) where you cannot do effective business without it. 3. You CANNOT blog (aka FLOG) about your credit union. Your members don''t care about your "free checking" dribble in your marketing brochures, they don''t care about your free checking on a blog. Google Wal-Mart and "flog" if you think I''m kidding about this one. BTW, what IS your ROI on your brochures?? 4. As mentioned in #3, blogging is NOT advertising, it''s a conversation. With your members. It''s a virtual gathering place of people with a common bond. Remember that? It''s a way to communicate with them (and yes, they are going to be Gen Y''ers and Gen Xers and a few enlightened Boomers). 5. If you are NOT cool enough to understand this, I would highly recommend you don''t try it. Doing it poorly will cost you dearly. How''s that for good math? Callahan gets it -- I was thrilled to see this article on blogging from an organization with such a great reputation. Thanks Paris.
    Denise Wymore
     
     
     
  • Effective social media facilitates open, honest, credible, accountable and 2-way interactions between an organization and individuals and groups of individuals. However, blogs generally are very restrictive and often contain stuff that has no real relevance to the business relationship. The bloggers and those that make money from helping folks with blogs sure are motivated to say blogs are good and valuable, but how about someone calling out some real payback achieved!
    Anonymous
     
     
     
  • #6 here. Of course, members are key - not just new members, but retaining existing members by exercising controlled, beneficial business practices. Does the math work? Should we have employees, already taxed by heavy work loads, spend their valuable time (and CU resources) in the pursuit and practice of a "newer" technological avenue that has yet to be proven when applied to our business model. Can we afford to have Senior Management, VP''s of Marketing, etc. blogging? Is this where we want their valuable time spent. What is the tangible return, the hope that we''re bringing in one new member? There are only so many hours in the day, and do we really want to impose on our employees more after-hour functions by requiring them that "if you blog, do so on your own time"? Frankly, that doesn''t make any sense. All I''m saying is that it just might be valuable to apply traditional ROI analyses. By the way - this post is on my nickel.
    Anonymous
     
     
     
  • If the users above are concerned about their staff working and productivity, which is certainly valid but somewhat funny since they have taken the time to comment (presumably during the work day) then maybe make it clear that employees get to blog on their own time only? That way you get the most productive of your staff actually working on this. Member growth is an issue and so is awareness. And if starting a blog can bring in even one more member who needs your help then isn''t it worth it? Isn''t it about the members? Shouldn''t we be reaching them and serving them? Not advocating cutting out your other volunteer and community outreach programs here, but why not try a new way to reach out?
    Anonymous
     
     
     
  • I strongly agree with Comment #5. I''d love to see the analysis of the cost for FTE''s (high priced ones too I might add) spending their time blogging vs cost of that participation, of course related to bottom line business benefits. Just because certain technologies are available doesn''t mean we need to use them. Cool . . . sure. Beneficial . . . questionable.
    Anonymous
     
     
     
  • In a news article last year someone in cus, Daniel Thorpe, said - This is the big topic across the country today, said Thorpe. The under-30 audience is considered cynical and distrustful of traditional advertising. Young consumers are fluent in technology and tend to gather information from newer media, such as blogs and podcasts and social network sites like MySpace or Facebook, added Thorpe.
    Anonymous
     
     
     
  • Shari, thank you for addressing my post. Trey, I don’t think you need to be rude just because someone may have a different perspective than you. I’m not against blogging in fact I am participating in it right now! The point of this site and discussion is for all of us to share our comments and experience and I only jumped in to make the point that blogging and advertising ARE different and while they both have their place in the marketing process, one is not a direct substitute for the other. I just saw a “slippery slope” where suddenly having a blog site is an excuse not to do the “heavy lifting” of traditional marketing and I disagree with that point. I also think that all marketing on some level needs to be accountable. That’s all.
    wndsurfrr
     
     
     
  • Let''s be honest. The ROI math we do now for most marketing mediums is a load of crap. Take the direct mail equation. BEFORE I sent out my direct mail we had X dollars in product of the month. AFTER I sent my direct mail we had X dollars. Therefore, I MADE X for the credit union!! Consider this - how do you KNOW? For sure?? Unless you have some coupon or something they have to return to say "I responded to your postcard." The truth is, we don''t know. We''ve just been doing that flawed math for so long we''ve started to believe it. Most direct mail campaigns today yield about a 1% return. At best, 99% of your efforts were a waste. What''s the ROI on THAT? I''ve never marketed my business. Ever. It''s all been word-of-mouth and I can honestly say that since Shari at Verity turned me onto blogging my business has gone crazy. It''s all about the networking anonymouses. And you know who you are, even if we don''t.
    Denise Wymore
     
