Free Webinar Wednesdays

Taking a Break at Free Webinar Wednesdays

Date: September 23, 2020

It's been a great long run for the show, and for the most part I have been able to conduct recurring weekly webinars every Wednesday at 1 p.m. Granted, it's been difficult at times during travel and holding down work responsibilities, but I've always tried to make it a priority to join you live and to share thoughts and ideas of what's on my mind.

But for the first time in the history of the show, I'm going to take an extended break and won't be conducting weekly webinars until further notice. That doesn't mean that I'm done doing webinars, if anything the format and location of where I plan on sharing thoughts and ideas will continue to evolve. I made mention on previous shows that I'm exploring some of the live streaming options on various social networking platforms, as well as revisiting available webinar technology to determine which platform makes the most sense going forward.

This was not an easy decision for me, as the original goal when Jeff and I created Free Webinar Wednesdays back in April of 2009 was always to provide educational information and help others be better business owners, employees, digital citizens, and let’s face it…. just be good people. 

However, things have changed over the years (especially in 2020) and I have come to the realization that my efforts (and FWW) need to change along with it. The good news is things are going gangbusters for us here at WSI Digital, as well as our new initiative called The LinkedBanker. We continue to demonstrate a laser focus on helping folks in the community banking industry improve their online presence and how to connect with their customers digitally.

If you're in the banking industry, I encourage you to connect with us on the following channels to keep in touch. Don't consider this a final goodbye, rather think of it as a chance for Free Webinar Wednesdays to find its new groove and come back stronger than ever. I just need some time to determine exactly what that's going to look like and appreciate your patience and understanding while the evolution takes place.

Follow WSI Digital

We serve the digital marketing needs of community banks with custom mobile responsive website development, online advertising services, marketing automation, social media consulting, and strategic planning.

• https://linkedin.com/company/poweredbywsi 
• https://facebook.com/poweredbywsi
• https://instagram.com/poweredbywsi 
• https://twitter.com/poweredbywsi 
• https://tiktok.com/@poweredbywsi 

Follow The LinkedBanker

A membership-based community for banking professionals and industry partners to build a personal brand that empowers you to connect and engage with your customers, prospects and the communities you serve.

• https://linkedin.com/company/thelinkedbanker 
• https://facebook.com/thelinkedbanker 
• https://instagram.com/thelinkedbanker 
• https://twitter.com/thelinkedbanker 

Connect with Me (Personal)

An avid cyclist and lover of golden retrievers, I consider myself to be a “recovering banker” of 15 years who was destined to help community bankers embrace digital strategies to make a difference in the lives of their customers. 

• https://linkedin.com/in/ericcookmba 
• https://facebook.com/ecook
• https://instagram.com/ericcook 
• https://twitter.com/ericcook
• https://youtube.com/ericcookvideos

Exploring Some of the Many Webinar and Virtual Event Platforms

Date: Wednesday, August 19, 2020 @ 1 pm Eastern

On today's webinar I spend our time together talking about the various webinar services that I’ve used over the past several months, as well as exploring some of the newer virtual events and online community platforms are starting to gain in popularity. I don't think it's any secret that the days of a traditional conference have been put on hold, as events either are cancelled, postponed, or converted to digital events.

As organizers of events look for ways to continue to engage their audience and bring people together, I have a strong suspicion that this space is right for Innovation and likely will see new players over the next several months.

Here are links to the platforms that we visited during our time together today.

• https://zoom.us/ 
• https://gotomeeting.com/ & https://gotowebinar.com/ 
• https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software
• https://www.skype.com/en/free-conference-call/
• https://meet.google.com/ 
• https://hopin.to/
• https://www.on24.com/
• https://matchboxvirtual.com/
• https://www.bluejeans.com/

While I have personal experience with several of the platforms mentioned above, some of them are brand new to me and on the short list of evaluation down the road. Certainly nobody knows exactly what the future holds when it comes to online events in Virtual conferences, but one thing is for sure that becoming comfortable with connecting and engaging digitally is going to have to become a skillset we are all familiar with as time moves on.

Recapping Some Recent Shows and Initial Thoughts on Instagram Reels

Date: Wednesday, August 12, 2020 @ 1 pm Eastern

This week on the show I spent some time revisiting recordings from the past several weeks that had been lamenting on my computer, but not uploaded to the Free Webinar Wednesdays website. During the updating process, I got an opportunity to go back through the shows and it was fun to relive what I had talked about over the last month. 

I encourage you to scroll down and check out some of the shows if you weren't able to join me live. You will learn some things about LinkedIn polls, creative tools for image and video creation for sites like TikTok and Instagram, the power of a Facebook group to bring like-minded people together in their own community, and even reasons for embracing a video strategy to tell your story and answer your customer and prospect questions on YouTube

For the rest of the show, I shared initial information from Instagram's official blog on a new service that they're rolling out called Reels. You can check out their official blog post on the release information, and certainly would suggest doing your own internet search to find other articles from 3rd party platforms offering more objective reviews of the service.

