"CycleTherapy"

Be Sure to Get Your Lobster Stamp…

2011-11-20T19:43:00.000-05:00

I love it when someone goes “above and beyond” during the normal course of business and makes me sit back and say “wow”. During a recent trip to Maine, I had one of those moments that I’d like to share.

On the cab ride from Portland to Freeport (the conference was held at the Harraseeket Inn), Dan from AB Cab, and I had a very enjoyable conversation and we chatted about the area. This was my first time to Maine (and unfortunately was not going to be able to spend much time there), but he talked about all the great things to do if I ever came back. Spending money at the L.L. Bean store would be top on my list (they’re open 24 hours, you know) as well as being able to enjoy some of the local seafood.

Well, speaking of seafood… when we arrived at the Inn, Dan wanted to make sure that I got my “Lobster Stamp” for my boarding pass on the return flight back home. Of course, I took the bait and asked “what’s a Lobster Stamp?” Dan went on to tell me that due to government regulation and environmental concerns, the local lobstermen were required to replace all their rope with special rope that sinks so as to not entangle other marine live. They also had to update all of their lobster traps and several other “requirements” that had made it very expensive to be in the lobster business.

“So, the state of Maine now makes it a requirement that any visitors to the state have to purchase a lobster during their trip to the state to help the lobstermen offset the additional costs that have been imposed on them,” he said. “When you order lobster, you’ll get a Lobster Stamp that you can put on your boarding pass – otherwise you’ll pay a $25 fee. So, you might as well get to enjoy some lobster since you’re going to have to pay one way or another.”

Of course, I knew he was joking and played along, but the story was a good one and made the cab ride from the airport that much more enjoyable. Plus, I now had an idea for my “opening remarks” the following morning during my session. In fact, when I checked in at the Inn, I told the story to the front desk and they all seemed to get a kick out of it (and thought it was a good idea, too).

The reason I was in Maine was to present for the Maine Bankers Association at their 2011 Emerging Leaders Conference. As is typically the case with my speaking topics, this session was focused on the ways to leverage “social strategies” to connect with customers and promote the bank. I started off telling the story of the Lobster Stamp to lighten the mood and the bankers all seemed to find humor in the good-natured ribbing of this Michigander.

I then started my presentation and shared the following video from Erik Qualman, the author of the book Socialnomics.

A key statistic that one of the bankers (kudos Katie!) picked up on after the video was done stated that 90% of people trust the opinions of their peers, while only 14% trust advertisements. A powerful statistic, considering if you look at the makeup of a typical operating budget, most banks (and I suspect businesses in general) spend a lot more of their time and money on advertising, yet it’ s becoming less relevant in today’s social world. Additionally, just a year ago the earlier version of this video had the numbers at 78%/14%.

As you can see, the power of the “crowd” is gaining importance, as we are increasingly more concerned about what others think about a business or service than what their advertisements say. This further demonstrates the power of “word of mouth” and why it’s important to get yourself “outside of the box” and do things that make people stand up and take notice. Create a WOW moment that people will want to talk about and play off the 90%.

This leads me to the point of my entire story… I went to checkout after my session was done and it started off as any usual checkout goes. “Room 304 please,” I said. “Thank you Mr. Cook, we hope you enjoyed your stay,” was the response – typical (and yes, I did, it was very nice). However, one of the other ladies chimed in and said, “Oh, you’re Mr. Cook, we have something for you…” and proceeded to hand me a postcard with – you guessed it – a picture of a Maine Lobster on the front!

On the back was a hand-written note that said: “Mr. Cook – This should fill the taxi qualifications for a lobster stamp. ☺ Hope you had a nice visit. Cheerfully, Kathy & front desk staff, Harraseeket Inn.” Not only was I literally “blown away” by this gesture, but I made a point of going back into the dining room where the rest of the bankers were finishing their lunch to share the fact that I indeed got a “Lobster Stamp” for my return trip home! I made a point of ensuring that my contact from the Maine Bankers Association also was aware of this “above-and-beyond” gesture so that she could mention it to management.

Kathy did something that all of us can learn a lesson from. She listened to my story when I checked in the prior evening and saw an opportunity to step outside of her box and do something that would cause me to say “wow”. As a result, I’m spending time telling you about my experience in this post and helping to fuel the 90% (what others say about your business). I can tell you that when (not if) I come back for a visit in the future, there’s no way I’m staying any place other than the Harraseeket Inn. I’m sure there are a lot of quaint and very nice places to stay at in the area. But, thanks to Kathy (and her front desk team), they created a loyal customer that’s willing to tell others about his experience. I just hope I get to come back again soon.

I challenge you to pay attention to what goes on during the general course of your business day. While you may think it’s the “same ‘ole, same ‘ole”, you might be surprised. Are your customers unknowingly leaving hints for you to pick up on to create a “wow” experience for them, like Kathy did for me? I challenge you to get out of your normal routine and force yourself to be more aware of what’s going on. You might be surprised. For the cost of a postcard, you too may have the ability to make someone’s day and tell their friends.

Embrace the 90%... (and don't forget your Lobster Stamp next time you're in Maine)!

Solving Problems Remotely With Technology

2011-08-29T08:09:00.000-05:00

Jing's "Magic Ball". Image via WikipediaOk, I'm a bad blogger... I know it's been "more than a while" since my last post and apologize for the lapse. The good news is that I've had a very busy summer, working on customer projects and traveling to present at conferences. As a business owner, keeping busy during these "challenging economic times" is a blessing and I'm grateful for the opportunities that I've had these past several months.

As I was contemplating what wisdom to share with my "return" blog post, I recently had an experience with a client that was having problems with their e-mail, which I was able to solve (remotely) thanks to a great free tool that I've talked about before... Jing. This program from the folks at TechSmith gives you the ability to capture screenshots and videos right from your desktop and quickly share them out to one person or many people with just a couple clicks of your mouse. Here's what happened...

As has been the case this summer, I was out of the office when one of my customers contacted me, stating they were having problems with their e-mail program. They were moving from POP to IMAP, while at the same time migrating from Outlook to Mozilla's Thunderbird mail client (the makers of Firefox). He had been working on this for almost an entire day, but was getting error messages when trying to send e-mail and was getting very frustrated (not only at the situation, but at the technology that WE were providing his business).

Step One - Download Thunderbird to Test
The first thing I did was to try and mimic what he was going through on my computer and I went out and downloaded the Thunderbird mail client and walked through the setup process while he was on the phone. This way I could "see what he sees" and since the program was free, no cost was involved. As his service provider, he was comfortable sharing his password with me so that I could log in "as him" and set up the system to check e-mail. There was one step that was overlooked, which we talked about, and then I was able to see all his mail and sent out some test messages. We made sure the settings were the same and viola! Problem solved... or so we thought.

Step Two - Sending Messages Does Not Work
About an hour later, he called me back and said that he was getting errors sending e-mail, and I could tell there was an increased level of frustration in his voice (understandably so). In order for me to see what was going on, I asked him to take some screenshots of the error messages and send them my way. At that time, I was away from the computer, but when I got back, was able to see the problem was in the authentication of the "outgoing mail server settings", which was keeping his mail from going out. I thought this was strange, because in the Thunderbird program that I installed, I didn't have any of these problems and did some further digging. That's when I opened up my Jing and was able to get to the bottom of this issue.

Step Three - Explore Further With Jing

Some of the Jing captures that I have saved on my computer,
ready to be shared with clients via Screencast.com.

I wasn't sure exactly what the problem was, but I knew one thing for sure... his mail settings were different than mine since the exact same program on my computer was working for me, but not at his end. So, I fired up Jing and turned on the video screen capture option. With the free version, you can capture up to five minutes of video from your screen, and that was going to be plenty.

So, with the video grabbing my actions, I went into the properties and settings, exploring all of the various options that could be chosen during the configuration process. The video was about three minutes in total and when done, I uploaded it to my Screencast.com account (a free account you get when you sign up for Jing that gives you the ability to share what you've captured easily). Once the upload of the video was done, I pasted the link into a message and sent it to him (since he was able to GET messages, just not send them).

Guess what! When he watched the video and walked through his Thunderbird settings he discovered (and I never would have thought to ask him to check this) another version of an outgoing mail server that was incorrectly set up the first time he tried installing the program. It seems this server configuration was conflicting with the "right" one and causing the problem with him sending e-mail. Once he removed this from the system, his e-mail worked like a champ. Thank you Jing!

This is an example of a screenshot capture of this blog post
showing how you can "mock up" the page, add callouts,
draw arrows and provide text description for different areas.

I continue to use Jing for lots of other things as well as troubleshooting problems like this. When we do website designs for customers, I'll use the screen grab feature to get a snapshot of the screen and then use the editing tools to draw boxes, arrows, add text and highlights to help explain what changes and modifications to make. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but in this case Jing allows you to combine the picture and your words to tell the full story.

If you're not using Jing yet, what are you waiting for? This free program is a great tool to have on-hand and can be used for a variety of tasks. It's PC and Mac compatible and they also offer a paid version that does not limit the time of your videos for around $15. Once you give it a try, I have a feeling it will be one of your most favorite programs! What programs have you used in similar situations? I've love to hear your ideas and feedback.

Enjoy...
~Eric

The Year of the Mobile Device - Are YOU Ready?

2011-05-25T06:17:00.000-05:00

Image via CrunchBaseWith the mobile device being so popular these days, is it any wonder that it was predicted recently that it will be the #1 device for browsing the web by 2013? Think about it, you have a device that has more processing power than many of the computers we used just a few years ago, is always connected to the Internet thanks to the ever-expanding data coverage by the mobile carriers and their screens are making it even easier to browse and experience websites right from the palm of your hand. This does not even take into consideration the plethora of apps that can be downloaded to further enhance your "mobile experience" (regardless of whether you are using an iPhone, Android-based device or Blackberry).

But, one of the things that still confuses many of my customers and people I talk to at conferences is the jargon that is associated with this expanding niche. So, in an attempt to help provide some clarity to this topic, I'd like to provide some of the key terms that seem to be most important. I recently presented at a conference for the Virginia Bankers Association, and these were some of the questions the crowd asked, so here we go...

SMS - This stands for Short (or Simple) Message Service, but we all probably know this more as a good 'ole fashioned "text message". This is the plain text message that you can send from one mobile device to another and for any of you who have teenagers, probably one of the biggest numbers on your monthly cell phone bill!

MMS - Similar to MMS, this is a Multimedia Message Service and a way to take SMS and enhance it with the ability to send images and even video over the text feature of your mobile device.

Mobile Short Code - Mobile message marketing is hot right now and many businesses are starting to allow customers to opt-in to receive mobile messages with updates, special offers and alerts. Probably the most common use is on contest shows like American Idol where you can "text" in your vote. The number that you send the message to (like a phone number, but shorter) is the Short Code and typically assigned to you by whatever mobile marketing company you are using.

Mobile Keyword - The second component of a mobile marketing system is the actual Keyword that you send to the Short Code (mentioned above). This tells the mobile message system what you "want". The system will interpret the Short Code and Keyword and according to the settings in the mobile marketing system, will send you a reply, forward your message as an e-mail to someone at the business, add your mobile number to a group for future information or even automatically re-direct you to a website. It's a great way to engage and keep in touch with those that want to learn more about what you do.

QR Code - Have you ever seen one of these funky looking black and white square images in a magazine or newspaper. More businesses are starting to use these Quick Response codes that smart phones with cameras can scan and interpret. The QR code can automatically take you to a website, send a text message or even automatically enter contact information into your mobile phone's contacts (great for adding to a business card!). If your phone does not have a QR reader, simply hop over to your "marketplace" or "app store" and pick one up, then scan this code and see where it takes you!

Mobile Friendly Website - When you have a website that is "Mobile Friendly" that typically means that the code used to create your site will play nice with many of the popular mobile devices. Elements like the styles used (from your CSS file - Cascading Style Sheet) and limitations on Flash and other non-mobile friendly elements are taken into consideration. This helps to ensure that the elements on your site are able to be interpreted by a mobile device, but the down side is that you have created a much smaller version of your site that may be difficult to navigate and "click/touch" on the right links (especially if these links are text embedded in paragraph text on your site).

Mobile Formatted Website - So, what's the solution for a mobile friendly website that may be too complicated to effectively browse on a mobile device... how about a Mobile Formatted Website! When a site is formatted FOR mobile, there typically is code installed that will tell the site if it's being accessed by a mobile device. When this happens, you'll be automatically re-directed to a new version of your site that will typically feature only the important information that someone would likely need from a mobile device (such as hours, phone number, locations, general overview, etc...). Plus, on a Mobile Formatted Website, you'll typically see larger buttons and graphics, making it easier to browse with your finger. One of the sites that I use all the time (due to my travel) is Delta.com and if you visit that site on your phone, it's much different from browsing on your computer. And by the way... I can help with a Mobile Formatted Website if that's something you're interested in (shameless plug, I know, but I gotta pay the bills - *wink*).

What mobile terminology have you heard recently and wondered what that really means? Post your comments and thoughts and let me know. Just like social media, mobile devices are not going away and while it may create a little extra work, it's going to be important to allow your customers to easily connect with you, regardless of what type of device they are using.

~Eric

Pay It Forward - You Just Never Know When Someone Is Watching

2011-04-28T01:18:00.002-05:00

Recently I was in Traverse City for the Michigan Bankers Association's BEST Conference and presented on the topic of Google Analytics and ways to measure the effectiveness of your online efforts. Those of you reading this who know me also know that I love to present and help folks learn new things to be more competitive online. The session went great, there were lots of excellent questions and I received several positive comments after I was done.

However, as much fun as it was presenting, one of the best things I love about conferences is the ability to catch up with old friends (and meet some new ones). It is the former that I want to focus on during this post, as I was able to re-connect with someone from my past "banking days" and he shared a story with me that actually gave me goosebumps. Here's what happened...

While putting the finishing touches on my session Friday morning after breakfast, a former vendor who had moved on shortly before I left banking about four years ago came up to say "hi". Bill said that he saw my name on the speakers list in the conference brochure and since he was going to be attending, wanted to make sure to connect and share a story with me. He's now working for a different company but still connected to the banking sector, so I'm glad that our paths were able to cross again.

Without too much of the back story, just after my second year at the Graduate School of Banking, one of my "banker buddies" returned home to Ohio only to discover his then five-year old daughter was diagnosed with Neuroblastoma, a rare form of cancer. Over her four-year long battle against the disease, I proudly assumed the role of "Christi's Webmaster" and the site we developed shared the story of this little girl's battle. While the intent was to keep friends and family members informed of what was going on, Christi's story spread across the Internet and surpassed a million visitors, forever changing the lives of those that read her amazing story. I encourage you to stop by the website and read the blog that Christi's mother still updates on a regular basis.

A "dirty" Eric after my first Lumberjack 100
Pedaling With a Purpose fundraiser effort.

During this journey with the Thomas Team (as they became known to all that followed the story), one of the things I took it upon myself to do was to raise money in support of the CNCF, the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation. As a cyclist, I created Pedaling With a Purpose and started racing my bike and doing triathlons as a fundraiser and am proud to say that PWAP has been responsible for generating over $25,000 over the years, thanks to the generous support of friends, coworkers and Christi's online followers.

This all comes to the point of my story... Bill shared with me that Christi's story and my efforts were so inspiring to him that he decided to train for a marathon and raise money for a cause that he was passionate about, the Children's Miracle Network. He was successful in his race (telling me he was able to cross the finish line with his kids hand-in-hand), plus raised over $4,000 for this great cause. Not only did the charity get some much-needed financial support, but he used this as a learning experience for his children, as they knew their daddy was doing this for more than just himself. They saw him dedicating himself to not only training for the 26+ mile event, but raising money for a worthy cause to help children that he didn't even know.

Unfortunately Christi lost her battle against cancer and earned her wings on September 19, 2006. But in her short time with us here on Earth, Christi not only changed my life, but the lives of countless others that were impacted by her story and bravery. Bill told me that had he not read about my efforts to help Christi and been inspired by my actions, he never would have even thought of doing a marathon. I think of Bill not only getting in great shape for his event, but also the lessons he taught his children. I think of those that were in the crowd who may have been inspired seeing a father and his kids coming across the line together after such an amazing accomplishment. Nobody had a clue the reason he was there was thanks to a little girl who battled cancer so bravely and inspired him (just like me and countless others) to "do more".

One thing is for sure, we never really know when our actions will have an impact on others. If you're thinking about taking that next step and doing something that will go "above and beyond", I say go for it! While you certainly will end up a better person for it in the end, you just never know who will be watching and what they will do as a result of your efforts.

Triathlon Season Is Here... But For Businesses It Never Left

2011-03-26T13:31:00.001-05:00

Recently I had the pleasure of welcoming Bernie Borges of Find and Convert to Free Webinar Wednesdays as our guest to talk about ways to leverage social networking to enhance job and career development. I've been a fan of Bernie's for a long time and have most of his podcasts downloaded to iTunes and have taken him on training runs/rides over the years in my iPod. So, as you can image, it was a joy to actually be able to talk "with" him during our webinar session and actually hear him talk back!

One thing that I thought was pretty ironic (and he had no idea when he put together his slides for the session) was that he made the comparison to how training for a triathlon was synonymous to the type of dedication one must undertake to be successful in taking charge of their career. He didn't pull any punches and this recommendation was front and center on slide #2 and helped to set the stage for the rest of his discussion. The triathlete in me couldn't wait to hear more!

Regardless of whether you are a self-employed entrepreneur, someone that has a job but is "looking" to make a change or completely happy with your employer - chances are you are always looking for ways to improve. This reminded me of my 70.3 mile triathlon that I did last year at Cedar Point with my good friend Shayne. Call it a mid-life crisis, but I figured turning 40 deserved a "big" event to celebrate, so I set my sights on a "half-iron" distance triathlon. Not only was the experience one I'll never forget, each of the points that Bernie shared in his session rang true with me both as a triathlete and as a business owner. So, while I may be paraphrasing Bernie's words a bit, here are some of the ways the discipline of training for a triathlon can help shape your success in business.

Set Written Goals
For my Cedar Point event, I knew based on prior shorter distance triathlons that I wanted to break 6 hours. That was my goal, I wrote it down and when I was training that number was front and center in my mind. But, to get to that goal, I had to create smaller, more realistic goals when I started training early in the season. In April I wasn't prepared to go out and break 6 hours for 70.3 miles, but each week worth of training had smaller goals that related to laps swam, miles run/rode, target heart rate, etc. These little steps led up to the bigger goal and I accomplished my goal and came across the line in September under my 6 hour goal!

I did this same thing when I decided to leave my job as a community banker and knew what sort of goals I needed to achieve to be successful running my own business. Just like my end goal of sub-6 hours for my triathlon, I have a desired goal for my business but to expect that to happen immediately after leaving my job at the bank (which I had for 15 years) was unrealistic. However, I have set goals that relate to sales, speaking engagements and other strategies that all lead up to my end goal of being a successful business. Good news is, that's working too!

Get a Coach
As someone that had spent their time mostly behind the bars of a bicycle (road or mountain), I knew that in order to be successful in a triathlon I'd need people to help me along the way. I had run in the past, but not very fast. And, as for swimming... we'll let's just say that I spent more time on my WaveRunner playing ON the water than exercising IN it. Fortunately a good friend of mine who is competing in the 2011 RAAM had done several triathlons (successfully), offered to give me some tips, which was great. Additionally, one of my customers (The Studio Path) in Kalamazoo also helped me put together a plan and get improve my running (and flexibility). I also had several others that offered assistance along the way, so you could say that I was fortunate to have several coaches for my event.

When I made the decision to leave my banking job, before making the announcement I reached out to a few successful business owners that I knew and also sought their advice. I considered them (and still do) my business coaches and their advice on what to do (and not to do) was invaluable in my transition from a steady paycheck to the world of entrepreneurship. In both cases, I was glad to have great coaches in my corner to help me along the way.

Accountability Partner
They say "misery loves company". While I don't want to give you the impression that my event was (all) misery, the reality is that you can easily get off track and lose focus when training for an event like a 70.3 mile triathlon. That's why I'm so glad that I had my good friend Shayne to help me along the way. While he lives in Ohio and I'm here in Michigan, it's easy to keep in touch and share successes along the way to keep motivated. I'm not sure about him, but I can say it would have been much more difficult to remain dedicated to the event had I been doing it alone and not had him right there with me (in spirit) knowing that both of us would be lining up at the starting line together. Find someone that will keep you motivated to "train" with and that will make a world of difference.

That goes for business too. Many times in the start of my business I had moments of "panic" wondering if I did the right thing. The good news was I had a close friend that quickly joined me in the self-employed world and we leaned on each other quite a bit. I considered him (and still do) my business training partner and today Jeff and I get to work together every week on Free Webinar Wednesdays and talk quite often, sharing successes and keeping each other motivated.

Join Clubs
Surrounding yourself with people of like interests and motivation can make a big difference in your ability to keep going, even when there are times when you think about quitting. I ride for Team Active Racing out of Battle Creek and my teammates are great at keeping me motivated, and many also will go out and run with me as well. You learn things from others (and can also share what you know), which makes for a great "community" type experience and being part of something "bigger" is also a pretty cool feeling.

When it comes to business, I also have relied on several "clubs" along the way. I'm a proud supporter of my local Chamber of Commerce, belonged to BNI for networking early on in my efforts and also belong to the two state banking associations in Michigan since that's where a lot of my customers (and potential customers) are. There are many others as well, but each of them provides me with opportunities to learn and share information, making both sides of the relationship better in the long run.

Develop a Routine
Every Wednesday in the summer at 6:30 I'm rolling out with 15 or more other cyclists on our group ride from Team Active in Battle Creek. Tuesdays and Thursdays were run nights and the weekend involved at least one swim and either a long ride or run. Of course, there were other workouts that I worked in as time permitted, but there were some non-negotiable items on my calendar that I committed myself to. This was my routine and having one in place helped me keep other items in priority and not interfering with my training efforts (because that was a priority). I can tell you from experience that if you just try to "wing it" you will get distracted and will never get as much done as if you follow a routine. Believe me, that was one of the big reasons I finished under 6 hours (because I made the time to make it happen).

That same can be said for business, especially when you are running your own business. That dreaded ADD (and some would say that I suffer from HD-ADD, "high definition attention deficit disorder") will kick in faster than you think if you don't have some sort of a routine that you follow on a regular basis. I have to give my wife full credit here (and commend her patience with me). She "retired" from a very successful 20+ year career in sales to help grow the business and one of the reasons that she was so successful is because of the routines that she created for herself in the process. She knew when to make sales calls, when to work on proposals, when to work on projects, etc... I have to admit, it makes me a bit jealous that she's able to stay so focused on things, but taking her advice I've been able to create my own routine that has helped to keep me on track. Granted, when she reads this (love you, honey), she'll probably be rolling her eyes, but the fact is that a routine is very important to keeping you on track and making sure that the important things get done.

Work on Your Technique
I mentioned earlier that I didn't have much experience with swimming, so I knew that was going to be the biggest area to improve upon. Not only is good technique helpful to being efficient in the water, the reality is that you can actually drown if you do it really poorly. With either running or cycling you can stop, your feet are on the ground and you're safe. In the water, that's not always an option, so it may be an over dramatization to say it's a matter of "life and death", but you get the picture. It took me time to get comfortable with the stoke, pulling through the water, kicking, breathing, how to hold my head, rotating my hips, etc... You can see, there's a lot to it and at first I was terrible. Someone watching me probably wondered what all the splashing was about, but over time practicing all of these elements helped. But, the important part to note here is that I didn't try to master all of them at the same time. There would be days in the pool when I'd just focus on my stroke and hand position in the water. Other days would be devoted to my kick and using my legs or maybe breathing on the left side (I'm a right-side breather). But, it was important to get comfortable with one element and then move on, otherwise you'll get frustrated and give up.