     
     
  • Wow, lots of opinions and strong feelings here. We are not currently blogging but plan to. Traditional marketing is having less and less impact and reach. Tivo, do not call, do not mail, do not email, newpaper readership declines and satelite radio are all affecting our ability to reach people like we did in the past. Web 2.0 including blogging appears to be a viable way to reach members and potential members. To stay ahead of the curve, we have got to be innovative and at this time very few banks are blogging. If it''s not for you don''t do it, but don''t diss those who do. The world is a diverse place. Blogging is one way to reach a segment of people, and an important segment at that.
    Arden Clise
     
     
     
  • Trey: I don''t think windsurfer is being rude or snarky. He/she seems to be just asking some reasonable questions. Folks need to determine for themselves if social media makes sense for them. I do not think there is an absolute answer here.
    Anonymous
     
     
     
  • Trey: I don''t think windsurfer is being rude or snarky. He/she seems to be just asking some reasonable questions. Folks need to determine for themselves if social media makes sense for them. I do not think there is an absolute answer here.
    Anonymous
     
     
     
  • It''s a lot easier to be snarky and rude when you''re hiding behind anonymity, isn''t it? I don''t care whether you get social media or not. For everyone else, wndsurfrr appears to be saying that social media is too expensive to try. Last time I checked, Blogger was free. Recording and distributing a podcast: free. Sure, you can hire folks to give you better production quality, but it''s not required. The web is changing, as is the nature of advertising. Mass marketing, yes, still has its place. But the conversant marketing that can be found in social media has an important place, too. And if you do well in conversant (social) media, you''ll have a captive audience for much longer than 30 seconds a pop. ROI ROI ROI. We get it, wndsurfrr. Cost of social media equals free or next to it. ROI is through the roof.
    Trey Reeme
     
     
     
  • For the record, I never said BECU is wasting money. I qualified my diminishing returns (which is different from wasting money) comment with “any shop who has been advertising for over five years”. In talking with Tom over at BECU, it is my understanding that this is first time they have ventured into this type of television advertising. It will be interesting to see if they continue to advertise on that scale. (I agree with you, their commercials are top notch and I love them) So, windsufrr… you must work for an ad agency?
    Anonymous
     
     
     
  • I think what started as general discussion about ROI on blogging has turned into a review of Verity’s decisions and rather than have the two people involved in that (Shari and Trey) continue to comment, I’d like to direct the conversation back to the general topic. So, question: are blogging and advertising the “same thing” or part of the “same thing” because if they are then we’re right back to having a reasonable expectation of some definable ROI (advertising has to submit to that test so you can’t have it both ways). I submit they are NOT and while advertising as a fixed discretionary expense is always an easy target to cannibalize, BLOGGING IS NOT ADVERTISING PEOPLE! Shari, as far as your comments regarding the effectiveness of advertising, I think BECU is running one of the best local ad campaigns I’ve seen from a Credit Union in years (I am in no way involved in it) so perhaps we should call them and see if they think they are wasting their money.
    wndsurfrr
     
     
     
  • wndsurfrr, you can''t separate the two (blogging and advertising). We''re in a different age now. Verity''s blog is a great example. They''ve never pushed product on their blog (that''s why it works so well), and thus they''re building a deeper relationship by engaging their members. The credit union is becoming an advocate - a trusted advisor as Dr. Glen Urban would put it. Old school advertising doesn''t engage (it may entertain for 30 seconds, if it''s good - and most isn''t); ahh, but new media engages. I''d encourage everyone to check out Ron Shevlin''s MarketingROI blog post from this weekend (just do a Google search for his name or blog) called "Stop Investing in Customer Retention" for a discussion of this as it relates to FI marketers. As Ron points out, "Many marketers consider engagement to be a buzzword. But engagement is a valid concept, if you use the term to describe the extent to which your customers interact with you in meaningful, emotional ways. Not just by checking their balances every day, but by relying on you for advice and guidance on how to manage their financial lives and make smart financial decisions.... While the ROI may not be immediate, an investment in engagement is better than an investment in retention. The key to future profitability isn’t in simply keeping customers — it’s from deepening their relationships. And engagement is a necessary pre-condition for that to happen." Again, blogging isn''t for everyone. And Verity could''ve chosen to do a big radio push. But they''d have looked like a million other companies. As a blogger they look like one of ten in the US. Isn''t standing out important? I''d say they''re doing a great job standing out.
    Trey Reeme
     
