Using Equal Opportunity Lender Statement/Logo

There is often confusion about the proper use of the statement or logo for Equal Opportunity Lender. When it was first introduced, the interpretation was to use Equal Housing Lender (EHL) logo for real estate loan marketing and the Equal Opportunity Lender (EOL) logo for auto and credit card marketing. In reality, EHL and EOL were both created just for real estate lending, particularly mortgages. The Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regulation for Fair Housing Advertising is 54 FR 3308, …

College Financing

Speaking of Gen Y, as they head to college, the rising costs have become harder to meet with out financial aid or student loans. With a 14-year old heading to high school, I have the parental trepidation of the approaching college expense. Student financial aid expert (and a father himself) Brian Cox can share a few tips on talking to kids about college selection and affordability, as well as helping them develop smart financial habits/attitudes. As an executive for Cology …

Cross-Selling Tip

If you have communicated a focus on corporate goals to be met by the front-line, there is still the issue of training the staff to meet the goals. Cross-selling begins with listening to members when they talk about their needs and being ready to suggest products and services that meet those needs. Listening to members and matching those suggested products/services is often done in a short timeframe. From talking to a member at the teller line to a conversation over …

Shift Your Attention to Results

Shift Your Attention to Results The key in this crazy market of a down economy, businesses going bankrupt, high unemployment and bad news all around, is to stay focused on getting results. There are many excuses in marketing to get off track: • Too little staff • Not enough budget • Need more time If your focus is on staying with your marketing plan that was crafted last year to achieve corporate goals, then you have the structure to track …

Getting Energy Behind Goals

If you have goals that you’re having trouble achieving, you might need to shift your discussion of them in your mind.  Because every action is preceded by a thought, it is important to consider if you are actually pouring cold water on your hot goals and getting lukewarm results! Recently, in listening to the audio book, 100 Ways to Create Wealth by Steve Chandler and Sam Beckford, a suggestion they have is to change “I need” to “I want.” Their …

Organizing Your Online Social Media Presence

The impact of social media on the marketing landscape has created a time management crunch. Already pressured with managing marketing projects and then add in social media initiatives. Because social media requires content and engaging conversational copy, it takes time. Especially, it takes time, creativity, and rewriting to gain an end result of engaging content. To be able to keep up, here are some tools that help: • Use a social media management platform to schedule tweets and posts for …

Change in Market Competition

When Almost Famous: How to Market Yourself for Success was published in 1996, it was popular with my generation, Boomers. Interestingly, after listening to Ken Gronbach author of “The Age Curve” talk about the upcoming competition for jobs by Gen Y, it hit me between the eyes. Gen X didn’t need my book because for every 10 Boomers moving up in an organization, there were only 8 Gen X-ers to take the jobs. They got signing bonuses and elevated salaries …

Change in Online Communication

In today’s high-tech world, most people are constantly connected to a device whether a smartphone, cell phone, computer, laptop, or tablet. People are posting photos within seconds, responding to texts or emails, and Google-ing for answers to questions or finding a local restaurant – constant activity. So, to communicate with customers/members/prospects, marketers are in a constant flurry of activity trying to figure out what mediums still work. Thinking of marketing as having a conversation with someone to give him/her the …

Change in the Market

[AMAZONPRODUCT=0814417949]Last month, I was privileged to be the guest of Kenneth Gronbach, author of “The Age Curve” at a conference appearance in California. He again opened minds throughout the audience about looking at the numbers to see where marketing opportunities will be next. Since Boomers started turning 50 and slowing their spending, until now when those same Boomers are going over age 65, a statistic explains the perfect storm. Gen X, following the Boomers is 11% smaller as a generation, …

Social Media Personal Brand

In an article in the Money section of USNews.com, author Lindsay Olson cited this statistic, “According to a recent survey by Reppler, more than 90 percent of recruiters will check on you on social media sites.” So, it really does matter what your personal brand looks like online! Here are some quick tips: Set up Google Alerts. Use this free tool for your name to know where and when your name is mentioned. This also helps you to know if …