When you own your own business there are a LOT of things that you are now responsible for doing yourself. The first year while my wife was still working for someone else, I did it all. That meant sales, project work, marketing, accounting, billing, accounts receivable, etc... There were things that I didn't do very well (just like swimming). I loved sales and talking to people (just like I loved cycling), plus I was good at it. However I had to focus on some of the items that made me uncomfortable or I was not going to be a very good business person. That meant I had to get better at the accounting and paperwork or, just like in a triathlon, I was going to sink to the bottom of the lake. Not good! So, practice your technique in all your disciplines and you'll be better for it in the long run.

Image via WikipediaFind Educational Resources
In addition to my coaches, teammates and training partner, I also checked online for tips and information about triathlons that would make me better. I found great information about swimming workouts, tips for a faster transition and other helpful information that made me better. With the Internet there's really no excuse for not taking the time to research your chosen area of focus and learning more. It's right there, just go get it!

I regularly use RSS feeds to blogs, newsletters, podcasts and webinars to consume information about my industry. A someone that deals with the Internet, things move quickly (sometimes almost too quickly), so it's important to have ways to stay educated and keep informed with what's new. One of the best tools that I have for this now is my iPad, which makes it possible to take volumes of information with you, wherever you are. As someone that spends a bit of time on planes traveling to speaking engagements, the iPad (and other iPod devices) make it easy to read, listen and watch helpful information at any time. I've got an RSS reader on my mobile phone, so even standing in line at the grocery store I can quickly catch up on my articles and you just never know when you'll be learning about the next big thing that will help you with your next customer or land the next deal.

Make a Commitment
As Nike says "Just Do It!" Sounds simple, but executing this strategy is tougher than you think. One of the tricks that I discovered years ago was making my end goal more than just about "me". For example, I've been doing events like this to help raise money to fight child cancer, so not only do I want to complete the event personally, but I've likely had people support me with their donation(s) over the year and know that I owe it to them to also finish what I've started. I started using Endomondo, a feature on my mobile phone that tracks and then publishes my workouts to Facebook, to further help increase the "peer pressure" and keep people informed of my training efforts. The encouragement I get from others when that 30-mile ride goes out to my friends on Facebook is a great way to keep me committed to my goal of not only completing the event, but raising money for a great cause in the process. I'm proud to say that I've helped to raise over $20,000 over the past several years and completed some great events in the process!

When I left my job in banking, I knew that too was a big commitment to myself and my family (I've got a wife and two doggies counting on me!). "Failure is not an option" was one of the sayings that kept playing in the back of my head and I knew I was going to do whatever it took to make it happen. There are days when I'm up to 3 am working on things for my customers, but if that's what it takes then I've decided that's the commitment I must make. I've built a great group of people around me that provide the support I need to stay motivated and have been able to embrace all of the elements listed above to help further increase my chances of success. I've found that the more you are doing right, the easier it is to stay committed to your goal(s). If you're having problems, chances are there may be opportunities to improve in one of the key "triathlon tactics" above.

So, what do you think? Ready to go out and sign up for a triathlon yet? Ok, maybe not... but what do you want to accomplish today, this week, this month, this year or even in your lifetime? Following these "triathlon" principles certainly can't hurt your efforts! Good luck with your training...

~Eric

Privacy, Authenticity, Objectivity and Being "Real" Online...

2011-03-05T11:43:00.000-05:00

Image by o5com via FlickrThe topic of online privacy has got a lot of attention in recent months and as a former community banker, the issue of privacy is something that I've always taken very seriously. Not only was I obligated as a banker from a regulatory and legal perspective to protect my customers' privacy, at a higher level it's just the "right thing" to do. We never sold our customer information to third parties for profit (unlike others), not because we didn't want the money, but because I believed doing so would be in direct violation of the trust they placed in me as their banker.

However, if you can voluntarily "give up" some of your information in exchange for a more customized and personalized online experience... would that be such a bad thing? It's already happening when you go on Facebook, as marketers can leverage the information YOU are providing. The ads that appear are not "coincidence", they are directly targeted at YOU based on information in your profile, what you're posting on your wall, who you are associated with, etc. While the companies behind the ads may not know my actual name, they do know that I...

Am a college graduate (a couple of times over) and hail from historic Marshall, MI
Love to bicycle and compete in triathlons
Am someone that is interested in online marketing and all things digital
Have two awesome golden retrievers
Enjoy public speaking and teaching others about social tech

So, when I'm on Facebook I see ads for things like bicycles, fitness supplements, online marketing information, etc. You get the picture. But I've decided to be authentic in my information (I'm not telling the world that I'm a rocket scientist or interested in climbing Mt. Everest - even if that may be more exciting), which means that information and marketing messages are relevant. There's an interesting cartoon (from The New Yorker) where you have two dogs sitting at a computer and the one at the keyboard says to the other, "On the Internet nobody knows you're a dog." While the lure of anonymity may have been initially attractive to some, I propose you really have to be genuine and real to get the most out of this new, online social world.

Most everything that I put out on the 'net is not filtered or directed to a particular group or segment of my social graph. I know in Facebook you can set up groups and segment friends that may be more "business" related so you can restrict what they can (and cannot see). I also have several platforms that I use, and each has a bit different feel (Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter, for example). But, in most cases what goes out, just goes out and I'm not really that concerned about who reads it. Like it or not, this is "Eric Cook" and sooner or later people will figure me out.

For example, if someone is a "cat person" and I'm a "dog person" and that's going to cause a problem down the road, isn't it best to know that sooner than later and we both can go on our merry way? Granted, that may be a bit extreme, but you get the idea. So, are you being as "real" as you can online, or are you holding something back? I'm interested in your thoughts...

~Eric

Online Reputation Management - This Isn't High School Any Longer...

2011-02-23T09:00:00.004-05:00

Remember in high school when all you cared about was what other people thought about you? You wanted to make sure you wore the right clothes, had the right shoes, hung out with the right crowd, etc... Back then it seemed like what other people thought about you was the most important thing in the world.

Fast forward to present day. You’re a business owner (or at least someone that’s responsible to a certain degree in your business’ success). Are the opinions of others as important today as they were back in high school? While your clothing choices are not as big of a deal as they once were, I’m going to say YES, and probably even more so thanks to the Internet.

If someone wants to talk about your business and has an “ax to grind”, the power of the Internet gives even the smallest customer a global voice and s/he can have a significant impact, especially if you're not aware of what's being said about you online. This is much more powerful than back in high school when the worst that could happen is the gossip makes it to the lunch room. No, what's said goes everywhere and lasts forever.

So, what are YOU doing to either help ensure that your happy customers have a voice and can get the word out to the rest of the world? Or, and maybe more importantly, what are you doing to monitor what’s being said about your business (good or bad)? You may not be able to get rid of any bad reviews, but you CAN help to ensure that your happy customers know how to post a review and hopefully you can get more good than bad ones online (no, you can't "ask for good reivews", but you can make it easier for them).

Image via WikipediaI’ve talked before about one of WSI’s newest partners, Customer Lobby, when it comes to managing customer testimonials and reputation management. The service provides businesses an opportunity to help their customers share thoughts and testimonials. Because the reviews exist on a third party site, the credibility goes up and is easy to share and show off. But one of the great thing that I like about Customer Lobby is it makes the review process quick and easy for your customers. As an example, you can check out my Customer Lobby page and see some of my reviews.

While sites like Customer Lobby will help you ensure that reviews are getting created, there are also some sites out there businesses can use to help keep an eye on what’s being said already, both good and bad.

Image via CrunchBase

The first is Google Alerts, which scours the web and Googles indexing for key phrases and search terms that you pick. The system can send you updates on several different intervals and is a great way to keep track of your business, your competition, key employees, your market trends, etc…

Another tool similar to Google Alerts is Social Mention. While you can also check for many of the similar types of phrases (such as your own business, competition, etc…), this service tends to search more in the social sphere and looks into blogs, social media sites and related “non-traditional” web properties.

Finally, one tool that I like to use is good ‘ole Twitter Search. While many people discount Twitter because they feel they just don’t have time to keep up with the quick pace of posting by many, the real-time information stream of Twitter can provide you with an instant look at what’s being talked about online.

I suggest you hop over to any of these sites and put in some of your keywords to see what comes back. Try your business name, industry trends, major competitors and even your personal name. You may need to play with some of the search techniques to "tweak" your results and consider using things like quotes around words you want together and you can use the plus sign to add other terms.

For example searching for eric cook will bring back results that have eric or cook in the results. But when searched as "eric cook" you get those two words next to one another, and the results are much more fine-tuned. Add "eric cook" + wsi and you get any search with my name and my company in the search result. These are much more focused and can really help you get some meaningful results in your search efforts.

By no means is this an exhaustive list of ways to help manage your reputation online. But hopefully a few of these items have piqued your interest in learning more about how to position yourself to better know what’s being said about you and your business online. If you’ve got other tools you’ve used to manage the online chatter about your business let me know. I’d love to hear what you have to say about this. And, if you need some help just give me a ring (269-841-5007) and I'd be happy to help.

Could This Be My Next Phone...? HTC Thunderbolt - Pretty Impressive!

2011-02-21T20:39:00.000-05:00

I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time prepping you for this video, but wanted to share this as further evidence of just how far mobile devices have come. This looks like it's going to be an amazing phone and just may have to make it to my short list for things that I just "gotta have". What do you think...? Enjoy, I know I did!

What Do We Really Need A Compuer For?

2011-02-21T09:00:00.002-05:00

Image via WikipediaOk, full disclosure before we get started. I AM typing this post on my 17" Macbook Pro so the question posed in the title may be a bit premature. But, this past week on Free Webinar Wednesdays we talked about mobile marketing and how the growing popularity of the "third screen" is giving consumers an easy (and "always on") way to receive, consume and distribute information from the palm of their hand. Combine this with the growing popularity of tablet devices like the iPad and coming Android devices, one has to wonder will the need for a "traditional" computer go the way of the DoDo Bird?

I read a majority of my e-mail now on my Droid, not on my computer. I've migrated my business to Google Apps, so from most any Internet-enabled device I can keep connected, manage my business and stay in touch with my customers. Using cloud-based services like Dropbox or Box.net, one can even move documents off my computer (or at least keep a copy of them online), reducing hard drive storage requirements and making it easy to have access (and a backup) to almost any resource you can think of.

Of course there will always be certain activities where we'll likely need to have the processing power, storage capacity and local file management capabilities of a traditional computer. But the real question is... Where is the "tipping point" in all of this? As you make purchase decisions in the future as it relates to technology, will these factors have an impact on what devices you buy and embrace moving forward? I look forward to your thoughts...

~Eric

Using a Partner to Help wth Vendor Contract Negotiations - Can You Save Money and Time?

2011-02-19T13:23:00.001-05:00

Image by wjr via FlickrTo start, I want to ensure those of you reading this post that it's not intended to have any "sales" motive behind it. I'm merely interested in getting your take on the viability of this concept since many of you are involved with your vendor agreements, particularly when it comes to core processing and other "large dollar" investments. As a former banker myself, I know first-hand that these account for a majority expense for many data processors, spending thousands of dollars every month. With the "number crunch" underway at most institutions, I suspect that any ways to save money are being given consideration...

Some of you may have experience with vendors that will work with your organization and do "audits" of cost and agreements. I've been through these before when it comes to telephone and Internet service (since many of us miss the subtle elements that unknowingly cost us more money and can be cut - or at least re-negotiated to save money in the future). But I've recently been contacted by a former vendor (and friend) that left one of the major core processors to start a business that can come in to a financial institution and help with this function as it relates to the "big" contracts. I'm wondering, after sharing some of what they have told me are key differentiators of theirs, what your take is and if this strategy holds water.

Key Factors:

No Risk: They work on a contingency basis and only are paid a percentage of money saved. This protects the institution from having someone come in, charge money and then deliver minimal results that don't justify the cost. I'm told if there is not an opportunity to save a client at least $100k or more, they will walk away.
Former Vendors: They believe this is important since they know where the "skeletons" can be in contracts and can act as an advocate on behalf of their clients. While the initial reaction (if you are a vendor) may be negative to this, they also understand the value of extending contracts when the time is right and how to leverage this for the mutual benefit of the institution and the vendor (signing a 5 or 7 year deal can result in some significant savings for the institution and a longer-term customer for the vendor).
Maintain Existing Relationships: While some in this space focus on helping an institution generate an RFP and shop out the service to get a competitive bid and present cost savings this way, these guys realize that switching vendors (unless there is a good reason), ranks right up there with root canals. Their focus (as referenced above) is working with the incumbent to help achieve a cost savings through product combinations, contract terms and areas for savings that preserves the relationship and helps keep internal operational disruption to a minimum.
Time Savings: You're busy enough these days, right? Rather than you take the time to comb through agreements looking for things that may (or may not) be able to save you money, they take the burden off your shoulders and do it for you.
Proven Results: It's nice to know, that while I'd still consider them a "startup" they have been able to save some clients money in their short time of operation. They have been doing this for almost two years and their average savings over a five-year period (most standard contract terms) is around $750k with an average institution size in the $500MM asset range. I'm sure as with anything else, performance and savings will be a factor (to a degree) based on asset size, but would even a few hundred thousand dollars be worth it (that's what I'm asking)?
Vendor Respect: They have received actual testimonials from some of the major core processors for their work, which seems counter intuitive since they work for the customer and seek to save them money. But, I suspect due to their past "vendor lives" they are able to bridge the gap here and ensure that both sides walk away happy, since the institution and vendor are the ones that have to "live together" once the negotiations are over.

I think that gives you the gist of their business model. Since I'm no longer in a position to take advantage of a service like this, but have a great deal of respect for the folks that are starting this up, I'm curious to see what your thoughts are. What are your questions? What are your concerns? Have you tried this before (and did it work or fail)? How much in savings would make it worthwhile to engage a service like this? What else would you want to know before giving something like this a try in your institution?

Looking forward to your comments and getting some ideas. In the sense of keeping this informational and NOT sales related, I'm not sharing the name of the company or any of the individual names. Only if you are interested in learning more about the actual service will I share this and ask that you contact me directly so as to not turn this into something that would not be appropriate for this type of forum.

Thanks,
Eric
eric (at) poweredbywsi.com

Is the Digitizatioin of Society a Good or Bad Thing?

2011-02-03T08:47:00.005-05:00

As consumers shift their offline lives to an online world, the concept of "digitization" has many meanings, depending on your perspective. From a big picture, we are interacting with friends, family and co-workers more electronically than face-to-face. Communication is via e-mail, text messages, Facebook and other online means that in many cases are not only more convenient, but give you the ability to reach out and touch several people at the same time with your message.

Check out the following video and see just some of the examples of how business is changing. After you watch it, keep scrolling for some thoughts/observations.

So, it appears that the digitization of business (maybe even our society as a whole) is inevitable, but is that a good or bad thing? What does this mean for your personal relationships? While I'm happily married (13 years, thank you!), I had a conversation with one of my single friends who said that dating now is a completely different experience than it was a few years ago. The temptation is to "Google" for information on your date, check out their Facebook profile, snoop around their LinkedIn information, etc... Think about it, you could show up for that traditionally "awkward" first date knowing more about the person sitting across from you than some couples married 15 or 20 years ago knew about each other before saying their "I DOs". Is this a good thing?

From a business perspective, even the smallest mistake or customer service slip can spread across the 'net in an instant. That means someone on your team having a "bad day" can do more damage now than ever - but most businesses don't even have a strategy to monitor (and address) when something like this happens.

What do you think? Is this digital shift a good or bad thing for society? Not that we can keep it from happening (that would be like trying to keep the sun from coming up in the morning), but if we KNOW what's going on, we can develop strategies to address the changes the challenges facing us today.

Looking forward to your thoughts...
~Eric

Lessons From the Mouse: Applying Disney World’s Secrets of Success to Your Organization

2010-11-30T07:37:00.000-05:00

Lessons From the Mouse: Applying Disney World’s Secrets of Success to Your Organization

This week on Free Webinar Wednesdays I'm excited to welcome Dennis Snow, of Snow & Associates, Inc. to talk about his 20 years with the Walt Disney World Company and lessons learned from the "Mouse" to help your business succeed. If you are not yet registered for FWW, please do so here and we look forward to seeing you December 1st at 1 pm EST.

Eric

Hey, I'm a Guest Blogger... Who Knew!

2010-11-23T11:15:00.005-05:00

Last week I received an e-mail from a friend of mine, Bea Fields, inviting me to write an article on "Leadership" that she could put on her blog site. For those of you who may not know Bea, she's a very well-respected leadership coach, blogging expert and I had the honor of teaching the Blogging for Bankers course online with her and my Free Webinar Wednesdays partner, Jeff Simpkins. Oh yeah, she's also an author and has a few books (great reads on leadership and Gen Y) as well, so to say she's a writing and communication expert is just scratching the surface. Suffice it to say, she knows a LOT of people and to ask me to write a blog for her site was quite a compliment.

If you're interested in checking out my post, entitled "Hey Leaders, Trust Your Gut - You're Smarter Than You Think" stop over to her blog and check it out. While you're there, I'd encourage you to hang around and read some of Bea's other posts. I'm sure you'll learn more than a thing or two and be sure to let me know what you think on my first guest blog...

-Eric

Welcome To Ft. Wayne. Would You Like A Cookie?

2010-11-06T08:24:00.010-05:00

That was the question Audrey (pictured here) asked me when I landed at the Ft. Wayne International Airport Friday on my way back from meetings in Dallas for the week. My trip (which involved three plane changes from Dallas to Memphis to Detroit to Ft. Wayne) was a long day in of travel, so it was nice to finish my journey with a friendly (and unexpected) greeting like this.

Over the past year I've had the pleasure of speaking all over the country, presenting at conferences to help educate community bankers on the "power" of social networking. Of course, to get to these conferences meant that I also had the "pleasure" of spending quite a bit of time in and out of airports. During my travels and all the airports that I passed through, not once did I get offered a cookie when I landed until this past week. Heck, sometimes I couldn't even get my connecting gate information ("sorry sir, you'll have to check the monitors".) Guess a cookie would be really out of the question.

With an expectation for air fares going up for the holidays and customer satisfaction with travel mediocre at best, this one little airport is taking steps to try and make travel as pleasurable as possible. Now I'm not saying that a cookie is all that it takes to make things "all better". But, this airport also features inexpensive (and convenient) parking and free WiFi (where the larger airports require you to pay to get online). Knowing this, I actually planned on getting to the airport early (yes, that was a conscious decision) to make sure that I was all caught up on work before taking off at the beginning of the week.

Lessons for the Little Guys
Now I understand that DTW likely isn't going to start giving out cookies to the millions of people that pass through their terminal (that would be a bit much). But, if you are the owner of a small business and struggling with how to compete with the "big boys", the Ft. Wayne Airport can be a good example of how this David is differentiating itself against the Goliaths. Think about it... What can YOU do that would not only make your customers smile, but be so inspired as to actually take a photo of you in action and then tell their friends (which is what I'm doing right now)? Maybe it's not a cookie, but think about how you can go above and beyond and get your customers to think "wow, that was pretty cool".

So to answer your question Audrey, yes... I would LOVE a cookie. And I'll look forward to seeing you on my next trip. While I still fly out of DTW most of the time, when the opportunity presents itself to head south to Ft. Wayne you can bet that's where I'll be.

Until next time...
Eric

P.S. When I approached Audry to ask if I could take her picture, she was understandably puzzled. I told her that I was an "Internet guy" and wanted to blog about her and the basket of cookies she had to hand out. "Oh, well in that case sure," she said. On my way out, another gentleman approached me with a card to see if I'd be interested in going online and completing a survey. Funny, I thought... not only are they taking steps to try and brighten visitors' days with an unexpected treat, but they are actually interested in what people think about their service (click on the Tell Us link)! Think this is something that you could do a better job of in your business?

99 vs. 1 = 99% - Would You Take Those Odds?

2010-10-25T20:35:00.005-05:00

Ok, so when you were in school I'm suspecting that if you got 99 out of 100 questions right on an exam you'd be pretty happy (at least I know that would have been the case with me). Heck, I probably would have been satisfied with something even less than missing only one question. Now don't get me wrong, it's not like I was a terrible student, but in most cases if you get in the 90th percentile you're doing pretty darn good so even missing eight or ten questions would still have got me an "A".

Now, let's take this same equation and move it into the business world. Let's say that out of every 100 customers you serve 99 of them that think you're the best thing since sliced bread and will continue to do business with you. May be wishful thinking, but work with me here... You were on time, guarantee your work, delivered exactly what you promised (or maybe even went above and beyond) or whatever the reason... 99% of the time your customers LOVE you. That's a good thing, right? Sure it is...

Well hold on there mister. Let's talk about the ONE lonely sole that felt you did them wrong. Let's talk about the 1%. To them, you may have come off as rude, didn't meet their expectations, were too expensive, one of your employees treated them unfairly, etc... Whatever the case may be, you get the picture here. But the important thing to note is that this person (whether they are justified or not) thinks you suck and they are going to tell the world to right the wrong that has been done unto them.

Let me introduce you to Customer Ratings. These are the little "stars" that people can give you in things like Google, Yahoo Local and review sites like Yelp, Epinions, ConsumerSearch, RateMDs, and others. Now you and I both know that you've got a 99% "perfect" record that would get you an "A" in school, but do these customers always go out and tell the rest of the world they enjoy doing business with you? Maybe, but maybe not. In most cases, unless you ask or you do something really stupendous, they will be content and just keep doing business with you. But, they likely will not take the time (or energy) to seek out a way to submit their feedback on a review site and tell the rest of the world.

Now, back to your (former) customer that felt you were out to get him. Think this guy will go out and tell the world about how evil you are to your fellow man? You bet he will. In this instance with all things being equal, if your business is up against another business in the same industry and you have a negative review that will tip the scales in the favor of your competition! But wait, you have a 99% success rate. Doesn't that count for something? Don't I have an "A"???

With online customer reviews now playing more of an important role in a consumers' decision making process, the opinions of our peers mean more than any form of advertising you can do as a business owner. In fact, in the Socialnomics video (below), one of the key statistics that stands out to me is the fact that 78% of people trust the opinions and views of others, while only 14% trust advertising. This means that you could promote your 99% success rate in an advertisement telling the world how wonderful you are, but you'd only have 14% (if you're lucky) of the readers believe you. Yet in comparison, that ONE customer who felt you were out to get him will be believed by over three-quarters of those that read his comment. Now, all of a sudden that 1% yields quite a bit of power of your potential customer base...

So, what are YOU doing to help with your online reputation and customer ratings? Anything? Did you realize this was even going on? Even if you're not worried about combating negative ratings at this point, did you know that customer reviews can help to enhance your local search rankings? The search engines know this 14/78 statistic and those businesses with reviews are of more importance to consumers, and therefore to the search engines.

If you're wondering how to make this all happen, drop me a note and let's chat. WSI just brought a great service provider into our network called CustomerLobby that can help not only get you the positive reviews your business deserves, but help with your local search results too.

Chat soon...
Eric

P.S. Be sure to keep an eye on Free Webinar Wednesdays as we'll be featuring the CEO of CustomerLobby in an upcoming show and you can learn more about this great new service. If you're not part of the FWW family, hop over to the site and register or join us on Facebook to get the scoop on what's coming up. Don't forget, we have all of our webinars archived on the FWW site, so if you can't join us live you can always watch the session later. The webinars are every Wednesday at 1 pm Eastern and of course, free...