     
     
  • It may take some people & CU''s, longer to catch on to blogging but the future is here now and Paris has aptly pointed out that this fomat is one more option. What business can simply pass over possibilities of reaching more people? Keep the ideas flowing.
    Fred
     
     
     
  • To wndsurfrr – I wish this was a podcast so you could hear me laughing good naturedly as I say this – So, first I have to justify why I’m trying out a new (free) marketing medium and now I have to justify why I took a 90 day hiatus on my radio ads? Sheeesh! Paris, next time you ask me to do a webinar, I’m asking for more pay! – wndsrufrr, thank you for the kind words. It is always more fun to engage in lively discourse with people who are nice. My point about the radio advertising was more about how expensive it is versus social media. However, I will spar with you on your two points. One – are advertising and blogging really trying to do two different things? At the end of the day, aren’t they both trying to get more members and strengthen the relationship with the members you have? As Trey said, advertising just does it by entertaining and blogging does it by engaging. As for the blatant promotion on blogs, I agree with you that blogs as we know them today don’t bode well for that, but I can see blogging technology being the means of permission based marketing in the future. I can see our members who are interested in borrowing subscribing to our loan department’s blog. When we lower rates or have a promotion, the loan department posts it and the members receive the information through their RSS feed. Secondly, I think it is reasonable for the marketing department to trade some of its advertising dollars for use towards social media. You mention that some CUs are seeing results out of radio and TV advertising. I would LOVE to know who they are – specifically, I would love to talk to any shop who has been advertising for more than five years and is not experiencing diminishing returns (paying more and getting less) on their mass media buys. If you are one of the 15 million Americans who owns a TiVo, Satellite Radio or a paper shredder, you probably cannot argue with any conviction that the effectiveness of traditional advertising is waning. Is blogging going to take the place of other advertising? Ha ha. I doubt it. But the times are a changin’ and by sticking our toes in the social media water, we are at least able to familiarize ourselves with the new landscape. Before I sign off, I want to make one more point – I actually never had to go to my board or CFO and get permission to start or upgrade our blog. I am lucky in the fact that they approve my annual budget and then let me try whatever I think will work (thank you Bill, John, Randy and Board). If any CFO or Board is mandating their marketing department blog and stipulating how they are going to pay for it, that is probably a recipe for failure.
    shari storm
     
     
     
  • Until attending the recent webinar on blogging, I was blind to the benefits of blogging and to the goals and challenges of web #2. Paris'' article provides provocative ideas for this form of social media. Kudos to Callahan''s for sparking dialog.
    Sophia
     
     
     
  • Sorry Sherry I like and respect you a lot but I can’t let that last comment go. What you just did was trade the value of advertising for the value of blogging. This is EXACTLY the wrong direction for two important reasons. One: they are two different communication vehicles with two completely different goals. In my mind (and most of the minds of everyone that posted here) blogging is largely a (two way) communication tool to MEMBERS, remember the goal is not blatant promotion and if you try to stick that in a blog, people will sniff that out right away. Second, and even more critical, you give credence to the idea that the CFO or board of directors can take away the marketing budget from the marketing folks because hey a blog site will do the same thing right? But it won’t and you have to know that and as someone who is extremely respected in this industry, you are doing it a great disservice with this approach so I hope you can “clarify” your point. Lastly, radio advertising (and many of forms of advertising) do work for CU''s so if you didn’t get results, you missed something in the process. Respectfully submitted.
    wndsurfrr
     
     
     