From what I can tell thus far, it's still very much in early stages with limited video capability of only 15 seconds and not nearly the discoverability and engagement leader of what TikTok has created. That doesn't mean, however, that this is a platform you shouldn't be paying attention to. If anything, I would suggest you set aside some time to learn about the platform and get comfortable with its functions. This way as new features are added you can grow with it over time.

Thanks to those of you that joined the show live. I'll look forward to seeing you next week!

Exploring the Power of LinkedIn Polls (and a bit of a personal rant)

Date: Wednesday, August 5, 2020 @ 1 pm Eastern

They’ve been gone for a few years, but recently LinkedIn brought back their Polling feature to give users a way to solicit thoughts from their connections. I recently conducted a poll that not only resulted in a couple thousand views, but over a hundred votes and several second, and even third tier individuals engaging on the post. 

One thing the success of this poll showed me was the importance of crafting posts with an engagement goal in mind. Granted, the focus of my poll was to solicit which webinar platform people preferred (Zoom won by a landslide, in case you’re wondering), but in my description and post I also asked for readers to share comments as to why they responded the way they did, or if there was another platform that was not one of the four poll options.

I can tell you this generated some excellent conversations, and at the end of the day, resulted in me snagging a Zoom licence as well. You can check out the poll on LinkedIn and see for yourself. Some great conversations and comments - exactly the type of engagement you’d want to see on a LinkedIn post.

On the Internet Nobody Knows if You’re a Dog - But They’ll Know if You’re an A-Hole

That’s one of the most famous early cartoons about the internet, originally appearing in the New Yorker back in 1993. It featured a dog sitting at a computer uttering the above phrase to his buddy, with the message being the Internet allows for you to be anything you want… even if you are a dog, but want to be something else. Small retailers can serve a global marketplace, and to the rest of the world you're as big as you want to appear.

But, just because you may be a dog sitting at a keyboard, that can’t hide the fact that if you’re a jerk offline, people will find out you’re one online too. I’ve unfortunately observed too many instances of people behaving badly on social media. There certainly isn’t a lack of polarizing topics to talk about today. Politics. Social justice. One’s take on the COVID-19 pandemic. But hiding behind the insulation of social media and feeling like you can “say what you want” at the expense of others is never an excuse. 

Creative Strategies for TikTok, Instagram Stories and More

Date: Wednesday, July 29, 2020 @ 1 pm Eastern

This week I join you from the RV, yup, the one mentioned in last week’s show, from central Pennsylvania while camping at one of my favorite mountain bike destinations. While I didn’t have anyone with me at the campsite this week, I did manage to get a special guest to join me for the webinar, our director of marketing - Elle Humphries. 

In addition to coming up with all the great ideas for our new TikTok channel (and all of our other social accounts), she’s quite skilled in graphics creation. Using tools like Canva, Promo, and others, she’s churning out creative and on-brand graphics to promote not only WSI Digital, but our latest effort, The LinkedBanker. 

During the webinar, Elle shares some of her best tips and tricks for getting the most out of free online graphics and video editing sites that you can use to build your brand. You’ll come away with some great ideas to make yourself, and your business, look even better by putting some of the tips to work for yourself!

Putting the Power of Facebook Groups and YouTube to Work to Make You Smarter

Date: Wednesday, July 22, 2020 @ 1 pm Eastern

This week on the show I’m sharing a couple of examples of how I’ve personally experienced the power of both Facebook Groups and YouTube to discover something new. While these may not seem like “rocket science” I’m hoping they serve as a reminder for you the next time you need help or have a problem to solve.

Facebook Groups - Winnebago View Owners

We’ve been the proud owners of a 2014 24J since buying it at a campaign show in Florida several years ago. The thought of taking an RV on the road with the bikes to an event was always something that I wanted to do… and now that’s a reality. However, I’m not the most mechanically inclined person (at all).

I was in getting an oil change early last year when someone I met suggested I check out the Facebook group for Winnebago View owners. Everyone was super friendly, helpful and welcoming to me as an owner not really knowing what I was doing. Recently, I posed a question about a missing hubcap and within a few minutes, someone from Seattle had reached out who had a spare one he didn’t need and a deal was made! Not only was it less expensive than bing it from an online store, but it was from the same group that has answered countless other questions I’ve had. It felt good to give back and support the group and one of my favorite parts is that we all share a common bond - and love - that of the Winnebago Class C motor home. 

If your business is thinking of creating a group to bring like-minded people together, it’s an excellent way to build loyalty and answer questions. As with many social sites these days, it’s all about building conversation and connecting people - which is why I love this group.

YouTube + Video = Boat Mechanic

Did I mention that I’m not that mechanically inclined (see above). Recently on our pontoon, the engine started to overheat and make that tell-tale buzzer sound before it shuts itself off to protect internal components from getting ruined. The neighbor noticed that water was not spitting out of the engine, which is how it cools itself, and therefore suggested the “impeller” was in need of repair.

