"CycleTherapy"

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...