Buzzworthy: Wanna have fun AND earn profits? Then this is for you!

My friend and colleague, Bob Bly, has a new book coming out titled, How to Write and Sell Simple Information for Fun and Profit: Your Guide to Writing and Publishing Books, E-Books, Articles, Special Reports, Audio Programs, DVDs and Other How-To Content.

And the timing couldn’t be better. Many people nowadays are looking to either change careers or start earning a second income. Bob’s book covers in detail how you could make serious money writing and selling information … even better … this could be done in your spare time and in the comfort of your own home.

You’ll discover how to:
· Come up with ideas for saleable how-to books, articles, reports, and seminars.
· Research, write, and publish effective, practical how-to instructional materials in a variety of formats.
· Build your reputation and a loyal following in your field.
· And earn $100,000 a year or more!

But don’t just take my word for it. To read FREE book excerpts, click here now: http://howtowriteandsellsimpleinformation.com/excerpts.php

This is definitely worth checking out. Happy reading!

Competing With Internet Banks

We recently completed an RFP to rebuild a website for a prominent internet bank. Folks, if you're not including these banks in your competitive review, you should be. In a 2010 Forrester study, 2 major internet banks (USAA & ING Direct) ranked 2 & 3 (only behind credit unions) in "trust" when 4,500 banking customers where asked to rate institutions against, "My financial provider does what's best for me. not just the bottom line."

(I'll touch on this again in our FREE Brown Bag webinar on Friday, Sept. 17th)

For the internet banks, the website is everything ... it's their entire branch network, their sales force, their marketing material, etc. You need to be looking at your website in a very similar manner:

• Is your site easy to navigate? Can a customer get to where they need to be in 1-2 clicks?
• Do you make it easy to transact business?
• Does your site allow for an engaging customer conversation? You can accomplish this with online chat, but also with well thought out FAQs, Benefit oriented product bundles, video learning, electronic or personal follow-up to online triggers or forms, etc.
• Is your product information benefit oriented? How can you take product information beyond being an electronic brochure?
• Does your site cross-sell?

In 2010 and beyond, customers are looking more and more to easy, online access. Especially if you're looking to diversify your 50-60 year old demographics with some 20-somethings.

Take a closer look at your website as it relates to the questions above. How does your site stack up against the major online banks? 2011 may be a time to invest in some web enhancements.

Take care,

Eric

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The Little Things Matter...

In today’s economic climate, many financial institutions have reduced or even slashed their marketing budgets. That’s why, now more than ever, it’s imperative that we make the most of every customer communication to ensure customer retention and cross-sell.

When it comes to customer retention and cross-sell, many marketers immediately think “On Boarding.” And while On Boarding is and essential step, we also need to review ALL customer communication messages (including operational messages) that our customers receive…because, as you know, every customer touch point makes up the customer experience.

If you haven’t reviewed your operational communications in a while, it may be time to take a second look. Make sure they reflect your brand and see how you can leverage the communication to encourage customer retention or cross-sell, instead of sending a strictly operational message. For instance, a simple message confirming that a new account is set up for Online Banking can transition into a cross-sell opportunity for Bill Pay or Mobile Banking.

A good place to start would be to review the following:

• Dormant Account Letter
• Loan or CD Renewal Letters
• Overdraft Communications
• Debit Card Communications
• Online Banking Confirmation Communication

Remember to get creative! By adding a marketing perspective to these letters, you can create a large impact on customer retention and cross-sell without incurring additional costs!

Best,

Jamie

Remember to Test even the "Sacred Cows"

I think I have always been attracted to arts marketing because it allows me to use both creative as well as scientific talents. To this day, I might be the only person to graduate from Missouri State University with a major in speech and theatre education and a minor in mathematics. So it should come as no surprise that I take a very scientific approach to marketing.

In every campaign I lead, I constantly manipulate variables and note outcomes in an attempt to continually improve upon previous results. The easiest variables that marketers turn to are design and pricing. How many times have you tested a carrier package? an offer? pricing strategy? Probably quite a few times. Now think about how many times you have tested different timing schemes for putting products on sale.

This was the first year in my tenure at Arena Stage where we experimented with using timing as a variable. For almost as long as we have had mini-subscriptions, we have put them on sale at the exact same time as our full season subscriptions, fearing that instead of waiting or upgrading, our potential mini-subscribers would opt to go elsewhere for their entertainment. The fear of losing potential mini-subscribers was so strong that for many years timing wasn't even considered a possible variable to test.