Recap From WSI Global Conference

2010-09-28T21:09:00.006-05:00

I'm pleased to say that it was another successful E&I Conference with WSI. Had there been any time to get outside, I would have been more upset about the weather we had while in Miami Beach, but I kept pretty busy inside with lots of sessions and networking with fellow consultants. Guess that's what you get when you're in South Florida during the start of hurricane season.

The E&I stands for "Excellence & Innovation" and it was exactly that. Thanks to WSI's global footprint, over the years I've had the pleasure of meeting fellow consultants from across the world and this year was no exception. While it was great to see "old" friends from the UK, Ecuador, South Africa, Mexico, France, UAE and various other places, this year I also met some new consultants from Barbados, El Salvador and of course numerous states here in the U.S.

This year's conference was focused in the realm of social technologies, which are evolving every day and bringing people closer together. It was evident that businesses are using these sites to build relationships and enhance the customer interaction that only a few years ago was not "technically possible" and those that are not yet considering a "social strategy" will quickly be left in the dust of their competition.

We also had a couple of amazing keynote speakers during the conference. The first was analytics "guru" and best-selling author Avinash Kaushik. He writes a blog and his books (just search for his name on Amazon) are both game-changers for anyone interested in better understanding how to use the mountains of data that is collected. The second keynote was web evangelist and social technology expert, Scott Klososky where he presented (among other things) a 12-step process to implement social technologies in an organization. His session was jam-packed with information and both presentations were awe-inspiring. As with any good conference, you want to come home with information you can use when you get home, and both speakers didn't disappoint in this area. Both gave me tons of ideas for my customers and can't wait to start implementing their ideas soon.

One of the best experiences I had during the conference was helping my good friend Francois Muscat from South Africa with his 5-hour social media seminar and workshop. Presented to over 150 consultants, Francois let us through the process of developing a social media calendar and shared with us the tools he's built over the past year to help his customers really put a system in place that makes the process less intimidating. It was really a "hand's on" experience and heard a lot of great comments from the session attendees. I plan on bringing this entire process back to my clients, so watch out for more on this coming soon.

Some of the other sessions included:

Ways to leverage video to grow your business.
Implementing social media into a small business marketing strategy.
Extended discussion on eFusion online business system.
The importance and power of online credibility.
Ways to get the most out of SEO (search engine optimization).
The "digitization" of media and how to get seen by the new consumer.
Education and training programs for businesses in social media and Internet marketing.

I also had the opportunity to present during one of the breakout sessions. My topic session was entitled "Blogging to Build a Reputation" and we talked about ways that I'm personally using blogs to help folks get to "know me, like me, trust me" in building an online reputation. Sites such as this one and Free Webinar Wednesdays don't really "sell" but are more about establishing my personality and sharing what's important to me. Don't get me wrong, I love to "sell" and grow my business. But I'm of the opinion that people first need to be comfortable with who you are, what you stand for and what you know BEFORE they will give you an opportunity to take care of their business needs.

For now, it's back to Michigan and given the weather we left in Miami I'm glad to be home. While not in the 80s, at least it's dry and I love fall time in Michigan. The leaves are starting to turn color and the weather is getting cooler, which means I can take down the sweaters from the top shelf and get outside for long walks in the woods with the doggies. Fortunately, we have some trips up north scheduled for this month, so we'll really get to see the color "explosion" of leaves in Northern Michigan and can't wait.

Upcoming Speaking Events
I'm excited that I'll have an opportunity in a couple of weeks to talk in more detail on blogging strategies at The Payments Authority's Concepts 2010 conference in Boyne on the 7th of October. Then, it's off to Memphis for a repeat presentation at the 2010 Bank Technology Summit (October 18-19) and another presentation to the Nebraska Bankers Marketing Conference in Lincoln on October 20th. If you're going to be at any of these events, be sure to come up and say introduce yourself. I'd love to meet you in person and say "hi".

Me and My 70.3...

2010-09-17T17:09:00.013-05:00

I had intended on getting this posted before now, but as soon as I got home Monday, it was go, go, go and we have been on the road and unable to get my recap. The good news is that last Sunday I successfully completed my first half "Iron Man" event down at Cedar Point in Ohio. I say "Iron Man" in quotes because it wasn't a sanctioned "Iron Man" event (so I'm not sure I'm even allowed to call it that) but it was a 1.2 mile swim, 56k bike and 13.1 mile run and that's what people think of, so I'm going with it (that all adds up to 70.3 miles, thus the name of this post). The promoter, Rev3, did a great job and it was a super event. Anyone interested in getting into this type of distance should consider making this their first one since you also get to ride roller coasters before and after and if you bring family, it gives them something to do while you are out on the course punishing yourself.

Shayne and me at check-in.

A little Roller Coaster action before race day. It's good to be a kid!

Who's the psycho on the right! Nice ponchos, eh?

The day before the race we got nasty rain and the waves on Lake Erie were 3-4 feet, so that was going to make for a very interesting swim some Sunday morning if things didn't calm down. Fortunately, the weather turned and we had mid 60s for the swim start and the water was relatively calm with just some gentle rollers. The swim went well and I came out mid-pack (raced Clydesdale and there were 48 of us "big guys" in the Half). I think I was 20th out of the water and then 18th out of the transition. Must be some of the guys decided to sit down and grab a bite to eat (you know, we are Clydesdales after all).

Shayne and me before the start of our first 70.3.

On the bike I did well and my split times showed that I made up a significant amount of time. I think my place got as high as 5th or 6th on the bike and only got passed a handful of times, which was cool. However, I had a feeling that several of these people I passed would be waiting for their revenge on the run... and I was right (yeah, gotta still work on my run). I did lots of comments on the "Eat My Nuts" and jersey and one guy even passed me and simply said "I'd prefer not, they are probably too salty". LOL In fact, after the event was over I was approached by several people (because I had a big tomato on my jersey, making me easy to spot I guess) saying "dude, you're the 'eat my nuts guy' - I love it man!". I made sure to suggest that everyone interested in my "nuts" make the trip to Homer, MI and visit Cascarelli's and they could taste 'em for themselves. Ryan's nuts are amazing.... (grin)

Ok, back with the play by play. Coming in from the bike I headed out on the run and actually felt better after the 56 miles than I did in Ludington on the Olympic distance event a few weeks ago. Strange, I know, but I didn't have any of the cramping I had at the start of my Olympic run and for the first several miles I felt great, so that was good, and I headed off into Sandusky to wind through the streets on the 13.1 mile run course. There were lots of spectators and an aid station at every mile with very friendly folks to help us along. The numbers had our names on them, so I heard a lot of "keep it up Eric" and "way to go Eric", so that was cool, even though I had no idea who these people were. At about mile 9 or 10 I started feeling it in my legs on the verge of seizing up at times and had to really monitor my pace to keep just below "crap stage". Now I was starting to feel it and the remaining few miles were not going to be as easy as the first few, that was certain.

However, I had initially set my sights on beating 6 hours for the event and could tell when I started my run that if I paced in the low 10 minute mile rage I would easily be able to come in under that goal. So every mile I kept checking my watch to see where I was in relation that plan. 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, etc... and how far under each of these times I was. I had a buffer of about 4 minutes at one time, so I knew that I could slow it down at the end to keep the craps away (and ensure that I also run the entire time and NOT walk).

Coming into the finish chute was such an amazing feeling. I've done 12 hour, 24 hour and 100 mile races before, but the crowd, jumbotron video screen with my picture on it and just raw energy of finishing in Cedar Point was something I'll never forget. It felt pretty cool to come across the line and feel like I met all of my objectives and could still walk! Under 6 hours... check (5:52:12). Ran the entire time.... check.

Celebrating after the race. Shayne is such a good buddy. The pint glasses were chilling in the freezer and I don't think I've had a better Guinness. Thanks buddy (and nice medal)!

Back to the park with our Finisher's jerseys. Two rides on the Top Fuel Dragster and we called it a day.

In the end I finished 12th out of 48 in the Clydesdale category and 225 out of roughly 700 total half participants. I'm an official "70.3" finisher now, which is pretty cool. However, I had some "disillusions of grandeur" at the beginning of the swim to try a full next year.... These were quickly crushed around mile 9-10 on the run when I said "I can't wait until 13.1 is over". The run was set up so that you had to turn around and go back out to run the 13.1 again to complete the full and I cannot even imagine doing that the way I felt. So hats off to those of you reading this that have completed a full. Stud!

Shayne, my buddy that also did the race with me, and I are thinking about doing the half in Madison next year, so we'll see how that goes. We both had a blast and it was cool to spend time with him. Plus, I was able to raise $875 in donations to support the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation (you can still donate), which was the cancer that took Shayne's daughter, Christi, at the all to young age of 9. I thought about her quite a bit while I was out there running (you have a lot of time to think about things when you are out there that long). The special part of all this was that Cedar Point was one of her favorite places to go and I can still remember riding the rides with her that nobody else wanted to go on. Man, I miss that little girl...

Rev 3 Race Photos (search for bib #988)
Rev 3 Race Results (search for bib #988)
Facebook Pictures

Until next time...

What Will You Be Doing When You Are 83 Years Young?

2010-08-29T16:29:00.009-05:00

Last Friday Alicia picked me up at the airport in Grand Rapids after I returned form instructing at the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. This was my second year as an instructor and enjoyed discussing elements of social media with bankers from all over the Midwest. We headed north to stay at my grandparent's house in Pentwater, MI and I was going to compete in the Light House Triathlon in Ludington, just a few miles north of where they live.

As a side-note, this is a build-up event for my big race coming up on September 12th at Cedar Point. I'm racing a "half-iron distance" triathlon to raise money to fight childhood cancer. This started several years ago when I raced the Lumberjack 100, but now moved on to triathlons. Here's my shameless plea for a donation to help support my effort. You donation is tax deductible and is for a great cause supporting the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation, the disease that took my good friend and inspiration, Christi Thomas. You can DONATE NOW and please tell your friends to help spread the word...

It had been a while since we had been to my grandparents (too long, actually) and I am reminded of how fortunate I am to still have a full set of grandparents here to spend time with. Both my grandma and grandpa are always "doing something" and on the go, which is why I think they have been able to remain in such good health. My grandpa, in particular, is a gadget guy and I got to see one of his latest gadgets in action.

While I'm not exactly sure of the "real name" of this machine, he affectionately refers to it as the "Kitty Cat". Basically, it's a modified Bobcat with a MadMax like device of destruction affixed to the front and he sits in an air-conditioned (and bullet proof) cockpit to operate it. As you can see from the video below, this thing will pretty much mulch up anything that stands in it's way, including small trees and grind them right down to nothing.

This was his present to himself for his 80th birthday and today, at 83, he's still going strong. Whether he's clearing brush with the "Kitty Cat", fishing on Lake Michigan or hunting wild pigs in Florida (where they winter, of course), he's one active guy. So, as I celebrate a successful triathlon and a feeling of accomplishment for my 1000m swim, 40k bike and 10k run... I'm hopeful that when I am 83 I'm just as active as grandpa. While I may not be competing in triathlons any longer, hopefully I'm still enjoying life and having fun.

Time for a quick picture with Alicia before the start.

Headed out on the bike. See you in 26 miles...

Finishing in 2:33:44.

Time for a kiss from my honey. Good day!

2010 Pedaling with a Purpose - Cedar Point Here I Come...

2010-07-26T06:59:00.004-05:00

Since 2006 I have been picking a "longer than normal" athletic event to use as a personal fundraiser to generate money for the Children's Neuroblastloma Cancer Foundation in honor of (now in memory of) Christi Thomas. She fought this deadly disease for four years and over the course of her battle touched the lives of many, including mine.

If you've already heard the story and want to "cut to the chase", hop on over to my donations page and make a contribution. I would love to have your support in this year's event - a Half-Ironman distance triathlon at Cedar Point on September 12, 2010. This just happens to be the day after Christi was diagnosed back in 2002 and September is National Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. Fitting circumstances for my longest triathlon event ever.

If you're not familiar with the story, I met Christi's father, Shayne, at the Graduate School of Banking at the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2001. Shayne and I were bankers at the time and lived on the same floor for the two-week session. Both fitness enthusiasts, we got up in the mornings and ran the trails around Madison and developed a friendship that lasts today.

After our second year of GSB, Shayne returned home only to find that on September 11th his five-year old daughter was diagnosed with stage IV Neuroblastoma, a rare (and deadly) form of cancer. While he didn't make it back the following year to graduate with me, he did return the following year to graduate and Alicia and I went back to Madison to watch him complete the GSB program and then spent some time at the Dells with the entire Thomas Team.

Over Christ's four-year journey I built a website for the family (www.ChristiThomas.com) that has hundreds of pictures from her journey as well as helped to develop a blog (www.ChristiThomas.Blogspot.com) as well as a site for her foundation (www.ChristiThomas.org) that provides scholarships for children in Christi's area. When you have a chance, spend some time on these sites - they will change your perspective on life and what's really important.

I started my fundraising in 2006 when I competed in Michigan's only 100 mile mountain bike race, the Lumberjack 100. Held in the Manistee National Forest in Northern Michigan, this course challenged my physical abilities and was honored to receive the support of over 160 donors and raised in excess of $12,000 my first year. I competed in the LJ100 two more times and then decided to find a new challenge, which is what brought me to triathlons.

Last year Shayne and I committed to racing an Olympic distance triathlon and loved it. While funds raised didn't come close to my first year of $12,000, I was able to raise more money for the CNCF and continue the tradition of challenging myself and raising money for a worthy cause. Plus, it's my way of keeping Christi alive and her spirit with me while I'm out there pushing myself to finish the race.

So, this year I'm competing in a half-Ironman distance event which consists of 1.2 miles of swimming followed by 56 miles on the bike and finally a 13.1 half-marathon to bring it all home. This is the longest triathlon event I've ever attempted, and while I'm hopefully going to be done well before the time it took me to ride my mountain bike 100 miles, the challenge is the same... finish the race and raise money to fight childhood cancer in celebration of one little girl... Christi Thomas.

There's a lot more to the story (as I'm sure you can imagine), but hopefully you've been convinced this is something that's worth your financial support. Please spread the word, tell family and friends, post it on Facebook and help me get my message in front of as many people as possible. I'm eager to get out there on the 12th and compete and you can even follow my training online with Endomondo, a great site that tracks my training and makes it possible for me to share my route and distance online. If we're friends on Facebook, chances are you've seen some of my updates.

So in conclusion, thanks for your consideration and hopeful support. Together, let's make childhood cancer a thing of the past!
-Eric

P.S. The CNCF is a fully-accredited non-profit so your donation is tax deductible and you can donate online with a credit or debit card. A receipt will be e-mailed to you for tax purposes and will include the CNCF's tax ID number.

What’s Social Networking Got To Do With ME?

2010-06-27T13:40:00.003-05:00

Maybe you’re someone who hasn’t drank the Facebook “kool-aid” and have been ignoring co-workers invitations to join LinkedIn. To you, the concept of Twitter is something foreign and begs the question “why should I care what you just ate for breakfast”? Well, there’s a lot more to social networking and sites like these are being used by organizations to help strengthen relationships and actually generate revenue (gasp). But, what if you’re still not convinced. You may be saying to yourself, “what’s social networking got to do with ME?” Let me share a story that may put some perspective on this question.

This week I’ve got the pleasure of speaking to the Idaho and Utah Bankers Associations at their joint annual convention in Sun Valley, Idaho. While I’m certainly looking forward to the venue (never been there before), the topic of conversation will be about social networking and the concept of online reputation management. When talking with a friend during a recent visit to Chicago last month, I was telling him about my upcoming presentation and he said “have I got a story for you”.

My friend is active on social networking sites and posts updates to his “wall” on Facebook and has a nice profile on Linkedn. In case you’re not aware, one of the features of social networking sites is their ability to “magically” recommend people that you may know who are also in the system, but maybe not connected to you yet. Well, my friend was logged in one day and got a suggestion for a former college buddy to connect in LinkedIn. Great, he thought, it would be good to re-connect and see how he’s doing…

When my friend visited his buddy’s LinkedIn profile, at first blush it looked like any other LinkedIn profile. It listed his name, current employer, education history and a few other pieces of information that seemed normal. But, after a closer look under the details of his job, it had listed as one of his responsibilities “sleeping with coworkers”! Huh???

Something here didn’t seem quite right, so my friend called his college buddy and said “what’s up with your LinkedIn profile?” The response was “what do you mean, I don’t have a profile in LinkedIn,” or so he thought. After a few screenshots and some “adult language” they had surmised that his disgruntled ex-wife got in and created a fake LinkedIn profile and was using it as a way to “get back” for their recent separation and was attempting to drag his name through the mud through this professional networking site.

This gentleman held a very prominent position at a publicly traded company. But like many busy executives, simply had not taken the time, nor really saw the benefit of being online and having a LinkedIn profile. However, it’s hard to say how many people had gone online to view his profile and saw this. While he decided that he wasn’t ready for social networking, the reality was that it found him (and not in a good way). Fortunately, after several e-mail messages and a lot of personal effort, he was able to get the phony profile removed and restore his good name.

So, what’s the moral of this story? Well, there are several but I think the biggest lesson to be learned is that even if you think social networking is not right for YOU, the luxury of not paying any attention to this evolution is quickly becoming a thing of the past. We saw in this example how it could have had a personal impact on one individual, what about some of the business implications? Any business that works with the public (and that’s most of us these days) likely has a handful of customers that may feel you are not doing as much as you can to make them happy.

While in the past we had to worry about “word of mouth”, unless it was something really bad, chances are it didn’t spread too far (or fast). Now, with the power of social networking sites, blogs and online review sites like Google Local, Yelp and others, consumers have a voice like never before. So, what’s social networking got to do with YOU? Maybe nothing, but then again, maybe everything... depending on what’s being said about you online. Do you know? If not, let me know and I may be able to help.

So Sales And Social Media DO Have Something In Common...

2010-05-19T17:32:00.004-05:00

I started several years ago when I was “still a banker” teaching a class on sales for the Perry School of Banking at Central Michigan University for the Michigan Bankers Association. When I started, I actually had a partner teaching the class with me… my wife, who at the time was the state sales manager for one of the largest title agencies in the state of Michigan. She has been in sales for 25+ years (yes, she started when she was 12) and I must say I’ve learned a lot from her, not only as a banker, but now that I’m running my own consulting practices sales is a vital part of my everyday life.

Taking the “marital dynamics” out of the equation for a bit (although that was a big hit with the students), we introduced the concept of a sales process that can be implemented at any bank (or organization, for that matter) that broke it down into three main elements. These are setting your Goals and Objectives, identifying the Players that are part of the process and finally the Tools that you will use to implement the plan.

I may go into each of these three areas in more detail in future posts, but for now I want to share an observation that I made after listening to one of my favorite podcasts, Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel of Twist Image. In this episode (which kept me company while mowing the lawn), Mitch talked with Jeffrey Gitomer, probably one of the best sales trainers/authors today. My wife (as do I) has all of his “Little (Red, Black, Green, Yellow…) Book of (Sales, Connections, Getting Your Way, YES!...)” books. In fact, these are all on the reference list that I gave out at class last week to the students at Perry.

The interesting part in this was when the discussion turned to how sales and social media are really more closely aligned than what people think… well at least the “right” type of sales. In that, I mean sales based on the foundation of relationships, value and building win-win outcomes. All too often sales is given a bad wrap by those trying to do it wrong and “forcing” the sale. It’s for this reason that my class is called “Sales: It’s Not A Four Letter Word”.

What I’ve always said about social networking (done right) is that it takes people down the “Know Me, Like Me, Trust Me” path. Once people get to know who you are, the can determine if they like what you stand for, what you know, etc… Only after this process has been accomplished do people get to the point where they trust one another (and that’s typically when business gets done – and that’s when the money is made).

While in the “traditional” sales process (ie. before social media) that had to be done face to face, through written communication like newsletters or whitepapers to establish and share what you know as an expert and how you can help. Now, however, with social media providing anyone the ability to become a publisher of information instantly (and for free), the smart ones are leveraging this to get their brand out there so others can get to Know them, Like them and hopefully Trust them with their business.

I encourage you to stop by SPOS and check out the interview with Gitomer. He's in his early 60s (solid “Boomer”) and freely admits that he resisted sites like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook for a long time. But, now that he’s embraced what can be done (and how to use them the right way), you’ll hear how he now feels these portals are critical to his success now and in the future. Good stuff for sure!

So, what do you think? Is sales still a four-letter word in your organization or are you getting more comfortable with the process? Chances are you could be doing a better job (like us all) and social media may be just the ticket to getting you to the next level. Who Knows, Likes and Trusts YOU?

So, You Think Your Private Information Is Private? Think Again...

2010-05-10T13:06:00.005-05:00

I recently had a friend of mine in the banking industry send me a link the the following YouTube video. As you will see, it shares some disturbing information on how your personal information can actually remain on copiers since they are basically computers with their own hard drives. While many organizations may think that once you make a copy it's a "one-time" thing, the reality is this information is likely stored on the copier, which doesn't pose a security risk until that copier is traded in for the next-best model.

The reason I'm posting this here is that another friend of mine (who is also very technically-adept) recently shared an experience with his Facebook friends about having to go through the process of defending an Identity Theft situation where his information was stolen. The comments from his wall from some of the "non-techie" folks asked what could be done to keep this from happening to them. The unfortunate reality is NOTHING can be done to prevent Identity Theft. Sorry to burst your bubble, but it CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE.

As you will see from the video below, the unsuspecting folks that trusted their information to the previous owners of these copiers had their information "stolen" for about $300 and 12 hours of time using free software available off the Internet. In my comment on my friend's Facebook page I suggested that everyone use www.annualcreditreport.com and check for inconsistencies and items on their credit reports (this is the free site that allows you to get one copy of your report from all the major bureaus once per year). There are also services out there that can monitor your credit history for you, which may also be worth it.

From my experience as a banker and seeing this happen to my customers, the only advice that I can offer anyone that gets hit with an ID theft situation is to DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT, DOCUMENT everything that you do from the minute you realize something has happened. I'd suggest getting a notebook dedicated to the issue and log dates, times, phone numbers called, people you talked to, badge/employee ID numbers and anything else you can get your hands on during the dispute process. It won't be easy, but the more information you have, the better in the long run.

Sorry to be a web blanket here, but the reality is with information being held in so many different places by so many different organizations, it's no longer under our control who has and what happens to our information. Opt out of the things you can, remain diligent that you keep what you can private, but don't be so naive to think that it cannot happen to you.... because it can. Hope you "enjoy" the video below and please don't shoot the messenger. Eric

Know Me, Like Me, Trust Me – The Art of Social Networking

2010-04-11T14:49:00.001-05:00

As long as you haven’t been hiding under a rock for the past year or so, you’ve more than likely heard the buzz that surrounds the concept of social networking. The evolution of web 2.0 has spawned many new sites that are presenting opportunities for virtually anyone to become a publisher on the Internet.

But, despite the technology that now makes it possible to get your message quickly distributed to hundreds or thousands of people with the click of your mouse, the fundamental elements of building a relationship remain the same. In business, while some may be able to attract customers in the short-term with aggressively low prices or deep discounts, if you are looking to build a long-term relationship with your customers that will stand the test of time there are three important steps in the process.

The interesting thing to note before we get started is these three steps are not dependent on social networking technology, but enhanced by it. They are based in sound “relationship building” fundamentals that have worked for years. Now, with social networking, we have the ability to do this with your keyboard.

