Is Your Bank Ready for .Bank? Here Are Some Things You May Want to Know…

For all my friends in the north braving the cold weather and snow, you’re probably not going to like what I’m about to say, but here goes… Recently I was invited to present at the Southeastern Conference of Community Bankers in Key West, Florida (jealous yet?). As someone who lives in Michigan, the idea of being in the Keys during the end of January was an great opportunity to charge the batteries, get some sunshine and meet some new bankers, as I’ve not presented at this event before (but hoping they ask me back… hint, hint).

This was the view out the back of the room!

Scared of Embracing Social Media Bank-Wide? Remember Introducing eMail...

I remember when I first got on email and was introduced to the "new way" that people could communicate with one another electronically. It was late 1993 and the bank where I was working just "allowed me" to get our first personal computer (with a modem). We purchased a Gateway 2000 (2000 sounded so futuristic back then) and it arrived in its iconic cow-spotted box.

I can't recall the "specs" that were on that computer, but I'm certain the Nexus 7 that I'm using to type this post on had a bigger processor and more memory. That being said, the computer came with two things that changed me forever... a modem and pre-installed America Online (AOL) software. That was my connection to the "world wide web" and I can still remember the email address I picked for the bank (msbfsb@aol.com). While that email has long since gone away, customers of Marshall Savings Bank, FSB were among the first in the nation for a community bank to be able to send their bank an email (oh, we had a website before most community banks too). At that time, email was controlled since there was only one point of access (that Gateway 2000 computer in the CFO's office) and we had a pretty good idea who people where when they emailed us. There just weren’t that many people using it, so management was relatively easy.

Social Media Bootcamp for Bankers Recap and Observations

Recently, I had the privilege of presenting for the Pennsylvania Bankers Association in Harrisburg, PA and conducted a full-day social media bootcamp. Depending on when you read this blog, you can search Twitter for #PBABootcamp to get some of the feedback from the participants (and maybe you'll want to follow some of the great folks that took time out of their busy schedule to spend the day with me).

We covered a TON of information over the course of the day's session. Since this was for bankers, we of coursed talked about things like compliance, regulations and even touched on some of the legal pitfalls that banks should avoid when developing (or executing) their social media policy and engaging customers and their community online. Luckily, I had co-developed the course with my friend (and colleague), Deborah Gonzalez, the founder of Law2SM, LLC. She's an attorney who specializes in social media law and has been practicing in this space since the days of MySpace, so she's been around the social media block a few times. In fact, she just published a book that I highly recommend called Managing Online Risk: Apps, Mobile and Social Media and you can learn more at www.ManagingOnlineRisk.com.

Who Says Social Networking Doesn't Work?

Recently I had an experience involving LinkedIn that spurred a thought and inspired me to share the story with you here. As you may suspect from the title of this post, my story is going to have something to do with "proof" that time vested in social networking can reap rewards for you, even when you least expect it. Here's the story...

Last week a couple of my international WSI colleagues who know my love of the banking sector shared a link to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report entitled "The New Digital Tipping Point" and how banking is facing the steepest challenge in over a generation. The report suggests that a new tipping point has been reached and the fulcrum is the shift towards going digital. Great information, so I decided to share "socially" and send it along to my connections.

Another Bank Website and Internet Marketing Strategy Completed!

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