As a leader, you have to always remember that the fear of a potential loss will always be significantly more powerful than the possibility of a probable gain. By nature, we are risk averse, and if given a choice to pursue status quo or trail blaze, we will choose status quo each and every time unless there are overwhelming odds. But you have to be mindful of "sacred cows," and be willing to test even the most concrete of assumptions. In my career, the testing of "proven strategies" has led to some pretty remarkable results.

For our inaugural season in the new Mead Center for American Theater, we experimented with exclusively putting full season subscriptions on sale for the first four months of our subscription campaign. In addition, we developed a pricing strategy that encouraged full package purchases, and new exclusive benefits for full season subscribers, such as the ability to purchase parking in our onsite, underground parking lot. It was a test of timing as a variable--would potential mini-subscribers upgrade to the full season, wait until mini-subscriptions were available or leave Arena Stage entirely.

As we are eight months into our subscription campaign, we have some pretty interesting results:

• we exceeded our projections for full season subscribers both in number of subscribers as well as revenue by almost 60%
• we had three times as many subscribers upgrade their packages when compared to those that downgraded
• full season subscriptions weren't just for renewals and upgrades--we more than tripled our projections for brand new subscribers to Arena Stage at the full season level. At this moment, 11% of our entire subscription base are patrons who have never subscribed to Arena Stage and did so in their first year at the full season level.

As our full season subscribers renew at a much higher rate than our mini-subscribers do, I anticipate that the growth that we have seen in our number of full season subscribers will benefit us for many years to come.

September already, really?

I honestly can’t believe it’s the first week of September! I mean I saw June 1^st, July 1^st and August 1^st come and go…but boy, September already? Good things come with September: school starts, football starts, apple cider, the leaves will begin to change, and fall is in the air, I could go on and on. 

September also means there are only 3 months following until the end of the year. How is the rest of 2010 going to shape up for you? Personally, professionally take a look at the calendar. Are there goals you set at the beginning of the year that have fallen off your to-do list? Have new goals appeared on your list? With the change of the calendar maybe now is a good time to look at those goals and reprioritize them for the final stretch of the year. Think of what you set out to accomplish in 2010 and how do those goals help with that accomplishment? Let’s get there together!

Here I thought when the kids went back to school things would start to slow down. I was only kidding myself. What that really meant was I could finally dive deeper into work.

Some give up their designs when they have almost reached the goal; while others, on the contrary, obtain a victory by exerting, at the last moment, more vigorous efforts than before.
 -Polybius

Worth 1,000 words - a refreshing look at great advertising.

Over time I like to collect visuals that I think are clever communication/advertising tools. Samples to go back to for when I have creative block, or for when I just need some outrageous inspiration. Included here is a small selection of billboards and outdoor designs that I think are just GREAT marketing tools. Each one in their own specific way are notable for promoting a brand or product in such a special way that you just have to say "Wow, will ya look at that...clever."










Sometimes you just need a little inspiration to get your blood pumping, a bit of a nudge to create that "WOW." Give us a call and let us help your organization make that happen.

Until next time,
Jeremy

It's Complicated

Is it just me, or is it getting harder and harder to give folks your money now adays?!?!

As financial institutions, we say that the benefit of debit cards is to speed up and ease the process of making purchases. That is, of course, until the retailers screw it up!

• No, I don't want cash...
• Here's my zip code...
• Yes, I know about your pharmacy...

It seems like we've taken a tool that was meant to make life faster and easier and added so many bells and whistles that you have to take 5-6 steps to complete a transaction.

My point for all of you financial marketers? Take an objective look at your processes.

Many of us in bank or credit union management take steps to make our personal banking transactions easier because we can. Don't lose touch with your customer's experience:

• Complete a teller transaction
• Call your call center with an issue
• Sit at a new accounts desk to open a new account
• Use online banking, bill pay and e-statements
• Walk into each and every branch
• Use your ATMs
• Have friends and family bank with you and report what they see
• Grab a clip-board and do branch intercepts
• Get regular feedback from your sales staff

Does your electronic access ask for unnecessary information? Are your processes streamlined? Are you easy to do business with?