First, you need people to KNOW you. This is the first stage in the process, since if they don’t know you, there’s not much more than can be done. In the non-social networking world, we get to know people through networking events and getting “out and about” meeting people. Now, with sites like Facebook and LinkedIn, you can provide plenty of opportunities for people to get to know you online. It’s important, however, to focus on networking here and not trying to sell anything. That will cut the process short and give the other person the impression you only are interested “making a sale”.

Once people know you, you want them to LIKE you. A good way to do this is focus on providing value and sharing information that conveys what you’re all about (which may be hard for businesses that are used to more traditional marketing methods). But, remember it’s called social networking for a reason. Keep it social and network with others. That way, they can learn about you, see who you associate with, possibly read some reviews from your customers, etc. By focusing on others, you increase your “likeability” factor and can hopefully get to the third, and most important part of the process.

Once people know and like you, chances are they will begin to TRUST you. When this happens and the other person has a business need, there’s a good chance that you’ll get a call and the opportunity to call them a customer. Keep in mind, this process, like any good relationship, will likely take time and is not something that will happen over night. However, once someone knows, likes and trusts you, you’ll likely keep them as a customer for a long time because they are doing business with you for the “right” reasons.

Keep these things in mind when you venture out into the social networking world. While the urge may be there to make it “all about you”, the reality is the more you listen and focus on others the more people will want to get to know you, will like you and then trust you with their business. Good luck with your social networking efforts and building those relationships!

Eric
http://www.PoweredByWSI.com

Social Networking - Know Me, Like Me Trust Me - Virginia Bankers Retail Banking Symposium

2010-03-23T08:00:00.006-05:00

Last week I had the opportunity to attend the Virginia Bankers Association's Retail Banking Symposium in historic Williamsburg, VA. I was asked to come present on the topic of Social Networking for Community Banks and was also able to sit in on many of the other great presentations over the two-day event. I also took advantage of the warm weather (well, warmer than it had been in Michigan) and got out for a nice run using my Droid and Endomondo (check out the map here). Because Williamsburg is a pretty popular place, the Google Map details are pretty impressive and show exactly where I ran (including the sidewalks and such). Amazing.

One of the underlying themes of any successful social networking strategy is helping to bring someone down the "know me, like me, trust me" path. Social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and others are called "social" and "networking" for a reason - they are not intended for the "hard sell". So, that makes using this type of strategy somewhat different than traditional marketing and advertising because you're not directly going after customers for the sale.

Instead, you want to use these sites to help customers first get to KNOW who you are, much like you would at a networking event at the local Chamber or similar networking event. Imagine if you showed up to one of these events trying to sell your wares - chances are nobody at the part would be interested in chatting if that was your focus. You want to generate some conversation, listen to others and respond to questions so that people know who you are, and eventually what you do.

Once people KNOW you, they can then make the decision as to whether they LIKE what you are talking about, what you stand for, how you take care of your business, etc... Social networking sites are a great way to help people in this process since there is an opportunity for so much information to be made available online. In some instances, these first two phases can take place without you even realizing it's going on. That's happened to me, actually. I've had instances where someone has called me and said "so-and-so suggested that we connect and I've been looking at some of the things you've done on the Internet and think it would be a good fit for us, can we talk?". They went out and checked my blog, saw my Free Webinar Wednesdays site, looked at some of my SlideShare.net presentations and possibly viewed my LinkedIn profile. The point is they got to KNOW me and then LIKE me without me being involved in the process.

Finally, if you're lucky they will decide to TRUST you and you'll have the opportunity to do business together. Keep in mind, this process takes time and is not as immediate as some would like it to be. But, I propose that the relationships that generate out of this process are going to be longer-lasting and bring more value over time since they are going to be based on the relationship, not simply on the product.

So, what are you doing with your social networking efforts to help people get to know you, like you and eventually trust you? Are you selling your products and services or offering helpful information to educate, entertain and help others be more successful? I'd be interested in your comments and feedback, so let me know what you think!

Eric

P.S. One of the folks that I got to know, like and trust during the conference was Wanda Queen, Results Consultant with Cohen Brown Management Group. During my presentation I collected cards for a drawing to win a new iPod Nano - one of the tools I talk about at the end of my presentation that can make it easy for people to collect video and audio while "out and about". This type of rich content is very attractive to customers (and search engines) since it's "sticky" and more attractive than reading text on a page.

Anyway, I collected roughly 60 cards and we held the drawing at the cocktail party after the first day's presentations. When the winning card was drawn, which was Mark Debes, SVP for Retail and Marketing for Fauquier Bank, he wasn't there to collect his prize and the "crowd" decided to draw again. The next card I drew was Wanda's and I cheerfully awarded her the Nano. However, just a few minutes later Mark walked in! Wanda pulled me aside and said that he deserved it, he was a banker and he should have the Nano. What a great gesture on her part and Mark was certainly surprised (but very happy).

I made sure that Wanda got a nice dinner out of me for her act of kindness and we were joined by another banker and had a wonderful dinner. I feel that I really got to know Wanda and her philosophy on taking care of customers. Now, I can say that I also "like" and "trust" her too. The best part is we got to do this all face-to-face. So, while social networking tools are great, there's a lot to be said for good "ole fashioned" in-person networking... And congratulations, Mark. I'm looking forward to your first video! :-)

How to Remember Everything - Well Almost Everything

2010-01-25T12:56:00.006-05:00

Seems like there just is more and more "stuff" to remember these days. With personal wish lists (just coming off Christmas, I had a few of these in various places), project to-do items, favorite web pages, notes for presentations, etc... URGH! How does a guy keep track of it all?

Well, wonder no more. I've been using a cool service/website from a company called Evernote that helps you remember things in a variety of different ways. The service has a free version that is easy to use and you can quickly register an account and get up and running in no time. Here's how I'm using it now and maybe you'll find other ways too.

Categories Make it Easy
When you "remember" something in Evernote you can assign Tags to it, which are becoming very common in the "web 2.0" world by helping to categorize items of information. Anything that you add to Evernnote can have Tags associated with it, so you can quickly go back and pull up all the items that are "business" or "personal" (or whatever categories you pick). I have created a category called "presentation material" since I do a lot of public speaking on the topics of social networking in the banking community and this helps to ensure that when I run across something that would be interesting to my audience I can remember it!

Keep Track of Websites
The program allows you to download and install an application (plugin) that works with Firefox and Safari as well as Internet Explorer and even Google's new Chrome so that if you come across a web page you like (and want to remember) you can "bookmark" it in Evernote. You can still bookmark it with your browser's bookmark feature, but by using the Evernote program you can do so much more (like Tag it with special keywords for easy look up later on). You'll see later that you can also access the Evernote information on a variety of different platforms, making the information easily accessible from virtually anywhere!

Quick "Notes to Self"
If you are using a smart phone like an iPhone, Droid or Blackberry, you can download the application that will connect to your Evernote account and give you the ability to access your notes anytime you have your phone. You can even use it with an iTouch and a WiFi connection to keep current. This gives you the ability to keep this handy program with you at all times and quickly jot down a "note to self" for viewing later. It's a nice way to remember things later on and doesn't require you to carry around pen and paper to keep track of that next great idea.

Voice Memos While Driving
Everyone knows you should not text while driving, but what if you get a good idea and want to make sure to remember it for later? Well, if you are using the Evernote program on your smart phone (yes, it can do that), you can save voice memos that will enable to record a message to yourself for playback later. Certainly much safer than driving with your knee and typing.

Sync and Keep Current
While most of my "clippings" and note taking is done on the computer with their handy desktop program that organizes all of your notes, I have the service synchronizing across the web so I can check my notes online on the Evernote website, on my Droid phone and even on my iTouch that is connected to my home WiFi network. This way, no matter what service I'm using I'm always up to date with my notes and checklists.

While I'm still not able to say that I'm remembering 100% of everything, the nice part is that when I do realize that something that needs to be available later, I can quickly add it to my Evernote and I know it will be there for me. Now the only think I need to remember is to check Evernote and it does the rest.

Hope you find this helpful. If you have comments or ideas on how you like to remember things, please feel free to leave me a comment below. Maybe you're old-fashioned and still prefer pen and paper or have another service that fellow techies would like to hear about. Either way, I'd love to hear from you.

Eric

The World is Getting Flatter All The Time…

2009-10-21T10:46:00.005-05:00

I was recently in Salem, MA speaking at the New England Financial Marketing Association’s Fall Conference on the topic of social networking and community banking and had one of those “revealing” moments that reminded me just how connected the world has become. While I spend my time working with clients talking about this very issue (given the power of social networking), it’s always interesting when you see this “for real” and you’re involved in the process.

During my presentation, I talk about the power of blogging to build relationships via a bank’s website and then cover what I refer to as the “Fab Four”. These are the sites of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. Druing my YouTube discussion (which, by the way, is the worlds #2 search engine now), I temporarily leave the PowerPoint and fire up a video from Landmark Bank to show how one financial institution is using the power of video to differentiate themselves from the rest of the “pack” of financial service providers. Check out the video below and I think you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Well, one of the attendees at the conference came up to me afterwards and said that something amazing happened. She has a blog site called Manic Mommies and also is on Twitter (@kristinsb). During my talk, she “tweeted” about my presentation and mentioned Landmark Bank. Well, much to her surprise she got a response to her “tweet” from the woman who actually produced the above video. That was quick!

Well, the story doesn’t end there… Seems that the producer actually knew Kristin and proceeded to inform her that she’s also a follower of the Manic Mommies blog. Now, that’s when it got really “spooky” (yeah, that was an obvious attempt to work on some Halloween lingo into the post – I was in Salem during October, after all). Of course, I couldn't resist the urge to ask her if either of them knew Kevin Bacon...

So, when I flew to Memphis a few days later, I told that story to another group of bankers where I was presenting at the Bank Tech Summit for my good friend Jimmy Sawyers from Sawyers & Jacobs, LLC. Not only was the story somewhat “cool” because these two individuals had actually been “connected” already (but didn’t know it), but it wasn’t until my presentation when the two of them put it together.

So, as my grandmother would say… “What’s that got to do with the price of eggs in Denmark?” Well, the world is getting flatter and flatter every day and social media is connecting us in ways like never before. Imagine, if you will, the power to share good customer service stories, or (gasp) what if someone has a bad experience with your business. Think about how easy it is to get the word out and just who will actually hear it along the way.

2009 Social Media Trends Report - WOW!

2009-10-20T05:56:00.005-05:00

WSI recently completed our 2009 Social Media Trends Report (Knowledge Center > Whitepapers) and I must say it's 11 pages of "awesome". As an Internet Consultant, I frequently get asked by clients what the "deal" is with social media and if it really is something they should be doing for their business.

"My kids use Facebook and Twitter to chat with their friends, but do I really need to be worrying about this for my business?" While I'm not going to say that social media is the right fit for every business just because they have a website, this report reveals the trends in the industry and where your competition is likely headed - so it's good information to know.

For example, did you know that Canada is the leading nation when it comes to social media utilization for users of the Internet, with almost 87% of active Internet users using social networking sites. The U.S. is sixth on the list with just over 70% utilization behind Brazil, UK, Mexico and Spain.

Here are some other interesting tidbits from the report that are worth mentioning:

Majority of online marketers (65%) use Facebook as part of their marketing strategy.
77% of senior marketing executives said they would increase word-of-mouth or social media marketing spending in 2009
According to types of social media used by online businesses, blogs are the most popular method of communicating with site visitors with almost 30% using this technology. This was followed by RSS (really simple syndication) at 23% and User Ratings and Comments at 22%.

Be sure to download the report to get the full story. It's a quick read and has lots of graphs and tables, which makes the information easy to digest. If you are a business owner and interested in discussing how the findings of this report can have an impact on your business, please contact me and let's chat.

I look forward to hearing from you soon and your comments...
Eric
http://www.PoweredByWSI.com

Social Networking is Like a Party

2009-09-28T13:00:00.005-05:00

I 've been saying this for a long time (well, as long as you can when it comes to the concept of social networking), but social networking is more like a "party" to get to know each other and start down the "know me, like me, trust me" process. Just as you wouldn't attend a networking function and expect to "sell" someone something the first time you meet them, the online social networking world is all about creating relationships (friends) and getting to know each other. It's not until they "really" know you that you may be presented with the opportunity to earn their business.

The video from Perry Belcher below is a good representation of this process and wanted to post it here. I'd be interested after you watch the video in your comments and thoughts. I think he makes some good points and does a good job of putting it into "real world" terminology.

So, given the information shared in this video, where are YOU having your "party"? If you're interested in getting help (think "party planner") be sure to let me know. As a Certified Internet Business Consultant and part of the global WSI network, we've helped people (and businesses) just like YOU with their "online parties"!

Eric
http://wwwPoweredByWSI.com

2009 Olympic Distance Triathlon Completed!!!

2009-09-22T23:11:00.005-05:00

I know it's been a long time since posting to my personal blog, but I've been busy posting to Free Webinar Wednesdays and Blogging for Bankers. However, I did find time a few weeks ago to compete in my first Olympic-distance triathlon and happy to report that I survived just fine.

I did my triathlon with my buddy Shayne and we picked one in Akron, Ohio. While it was quite a drive to get there, the event was great and we had incredibly nice weather for the day's events.

I ended up placing middle of the pack, which was great for my first triathlon of that distance and took #2 and #1 in my "Clydesdale" category for swim and bike respectively. However, the run got the best of me, making me #7 out of the eight competitors and ended up placing #5 overall for the 200+ lbs. division, under 40.

Community Banks Using Blogging - Farmers State Bank Interview

2009-07-07T09:44:00.006-05:00

In my opinion, the concept of a blog supports what community banks (and many small businesses) are all about... communication. An effective blog should facilitate a conversation, inspire questions and comments and provide the reader with some insight on the organization and what makes it "tick". Many businesses do this very will "in person" by talking with their customers and having these conversations face-to-face, but what about the customers (and prospects) that either never have the opportunity to see you, or may be intimidated to actually start up a conversation with you?

This is where the power of the blog comes in. It provides you (from the CEO all the way down the corporate ladder) the opportunity to speak directly to those that are interested in learning more about your organization. But the fallacy is that you have to be a larger business with resources (time and money) to do this effectively. While that's true (you do need to devote some time to this), blogging does not have to be expensive and is being done my small organizations all the time to build rapport with customers online.

Here's a good example... Can a $62 million asset, three-office, rural community bank embrace web 2.0 and use a blog and other social networking tools to build relationships with their customers online? Yes they can! I had the pleasure of speaking on this very topic with Craig Goodlock, President & CEO for Farmers State Bank with headquarters in Munith, Michigan. I captured some a nice video interview with him on my new Flip camera where he shares his thoughts. I think you'll enjoy the conversation.

In addition to being the 2009 Michigan Banker of the Year, Craig has been active in both the Michigan Bankers Association and the Michigan Association of Community Banks and plays a vital role in his local community, as any good community banker should. Check out the video below and share your comments and thoughts.

I hope you enjoyed the interview and it's inspired you to move forward in your organization, or at least take another look at blogging as one more way to connect with your customers. As you hopefully learned, you don't have to be a "big business" to start building relationships online. If you are interested in learning more and how to get started in your bank, I'm partnering with a couple of other blogging and banking experts to offer a course called Blogging for Bankers in the fall, so stay tuned. We'd love to see you online and part of our course...

Eric Cook

WSI Internet Consulting

Using SlideShare to show off your presentations

2009-06-23T07:26:00.007-05:00

If you have a PowerPoint slide show that you'd like to share with the rest of the world, there's a very cool site called SlideShare that will help you get it out there for others to see. You'll sign up for an account (it's free) and then can start uploading your slides in minutes. You can make the presentation public or private if you wish, so only those that you

A great feature of this service is how you can embed your slides into your own website or blog, similar to how you do this with YouTube videos. The system also can show your slides in Facebook and LinkedIn, to further support your social networking efforts.

Below is an example of how you can embed a SlideShare presentation into a blog or website. This is a presentation that I did while in Ohio to the folks at Market Source Agency Network, LLC on website strategies for the insurance industry.

Market Source Agency Network 2009 06 04 V2

View more OpenOffice presentations from Eric Cook.

If you're interested in getting started sharing your slides, visit www.SlideShare.net and sign up for your own account. Then, it's just a matter of uploading your slides and getting started. Maybe this will be the next way you'll decide to start promoting your business or organization online!

Enjoy,
Eric
http://www.PoweredByWSI.com

Is your bank ADAPTing to doing business on the Internet?

2009-06-21T15:28:00.012-05:00

This past week I had the pleasure of attending the Michigan Bankers Association’s Annual Convention at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island. As a former banker (and before that, a banker’s “kid”), I’ve had the pleasure of attending a banking conference at the Grand since I was a youngster.

I don’t care how many times I step off the ferry and begin the walk up the hill to the Grand, there’s something magical about the Island for me. Maybe it’s the smell of fudge wafting through the air, the clip-clop of the horse drawn taxis or the fact that bikes are the primary mode of transportation on the Island. All I know is it’s good to “be back”, if only for a few days.

Normally we bring our mountain bikes to ride the trails, but we left them home this year. You may not realize it, but there are some of the best mountain bike trails in the state on the Island and I’ve been “over the bars” on more than one occasion as the terrain brought reality quickly into perspective (and my occasional slip in bike handling). However, this year was not the case and we knew we’d be too busy for riding. Maybe next year.

In addition to seeing good friends and the occasional Grand Pecan Ball at dessert, one of the things I particularly enjoy about the conference is the keynote presentations. We’ve had some great ones over the years, and this year was no exception – former Major League pitcher for the Yankees (and others) Jim Abbott. For those of you who many not recall, Jim was the pitcher who was born without a right hand, throwing and catching with his left hand alone. After graduating from high school in Flint, he went on to the University of Michigan and pitched in college, as well as on the U.S. Olympic team, winning a Gold Medal in 1988 in a 5-3 victory over Japan – the first ever for the U.S. in baseball! Check out his full bio here, quite an amazing guy.

The soft-spoken and humble Abbott handed out baseball cards to all attendees with a picture of him in his Yankees uniform on the front. But, instead of the standard stats you’d expect to find on the back from his successful career as a professional pitcher, he had the word ADAPT, which was the basis for his talk that morning. Each letter stood for a word that he felt was key to his success and ability to overcome adversity and I wanted to share some thoughts on how I think this word can be applied to doing business on the Internet, especially as it relates to community banks. However, this just as easily could be any business as the message is pretty universal.

A – Adjustability
The way businesses is being done online today with the advent of “web 2.0” sites like Facebook, Twitter and the growing popularity of blogs requires that businesses be open to making changes to the way they have normally done things in the past. Just as Jim had to learn to throw (and catch) with the same hand, community banks that have not traditionally been comfortable using their website or Internet efforts for anything more than an online brochure or customer access to online banking are now in a position of trying to figure out “what more” can be done (and how to do it) online. Being able to adjust your strategy “on the fly” is of critical importance as things are changing rapidly in today’s busy pace of business and it’s the quick and nimble organizations that will continue to be successful and survive.

D – Determination
As Jim said during his talk, “once you find your purpose and decide what you want to do, don’t let anything stand in your way”. He decided he was going to be a pitcher and did just that, but it took a lot of hard work and ignoring those that said he couldn’t do it. In your bank, who’s saying you cannot use the Internet more effectively? Is compliance telling you it cannot be done? Do you have some “old school” bank mentality standing in the way? Whatever the case may be, once you have decided that you want to embrace what’s possible on the Internet and use it as a strategic tool for building relationships and getting more out of it, I say go for it and don’t let anyone stand it your way. Granted, as bankers we have rules and regulations to abide by that makes us a bit different than the standard business, but where there’s a will, there’s a way.

A – Accountability
I see it all too often. When asking the question “Is your website working for you” many banks give me the “deer in headlights” stare back and then say something like “what do you mean”? I think this is because to many the web is still seen as a venue that cannot be measured and held accountable for its actions – yet it’s probably easier to do this on the Internet than any other business activity. By using analytics and tracking code, you can quickly see what pages on your site are getting the most visits, which keywords are being used to find you online (and which ones are missing) and if you do e-mail marketing you can even uncover the people that click on links and offers in your messages, making it easy to provide those that are genuinely interested in knowing more about your bank the information they are looking for. The Internet is no longer the place where businesses should expect to do business and spend money “just because”. The tools are online to know if it’s working, and if not, you can quickly develop a plan to turn it around.

P – Perseverance
Will your new-found interest in getting more out of the Internet for your bank result in new customers and increasing profits over night? Probably not. In fact, it likely will take several months of effort without seeing anything noticeable happen before you start seeing results. But, if you are following a plan that has been created based on sound business principles, you must push through the temptation to quit after a few months and have faith the process will work. While I wasn’t there, I’m sure the first time Jim tried catching and throwing with the same hand it didn’t go so well. It likely took time – months and even years to refine the process – yet he never gave up and believed in himself that it would work. It’s that same commitment you need to have with a focus on the end goal to be a success.

T – Trust
The last letter is Jim’s admitted favorite in the ADAPT process and “Trust” represents the faith you must place in yourself, the belief you can do it and that you can respond to any circumstance that is thrown your way. As it relates to the evolution of your bank embracing the Internet, starting a CEO blog, posting on your own Twitter page or using YouTube to promote customer testimonials for your bank, the fact that others around you may not be doing this now should not discourage you from moving forward. If you’re bank is committed to stepping outside of the box and embracing “web 2.0” tools to build relationships online, you need to have faith in the process and believe in yourself.

While conference attendance appeared to be down quite a bit from year’s past, I was still quite pleased with the conference overall. With the challenges in the economy, it’s no surprise that many bankers and vendors decided to pass on this year’s event. However, I pleased to say that I came away meeting some new people and look forward to getting to know these new friends throughout the remainder of 2009. Of course, it was also great to see many “old friends” as well and the conference just reminds me of how lucky I am to be part of such a great industry.

Community bankers have been taking it on the chin in the recent months, but I can tell you as a whole it’s a great industry to be in. They do a lot of good for their communities and, while I’m sure it was “off the cuff”, the 2009 Michigan Banker of the Year, Craig Goodlock from Farmers State Bank, showed his humility (and in my opinion, all the more reason that he was the right pick for the award) when he spoke about the importance of all bankers playing a positive role in their communities. I captured his speech on video and will be presenting it to him later this week. Maybe he’ll decide to share it on his blog…

So, what are you doing to ADAPT to the changes that are facing you in today’s challenging times? Maybe you’re not ready to embrace the Internet and “web 2.0” social networking strategies. But, I’m willing to bet that your business is different today than it was a year ago. Hopefully some of Jim’s ADAPT strategy can come to play in your organization and bring you even more success for the remainder of 2009 and beyond. I know it will for me. Thanks for sharing, Jim...

Eric
www.PoweredByWSI.com

Michigan Girls Soccer State Champions - Portage Central Mustangs

2009-06-15T09:24:00.008-05:00

On June 13, 2009 my niece's soccer team (Portage Central Mustangs) finished their undefeated season with an overtime 3-2 victory against Utica Eisenhower to take the Michigan Division 1A State Soccer Championship. It was quite an amazing season and one of the first times a team had such a great (undefeated) record - ending up 27-0-2, ranked #5 in the nation.

During the final game, I was "Tweeting" updates from my cell phone when the girls scored. Prior to the game, I had set it up so that my Twitter account also passed updates along to my Facebook account. This meant that each update I sent out went to over 1,500 people, all part of my network of connections I've built up via my social networking efforts.

While posting my Twitter updates, I was obviously using the term "soccer" and "scores" in the text. Twitter allows people to search for keywords to help them find people of like interest to follow. Well, I ended up getting found (and followed) by some soccer-specific fellow Twitter users. The professional soccer team in San Diego (@SoccerGameBall), World Cup 2010 (@World_Cup2010) and even a professional soccer team from Australia (@nqfuryfc) were just a few of the new followers I "attracted" as a result of my my postings from the soccer field that afternoon.