That precipitated a call to the local repair shop, who informed me it would be at least two weeks to look at it, plus who knows how much longer once they diagnosed the problem. I decided to do a little investigation (since I really had nothing to lose) and headed over to YouTube to search for “Yamaha 90 HP impeller replacement”. Not surprisingly, there were several videos showing the process, all of which were less than 15 minutes. I watched a few, and surprisingly didn’t seem that difficult so I decided to give it a shot.

Long story short, it was a good afternoon. The same repair shop had an impeller in stock (for less than $40) and after a few hours of my time, I not only had the bottom part of the engine off, but the old impeller out and the new one in its place. We were on the water by “cocktail hour” and enjoyed an evening cruise just like nothing was ever wrong.

The moral to the story, or stories, as it were? Whether it’s real people who are part of a group you can get help from or recorded videos on YouTube (with a little bit of searching), the Internet has the ability to help make you smarter (and, you likely will save a little money along the way).

Announcing GSB’s New Digital Banking School

Date: Wednesday, July 15, 2020 @ 1 pm Eastern

Today’s show ended up being shorter than our normal hour-long show, but wanted to share a few updates that I thought my Free webinar Wednesdays audience would be interested in.

First off, Microsoft recently made their new edge browser available for Mac users like myself. As a long-time user of Google Chrome and a subscriber to GSuite for Business for all of our business tools, making the move to a Microsoft browser on my Mac computer using Google products made me a little anxious (especially given how terrible IE is). However, Chrome continues to consume increased computer resources and slow things down to the point where I almost felt like I didn't have anything to lose to try something new.

I'm here to tell you my first impressions of Edge are very, very favorable! Migration from Chrome was super painless and quick, and with the exception of just a few minor things that I can only do in Chrome, Edge is now my primary browser until it lets me down. I suggest if you are a multi-tab tasker like myself to give Edge a try, I think you'll like what you find.

Now - On With The Big News

One of the most exciting things that I've been able to announce in a long time (well, right after the launch of TheLinkedBanker.com) is the official release of a new banking school that I have been involved in helping to create for the past year. I’m proud to report that the Graduate School of Banking in Madison, WI is now accepting applications for the first ever Digital Banking School. This program will be delivered entirely online and consists of eight half-day sessions focused on teaching today's banker many of the skills and strategies they’ll need to help evolve their institution into a more comprehensive digital experience for their customers.

The program is being limited for its first year to only 30 Banks, and we're already almost at half capacity. I would strongly encourage any banker out there interested in evolving their bank’s strategy to include a digital component, and let's face it who isn't thinking more digitally these days, to register early and make sure they get in. Feel free to reach out to me directly if I can help answer any questions, and hopefully I’ll get a chance to see you online when the first session kicks off on September 30th.

Capitalizing on Your Niche - The Power of a Vertical Market Strategy

Date: Wednesday, July 8, 2020 @ 1 pm Eastern

It’s not a secret that if you have a particular niche-expertise/focus that you serve very well, it can quickly differentiate you from your competition. However, many businesses succumb to the lure trying to be all things to all people, and as a result never fully realize the benefits of serving a particular vertical market.

On this week's show I share personal experience of how our WSI digital agency made a decision at the beginning of the year to focus almost exclusively on the community banking market. While we’ve done project work in other industries in the past, in retrospect our best work and greatest success has been realized when we work with those that we know the best.

If you're interested in taking a hard look at your own business strategy, especially as so many other things are changing in the business world, now might be the perfect time to do an internal self-assessment and identify what customers you are best positioned to serve. You can take that information and look for consistencies, and when you do you might just be surprised what the data is telling you.

So ditch the strategy of “jack of all trades, master of none” and embrace your vertical market potential today!

A Common Sense Approach to CyberSecurity with Author and Former FBI Special Agent Scott Augenbaum

Date: Wednesday, July 1 2020 @ 1 pm Eastern

As many continue to live the “stay at home” lifestyle, consumers are accessing more and more information online. The reality of online fraud and cybersecurity, however, is more prevalent than ever before. Individuals who previously had never spent much time online are now logging in and ordering groceries, doing their banking, conducting video chats, etc.

The bad guys who are out to steal your information, and your money, know this all too well. The past several months has created an easy pool of potential victims that may not be aware of all of the potential threats that exist when doing business online. That's why I'm super excited to have my good friend and former FBI special agent, Scott Augenbaum, joining me for this week's show.

In his recent book, The Secret to Cybersecurity, Scott provides several non-technical, yet very useful ways to keep yourself safe when going online. Tips like “think before you click” and “think before you act” are more about your behavior and the actions you take (or, in some instances don’t take) that can keep you from being one of the expected 6 billion online crime victims in 2020.

Join us for what will promise to be a spirited and informational conversation between two friends who love to pick on each other… yet at the end of the day both want to ensure people remain safe when spending time online.

June 24th Show Update - See You Next Week!

Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2020

No Show This Week

Sorry all, but duty calls and I'm going to be facilitating a Bank Marketing Forum this week and won't be able to run the show. See you all in July! 

Eric