  • Hey, this is Shari Storm from Verity Credit Union. I feel like I should defend our decision to blog. Hmmm… There is an old saying in advertising “Half of all my advertising is useless – I just don’t know which half.” The ROI question is a tough one – whether you are talking about direct mail, promotional give-aways, public relations, television ads or sales people. At any rate, we’ve been lucky at the credit union. We have several highly productive employees who love blogging and so publishing a post every few weeks doesn’t take up a lot of their time nor does it interfere with their duties. I imagine employees spend an hour or two a month on it. Those costs are hard to pin down. The returns are hard to pin down too. What is employee pride worth? I don’t know. How much is credibility to your members and community worth? I don’t know. What is it worth that member can set up you on their blog readers and know immediately when the power is down or there is a snow closure or we are offering a great rate on a new product? Again, I don’t know. How did I justify to my board that we are moving away from a free blogging platform to pay Trabian to redesign and host our blog? Easy. I just stopped our radio advertising for three months and paid for the whole thing. Blogging is not for everyone. I think each credit union needs to decide what is important to them and act from there. Thanks for the dialogue. Now everybody get back to work. :)
    shari storm
     
     
     
  • Paris--Sorry I couldn''t make it to the webinar! It sounds like it went well! And I say it went well because of all of the participation that I''m seeing right now. Blogging, in my humble opinion, is one of those things that is very hard to get an ROI on. That last sales training I did, what''s the ROI on that? Who knows. Maybe if everyone sold 2 more checking at x dollars profit per year, you might be able to make a guess, but it''d be just that, a guess. Blogging is darn near free. Most is open source software and maybe a little bandwidth if you host and feed yourself, but for the most part, it should put no strain on the budget. The only real expense is employee''s time. But I''m more than willing to let any of our staff spend a few minutes a day blogging, get more in touch with the CU landscape, and becoming more engaged in their job.
    Robbie Wright
     
     
     
  • A lively discussion, indeed! I am glad I checked in to see what was going on at CreditUnions.com. Let me start by saying that I am no expert in blogs or social media. I will leave that up to Trey and the folks at Traibian for that. My expertise is in creating communications channels to deliver great self-service and assisted-service member care. However, I believe that a blog and other social media deliveries can enable any company to create a many to many communications channels that are more personalized, free flowing and interactive than alternatives…Yes, I must admit this includes what our offering currently can do. Is this new style of communications channel important? I have to believe that it is. I am sure the ROI is not easy to define, but the costs to try things like a blog are pretty low anyway, so what does a credit union have to lose by checking it out? I also feel somewhat compelled to support my friends at Verity since they seem to be picked on here. Let me call out that they are a customer, but even if they were not I would still find their blog to contain interesting content that is generally directly relevant to members and staff clearly takes pride in their blog...I good thing I think. Knowing their executive VP and board chairwoman (among others) personally, I can say for sure that they must have a good reason for moving forward advancing their blog. Is it the weekend yet? Yikes, am I ready! Have a great one everyone!
    Chuck Van Court
     
     
     
  • More on the ROI of blogging at Ron Shelvin''s. Follow this link http://marketingroi.wordpress.com/ Anonymouses need not follow....
    Denise Wymore
     
     
     
  • Not one word of my posts was negative to Trey or blogging (go back and reread them) which is more than I can say for his responses. I even tried to direct the conversation away from an analysis of Verity’s blog site (in my second post) to a more general discussion that was on topic with the original questions posed in the early comments, that of expectations and the returns of blogging. Hey I’m not going to apologize for asking for accountability, that is a fact of life for about everything these days. As far as blogging being free, I guess that depends on what level you do it at and how you count the costs (ie: three months of radio ads isn’t free). Is it valuable? Absolutely. Is it reason enough to abandon traditional advertising? IMHO, not yet. Most blog sites I see are B2B, I don’t see a lot of B2C sites that really have traction for anyone over the age of 30. Yet. But we’re all learning together, right? I think this has been a great discussion and I appreciate the folks from Callahan providing the forum. It''s a great platform for the exchange of ideas.
    wndsurfrr
     
     
     
  • wndsurfrr, I don''t think Trey is being rude to you. He is responding to negative comments that were directed at his company and an area that he is passionate about. I can tell you that as a beginning blogger Trey has offered his support and connections (FOR FREE) as well as constructive criticism and ideas. This has all been done with any expectations of any return to Trey (I don''t even deal with marketing at my CU). I think that everyone involved in this coversation would agree that accountability is required and that a blanced marketing effort is as well. The hard part is that this is a begining/changing/blooming/booming area and I would agree that numbers are scarce. However, I would rather be moving forward making changes that might be wrong rather than sit on my hands until somehting is proven. Why do you think traditional media is in such a tisy about the internet? If it doesn''t work why are so many companies using the web this way?
    Travis Carnahan
     