I also received several positive comments from my friends on Facebook that were appreciative of the updates. One parent even posted they had kids at Portage Central that were unable to go to the game and liked the fact they were able to "be at" the game with my posts. I also used my new Flip video camera to take video during the game and was able to capture the winning goal, 39 seconds into overtime. Portage Central had a corner kick that went perfectly in front of the goal and one of the girls headed it into the net for the win. Amazing, and just like you see on ESPN highlights.

Winning Goal

Awards Ceremony

Lessons Learned
As an Internet Consultant, I took away from this a few lessons that I'm going to be sharing with my clients. One, the world certainly is "flat" and the power of social media enables anyone to broadcast what they are doing and attract others of like interest. Recall when the plane crashed in the Hudson... it was someone on Twitter that broke the story first, not CNN or one of the major news networks.

Two, I didn't post updates to get other soccer fans to follow me, it just happened. However, if your business is doing something of interest and it DOES want to attract people, this is an excellent way to do it. What events, promotions or even unique products do you have that may be able to create its own "buzz" and attract folks that are searching for what you are talking about. Search still remains the #1 activity that people do on the Internet, but it's not just in Google any more. People are using the social networks (like Twitter) to search for topics of interest and get answers. Is your business putting the word out there to get noticed?

Finally, it takes a plan to do it successfully. I stated earlier that I was not intending to get followed by soccer fans during my Tweeting during the game. However, if I wanted to build a bigger following and increase the odds that I would attract people, I would have had a plan in place. I would have created a blog entry (or two) building up to the game to create interest and get more people to follow me before the game. This also would have set expectations on what I was going to be doing and create some excitement. As a business think about what sort of events and activities you are involved in and can you connect with your customers and community members letting them know what's happening. Will it guarantee you more business in the door? Hard to say, but one thing is for sure it will create interaction and keep you top of mind. In today's busy world, getting in front of your customers so they are thinking of YOU is never a bad thing!

My First Triathlon (in a while)

2009-06-06T08:41:00.003-05:00

Last week I completed my first Sprint triathlon and did the 26th annual Seahorse Challenge in Climax. Being on the "larger" side, I competed in the Clydesdale division with fellow 200 pound plus competitors. The weather was a bit brisk at the beginning of the race and the water was a reported 68 degrees (the coldest starting temp in the history of the event). Good thing I invested in a full wetsuit last winter, and it certainly came in handy for the swim. Surprisingly there were competitors that went without a wetsuit, and I can't imagine...

Thinking that my swim would be the "weakest" part of the event and never swimming in a pack before, I heard stories from others that you better be comfortable with getting kicked in the head and arms flailing all over while you take off. Well, they were right and at the beginning I almost had a panic attack as the splashing and bodies were all over me (at least it seemed that way). I took a break and "doggy paddled" for a bit to regain my composure and eventually settled into a rhythm and by the time the 500m distance was coming to a close I felt pretty good.

Coming out of the water at 11:02 I trudged up the hill towards the transition area to get ready for the bike leg taking off the top part of my wetsuit while en-route to my bike. It took me a while to get my jersey pulled over my head in the midst of my heavy breathing and wet skin. Finally getting dressed and shoes on, I took off and had a good ride, averaging over 20 mph, putting in the second fastest bike time of all the Clydesdales.

With two of the three disciplines now under my belt, I put on my running shoes and headed out for the last leg of the triathlon. While I was in the transition area between the swim and bike for almost four minutes, this time I was changed and back out on the course in under two minutes (but still room for improvement). Ending up with a 30:28 5k certainly didn't break any land speed records, but the good news is leg cramps stayed away and was comfortable at the finish. I figured I'd be good to run a 9 minute mile pace and ended up 8:58.

At the end of the day I finished 8th out of 29 competitors in the Clydesdale category with a finishing time of 1:22:05 and 71st out of the entire 164 member field in the Sprint division. That puts me in the top half of the field, so I'm pretty pleased. The good news is that I'm "hooked" and will be doing more of these this year. I'm searching for an Olympic/International distance event for my Pedaling with a Purpose event and will again raise money to fight neuroblastoma. So, stay tuned. See you again soon, but I've got to go swim now...

A Mega Good Time in Indy…

2009-05-19T04:52:00.005-05:00

Alicia and I recently attended the Indiana Bankers Association Mega Conference in Indianapolis and must say it was one of the better bank conferences we’d been to in quite a while. As the name suggests, it was a “mega” in scope and I heard over 600 bankers attended over the two day event and they even had to turn away vendors from exhibiting because the turnout was so good. In light of the challenging economic times, it was refreshing to see this many bankers and industry partners out and about for the two-day event.

The conference featured various tracks that bankers could attend, including sales, marketing, technology, audit, compliance, lending, finance and virtually any other silo that exists in today’s community bank. With two sessions for each of these tracks in the morning and afternoon, plus great keynote speakers at lunch both days, it’s obvious why many banks brought several folks from their shop to take it all in. Lots of learning to be had, for sure!

It was great to re-connect with many of the vendors that I knew from my “Michigan” banking days as well as get to meet some great Indian bankers over the two days we spent in Indy. We even were able to sit in on a few of the presentations, and always one looking for new ideas, took some great notes. Here’s just a summary of what I brought back from my two days in Indy.

The Future Trends of Bank Technology
Raj Patel from Plante Moran, a “regular” on the topics of technology and innovation in the banking industry, gave a great presentation on the how the Internet continues to mold the way organizations (yes, even banks) are delivering products and services. You can download his presentation entitled Technology Innovations in Banking if you wish. Generation X and Y, mobile banking, the branch of the future, blogging and social networking (Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and MySpace)… He touched on all of these areas (and more) and some of the most intriguing parts of his presentation involved a video on the Umpqua Bank’s branch of the future and a discussion on PNC Bank’s Virtual Wallet. One thing’s for sure, banking as usual is being challenged and it will be interesting to see how many community banks jump on board and begin leveraging the possibilities that exist today.

Stand Out From The Crowd
There was also a great session on differentiation, presented by Joe Sullivan of Market Insights. While we all think we are different from our competitors, he challenged participants to think what they are doing to really stand out. He suggested that community banks have a great opportunity to create their brand in today’s challenging economic environment and need to be able to balance the short and long-term efforts to stand out. Bankers need to become fearless in their marketing and promotion strategies and figure out a way to connect emotionally with customers. Once that emotional connection is made, you significantly increase the chance of someone doing business with you, and with one out of every three customers giving consideration to switching banks, this strategy not only is a good way to get new customers, but keep the ones you have now. As yourself these questions… 1). Who are you? 2). What do you do? 3). Why does it matter? If you are having a hard time answering these questions honestly (and uniquely), then chances are you’re having a hard time in other areas of your bank as well.

Yes, Bankers Can Sell
Another area that I have a particular interest is the sales process. In fact, I just finished my third year as instructor at the Perry School of Banking in Mt. Pleasant, MI teaching a class entitled “Sales – It’s not a Four Letter Word”. Jack Hubbard of St. Myer & Hubbard introduced their concept called “trust-based” prospecting, which made a lot of sense. In fact, I’ve been using the “know me, like me, trust me” concept in my business and am as strong believer that people buy from those they know, like and trust. The TBP system takes this to a new level and we went online to their site and purchased the book that goes “deep” into this concept and look forward to incorporating its components into our business. They even published a book on their process and I we picked that up and look forward to digging into it soon.

Competing For Deposits
The final session I was able to attend was Dr. Tom Parliament’s Uncovering Retail Deposit Capacity: The Battle for Branch Optimization. As was the case when I had the pleasure of sitting in his class at the Graduate School of Banking, Dr. P’s energy is second to none and he delivered great ideas on how community bankers should be positioning themselves to go after the big banks and steal market share and grow deposits. I’m looking forward to chatting with him further about a new concept he talked about that enables banks to take deposits and open accounts online independent of the bank’s core processor capabilities. Certainly something I’m interested in learning more about for my customers!

Alicia and I are already planning on returning in 2010 for the next Mega Conference and look forward to even more great information. I’ve started conversations with several Indiana banks as a result of my time in Indy, so I’d say it was time well spent. Hats off to the IBA for a great show and bucking the economy and putting on a great show. See you next year, if not before!

Performance Based Advertising With PPC - WSI Local AdWorks

2009-03-18T07:21:00.008-05:00

Recently, I launched a paid-search marketing campaign (also called PPC for "pay per click") for an attorney in a larger metropolitan area with WSI's Local AdWorks solution and wanted to share the results. To keep the campaign statistics "clean" I'm not going to reveal the location or legal focus of this attorney's advertisements, but suffice to say we've been getting some good results and even though I'm "in the business", I'm still amazed at how detailed the tracking reports are for my client.

One of the most interesting parts of this service is our ability to dynamically replace a business's phone number with a call-forwarding number that we provide for free. This gives us the ability to track if a phone call results from a click on the advertisement, since that's important to the overall ROI determination and knowing if the campaign is successful. Just last week my client's reporting system showed one phone call as a result of his campaign - but unfortunately for him it was someone looking for a job, not to hire him for her services. The good news, however, is that the call activity was captured and we knew exactly where it came from.

The other "standard" features of any paid search marketing campaign are also included with WSI Local AdWorks program. We track things like number of times the advertisement is displayed (sometimes referred to as "impressions"). Because this is truly performance-based, this number is important, but does not have an impact on the client's budget since the only time ad money is spent is when someone actually CLICKS on the advertisement and visits the client's website. Compare that to an ad in the newspaper and you pay regardless of whether someone reads your ad or it goes in their bird cage!

As you can imagine, we track the number of "clicks" that take place and can compare that to the impressions and get a click through rate (CTR) that gives us an idea of how successful (and relevant) the ad is doing. I often get asked "what's a good CTR" and that really depends on the industry and competition. If you can get in the 1-5% range, you're doing good, but the most important factor in all of this is if you are generating any sales ("conversions") out of your clicks. Think about it, wouldn't you much rather have a .5% click-through rate but know that everyone who visits your site is buying than a 10% click-through rate and not make a sale? Remember, you pay when someone clicks, so it's important that yo do your best to get them to do something when they visit your site (like sign up for your free newsletter).

Once someone is on your site as a result of the "click" (which you paid for), our system also tracks what key pages they visit. So, if you want to know if someone visits your "About Us" page, we can tell you. If you want to know if someone fills out your "Contact Us" form, we can tell you that too. Not every time will someone take action when they are on your site, but it's also nice to know what they look at when they visit. This can also give us some ideas on ways that we can make improvements to your pages and help increase the chance someone will interact with you in the future.

If you're interested in learning more, I'd suggest you check out our instructional video that helps explain WSI Local AdWorks in more detail. If you're interested in learning more or seeing how this can be a good solution for your business, give me a ring at (269) 841-5007 and let's chat. I'd love to help get you more customers and introduce you to performance-based advertising!

Eric

Florida and Birthday Party...

2009-02-08T21:10:00.009-05:00

Been a bit since my last post, but we've had a busy couple of week. At the end of January, Alicia and I headed to Florida to visit my parents in Estero and enjoyed some great weather. I was able to get quite a bit of work done from down there, actually, and am really enjoying the "Internet" lifestyle. But, it was good to get away for a bit and got to play tennis a couple of days with my dad and a few of his buddies. Alicia and I also got in a couple of nice workouts at the fitness center and even swam some laps in the pool.

We did manage to take one day "totally off" (surprise) and headed to Fort Myers Beach and walked a couple of miles on the beach and got some great photos. We've been down to visit my parents three times now and this was the first time we made it to the beach. It was a lot closer than we thought and it's great to discover new things.

Probably one of the coolest things that happened while we were down there was Alicia and I both connected with past classmates we had not seen for a long time via our Facebook accounts. Alicia was able to see a high school buddy that she had not seen in 25 years and a few days later we met one of my fraternity brothers and his wife at the same coffee place (and had not seen him since graduation - 20 years ago!). Facebook is an amazing way to "re-connect" with friends from the past and if you're not using it yet, you really should...

Unfortunately, my parent's computer decided to die on us while down there and we had just installed Skype and got their webcam set up (their Christmas present from us this year). New hard drive is on the way and hopefully they'll be back up and running soon. Before the hard drive crashed, we were able to get in a couple of Skype calls with Alicia's parents at Houghton Lake (so we could see the "kids") and that was nice. The amazing part was the fact that Ryder was watching me over the camera on their laptop screen and I gave him one of my hand commands that "tells" him to speak, and IT WORKED! That's right, all the way from Florida I was able to "communicate" with Ryder via webcam. Amazing... I've uploaded some more pictures of our trip to my Facebook page, so stop over and check 'em out.

We were home for a week (and back to the snow) and this weekend had Alicia's family over for birthdays. Seems that just about everyone in the family has a birthday in either February or December, so the entire "Honke clan" was over for the weekend. I uploaded a bunch of pictures to my Facebook account and it was great to see everyone. The pooches are toast and as I type it's only 9:30 and Ally's been upstairs in bed for almost an hour waiting for us to call it a night. They have a blast when everyone is over and love playing with their cousin, Dorry. In fact, they'll be spending a few more days this week as Alicia and I head to Chicago for a couple of appointments and to "officially" celebrate her birthday (29 and "holding").

Professionally speaking, I've got lots of cool work "stuff" going on and landed a big project the other day. Also booked a few banking conferences to get out and about and meet more bankers and continue spreading the gospel of Internet marketing in the community bank sector. I've also been approached by fellow consultants on prospective bank projects in Iowa and Belgium (talk about different market areas). While in Florida we launched the site for BC Connected and have another project that's likely going to launch this week. I also held a webinar on "data leakage prevention" (aka DLP) and introduced a new concept on file-level encryption to a few bankers. I'm excited about building up my partnerships with vendors that can help add value to my banking clients, and am already planning another webinar for March on another great service for my banking "buddies".

Have a great week...
Eric

Iron Man...

2009-01-18T08:20:00.009-05:00

What do you think of when you someone say the words "Iron Man"? Are you a heavy metal maven and Black Sabbath (led by the famous Ozzy Osbourne) starts playing in your head? Or, maybe you're a fellow fitness addict and think of the famous Ironman triathlon event in Hawaii and wonder how someone can swim for 2.4 miles, bike 112 and then put in a 26.2 mile marathon run. Recently, something changed what comes to mind for me and Alicia actually watched the movie Iron Man with me and some friends and, despite her initial resistance because it's a "guy movie", she actually liked it! I was amazed, and considering the number of "chick flicks" that I've watched and hours of Lifetime, it was nice to have her on my side for a change.

I have to admit, Robert Downy Jr. did an amazing job and if you haven't seen the movie, it's worth the rental. Don't feel like you need to be a comic book junkie either. The special effects are amazing and challenge anyone after watching the movie from wanting their own flying suit. Hopefully, Alicia will remember just how much she liked the movie and when the sequel comes out, it will be an opportunity for a "date night". Keep your fingers crossed for me...

Other Stuff
On other notes, the weather here in Michigan has been great for cross-country skiing and last week I skied for five straight days. The temperature dropped to below zero, so I took a day off and then got on the bike to keep the workout streak going. While I don't have any delusions of competing in an Iornman event (at least this year), I am in training to compete in some triathlons this year. I purchased a wetsuit and got some very nice aero-bars for my road bike for Christmas. I'm likely going to pass on the Lumberjack 100 this year (three years might be enough) and search for an Olympic distance tri (.93 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike and 6.2 mile run) for my 2009 Pedaling with a Purpose fundraising event this year.

Those of you who know me, know that I'm an avid cyclist - so my hope is the middle "bike" leg of the tri will not be a problem. I've done a bit of running in the past as well, but getting in the pool is going to be the big challenge for me. Last year, I started doing some swimming and worked up to being able to do several laps without stopping. But, my technique is less than ideal and that's likely going to be my biggest challenge as I try to "un-train" myself from bad habits. I haven't been in the pool in several months, so I've got to get back in the water soon. If you've got suggestions for any good tris in southern Michigan, let me know.

New Addition to the Family
I'll likely post more about this later, but I am now the proud new owner of an Apple iTouch. The device is amazing and quite addicting (just ask Alicia). Since we've got WiFi at the house, the iTouch is always connected to the Internet and there are some amazing applications to download and install that keep you connected to the "outside world". The Facebook app has probably been the most addictive, simply because the FP (and general social networking) phenomenon has taken hold with my friend "circle" and I'm getting invites daily. Add this to my LinkedIn, Twitter and related activities, and I think 2009 is going to be the year of "online connections".

Speaking of Social Networking...
As an Internet Consultant with WSI, I talk about social networking all the time and how businesses can leverage it to connect with their customers and build relationships. In fact, on Friday the 23rd at Noon (EST) I'm participating in a free webinar with Jeff Simpkins, the owner of Community Bank Consulting, Inc. to talk about "Blogging for Bankers". If you're interested in sitting in, just register online and you just might learn something.

What a Wonderful New Year!

2009-01-01T15:09:00.017-05:00

This year for New Year's I decided to surprise Alicia and do something special and we headed north to the Garland Resort in Lewiston, MI for some cross country skiing, a horse-drawn sleigh ride to a gourmet dinner and then dancing and fireworks to ring in the new year. I kept the evening a surprise and the only thing Alicia really knew was that we were going to do some skiing, but beyond that she was clueless (ha ha ha). Despite being married for 11 1/2 (wonderful) years, this was the first time we really went out to "celebrate" the arrival of the new year (aside from going to friend's houses or having friends over).

We got some fresh snow the night before, so the ski trails were in pretty good shape. We were out for about an hour and the trails winded through the woods and some of the picturesque cabins that line the golf course (but you had to use your imagination to "see" the green fairways this time of the year). Alicia and I are not "golfers" (despite the fact that I was on the winning team at our WSI E&I golf outing this past September in Vegas), but we had been to Garland before, several years ago when they used to host the Garland Hammer - a great mountain bike race with a huge pasta feast afterwards.

After the ski, we returned to the room to relax a bit and enjoy the hot tub to warm up before heading out for our sleigh ride to dinner. I decided to "come clean" and during our hot tub told Alicia about what was in store for the evening. She "claims" that she had a feeling it would be something like this, but was still surprised (and I think I scored some points in the process)!

We headed down to the pickup area for the sleigh ride to dinner and met up with the rest of the group that had reservations for the dinner event. We met a nice couple from the Irish Hills area that were up celebrating and learned they are getting married later this summer. There was also a big group of folks from the West Branch area that made the evening such a great time. We all hopped on the sleigh (after an "adult" hot chocolate to get some warmth in our toes) and sang 80s songs the entire way. It was obvious that our evening was going to be a fun time.

After our 20 minute "open sleigh" ride, we were dropped off at our dinner cabin, where we were met with a roaring fire and a table set for 18. The dinner was amazing and included great wine, duck, pheasant, venison, lobster and cheesecake for dessert. Bradley led us in song the entire evening from the helm of his keyboard and kept the night moving along. Ok, I'm not much of a singer, but you get a few drinks in me and watch out. While we were at dinner for almost two hours, it flew by and everyone had a blast. The running joke was when one of the other ladies made a comment about how beautiful Alicia is, which was a very nice compliment (and, of course, I COMPLETELY agree). Of course, a room full of "spirited" guys just couldn't leave that comment alone and you can imagine the fun we had with that one! I want to thank all our "new friends" for helping to make the dinner (and the rest of the evening) such a great time, especially Matt Arbour (of Dean Arbour Ford) for taking the time to introduce us all to the rest of the "crew" and making us feel welcome. While I had planned this evening to be a surprise for Alicia, I too was surprised that we had so many fun people to enjoy dinner with. I gave out a few of my cards for folks to send me an e-mail (which I hope they do) and am planning on sharing more pictures from the evening with them all.

After dinner we headed back to the resort where the New Year's party had already started with live entertainment, dancing, (more) drinks, a huge bonfire and fireworks at midnight. Alicia and I "cut it up" on the dance floor - typically something we only get to do when we are invited to a wedding (LOL). The live entertainment sounded really good and when 2009 arrived we watched the fireworks show and had the traditional New Year's kiss (and it was a pretty good one too!). Even after all these years, I still get goosebumps and am convinced Alicia just keeps getting more beautiful as the years pass. Yeah, I'm pretty lucky!

So in closing, here's hoping that your New Year's Eve was filled with as much fun and joy as ours was. As we look back on 2008, both Alicia and I so very thankful for the friendships we've made over the past year (and the ones that we've had for many more). Looking forward, we're both excited about what 2009 has in store for us. We've already got plans to visit my parents in Florida at the end of this month, hopefully will be picked as a speaker for WSI's next E&I conference in the UK, hopefully will book a cruise (I hear there are some amazing deals out there) and a few other nice trips planned.

Of course what New Year would be complete without a few resolutions. Well, one of mine is to spend more time doing things like this with Alicia and enjoying more time together. We're also going to do a better job of taking pictures do help "document" all the fun that we're going to have in 2009 together and with our friends and family. So hello 2009, I'm excited that you're here and am looking forward to the ride!

Eric

P.S. See more pictures on my Facebook page. If you haven't joined Facebook yet, what are you waiting for? It's a great way to stay connected!

Another Bank Website and Internet Marketing Strategy Completed!

2008-12-22T11:38:00.007-05:00

Well, my niche in the banking industry continues to evolve and I just launched the third major bank project for 2008 with Citizens National Bank of Cheboygan, Michigan. Their website had become outdated and somewhat difficult to manage - so we partnered up and they hired me to help them get a new look.

We used our new eFusion online business system to build the site and it's amazing at just how easy it is to manage site content, upload pictures and perform all the other necessary things that a good website should do. We've been getting some nice comments from visitors complimenting the bank on the new look and feel, which is always good to hear.

So, in addition to Wolverine Bank (a WMA award-winning site) and Isabella Bank (a WSI WebAward nominee), Citizens National Bank's site is another great addition to my "banking stable". The best news is that I'm already talking to several other banking "prospects" for 2009 and have at least four more community banks (and possibly a credit union) that will move forward with me for their Internet efforts!

While I loved being a banker, I am really enjoying "this side of the table" and working with banks on the strategic side of the Internet. I'm also pleased to say that in 2009 I'll be bringing in several other partners that can help in other areas for my banking clients with things like "phishing" protection, business customer satisfaction and non-interest income generation, online hack scan testing and even data loss prevention and file-level encryption. I know, a lot of "big words" there, but my goal is to be a resource to my clients for not only their websites and Internet efforts, but to help them identify solutions for a variety of other areas in their organization.

Ok, enough about business... We've got snow!!!!! Alicia and I have been out xc skiing behind the house already and I must say, it's some of the BEST SNOW we've had in the five years we've been in our new home. We're going to get the pooches out later this week when it warms up a bit, but they've got their booties ready to go and are excited about joining "mommy and daddy" for some time on the trail.

Here's hoping you have a wonderful holiday season. We're headed north for a bit to get in some more xc skiing (on groomed trails) and spend time with family. I'm also planning a special surprise evening for Alicia over New Year's Eve and am looking forward to the look on her face when she finds out what we're doing. I'd tell you, but with any luck she's also reading my blog and I don't want to ruin the surprise!

Eric

Perfect Timing...

2008-11-30T22:27:00.003-05:00

After staying in all day Friday (while Alicia took off with her sister and mother to do some shopping), we decided to take advantage of the perfect weather on Saturday and get outside and play lumberjack. We had a few trees fall in the woods by our house and were in need of some good firewood, so we loaded up the chainsaw and headed out for the day. Hard to believe that we used to spend 6+ hours at a crack outside cutting and burning when we were preparing to build the house. After about three hours we were toast, but got a lot accomplished in that short amount of time.

