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OTMS Blog
Revisit Your Strategic Plan
This article originally appeared on cuna.org. When the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hit, unemployment skyrocketed, the economy suffered, and the strategic plans credit unions put in place at the beginning of the year were no longer relevant.“Your strategic plan is...
Racing to Serve the Unbanked Could Have Huge Payoffs
Credit unions and small community banks are facing competition in one of the most unexpected banking spaces.
Planting Trees and Strategic Plans at Your CU or Community Bank
An old adage goes, "The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago; the next best time is today." You could easily say the same for strategic planning (although we certainly hope the strategic plans at your credit unions or community banks aren't 20 years old!). [bctt...
Pandemic Provides Huge Employee Training Opportunity
Before the pandemic, many credit unions and community banks placed healthy value on employee training. During and after, however, we've seen huge room for improvement. Training for employees and managers is just as critical--if not more critical--to your bottom line...
Now is The Time to Get Ahead With Your Marketing
The classic Boy Scouts motto famously says, “Always be prepared.” Despite disaster recovery and pandemic plans, I’m not sure anything could have prepared credit unions and community banks for COVID-19. But we can prepare for the post-pandemic world. How? By getting...
Marking the Halfway Point of 2021
“All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
New Orleans Credit Union to Coronavirus: “We’re Not Going to Let It Beat Us”
Helen S. Delin, CEO of NAS JRB Credit Union in the New Orleans, Louisiana metro area, has a simple yet profound message.
Marketing Assessment: Go Out and Get Busy
Famous author, lecturer and sales guru Dale Carnegie once said: "Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” We certainly live in a time of doubt and fear....
Marketing Doesn’t Have to be Expensive to Work
Some financial institutions share a common misconception that marketing isn’t affordable when times are tough. Nothing could be further from the truth. Marketing doesn't have to be expensive. Aside from what you already pay your employees, it doesn’t cost a thing to...
Marketing Lessons From Super Bowl 56 Commercials
What a game, what a halftime show and what about those commercials!
Man-Branding with Manly Bands
My soon-to-be husband and I recently purchased his wedding band through an online store called Manly Bands.
Make Your Content More Shareable with These 6 Steps
You have a brand, and you have a marketing strategy in place to get your message out to the masses.
Looking for a Leader
We’re all familiar with the saying it’s the small things that matter. Here’s how that leadership principle…
Keys to Marketing During an Economic Downturn
Marketing during an economic downturn may feel counter-intuitive. Slimy even.
Knowing Yourself is Key
Aristotle famously said, "Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom." Do you know your credit union or community bank? What Aristotle refers to is self-introspection. It's the exercise of looking at yourself from the outside to learn, evolve and improve the way...
Is Your Marketing The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything?
Is Your Marketing The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything? – On The Mark Strategies
Is Your Strategic Plan “Snackable?”
Do you like M&Ms? They’re definitely a favorite snack of mine – small, easy to swallow and you’re able to finish a…
How Your Credit Union or Bank Can Host an Event for Millennials
“How do we reach Millennials?” is a question we hear often from credit unions and banks, particularly this time of…
Ideas To Adjust Your Strategic Planning
Strategic planning ideas are a second thought for many this year.For example, a financial institution executive was recently discussing with me the severe impacts from the pandemic: earnings are tanking, investment income is negligible, fee income is dropping...
How to Win at Content Marketing: 3 Keys
Your content marketing efforts can either accelerate your growth, or they can be part of what causing consumers’…
How to Hit a Home Run in Leadership
Hitting a home run in leadership is not unlike hitting a home run in baseball. Every industry has its Legacy members.
How to NOT Get Overwhelmed in 2020
It’s 2020! A new year! A new decade! Get excited people!
How To Operationalize Your Brand
One question we often hear during a rebrand (once you’ve determined your vision, decided your niches, crafted your…
How to Seize Advantages During An Economic Downturn
If you look at current economic downturn data and projections for too long, you’ll get depressed quickly. McKinsey & Company is projecting it will take most business sectors more than five years to get back to their 2019 GDP levels. Bancography recently said...
How to Win an Academy Award With Your Marketing
The Academy Awards are this weekend, and it’s a good time to think about what makes award-winning marketing.
How to Grow Business During a Pandemic
How do you grow business during a pandemic? Not to mention sinking oil prices, rising unemployment and a trade war with China. It’s enough to depress every credit union or community bank executive. As Jerome Powell, Federal Reserve Chair, said recently, “This is the...
How to Grow Loans in the Second Half of the Year
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Don Arkell, owner of CU Lending Advice.
How to Create a Compelling Brand Personality
If you want to win at content marketing, you need to create a compelling brand personality and deploy it across your…
How to Get Out of a Marketing Slump
“Slump? I ain’t in no slump….I just ain’t hitting.”
How to Align Your Organization When Your Staff is Spread Out
If you’re one of the many executives wondering how to align your organization in the new working environment, you’re…
How Telling Your Brand Story Elevates Your Business
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there was a terrible— no, wait. Hold on. (clears throat).
How To Adjust Your Fall Marketing Campaigns
Fall is almost here. While you may still be experiencing 100-degree heat (like those of us in Texas) and the “dog days of August,” Fall (and Fall marketing campaigns) are just around the corner. Fall has typically meant football, festivals and funnel cakes. Of course,...
How To Adjust Your Strategic Plan With the Four S’s
Your strategic plan created last fall is more than likely in a trashcan somewhere. Thank you, COVID-19. Strategic plans are one of the many casualties left in the pandemic’s wake. While situations have certainly changed, the need for a strategic plan has not. [bctt...
How Allied FCU Jumpstarted Loan Growth
How do we grow loans? When’s the best time to plan for the future? How do we go beyond simply making money?
Four Ways to Turn Mergers into Partnerships
“Mergers.” They can sound cold, and there’s a tendency to treat credit union mergers or mergers between community…
Focus on Dynamic Virtual Content to Engage Staff
This article originally appeared in the July 8, 2020, issue of Credit Union Times as well as here on cutimes.com. As credit unions continue to find their way in the evolving post-pandemic world, staying on top of staff engagement is critical. Training staff (as well...