     
     
  • Right on!
    Anonymous
     
     
     
  • Oh brother. Who in their right mind would want to identify themselves for such abuse from Trey and his fellow bloggers? Wndsurfrr was asking some good questions and got rudely shut down. People should be asking about ROI and all you bloggers should not be so threatened by the question. I do think it is worth calling out that all of the strong opinions being presented about blogs have come from those with an economic or personal (reputation) incentive to justify blogging and to say how important it is. Denise, instead of encouraging all to refer to positive information about blogs, you again speak from the self righteous and naïve perspective that only the people that identify themselves need look. Blogging and social media may very well provide much value to credit unions, but the arrogance of folks calling for blind acceptance and condemning anyone that is not “enlightened” is counter productive and does nothing to get others to look further into this interesting technology.
    Anonymous
     
     
     
  • s+prazdnikov+vasl
    Albert
     
     
     
  • huyak%D8
    Vince
     
     
     
  • I thank the Lord for giving us the gift of brilliant preachers!
    Martin
     
     
     
  • I like it and the background and colors make it easy to readl
    Rosina
     
     
     
  • I can find the prayer I want. I thank God for this website.
    lhuv
     
     
     
  • Oh o ho! very nice site!
    Robert
     
     
     
  • Nice site... Cool guestbook...r
    judy
     
     
     
  • Sentimental+and+nostalgic.+Great.+
    Robert
     
     
     
  • Nice site! Big thanx to webmaster!
    judy
     
     
     
  • I\''l be back... :)
    Melissa
     
     
     
  • Thanks so very much for taking your time to create this very useful and informative site. I have learned a lot from your site. Thanks!!e
    Ron
     
     
     
  • I like this website. This website helped me with prayer learning. Good job. Thank you. Please provide more French prayers. Bye-bye.
    judy
     
     
     
  • The+site%5C%27%5C%27s+very+professional%21+Keep+up+the+good+work%21+Oh+yes%2C+one+extra+comment+%2D+maybe+you+could+add+more+pictures+too%21+So%2C+good+luck+to+your+team%21
    Timmy
     
     
     
  • Excellent site - do keep up the good work.b
    Willem
     
     
     
  • hochu vodki!d
    Dan
     
     
     
  • Very good site! I like it! Thanks!
    Dan
     
     
     
  • I thank the Lord for giving us the gift of brilliant preachers!a
    Timmy
     
     
     
  • Hello people! Nice site!w
    Hannes
     
     
     
  • I+browse+and+saw+you+website+and+I+found+it+very+interesting.Thank+you+for+the+good+work%2C+greetings
    judy
     
     
     
  • Excellent web site I will be visiting often2
    lhuv
     
     
     
  • Dear web-master ! I looked your site and I want to say that yor very welln
    Kathy
     
     
     
  • Hello+people%21+Nice+site%21u
    Hannes
     
     
     
  • Hello people! Nice site!u
    Hannes
     
     
     
  • Wow%21%21%21+Good+job.+Could+I+take+some+of+yours+triks+to+build+my+own+site%3Fn
    john
     
     
     
  • Pretty nice site, wants to see much more on it! :)
    jammarlibre
     
     
     
  • Your work is marvelous!!n
    Albert
     
     
     
  • I enjoyed your page. Keep up the good work! Feel free to visit my page. It\''s cool too.e
    Melissa
     
     
     
  • Very good site! I like it! Thanks!
    Ron
     
     
     
  • Hi, everybodyo
    Albert
     
     
     
  • Wonderful pages! Keep up the grat work.y
    Willem
     
     
     
  • Dear web-master ! I looked your site and I want to say that yor very wellc
    Albert
     
     
     
  • Excellent site - do keep up the good work.%
    Martin
     
     
     
  • I browse and saw you website and I found it very interesting.Thank you for the good work, greetings
    Dan
     
     
     
  • Hi, all. Nice site...I really like your site ! Good job man.r
    Melissa
     
     
     
  • I enjoy your site very much! THANK YOUo
    jammarlibre
     
     
     
 

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