Alicia stacked wood we got from a buddy who had some trees dropped at his house, but the wood won't be good to burn until next year. Yeah, I'm pretty lucky my wife's not afraid to get out and roll up her sleeves and "play" outside. The weather was perfect and considering it snowed all day today, we had perfect timing when we decided to work outside.

Speaking of snow, it's beautiful here in the woods with the fresh snow. We got the kind that sticks to the trees, so it looks like a Hallmark card out our back door right now. I made a fire this morning and literally hung out all day working on website projects. While it would have been nice to get outside again, I'm still pretty sore from my "woodsman" activities yesterday. I'm not complaining, however - I love splitting wood and being outdoors. In fact, when we were clearing our lot for the house five years ago, I often times would return to work on Monday wishing I was still outside in my Carhartts running the chainsaw.

This week should be a good one, with visits to Troy, Southfield, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Battle Creek and a few other miscellaneous appointments in Marshall as well. Looks like I'll be adding a few new projects to the list this week, which is a good thing. I have a few projects that need some attention getting ready for year-end, so I'll be balancing the "old and the new" this week making sure that current customers get the attention they deserve.

I'm Turning My Wife Into a Geek (sort of)

2008-11-07T09:18:00.008-05:00

The past several weeks my wife, Alicia, has been signing up for some of the popular social networking sites like LinkedIn, Twitter and recently started her own Facebook page. In her position as state sales manager with Chicago Title of Michigan, this is one of the ways that she's trying to differentiate herself (and her sales team) to help build relationships with customers, and also be able to show her customers how to build their own relationships and build their businesses.

As a Certified Internet Business Consultant with WSI, I am looking at the benefits of social networking for businesses all the time and excited about having her come on board. Since she's still somewhat of a "newbie" to this space, it's good for me to ensure that I can explain some of what's going on in this space in "common terminology" so that the average business person can understand. Granted, she's catching up quickly, but we have had a couple of great conversations on exactly HOW to use these sites to promote yourself, your "brand" and eventually the products and services that you represent that help put food on the table.

As with any successful marriage (and those of you who are married can appreciate this), communication is critical to ongoing happiness. This certainly was the case when we taught the class on Sales Skills for Bankers at the Perry School of Banking the past two years for the Michigan Bankers Association. This is just one more area where I need to make sure that I'm doing a good job of helping to ensure that she (and then, my customers) understand what all this means. It's been a lot of fun trying to explain things from a different perspective and the process has made me a better "educator" along the way.

If you're thinking about dipping your toe into the wonderful world of social networking, I say go for it. It's a great way to tell the world what you're all about and make connections that could develop into something great. Whether it's renewing an old friendship from high school or maybe a new business relationship, you might just be surprised. From a business perspective, we all do business with people we know and trust (and like), and the new social networking sites help build your online personality and enable others to get to know you.

So give it a try. If you need a little help along the way, let me know and I'll be happy to help point you in the right direction. Or, just wait a few more weeks and you can give Alicia a buzz. Before long she's going to be an expert too!

Great job honey, I'm proud of you...
Eric

Number One and Two In Google (In Only Three Days)!

2008-10-26T16:11:00.013-05:00

As you may have heard from my Twitter posts, blog updates and variety of other ways that I have "embraced" to keep the world informed of what Eric Cook is doing with his time, I was in advanced social media/networking training in the Philly area last week. I rode over with Gene Bonanno and his daughter, Beth. In addition to being great ICs with WSI, they also run the WSI LiveChat online service. We had a great time and I really appreciated them letting me tag along for the last leg of the trip from their home in Eastern Ohio.

Anyway, one of the goals for this trip was to gain a better understanding of how social networking and the "web 2.0" phenom can actually benefit businesses. In addition to being somewhat "cool", there are many businesses out there that have realized that being connected and engaging with their customers in the conversation is a great way to deepen the relationship, which in turn can result in greater sales and more revenue. They always have said, you do business with people you like, know and trust. Well, the way that happens (at least in the "offline" world) is to become friends first, and that takes time to get to know each other.

During class I created a sample video and uploaded it to my "new" YouTube account entitled, Internet Marketing for Community Banks. Granted, the video is not that good, but the important lesson here is not the quality of the video, but the fact that it was indexed by Google and ranked #1 for the search phrase in about six hours (out of over 550,000 search results).

The next day in class I created a blog posting (the one before this one) and also called it Internet Marketing for Community Banks and just two days later, not only did my video remain in the top, but the blog I created was moved to #1, which left my video at #2.

Image 1: Here his a screen shot of a Google search for "internet marketing for community banks" and as you can see, I'm nowhere to be found. Granted, you will probably have to click on the image to read it, but trust me, at this point Google has no idea I exist. But wait...

Image 2: I create a very simple video (with free tools) and uploaded it to YouTube and after only about six (6) hours the same search phrase found ME in #1 position in Google! Notice, it got syndicated to AOL videos, which is actually the video that got indexed. One of the many things we learned in class was that search engines are really starting to LOVE video because it tends to be engaging and great (fresh) content. This was all done on Thursday, so in the second day of class (Friday) I did a blog posting about it. It just keeps getting better...

Image 3: Ok, it's Sunday and I'm home (getting caught up on rest) and just checked Google again and found out that my video was "bumped" to #2 position. But, the "bumper" was my blog posting. So, I'm now taking up 20% of the front page of Google (out of 502,000 results) for my chosen search phrase and did it in about three days leveraging some of the new techniques I learned in my social networking class.

Now, think about the implications of this if you are a business owner. Is there a search phrase that you'd like to dominate the search engines for? Since I work a lot with banks, the industry is experiencing some of the biggest challenges it has ever faced. Maybe your bank would like to get recognized for "How to survive this financial crisis" or "Will community banks survive the financial meltdown". Or, maybe you're not a bank, but I'm sure there are other search phrases that you would like to be found for where a social networking strategy may help to get you ranked well.

If you're interested in chatting about how your business may be able to leverage social networking and the new social media tools available on the Internet, let's chat. You can click on the new "call me" button to the right of the page or feel free to swing by my website at www.PoweredByWSI.com to learn more. You can also leave a comment to this post, I'd love to hear what you think. Hang on, this thing called the Internet is going to get a LOT more interesting...

Eric

Internet Marketing for Community Banks (YouTube Test)

2008-10-24T10:17:00.012-05:00

Greetings everyone. I recently posted a blurb via my Ping.fm account about getting to #1 in Google out of over 550,000 search results for the term "Internet Marketing for Community Banks". I did a YouTube video* (a pretty poor one, actually, but I was in "training" and kind of rushed through it), yesterday and optimized it for this phrase long tail keyword phrase. I took a screen shot yesterday before submitting the video and doing some "behind the scenes" social bookmarking activities and, as expected, I was nowhere to be found.

Well, after uploading my video and completing the social bookmarking process, I was amazed to find that my video had been picked up by AOL Video and was in the #1 position for the keywords I optimized. Amazing! Granted, the video could have been a LOT better (the audio wasn't even working) and some of the screen resolution was not allowing for all the text on the slides to be seen. But, the thing to take out of this is that it WORKED and was able to get to the #1 spot.

Now, given the quality of the video I suspect that I won't last long in the #1 spot, which is fine. However, if I had taken more time to actually put some effort into the video, making sure the audio was playing and the resolution settings and it would likely stick around for a while.

So, as you can see, video is a pretty powerful way to enhance the effectiveness of search engine optimization (SEO). So, when I return from training and have a bit more time to play around with the power that I have learned, I'm looking forward to what the possibilities are for not only my business personally, but my clients as well. I already have a few that have approached me about using video on their sites and how it can help to connect them with their customers. What they are not even thinking of is the powerful "organic" search results that can result.

Until next time.
Eric Cook

*I uploaded another video to my YouTube channel that I think you'll enjoy more than the test one that I did yesterday. While I'm not expecting this new video to reach #1 Google status, (it's one of Ryder when he was a pup playing with his litter mates and a potbelly pig), I suspect you'll enjoy it.

Ryder and Potbelly Pig

2008-10-23T15:42:00.001-05:00

Just completed a sample YouTube video, submitted via http://ping.fm/JfGJs to several bookmarking sites. We'll see how it worked...

2008-10-23T07:30:00.001-05:00

Great article on banking and Web 2.0: http://ping.fm/sY1Dp Check it out...

2008-10-22T05:43:00.001-05:00

Just about ready to hit the road for Philly for some advanced SMO (social medial optimization) training. This is gonna be fun. Road trip...

2008-10-21T21:18:00.001-05:00

Just sending out invites to folks in LinkedIn. Stop by for a visit: http://ping.fm/gG6dZ and let's connect!

2008-10-18T06:52:00.001-05:00

Headed to Grand Rapids in a bit to pick up the Mac from Apple store. They called and said good as new. Hard to use a computer w/o video...

2008-10-17T15:11:00.001-05:00

Should be getting my Mac back tonight. Back to normal (finally). Love technology when it works. Great client meeting today too...

2008-10-16T16:27:00.001-05:00

Sorry about that... something messed up when Ping.fm "shortened" the GoToMeeting registration page URL. S/B good now...

2008-10-16T16:25:00.001-05:00

Updated URL for webinar: http://ping.fm/oGjTx

2008-10-16T16:22:00.001-05:00

Hosting a free webinar on how to help keep websites safe from being "phished" on 10/21/08 @ 3 pm EDT. Register: http://ping.fm/Iixfd

2008-10-10T14:23:00.001-05:00

Launched my new WSI website - http://ping.fm/J0hyh on our new eFusion online business system. Amazingly simple

2008-10-07T05:35:00.001-05:00

Recovering from my trip to Madison, WI. Great game and now getting motivated to hop back into work. Off to BNI now (hope to get some leads).

2008-10-03T17:57:00.001-05:00

Great day on the bikes in Madtown. Broke a spoke riding some stairs, but nothing serious. Good to be back in town and see the old sights.

2008-10-03T09:23:00.001-05:00

Heading out for a day on the town in Madison, WI. Brought the bikes and going to do some paddling on the lake. Sunny, but a bit chilly.

2008-09-30T20:12:00.001-05:00

Just got word that Podcamp Michigan (http://ping.fm/mMFYj) date has moved to November 8th. Who's in???

2008-09-29T18:05:00.001-05:00

Heard there is effort underway for a Podcamp Michigan on October 18th. Thinking about heading over and checking it out...

2008-09-26T21:55:00.001-05:00

Tweaking the settings in Ping.fm and realized that I was posting these to some of the blogs that I manage (which had to be fixed).

2008-09-26T20:16:00.001-05:00

Spending a final weekend for the season with our beloved pontoon boat, which gets picked up on Sunday. At lest it's a nice weekend.

2008-09-26T20:05:00.001-05:00

Ok, I'm convinced Ping.fm rocks. Updates Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Plaxo and MySpace all from one post. Sweetness...

2008-09-26T19:59:00.000-05:00

Just discovered Ping.fm (thanks Eve) and sending over my first post to see how it integrates with all my different networks.

WSI Excellence & Innovation - Vegas, baby...

2008-09-20T15:58:00.004-05:00

Well, I have returned from my first WSI E&I (Excellence & Innovation) conference and it was absolutely amazing (as the name implies, it was excellent and innovative). Not only did we have some great presentations from fellow ICs (that's Internet Consultant in WSI-speak), but the ability to start putting faces with names and voices was a real bonus. I'm continually amazed at how far-reaching this company is with folks from all over the world at this event.

The conference started out with our team winning the golf scramble (8-under, thank you), which was a fundraising event for WSI's chosen charity, Make Child Poverty History... and it just kept getting better. Great job Linda, Doug & Neal! Vendors from the various production centers were there, service providers and some new faces too. Below are just a few that I'm excited about connecting with.

Social Medial Solutions - A new company (started by my good friend Doug Schust) was introduced (still in beta though) that will focus on the strategic benefits of social marketing and they are already doing some amazing things with search engine rankings.

Website Security and Testing - Being from the banking industry, I'm well aware of the importance of a secure website and we'll soon have a solution with a great tool for testing. I see big opportunities here as more businesses go online, even if you're not a bank you want to make sure your site is safe.

Professional Copy Writing Solutions - Typically writing copy (good copy) for a website is the biggest challenge. Many business owners simply don't have the time to write (or re-write) copy for their site. That's where MintCopy, Inc. comes into play by helping get this done, ensuring it's "search focused" and helps to get projects moving forward. Looking forward to exploring their services in the future.

Marketing Sherpa - We had one of their "top dogs" present for two hours at our conference, Stefan Tornquist, and talked a lot about the statistics and information Marketing Sherpa has accumulated over the years. They have their finger on the pulse of the Internet better than anyone and I'm excited that WSI has formed a strategic partnership with them. I've already printed off several articles chuck full of great information.

We spent quite a bit of time talking about the concept of social media - things like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and social bookmarking sites. There are some amazing things coming along for businesses that are willing to leverage these social sites for search engine optimization purposes, and we have already seen examples of how using these sites can significantly increase organic rankings in the search process. More to come on this in the next few months as things evolve.

I also just re-launched my WSI site, www.PoweredByWSI.com and it's on our new eFusion platform. This system is absolutely amazing and has fully integrated e-mail marketing, blogging, e-commerce, customer relationship management and about the easiest content management system I've ever seen. I will be putting up some links to videos that review the features of the eFusion system in the near future and any business looking to take their Internet presence to the next level really owes it to themselves to check this out further.

Prior to E&I, Alicia and I attended the Michigan Association of Community Bankers Annual Conference in Traverse City. That was a great time and the first time I had ever attended an MACB event. While in baning, we had always been members of the MBA, but never of the MACB, so it was good to get out and meet some new faces. As I put together my speaking schedule for next year, I'm hopeful that I'll be able to help with some of their sessions in 2009... keep your fingers crossed for me!

I'll put a bit more information in my next newsletter, coming out soon. I received an e-mail from WSI corporate that one of my site projects was recognized by the Web Marketing Association with a 2008 Web Award, and the official press release will be coming out soon. Considering it's only been just over a year in my new career as an Internet Consultant, being able to say I'm an "award winning" Internet Consultant is pretty cool.

Until next time...
Eric

Test from my cell...

2008-08-31T17:50:00.003-05:00

I just turned on "mobile posting" from e-mail and am sending this from my cell phone. Let's see how this works. Keep your fingers crossed...

Eric Cook
(269) 841-5007

=================
Looks like it's working. Good thing, it would be a shame for me (as an "Internet Consultant") to not be able to figure it out. LOL

Do as I say, not as I do...

2008-08-26T23:50:00.006-05:00

Greetings Internet "fans". As you can see from the date of this post (and the date of my previous post), it's been a while since my update. Therein lies the message for my title because as an "Internet Consultant" what I tell my clients is that if they are going to have a blog, they need to get in the habit of creating posts on a regular basis - and by regular I'm not talking about every month and a half. What's the saying that comes to mind... "The Cobbler's children have no shoes" or something like that. Well, here's my quick attempt to "catch up" and chat about all that's happened in the past several weeks so that we're all on the same page.

MBA Annual Convention
I've actually lost track of how many times I've been to Mackinac Island and the Grand Hotel for the banking convention since we have been going since I was a kid. My father (banker) attended these every year and when we were not staying with the grandparents, we got to go to "the Grand" and enjoy what I dare say is one of Michigan's coolest places. What's not to like, fudge, "fresh" air and bikes galore. This year's convention marked the first one I attended as a "non-banker" but I felt right at home and it was great to see all my "banker buddies". Many asked how the new business was going and I was pleased to be able to say (honestly) very well! I pinch myself in the morning that I get to do what I do...

Website Award Nomination
Speaking of banking and my "new job", I was excited to find out that one of my site projects for Isabella Bank in Mt. Pleasant, MI was selected as a finalist in WSI's Web Awards contest. Their new site was picked as the best financial services site and was one of only a handful of sites selected out of the thousands of sites that WSI Internet Consultants from all over the world had created over the past year. Voting is limited to only WSI employees, but that means that my peers are reviewing my work and makes it even more special to be recognized by the folks that I work with on a regular basis. The "Grand Prize Winner" will be announced at our E&I (Excellence and Innovation) convention in September, so keep your fingers crossed for me. E&I is in Vegas this year, so maybe lady luck will be on my side...

Thomas Team Visit - Ohio
We got away for a quick weekend and headed to Port Clinton, Ohio to visit the Thomas Team. We had a blast and spent the day at Put-In-Bay to listen to Pete and Wayne (not for the faint of heat, mind you), got to get in a great bike ride with Shayne and enjoyed the annual drive-through safari park. Good thing Shayne drove because the animals really don't have much regard for interior cleanliness and by the time we left the park, much of the food they sell you to feed the animals ends up on the floor of your vehicle. We always get a great laugh out of our time at the park and come away with at least a few "did you see that" moments.

CBAO Annual Convention
Saturday, August 9th marked my first "outside of Michigan" bank speaking engagement when I presented at the CBAO's Annual Convention in Chicago. I spoke on Internet strategies for community bankers and got lots of great comments, questions and opportunities to be spending a lot more time in the buckeye state. Special thanks to CBAO staff for taking such great care of my wife and me for the weekend and hopefully I'll have the opportunity to get more involved with that organization in the months ahead.

Thomas Team Visit/Vacation
Yup, you're reading it right. We got to see the Thomas Team twice in th past couple of months and they recently joined us for the start of our vacation up to Houghton Lake. The weather was great and we enjoyed the pontoon, WaveRunners, got in a couple of bike rides, the ladies got out for a couple of walks and the dogs loved having Shayla around to take care of them the entire weekend. After they left for Ohio, we continued to enjoy great weather and I worked in the mornings until early afternoon and then took some time to get away and enjoy some time with Alicia and the "kids".

Here Comes September...
So, where did the summer go? Seems like we were just getting ready for Memorial Day and now Labor Day is right around the corner. We'll be headed up north again for the 3-day holiday weekend and are hoping for more warm weather so I can continue to practice my "pontoon captain" technique.

Trying to look at speed at which the summer has flown by with the "half-full" perspective, I guess you can say time flies when you are having fun. I'm really enjoying my "new life" as an Internet Consultant with WSI and am looking forward to our upcoming E&I Conference and meeting many of the folks that, up until this point, I've only been able to talk with on the phone or over Skype chat. We have some great sessions planned in areas like social media, web 2.0 optimization, local search and so much more. We've also got upcoming conferences for the MACB and MAR as well, so the momentum will continue until we get to October. Hopefully I'll do a better job of updating my blog - but remember, do as I say, not as I do (grin).

Until next time...
Eric

LJ100 v3 - You can say I got my money's worth...

2008-06-16T17:02:00.009-05:00

Registration for the 2008 Lumberjack 100 was $125 and racers have up to 12 hours to complete the event. Well, I don't know about you, but when I pay that much for a race I'm gonna get my money's worth. Given the price of gas and the fact that I'm now a new budding entrepreneur, I'm becoming accustomed to "counting my pennies" and making sure that I'm getting the most out of my hard-earned investment dollars....

Ok, so maybe that was a bunch of BS and between you and me if I could finish in the 7-hour range like the pros, I'd do it in a heartbeat. However, the cycling gods had different plans for me this year and I ended up spending 1/2 of a day on the trails... but I completed my third (and probably final) Lumberjack race in just under 12 hours (whew!). Here's a recap for all of you want to hear how it went. It starts off good, but by the fourth lap I was praying for it to be over. Good news is I was able to raise over $3,000 as part of my Pedaling with a Purpose effort to support the fight against Neuroblastoma (a rare form of child cancer). So, keeping that in perspective, here we go.

Lap 1 - Ooh, I feel good...
That pretty much summed up my first lap. I came in and felt great after the first 25 miles and was pleasantly surprised that my leg cramps from years past that at least "threatened" me before were nowhere to be found. Maybe my training and nutrition plan was paying off and I was going to have a great year and come in again in the 10 hour time frame. Well, at least that's what I was thinking. I passed through the pit area and got a quick drink, a bite to eat and then headed out for number two. Twenty five down, seventy five to go.

Number 2 - Did I mention there was water on the trail???
Ok, I may have missed that in my first lap recap, but the back part of the second "bigger" lap. In case you're not familiar with the format, there is a 7 mile inner loop and a larger 18 mile outer loop. The inner loop has some gently rolling hills and singletrack, but was try and tacky and great riding conditions. I recall my first LJ and the dust was so bad when we started you had a hard time actually seeing the rider in front of you. Well, with all the rain Mother Nature dropped on us this season, that was not a problem. In fact, I got to play "Swamp Monster" this year and enjoyed about 200 yards of calf-deep muck and mud that was virtually impossible to ride.

As the muck and mud wreaked havoc on my brake pads and chain/gears, my legs kept churning on. The cramps were still nowhere to be seen, which was making me feel pretty good, and I was able to keep a pretty decent pace, riding with others periodically throughout the lap. With 250 riders registered for the event this year (the larges ever), there was still plenty of company out there (at least there was at this time... talk to me again when it comes to lap 4).

I returned to the pits after completing #2 feeling still "pretty fresh" and was surprised to see Dan and Charlie both taking it easy and in civilian clothes. Charlie completed 25 and Dan got in 50 and both decided today was not their day to race. I don't blame them... it was a tough event. However, my "motivation" of PWAP and the $3,000+ in funds raised for the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation was keeping me motivated and I kept thinking of kids like Christi who will never have an opportunity to do what I'm doing thanks to the beast we know as cancer. So, I kept pushing on and started up my third lap.

Lap 3 - This is gonna suck (0r not)
In my prior two LJ posts I think I have mentioned that lap #3 has always been the hardest. I'm sure most of it is "mental" because you're half way done, but that only means you have done 50 miles (and you have 50 more miles to go). That's several more hill climbs, two more times trudging through the muck and swampy mess and 50 more miles of possible cramping. Fortunately, the cramps had only been intermittent for the first two laps and I was staying positive trying to "think" myself through this dreaded lap. I kept saying "this lap will not suck, this lap will not suck, this lap will not suck". Good thing is I think it worked and my cramping was again kept to a minimum and I kept rolling on.

At the mud bog I had a bit of a close call and decided to get a bit cocky and try to ride some of the slosh and my front tire hit a hidden root about 4 inches submerged beneath the water and just about went over the bars. Fortunately, I caught myself and all that I have to show for my fabulous "save" is a small bruise on my right thigh as I slammed it into my shift lever when keeping myself from getting a mouthful of nothing good. Whew!

Coming into the pit for my final time, Mark informed me that he was headed home with Charlie and his father. So, before he took off I was certain to have Charlie take a photo of us (yes, I'm still smiling). He and Charlie then took care of my bike and cleaned off my chain, filled up my bottles, got me some food and took care of any other of my needs before heading out for my fourth and final lap.

Lap 4 - Ok, I'm not smiling any more...
I headed out on my final lap knowing that I beat the cutoff time of 4:30. While I was smiling in the photo here with Mark, that quickly turned "upside down" as this lap was going to be one that I soon would want to forget. My prior lap had some cramping, but not as much as in years past, so I was hoping that lap four would bring me home in great shape. However, that was not the case and I paid for my prior three laps with severe leg cramping, especially in my left calf muscle and both quads (ouch).

On more than one occasion, my calf craped and spasmed so bad my to pointed straight down and I had to pedal like a ballerina, unable to drop my heal and get a "normal" pedal stroke. Combine my "on-point" pedal stroke with both quads cramping and you can get a bit of a picture of what this lap did to me. In fact, at about mile 90 I actually said out loud "ok, I'm done" but knew that I had 10 more miles to go. One pedal stroke at a time got me across the finish line in around 12 hours, but not sure if I was under or over the "magic number" as results have not yet been posted. Keep your fingers crossed for me...

Good vs. Bad
Ok, so maybe you're getting the impression by now that I may have had a terrible time this year (well if the fourth lap is any indication of the day)... not so. Granted, I could have done without the nasty leg cramps and my terrible lap #4, but there was a lot of good that came out of the weekend.

$3,000+ for CNCF: I have to keep this in perspective, I'm not really racing the LJ for "me" but for the CNCF and in honor/memory of children all over that are battling (or lost their battle) against Neuroblastoma. Over the past three years I take great pride in knowing over $23,000 has been raised for the CNCF, money that would never have found its way to this worthy cause had I not been inspired by my good friend, Christi. Good news is there's still time to donate, so if anyone reading this would like to contribute, visit my donation site and help make a difference!
Finishing in Under 12 Hours: Yes, if only by a few minutes, I did finish under the 12-hour time limit. Give that almost half of this year's field DNF'ed (did not finish), I'm pretty pleased with my effort and can say that I've completed this grueling event for three years in a row. Not sure if that makes me crazy, but I've heard more than one racer say once is enough. I guess the jury's still out on that one...
Chez Jack & Male Bonding: We got to hang out Friday and Saturday night at a fellow teammate's cabin in Dublin, just minutes away from the race start. We had a good group stay there Friday night in addition to Jack any myself (Jim, Dan, Brian, Joe and Mike). We hung out by the campfire Friday night (Saturday night a fire would have been impossible, as Mother Nature provided another light show and we even got some hail. Regardless, it was a great "guy's weekend" and spending time with everyone was a blast.
Rookie Exposure: While "only" finishing 25 of the 100 miles (which is still quite an accomplishment), one of our younger teammates, Charlie, go to experience a "big time" mountain bike race and I cannot think of how cool it would have been to have a learning experience like that at his age. I also really enjoyed having Mark in the pits as well, especially given the fact that he's a Neuroblastoma survivor - making the day even more powerful than in years past. Just last year Mark shot me an e-mail saying that he's heard of my race and wanted to help. Now, he's on the team with me, has a great attitude and is able to hang with us on all but the fastest rides. I'm really proud of him and am looking forward to years of riding together.

So, that concludes this year's recap of my 2008 Lumberjack 100 race effort. If you haven't donated to my cause (but now feel guilty reading all that I went through) but would like to make a donation, be sure to stop over to my donation site. It's tax-deductible and your support (even if it's "after the fact") is greatly appreciated!

Now, it's time for some rest and enjoying the spoils of having Advil as a sponsor of the team. The legs are feeling better and by this weekend I should be back on the bike and enjoying riding again. Until then, however, I'm taking it easy and enjoying my accomplishment and thinking about what I'm going to do next year.

Keep on pedaling and thanks to everyone that supported me in this year's effort,
Eric

Mountain Bikes and Bank School

2008-05-09T07:43:00.005-05:00

Mountain Bikes
Greetings race fans... Well, last week was the Fort Custer Stampede and I raced Expert with Team Active Racing. While it was a "slower paced" Expert ride than most of the other racers that were in my category, I tried to keep the pace that I'll be holding for the Lumberjack 100 in June. They added some new sections to the course, and since I had not been over to the Fort yet this year, it was the first time I got to ride the new sections (and they were very cool). They re-routed some of the areas that were getting rutted out and added some more technical sections with some pretty steep hills and "dipty-dos" that could put you on your nose very easily if you're not paying attention.

I had a bit of a challenge getting into my pedal at the starting line and my teammate Matt was giving me crap when I was pedaling away from the starting line. I completed the three laps in just over 2 hours and 10 minutes with a total distance in the 27 mile range. So, if I am able to maintain that same pace for the LJ100, that will easily bring me in under the 12-hour time limit (allowing for "pit" stops between the 25 mile laps to refuel and get a breather). I'm amazed that many of the "top level" riders will bust out laps and not even spend time in the pits and they just keep on riding, having support crew hand them a couple of water bottles and they are out for another lap. Oh well, I have to keep things in perspective and just be pleased that I'm able to do this. As many of you know, my motivation for doing the LJ100 goes back to Christi - and she'll never have the opportunity to do something like this because cancer took her from us way too soon. So, if that gives me a different view on things, then so be it... Al the more reason to push forward with my Pedaling with a Purpose effort and try to help make a difference!

Bank School
My lovely wife Alicia and I had the pleasure of spending the day together this past Wednesday as we were instructors at the 2008 Perry School of Banking and taught a class on "sales". The course name was "Sales: It's not a Four Letter Word" and we had about 26 students from banks all over Michigan. If you're curious, you can visit Alicia's website and we have put the course material online and there's a link at the bottom of her home page that will take you there. If, by chance, any of our new "banker friends" happen to stop by my blog for a visit, I wanted to let you know both Alicia and I had a great time and hope you all were able to take away some helpful ideas that will benefit your institution!

Hopefully this weekend I'll be able to "sneak" in a long ride on Saturday morning with some guys from the Team. I'm hoping to get in at least 100 Saturday and then take out the tandem with Alicia for a more "relaxing" ride on Sunday. Weather permitting, we'll spend some time in the yard getting caught up on mowing and other house stuff and will be sure to wish my Mom a happy Mother's Day. My parents are traveling back from their winter in Florida, so not sure if they'll be home or if I'll have to track her down on her cell phone - but either way I'll find her! Until next time, thanks for checking in...

Eric

So, what's new???

2008-04-28T07:25:00.004-05:00

Lots of stuff, actually. It's been a bit since my last update, but that's mostly because it's been a little busy around the Cook household. With a couple of big WSI projects launching over the past weeks (and coming weeks as well), training continuing for the Lumberjack 100, my team manager duties and spending time with the wife and "kids", seems like it's go, go, go...

WSI Internet Consulting
This week I'm headed to Traverse City to the Great Wolf Lodge to speak on Internet and Web Strategies at the Michigan Banker's Association's Marketing Conference. Seems like it was just yesterday (well, two weeks ago) that I was in Plymouth at the MBA's Operations and Technology Conference, where I had the pleasure of speaking to the group on Search Engine Marketing and Analytics. It was great to be back with many of my banking friends since starting my new business in August. I even got to attend a Tiger's game (which they won against the Twins), courtesy of Bank of America (thanks Chris & Joe) in their box, which gave me even more time to catch up with some of my former colleagues. I'm looking forward to the conversations started at this conference and helping banks in Michigan better leverage the power of the Internet for their organizations.

Lumberjack 100
The training continues for Michigan's only 100-mile mountain bike race on June 14th in the northern hills of the Mainstee National Forrest at the Big M Ski Area. As with prior years, I'm doing the race again in honor of Christi Thomas and am raising money to help support neroblastoma research with the CNCF. Stop by my donation page to contribute if you like and this year I have a cool new Toolbar that you can download and when you search and click on the "sponsored links" on the search results page, Pedaling with a Purpose actually gets a portion of the click-through revenue from our friends at Yahoo! Very cool...

Team Active Racing
I'm pleased to say the team has been doing a great job this year and is representing at races all over the state (and outside of Michigan as well). Be sure to check out the Team Active Racing website for updates on results, sponsor information and upcoming events. The next big event is coming up at Fort Custer on Sunday, May 4th, where I'm contemplating racing Elite, which is four laps (about 8 miles each) and will serve more as a training ride to prepare me for the 100 miles in June. It will make for a long day (and likely will be a faster pace than what I'll keep for the LJ), but will be a good addition to my training schedule and certainly get me some much-needed saddle time on the Rush.

Now that the snow is gone (yes, I said it), I'm looking forward to spending more time on the bike, taking tandem rides with Alicia and walks in the woods with the pooches. While Ally and Ryder likely would prefer to spend their days relaxing all the time, we know the exercise does them good and they just love to run. The other day they "spooked" a wild turkey and decided to chase, until they realized just how big one of those things can be. For house dogs like ours, that was a bit much and it was kind of funny to see their reaction once they realized it wasn't a typical "birdie". What a life...

Old Man Winter Won't Let Go...

2008-03-29T18:53:00.003-05:00

Ok people, it's just about April 1st and we got yet another blanket of snow on Friday. The photo here was taken of our driveway on the way out for the day, and you can see that Spring still has yet to make its formal arrival. Good news is that it warmed up later in the day and most of what you see here is gone. Knowing the water levels for area lakes (even Lake Michigan) have been down over the past several years, I guess this much snow will be a good thing come summer time.

Time Trial - Go Team!
I'm hoping to hear some good results from our Team members for tomorrow's Time Trial in Grand Rapids. While the weather hasn't exactly been the best for training, we have a few of our team headed over for 17 miles of fun at the Fisk Knob TT. I did it last year and can tell you the hill at the end is a doozy! Sure felt good on the start (zipping down at 35+ mph), but since it's an out and back you always have in the back of your mind that when you are just about 99% "empty" you have one last climb. Ouch!

Hoping to get out tomorrow for another ride. I got in 40 today, took the 'cross bike over to Fort Custer to check out the trails. Still a bit muddy and hopefully once all this snow stops and we get some consistent sunshine it will dry up the trail and I can get out and start doing some riding. The Lumberjack 100 gets closer every day and my Pedaling with a Purpose fundraising effort is coming along. I sure could use the support, so if you haven't don so already, stop on over and consider making a contribution. It's for a great cause and I'd appreciate the support.

Hugging the Ogre
This week I sent out my March newsletter and featured my first podcast on SEO (search engine optimization). While it's not exactly a professional recording, I was very pleased at how it turned out. I interviewed James Brown (no, not the Godfather of Soul), who is WSI Web Words international project manager. The title of the recording is "Hugging the Ogre" and talks about the strategies WSI uses to get search engines to pay attention to our client's websites. Check it out if you're curious about learning more about SEO.

So this is Spring???

2008-03-23T08:37:00.004-05:00

March 20th marked not only the first day of Spring, but Ally's 9th birthday. Hard to believe that she's been with us that long and I go back and look at the pictures of when she was a puppy and it seems like yesterday when we brought her home. We "celebrated" her birthday by going out to dinner (Ally and Ryder got to ride along) and then stopped by the grocery store on the way home and picked up some cupcakes for the "birthday cake". Yes, we even put in a candle and sang her "Happy Birthday". While I'm not so sure that she appreciated the singing, she gulped down the cupcake and talked us into a second. Of course, Ryder got to partake in the "munching" and got to share in her special day. This photo shows their typical "position" during the day, camped out on our bed taking it easy. When I come back in the next life I want to be reincarnated as a dog in a home like ours... talk about the life!

With Spring finally here, I was looking forward to getting out on the bike without having to bundle up. Well, Mother Nature certainly had different plans and we got about 10 inches of the white stuff on Friday. So, instead of a bike ride Saturday, we took off and went XC skiing behind the house. It started to warm up towards the end of the ski, so we ended up walking more than skiing close to the finish, but at the beginning the snow was in great shape. I even "got" to run the snowblower one last (hopefully) time.

Fortunately, the snow came out and the roads cleared up pretty good, at least they are clean enough for a ride this morning. Yesterday, before the plows hit the roads you would have been taking your life in your own hands riding on the roads, but today should be good (but still cold). So, I'll take along my iPod and continue listening to my audio book (Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill). Don't worry, I keep it low enough to hear the traffic and try to keep off the "well traveled" roads. It's nice to be able to "ride and learn" and appreciate the opportunity to multi-task. Of course, if anyone from the Team decides to join me the "ride and learn" will likely have to take second chair to conversing with teammates. I don't want to be rude, ya know.

Well, gotta go get the warm clothes around so I can hit the road. Knowing that I got one of the 250 spots for this year's Lumberjack 100 has got me motivated to keep the training going. A hundred miles in the woods is not something to take lightly, so with that I'm of to put in the miles. Don't forget that my Pedaling with a Purpose site just got an update and I'm ready to start collecting donations to support the Children's Neroblastoma Cancer Foundation.

Coming Events

2008-03-09T20:56:00.005-05:00

The first day of Spring is just around the corner and things are not slowing down here at the Cook household. In addition to getting out on the bike for some riding with some of my Team Active Racing teammates and my "day job", I'm preparing for a few upcoming events. Good news is the time change arrived, which extends the riding day by an hour (but I did miss the extra hour of sleep this morning). Here's a taste of things to come...

2008 Racing Season
Last Friday we had the Team over to our house for a "meet and greet", signing of our contracts and to just spend some time to get to know each other. With over 30 folks on the team this year, we had quite a houseful (considering spouses/significant others) and it was nice to get all of us under one roof. Since we are a cross-discipline team (mountain, road, crit, time trial, duathlon, etc...) this may be one of the only times in the season that we'll see some of our fellow teammates, with the exception of training rides.

Michigan Bankers Conferences
Thanks to some good connections at the MBA from my involvement over the years (remember, I was a banker for 15 years) I've been asked to present at a few upcoming conferences. April 14-16 I'll be speaking at the Operations and Technology Conference. I've been given time to speak on two topics: Search engine marketing, and; Website Analytics. I've been working on my presentations and have to keep reminding myself that I "only" have an hour. Later in the month I'll be presenting at the MBA's Marketing Conference and discussing how to leverage the Internet for brand awareness, navigation strategies, optimization techniques and e-mail marketing campaigns.

Pedaling With A Purpose
June 14th will be here before I know it and that means my third annual appearance at the Lumberjack 100 mountain bike race. Again this year I'll be putting on my PWAP "hat" and riding to raise money for the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation. I'm also pleased to hear that several of my team members have approached me about also using PWAP to help raise money for worthy causes this year. If you're interested in raising money this year by riding your bike, please drop me a note. I'd love to hear from you and help you make a difference too!

Well, that's it for now. See you next time...
Eric

Time to get back on track...

2008-02-22T08:37:00.002-05:00

Ok, I admit... I've been a bit of a "slacker" when it comes to posting and am just a little embarrassed that the last time I posted anything was back in July! Oops. It's funny, but when I'm speaking with customers about the advantages of blogging I note that it's important that you commit to doing it on a regular basis. If not, people won't come back since they'll quickly realize that you're offering stale information. Guess this is a perfect case of "do as I say, not as I do".

To catch up with what's happened since July 2007 (has it really been that long), here's a summary in an effort to at least try to catch up with what's happened and bring this blog current.

New Career: On August 1, 2007 I awoke for the first time since 1992 and was no longer employed at the bank. I decided to pursue my passion of the Internet and technology and purchased a national franchise with WSI (We Simplify the Internet). As the world's largest network of Internet Consultants (1,500 in 87 countries across the globe), I've been loving the opportunities this move has created for me (and my customers). Excellent training, a super network of ICs always willing to share information and a vast array of solutions for businesses and organizations from industry-leading partners and production centers. I'm sure I'll be chatting more about WSI in future posts, but for now let's just say that I'm really enjoying my new life (and that's the most important part).
Family Christmas: In December over the holidays we headed south to spend Christmas with the entire side of my mom's family in Florida. While traveling during the holidays can sometimes be a challenge, I'm pleased to say that we had an absolutely wonderful trip. The best part was that we had the entire family together, which I don't think has happened for years. Every aunt, uncle and cousin was there, even the two "outlaws" (as Alicia refers to herself and my brother's wife since Bret and I are the only two grandkids that are married). However, that will soon change as our cousin TJ will be getting married in June and is taking the plunge. Congrats TJ!
Team Active Racing: Last year was the first year for Team Active Racing and we had roughly 15 riders participate in events all across Michigan. In addition to the few races that I participated in (Fisk Knob Time Trail, Fort Custer Stampede, Lumberjack 100 and 12 hours of Ithaca), several riders raced just about every weekend and we had great weekly group rides out of the shop on Wednesday nights. For our 2008 season I have been "anointed" as the Team Manager - but I'm still trying to figure out if that's a good thing (ha ha). We are in the final stages of securing our sponsors for this season and things are looking great thus far. We've added some new people to the team and have almost 30 riders for the 2008 season. My hope is to help promote the sport of cycling in and around our community through the accomplishments of the Team and give some of our riders opportunity to get some exposure at the state (and maybe even regional/national) level. To learn more, check out the TAR Blog which is lovingly cared for by a fellow endurance mountain biker Dan. Be sure to put February 29th on your calendar for Team Active's "famous" End of Winter Party. Deals galore and a good time had by all.
Community Involvement: In 2007 I had the honor to serve as the Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce's Chair and at our annual dinner received a very nice plaque and recognition from my peers. Those of you who know me know that I'm somewhat of a "volunteer junkie" and have a hard time saying no, especially when it means that my efforts will help to benefit the community. I'm now enjoying being the "Past Chair" and have moved into the Governmental Affairs Chair, which means I'll likely be even busier this year with 2008 being an election year and several local races beginning to pick up steam. However, it's important that we work towards identifying "pro-Chamber" candidates and educating the public to get out and VOTE - a privilege that all too many Americans take for granted (unfortunately).
Pedaling With A Purpose: While I haven't started "asking for donations" yet, I plan on competing in this year's Lumberjack 100 again, making it the third annual PWAP-driven charity race. Many of you reading this likely have supported me in the past (thanks) and over the past two years I'm proud to say over $20,000 has been raised to benefit the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation. I'll soon update my donation page for 2008 and send out another round of messages to call the troops in again and look forward to your support. I've got some other rather "interesting" fundraising ideas up my sleeve, so stay tuned... If you're interested in joining me in raising money while cycling stop by my site and let me know. Pick your cause, pick your event and then start collecting donations. It's a good feeling to know when you cross the finish line you've been able to do so much more for a worthy cause.

Well, I'm sure there's a lot more but that's it for now. I'm going to do a better job keeping this updated and am continually amazed by the dedication Angela (Thomas) continues to show for Christi's blog site. The entire Thomas Team remains one of the primary inspirations in my life (and countless others across the globe). So, until next time (which won't be another six months from now - I promise), thanks for visiting.

Eric

Title (take your pick)
a. Internet Consultant
b. Team Manager
c. Fundraiser
d. Volunteer
e. All of the Above

New Riding Buddy

2007-07-04T15:25:00.000-05:00

The day before leaving for this year's Lumberjack 100 race (and self-created fundraiser for the CNCF), I received an e-mail from a 14-year old young man who lives in my home town of Marshall, MI. His name is Mark Sherman and he sent me a note to wish me good luck. He said that his mother told him about my race... but the most amazing part of this message was that he informed me he has been a Neuroblastoma survivor for 11 years!

That's right, Mark is one of the few kids I have ever heard of, let alone personally met, that has actually beaten this deadly disease. The amazing part is that I have spent close to five years along side the Thomas Team as they battled this deadly disease first-hand for Christi. While Christi certainly left her mark on the world (and me personally), survival for her just wasn't in the cards.

Through Christi's website I've received messages from literally all over the globe, but little did I know that a Neuroblastoma survivor was right here in front of my face. Mark's already set up his own blog site and is the newest member of the Pedaling with a Purpose fundraising effort.

Bike Rodeo

The day before Independence Day a few of my Team Active Racing teammates joined me for Marshall's Summer Playground Bike Rodeo and Mark came to help. We talked about safety, the importance of wearing a helmet (at ALL times) and had several different station set up for them to test their bike handling skills. All the kids had a blast and it was fun sharing the sport of cycling and getting kids excited about riding their bikes.

After the Rodeo was over, "Shonger" and I took off for a ride and Mark joined us. We did about 12 miles and headed into the country. All of us were on our mountain bikes, so the pace wasn't anything to write home about, but that wasn't the point. I was amazed to be riding with someone that had actually beaten cancer and was joining me in helping to raise money along the way. I'm very excited about Mark's involvement with PWAP and look forward to many more rides over the next several years.

Bike on...

Eric

LJ100 v2.0

2007-06-24T21:00:00.000-05:00

Greetings everyone. Yes, I know it's been way too long between updates and you all can shoot me later. However, there are some good reasons (well, at least I think they are good reasons) for the lack of updating.

Job Change Coming Soon...
Yup, you heard it. As you can see, the "Biking Banker" title has been changed to the "Binary Biker", so those detectives in the crowd will quickly decipher that something to do with computers is on the horizon for me. I've announced that I'll be stepping down from Monarch Community Bank at the end of July to pursue my passion of working on (and with) the Internet and assisting businesses with this brave new world. Stay tuned, more to follow on this exciting change... but as you can imagine that's been somewhat consuming my life as I prepare for this big leap of faith.

Lumberjack 100 2007
Good news is that I again finished Michigan's only 100-mile mountain bike race and was able to shave about 50 minutes from my time last year. I came across the finish line in 10 hours and 37 minutes (last year was 11 hours 22 minutes). But the best part of the race is that I was able to raise over (once all the lingering donations come in) $7,000 for the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation. While my efforts unfortunately will never bring Christi back, they will continue in her memory and will serve as a lasting tribute to her inspiration and life-altering impact she had on me and countless others from across the globe.

The Drive Up
Alicia, the kids and I headed north on Friday morning to Houghton Lake where they would hang out for the weekend while I ventured over to the LJ100 for 10+ hours of "fun". Alicia headed over last year and it wasn't much of a spectator event, seeing me once every 2 1/2 hours or so. It was going to be hot, buggy and dusty so she decided to hang at the lake and enjoy the water. Can you blame her?

On the way over, we got just a little (very little) rain and I knew it was going to be hot when the pavement steamed to the point that it was like fog raising off the ground. I actually had to slow down in some spots it got so dense. It had been a hot few days and last year was in the upper 90s with high humidity. I was hoping this year would be a bit cooler, but it was looking like another hot one and I hadn't even made it to the course yet. Oh goodie.

Upon arrival I got my packet, hooked up with the "Shuttle" and the rest of the Alma crew and saw Dan, one of my fellow Team Active Racing riders. There would be two more to join us for the race (Daryn and Kathy) and all ended up doing well race day.

Lap #1
The day started out cooler than expected (yae) and the race immediately started out up one of the nasty hills that we would get to ride four times before the day is over. I say "ride" when actually I mean "walk up" since it was tore up pretty good I was in the middle of the pack and there just wasn't room to ride it. Oh well, there were several other areas on the course where I got to "hike and bike", which was ok. This gave my feet a break and helped keep away the dreaded "hot spots". All was going well until I was about 5 miles from the completion of the first 25 mile loop and ended up hooking a bar end on a tree and came to a very quick stop. This wrenched my handlebars and bent down my right brake lever, which required some fixing at the pit area before lap #2. However, the worst part about this was I heard some "stuff" going on in my left shoulder as I fought to keep from going over the handlebars (and get run over by the four guys that were riding behind me). Fortunately a little Advil is making it feel all better. Lap #1 time: 2:18

Lap #2
After fixing my brake lever and getting some more liquids (and a banana), I was back off on the course. This time I managed to keep away from trees that jumped in front of you and grabbed your bars (grin), but washed out on one of the 90-degree turns in some sand and went down pretty hard on my left knee. I felt that pedaling for the next couple of miles, but eventually the pain in the other areas of my body took over and I forgot all about it. Last year at the end of this lap is when the cramps set in, but I followed a more disciplined nutrition and hydration plan this year and was feeling much better. Aside from the crash around the corner, this lap was pretty uneventful. But this is only half way and I still have another 50 miles to go. Lap #2 time: 4:57 (2:39)

Lap #3
I remember from last year a buddy of mine saying that the third lap will be your worst, they always are in events like this. Just over half way done, but you know in the back of your mind that you have yet another 25-mile lap to go after this one is done. As with the prior two laps, I stopped at the aid station at the midway mark and fueled up with some liquids. However, at this time I started feeling "not so good" and should have listened to my body. But, my urge to remain hydrated with something other than water overtook my common sense and I was fueling up with energy drinks to keep the electrolytes balanced and the craps at bay. This was when I saw Kathy. She stopped for a brief second and then continued while I drank. She said "you'll catch me" and took off... Aah, if that could have been the case. Continuing off on the rest of the third lap I waddled around the lap like a bloated goat, realizing that I had over compensated for my urge to remain hydrated and likely should have stopped drinking. So, I endured on, but the good news is that I didn't crash, just felt like crap. Lap #3 time: 7:54 (2:57)

Lap #4
Here it is... the final lap. At the end of each loop there is a section about 1/4 mile away where you catch a glimpse of the parking lot and know you are home free. I was thinking about that view the entire way around this lap. Good news is this lap was going to be the last one around and I'll get to see the parking lot for the last time. Over the day the temps had remained cooler than last year, which was great. But I could use a little cooling down... A running joke I had with the Thomas Team (Christi's family) was that she was going to be my guardian angel and I expected her to push me up the hills when I got tired. Well, that wasn't working, so I figured she was thinking of another way to help. So (out loud) I said "c'mon Christi, how about some rain to cool 'Mr. Cook' off a bit?" Literally seconds later I felt my first rain drop and it sprinkled for about five minutes. That felt pretty good. Another 15 or so miles later (after I made the bold decision to ride past the aid station and not bloat myself again) I asked her for another sprinkle and it rained a second time. Pretty cool. After checking out my lap times, it was evident that I was able to get some of my strength back on this fourth and final lap. It was good to see the parking lot, but even better coming across the finishing line and knowing I was done. Lap #4 time: 10:37 (2:43)

Next Year?
In the immortal words of California's Governator... "I'll be back". I take great pride in being personally responsible for over $19,000 in donations collected for the CNCF and want to thank everyone that has supported me over the past two years. I'm working to get my Pedaling with a Purpose concept expanded to other cyclists and hope to be a catalyst for others to raise money for causes they are passionate about and make a difference.

Bike on...
Eric

P.S. Yes, it was just a "little bit" dusty out there on the trail. No, I'm not wearing tights, this is the sockline before a much-needed washdown after the race!

And They're Off!

2007-04-21T17:43:00.000-05:00

You may be wondering "what's off"??? Well, my fundraising effort for 2007 has officially started today and I sent out over 150 e-mail messages and letters to the supporters of my 2006 fundraising campaign. I'm again racing in the Founder's Lumberjack 100 mountain bike race in June (16th to be exact) to benefit the CNCF (the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation). More messages, press releases and any other items I can think of to get the word out will soon follow... so help me spread the word.

As many of you may know, Christi lost her four-year long battle against this deadly disease on September 19, 2006 and those that came to know and love this special little girl miss her dearly. This year's race will be dedicated to the memory of Christi and how she inspired countless people across the world with her strength and courage.

If you are interested in supporting my ride and helping to raise money for this great cause, please visit my online donation page where you can pay by credit or debit card. Or, if you prefer you can mail a check made payable to "CNCF" to me at 12369 Verona Rd., Battle Creek, MI 49014. This way your donation can be logged on my site and help count towards my $15,000 goal. I surpassed $12,000 last year, so hopefully this year's goal will be met!

Thanks for your support. While we can't bring Christi back, we CAN continue the fight in hopes that future children will be able to beat this deadly disease.

See you on the trail...
Eric

The Training Continues

2007-01-27T09:23:00.000-05:00

Plans are moving along nicely with Team Active Racing and it looks like we'll have close to 20 riders for the 2007 season participating in mountain, road, tri and some endurance events (that would be my "gig"). It looks like next week we'll have the crew over to the house for a contract signing party and give all the racers an opportunity to get to know each other. Should be a good time and Alicia's using it as an excuse to head out and get some shopping done. Gee, I can't see why she doesn't want to stick around and deal with all the testosterone... go figure.

Training has been going well and I've been pretty diligent about my weight lifting and riding throughout the week. Alicia and I have been getting up early MWF and it's been great for us to do this together. Nice to have a partner to help motivate each other. We spent some time with my parents in Florida a few weeks back and was able to get in some great runs and even got to pick up the racket and play some tennis with my dad (kudos to my father, he beat me in two sets but to my credit I took him to duce most every game and hadn't picked up a racket in 2 1/2 years... that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!). Since I'm hoping to do the XTERRA Off-Road Duathlon at Fort Custer on May 20th, getting some "non-bike" activity in was a good thing and I'll try to sneak in a trail run this weekend.

Time to put in some "web work" for a bit and then plan on heading out for a ride this afternoon with Danny. There's still some snow on the ground but I'll get out my cross bike and should be just fine (man, I love that bike).

It's Been a While...

2006-12-03T17:18:00.000-05:00

Looking at the date of my last posting, the title of this entry seems rather appropriate. Much has happened since I've been on my blog, most importantly the passing of Christi Thomas on September 19th. While I knew in the back of my mind this day would come, a big part of me was hoping that she would be the one to win her battle against this nasty beast. I won't go on much here, but you can check out the Webmaster section on Christi's website for a copy of the eulogy that I gave at her funeral. So sad to say goodbye, but she made such a difference when she was here... even if it was for only nine short years.

I'm happy to say that I finally secured my "own" domain name (ericcook.com) after an 18-month long effort to track it down. When I first thought about securing my own website, I discovered that it was being used by someone in the UK. It was a bit "freaky" (witch craft and stuff like that) and active, so it would appear that someone beat me to the punch and I would have to think of something else. That was about three years ago.

Time warp to 18 months ago and I discovered the domain name was not renewed by it's UK owner and was now considered inactive. Let the hunt begin... Unfortunately, my countless e-mail messages and three "snail mail" letters to the registrar that was holding the domain name in limbo all went unanswered. I'm not sure how I came about it, but I finally was able to locate a phone number of someone that was able to at least point me in the right direction. Long story (very long, so I'll spare you the details), I was able to get word to the current owner and he agreed to transfer the domain to me. I've now got my own little personal "portal" on the net and is a good launch point for all of my Internet efforts. There's not much there now, but it's a start.

Finally, I'm excited to announce "officially" that I'll be back on the bike again in 2007 competing in the Founder's Ale Lumberjack 100 mountain bike race. I'll again be raising money, but this time will be dedicating my efforts to Christi and collecting money for the Christi Thomas Memorial Fund. I assisted the Thomas Family in setting up the fund shortly after Christi's passing and it has raised over $27,000 online (with thousands more donated directly to the fund).

One of the best parts of the race, however, is that I'll be racing as part of a team. Team Active is building a team of racers for 2007 and not only will I be part of it, Pedaling with a Purpose, the engine behind my fundraising effort, will be promoted on the team apparel. If that's not motivation to get my butt out and ride, I don't know what is.

Speaking of riding, I'm off to the basement to spend the next hour and a half with Coach Troy. Stop back again and visit (and I promise it won't be as long between postings). Now, where did I leave my water bottle...?

11:22:32

2006-06-29T06:42:00.000-05:00

11 hours. 22 minutes. 32 seconds. That was my finishing time for the 2006 Founder’s Lumberjack 100 mountain bike race. Yes, I completed my objective in finishing under the 12-hour time limit, which was quite an accomplishment considering only 63 out of the 175 registered racers finished the full 100 mile event. The day was very hot, the course was sandy in all the “right” places (ha ha) and dehydration and heat exhaustion took its toll on many of the day’s participants.

However, as I approached the starting line on race day (for a 7:00 am start), I knew that I had more than just my personal goal of finishing the race pushing me to stay under 12-hours. I had over $11,000 in donations for CNCF from supporters all over the country behind me, so not completing the race just wasn’t an option. Check out my donations page for a complete listing of folks that contributed to my race.

The first of four 25-mile laps was “easy” (meaning my legs had not started to cramp and I was not in pain when I finished) and came in at 2 hours and 21 minutes. I took a quick break to re-fill my water bottle and Camelbak, gobbled down some Power Gels for a quick boost and then headed back out on the course. At the mid-way aid station at the 12-mile mark my buddy Randy met up with me and we ended up riding together for most of the remainder of the race.

Towards the end of the second lap I could tell that I was going to have to be sure to keep hydrated because the temperature was starting rise. My time after 50 miles was just over 5 hours, which kept me on pace for my sub-12 hour goal. Randy and I still were riding together and both of us started experiencing “hot spots” on our feet and took opportunities to walk our bikes up some of the steep sections to give our feet a break. This really helped and we could pedal on for several more miles before they came back.

A good buddy of ours, Dave (aka “Doner”) who competes in the Michigan Endurance Series warned us that the third lap would be the worst. He said you’re going to be tired, know that you still will have another 25 miles to go (which will be hanging over your head while you ride) and if you are not hydrated enough this is where you’ll likely “blow up”, so be careful. Guess what… he was right. My legs started cramping a little towards the end of the second lap, but now they were seizing up on a regular basis. When I raced in the National 24-hour Challenge several years back, a fellow racer told me about Rolaids and how the calcium helps to get rid of cramps. Knowing this, I had a bottle of Rolaids in my bag and filled a zip-lock baggie that I kept in my jersey pocket. During our “feet breaks” I would pull out the baggie and throw down a handful of them to make my legs feel better, which they did. Randy did a great job of keeping me going and we motivated each other along the way to keep on a pedaling.

Also of interest on the third lap, at just over the half-way mark the leader of the race (Chris Eatough, Trek/Volkswagen) passed us. This guy finished the race in 7 hours, 9 minutes and the amazing part was he wasn’t even breathing hard when he flew by us. I heard him come up behind me and he politely asked if he could get by at some point. Well, in mountain bike racing if someone is fresh enough to pass you, typically you get over and let them by, it’s courtesy. So, I pulled off the trail a bit to give him some room and zoom, right on by. He said “thanks, have a good race” and was out of sight a couple minutes later. Stud.

Finally, at 8 hours and 13 minutes I was able to start the fourth and final 25-mile lap. Randy said “well, the good news is we won’t be getting lapped any longer”. That was a good one, and a welcome burst of humor to the screaming of my legs. Considering the race had to be completed in under 12 hours, the final lap had to be started by 4:00 pm, so I was well under this requirement and felt a sense of relief knowing that I just had to keep on pedaling and I would make it. That sense of relief quickly went away when I realized that I had another 25 miles on top of the 75 I had already pedaled and it wasn’t going to get any easier. We stopped again to refuel and took about 15 minutes to stretch. Alicia had made it to the race by now and I was able to see her as I started my fourth and final lap, which was great.

Randy and I hopped back on the trail to finish the race. By this time I had figured out through some “personal testing” that drinking water out of my Camelbak was causing my legs to cramp severely, which made my third lap “oh-so-enjoyable”. When you spend this much time on a bike you really get the opportunity to learn a lot about your body, and I certainly learned some things this day. So, I had a small water bottle filled with energy drink that I sipped on until I arrived at the 12-mile aid station. They had a couple of different kinds of energy drink available so I drank several cupfuls and re-filled my water bottle, munched some bananas and then Randy and I took off for the final part of the course.

Realizing now what the water “overload” had done to my legs, there wasn’t much I could do to pick up the pace and knew that I held Randy back on the third lap due to my cramping. He was a true friend and despite being able to drop me at any time, stuck with me until about 10 miles from the finish. He was having a great day in the saddle and ended up catching two more guys in front of us finishing the race in 48^th place. I ended up in 51^st place and over a half-hour under the 12-hour limit. Alicia told me that when Randy finished the race, they all expected to see us together since we rode #2,. #3 and most of #4 together, so when I wasn’t there with him they all started to get concerned. But, I knew my body and what my legs were going through and knew that I wasn’t going to be able to keep up with him. As long as I finish under 12 hours, that was the most important part.

I’ve had several folks ask me (including my wife) if I will be doing this again next year. Right now my answer is YES. The support I received, both financially and emotionally, for this race and the CNCF was absolutely amazing. Those of you who donated, I cannot thank enough. You all were on my mind during the race, and when the cramps set in, or I started getting overheated, I thought about the trust you had placed in me to complete this race and that kept me motivated. I also had the thought of Neuroblastoma patients like Christi, innocent children afflicted with this terrible disease, that likely will never have the opportunity to try something like this to keep me going. My 11+ hours of pain pales in comparison to the daily battle they fight with this disease and being able to put over $11,000 into the fight is something that ALL of us have reason to be proud of.

In closing I want to again thank ALL of you who supported my ride. I especially want to thank my beautiful wife, Alicia, for her support and tolerating me spending more time this year on my bike training for the event. Team Active was a big help, both with my new bike (Cannondale Rush Team Replica, which performed flawlessly, by the way!) and for the gift cards to supporters of my event. Thanks also to Randy & Sally Vernon (and the rest of the Alma “crew”) for their hospitality the night before and during the race. They also hauled my butt down to Tsali, NC for a great training weekend and have been great friends during my years on the bike. It would have been MUCH harder without Randy there with me on the trail and the Fun Mover as “base camp”. And finally, I want to thank Monarch Community Bank (my employer), my fellow co-workers and the media (newspapers, magazines and radio) that picked up on my story and helped to get the word out. Because of your support, WE were able to get over $11,000 to the CNCF and get that much closer to a cure!

See ya on the trails…
The Biking Banker

Headed South

2006-04-10T22:12:00.000-05:00

Only a couple more days to go and I’m off to North Carolina with friends for some “real” mountain biking. Not that we don’t mountain bike in Michigan, but the “mountain” part is a bit lacking, especially when you compare to the mountains of western NC, Tsali Trail to be exact, here we come.

Fortunately, my new Cannondale RUSH Team Replica arrived last week and aside from bringing it into the bedroom (which my wife wouldn’t allow) I’ve been spending as much time on it as possible. What an awesome bike and I can’t wait to get it on some real trails for three straight days. Thanks again, Team Active, for your help and support.

On the fundraising front, I’ve accumulated over $1,700 in donations through my online site and am still on target to reach my $5,000 goal by June 17^th. I’ve spoken with the editor at Michigan Banking Magazine and he’s doing a feature story on my race and even the promoter of the Lumberjack 100 has a blurb on the official race site to help promote my fundraising effort. Thanks Rick!

Hopefully as the media picks up on my event it will spur further donations and I’ll be able to shatter my goal. If you haven’t made your donation yet, please stop by. Every little bit helps!

See ya on the trail...

A Celebrity in the Family

2006-03-18T17:16:00.000-05:00

By trade I’m a “banker” and that’s where the majority (ok, more like 99.9%) of my paycheck comes from. However, I do dabble with website creation through my side business, Eggott.com. So, when our dog trainer (Sherry Linker) said that she just wrote a book and wanted to put it online I jumped at the chance to help her out. Not only does it enable me to keep up my techie-hobby, but I know first hand how talented Sherry is with dogs and knew her book would be amazing. It is.

About a week before it was ready to go to the publisher, she called and asked if I had any puppy pictures that I could send her. She was looking for “tug playing” and some shots of a puppy in their cage eating and “crashed out” how puppies do on their backs (us humans would get arrested if we slept that way). Given that we have a new pooch in the family, I grabbed my camera (and Ryder) and started clicking.

After several attempts, I ended up with a few that I thought may be book worthy and sent them along in an e-mail. About a week later she got her books from the publisher and Ryder is in there THREE times (along with a nice shot of MY hand, of course)! Unfortunately the absence of opposable thumbs prohibit him from signing autographs, but he’ll be happy to chew one of the corners for you if you ask nice.

So, those of you with puppies (and even grown dogs) should invest $7.95 in one of these books. The title of her first release is “How to Keep from Ruining your Dog in the First Thirty Days” and can be found online at LinkerBooks.com. It's a quick read and Sherry has one of the most unique training methods you’ll ever encounter. If you’re fortunate to live in the Battle Creek area and have a dog (or are thinking about getting one), you owe it to yourself to pay her a visit. You’ll be glad you did.

The Training Continues

2006-02-28T23:12:00.000-05:00

Puppy Training
The word "training" means a couple of things around the Cook home right now. With a new puppy in the family, we are training him to let us know when nature calls. That's going "ok" but we have to remember he's still a pup and accidents will happen. He's also training us that he wants to play at 2 am (and yes, I'm a good daddy and get up and take him out).

In all seriousness, Ryder has been doing great he's bonded very well with Ally. Alicia and I can tell he's going to be quite the spunky pooch though. This past weekend we walked the trails behind our home and he did the entire two mile loop without having to be picked up... at nine weeks no less. What a champ, and he loved romping in the weeds with Ally.

Bike Training
The other side of "training" is the ongoing preparation for my big event in June. I took out the LeMond this weekend for a couple of rides and did a Spinerval tape on Sunday. Also took Ally for a trail run and we did the "long" 2.5 mile loop (she loved it). Good news is my body fat % is going down (yes, that's the right direction) and I hope to be in the 15% range or lower by June. In April I head down to Tsali in North Carolina for three days of mountain biking with the "Alma crew", which will also help the training process and my new RUSH is supposed to be in sometime this week or early next. I'm pretty excited.

Another cool thing worth noting here would have to be Friday's End of Winter party at Team Active. In addition to having all three floors open, they had a huge tent out back, lots of good grub and I got to meet Keith Bontrager, this year's special guest. As you can see from the link, he's one of the "founding fathers" of mountain biking and my LeMond has his cranks, stem, handlebars, wheels/hubs, seatpost and I'm sure something else that I'm forgetting. It was pretty cool being in the presence of someone that has been so instrumental to the sport I love.

Anyway, back to my Team Active "plug". The guys allowed me some "microphone time" to announce my Pedaling With A Purpose event and set out some flyers to help spread the word. Their support of my effort has been great and I've already had three donations qualify for a $25 gift card by contributing $100. Hopefully some of those that heard me will stop by my site and send some money my way...

New Addition(s) to the Family

2006-02-19T21:50:00.000-05:00

Aah, puppy breath... Greetings web-friends. Yes, the long awaited day finally arrived and we brought home a little brother for Ally last week. His name is Ryder and he is in the adorable "fluffball" stage right now. What a cutie! He was born on Christmas Eve, which has special significance to Alicia and me, as you may know from my postings about the loss of Dutch. Ally is getting along quite well with the little guy and they are quickly becoming buddies. I have created an index of pictures online if you want to check out some more shots of the little guy. Visit www.eggott.com/ryder and check 'em out.

But you said "Additions"... Yes, I did. In preparation for my June 100 mile mountain bike race for charity, I decided to upgrade my equipment and replace my 10-year old mountain bike with some new technology. My new Cannondale Rush should be here by March and am looking forward to throwing my leg over the new ride and taking it out for a spin. This is the same bike that Cannondale's David "Tinker" Juarez is now riding for his endurance events, so if it's good enough for him, it's got to be good enough for me! Thanks also to Steve & Mike from Team Active, in Battle Creek. They took the time to help me pick the right size and make sure that it's gonna fit me perfectly. A hundred miles is a LONG time to be on a mountain bike, so a good fit is very important! They are also supporting my Pedaling With A Purpose event in June with $25 Team Active gift cards for anyone that donates $100 or more. You guys rock!

However, those of you who have been in my basement know that I'm kind of a bike junkie. Some would say that it looks like a bike shop down there, with four (soon to be five) mountain bikes, three road bikes and a road tandem. Of course, my wife claims one of the mountain and road bikes, but still, we have a lot of bikes. Well, I figured there's room for one more and we have an addition to the stable. I've brought home a LeMond Poprad cyclocross bike for winter road training. While it looks like a regular road bike, it's designed with a beefier frame, better brakes and can be taken off road on trails. The tires are wider than a traditional road bike, making it the perfect training bike for Michigan's crappy roads (gotta love potholes if you're gonna live in Michigan).

So, can't type much more, I have to go play with our new puppy and then get out on a training ride. I've got a big race in June, ya know...

Pedaling With a Purpose

2006-01-15T21:48:00.000-05:00

I have started training for Michigan's only 100-mile mountain bike race, called the Lumberjack 100. The big event is scheduled for June 17th and is affectionately known as the "Big M'fer". Oh, this is going to be fun... Why, might you ask, would anyone want to pedal a bicycle for 100 miles, let alone on singletrack, in the woods, up and down hills, etc...?

While I have wanted to get back into racing (and whip my butt back into top shape), I am also doing this with a greater benefit. I've decided to tie in my race with a fundraising effort and have selected the Children's Neuroblastoma Cancer Foundation as the recipient.

I won't even try to go into explaining "what" Neuroblastoma is, other than it's a very rare (and deadly) form of childhood cancer. In my "spare" time, I'm the webmaster for ChristiThomas.com, and if you are interested in learning more you can stop by for a visit (and an education).

I'm working on an online contribution page and will soon have that available where you can make your donation. I'll also be putting updates online about my training progress, fundraising efforts and such, so keep checking back.

Until next time...

I Stood By Your Bed...

2006-01-07T11:33:00.000-05:00

It's been now just over two weeks since Dutch was killed and Alicia and I still miss him so much. I want to say a special thanks to all the "Christi Crew" supporters that have sent me notes of encouragement and sympathy. It does help to know that others are thinking of us during our time of loss.

One faithful visitor to Christi's site who lives in California sent me this touching poem that she got when she lost one of her "fur-babies". If you've ever lost a pet, I'm sure that after reading it you will understand why she still gets tears in her eyes when she reads it. I do too...

I Stood By Your Bed
(However, if this were really Dutch, it would be called
"I Am On Your Bed" because he always slept with us,
as you can see from the photo.)

I stood by your bed last night, I came to have a peep.
I could see that you were crying, You found it hard to sleep.

I whined to you softly as you brushed away a tear,
"It's me, I haven't left you, I'm well, I'm fine, I'm here."

I was close to you at breakfast, I watched you pour the tea,
You were thinking of the many times your hands reached out to me.

I was with you at the shops today, your arms were getting sore.
I longed to take your parcels, I wish I could do more.

I was with you at my grave today, you tend it with such care.
I want to reassure you that I'm not lying there.

I walked with you towards the house, as you fumbled for your key.
I gently put my paw on you, I smiled and said "It's me."

You looked so very tired, and sank into a chair.
I tried so hard to let you know that I was standing there.

It's possible for me to be so near you every day.
To say to you with certainty, "I never went away."

You sat there very quietly, then smiled, I think you knew...
In the stillness of that evening, I was very close to you.

The day is almost over... I smile and watch you yawning
And say, "Goodnight, God bless, I'll see you in the morning."

And when the time is right for you to cross the brief divide,
I'll rush across to greet you and we'll stand, side by side.

I have so many things to show you, there is so much for you to see.
Be patient, live your journey out... then come home to be with me.

-Author Unknown

We'll Miss You Dutch

2005-12-27T14:14:00.000-05:00

It is with great sadness that I report we lost Dutch, our beloved golden, on Friday, December 23, 2005. He was hit and killed instantly in front of our home. Born on November 1, 2004, he was just over a year old and had so much life to live. Alicia and I are still numb. In his memory, I have created a "Dutch" page on my website. Feel free to stop by and read it if you like. You will be missed and loved forever, little buddy...

-Daddy, Mommy and your big sister Ally

Family Picture

2005-12-18T18:43:00.000-05:00

Family photo, taken Fall of 2005. My mom's side of the family got together for grandpa and grandma's 60th wedding anniversary. It was great to see all the family, and of course, we had to bring our "kids" along for the pictures. My aunt Sherry is quite the photographer, and snapped several shots of us by the river in front of my grandparent's house. This one is going in my office, for sure!

Welcome

2005-12-18T18:14:00.000-05:00

Hi there and welcome to my "blog".

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Welcome