Social Media and Internet Marketing
You have great experience and a passion for building relationships online. From using the large social channels like Facebook and Twitter to maximize engagement, to digital marketing strategies such as pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimization and more, you’re a well-rounded internet marketing pro. You know how to lead and direct an in-house team as well as vendors, and set up and manage campaigns yourself.

Does this sound like you? Please email Jeff Stephens at j@niche-banking.com.

To learn more about Tribed and the team we are building, please visit our site at www.niche-banking.com.

• First and foremost, share our passion for our vision
• Are inspired by the chance to to make their mark on our industry-altering business concept
• Have startup experience

The two main areas of expertise we are looking for passionate collaborators in are: Operations and Technology, and Partnership Development. To read brief descriptions of each, please visit Tribed’s website at http://www.niche-banking.com/collaborate/. Please note: Banking industry experience is not required.

Wag will be sharing its 10 Commandments with dog lovers one at a time, with a video post. If you are interested in learning more about Wag’s vision and its 10 Commandments, be sure to keep up with Wag’s articles to see all the videos as they are released.

Here is the video for the first of Wag’s 10 Commandments:  ”Wag people support the things that matter to us, and align with our values—from fellow dog lovers to companies and organizations. We refuse to settle for less.”

First, let me introduce myself: I’m Jeff Stephens. Chances are, if you have been reading this blog, you may already know who I am. I’m founder and CEO of small brand consulting shop Creative Brand Communications, and its little buddy PSST! Word of Mouth Marketing for Banks and Credit Unions. I also blog a little bit about my ideas and entrepreneurship in general at www.jeff-stephens.com. In fact, I have posted a video message on that site today as well, if you’re interested.

I’m pleased to introduce my new business, Tribed: banking experiences for niche communities. We plan to develop an extensive series of small, highly targeted online-only ‘direct’ banks. Why? Because we want to make financial services more relevant to consumers. Our plan is to do this by providing banking member experiences that are tailored to extremely narrowly defined member segments, who share in a particular passion (“tribes”). You can read the official Tribed press release here.

As the first example of this concept, today we’ve also launched Wag, a new website aimed at the most avid dog fanatics, at www.dog-bank.com. The website is currently an online publication providing unique content about how personal finance topics intersect with and impact the lifestyle of the fanatical dog lover, and facilitating discussion with community members about these topics. Once we have completed the setup of our direct banking operations, the website will offer those services as well, while continuing to provide ongoing content. Currently accepting unlimited reservations for its service, Wag will cap initial membership at 1,500 members to maintain a high quality group of engaged dog fanatics. You can read the official press release for Wag here.

I hope you’ll take a few moments to poke around our sites and learn more about our concept. If you have questions, comments, etc., please be sure to share them. You can drop me a line at j@niche-banking.com.

Welcome to the long tail of banking!

• Everyone’s passionate about something…and somehow, money relates
• Only one type of banking innovation matters: business model innovation
• Niche banks will build relevant banking services into a social community
• Being a terrible fit for most people

I’m pleased to report that we’ll finally be introducing our ideas and plans to you on Monday, October 17, 2011.  We’ll show you what we’ve been working on, how we envision this business functioning, give you a nice concrete example of what we’re talking about, and let you put a face with this anonymous name.

Counting down the days…

That will be an exciting day for us. And hopefully for you banking innovation nerds too.

Stay tuned…and thanks for your ongoing interest!

Everybody is a geek about something.

And somehow, money intersects with that passion; that “geekdom.” In some way–whether major or slight–money is involved with the person’s pursuit of that passion. Money might:

• facilitate someone’s ability to pursue the passion (ex: funding the purchase of classic cars)
• fund their ability to attend events with others who share the passion (ex: funding a trip to Comic-Con)
• finance their dream to build a business around their passion (ex: funding a startup brewery)
• serve the unique needs someone has when they pursue their passion (ex: managing money during a year-long trip around the world)

There are lots of types of potential innovation in banking, and many existing and startup companies are working on them–especially the incremental ones. But I think there’s really only one kind of innovation that is truly important: complete business model innovation. In other words, the only game changer will be a complete rewriting of the very core of the banking industry: the way banks and credit unions make money. There is nothing more fundamental to the entire industry than how they do these two basic things:

1) Add value to someone, and

2) Get compensated for that added value

Obviously, currently the banking business model is based on arbitrage–the banks’ ability to buy and sell money at different rates, and pocket the margin.  Phrased in the form of the two above-stated questions, banks:

1) Add value to borrowers by loaning them money, and housing their deposits

2) Charge customers to borrow that money, at a rate higher than their cost of goods sold (their deposit rates)

(Yes, I realize banks get a few bucks here and there from other sources like fee income, but overall this is an arbitrage industry.)

But are these answers the ONLY two available answers to our questions? Based on the history of the industry, you’d sure think so.

Surprise, surprise: we say no.  And that is exactly what we are working on here at Nicheruptive. Finding new ways to add value to different customer groups, and developing new and interesting ways to get paid to do so. While it is still too early (sigh…this is taking a long time) to tell you much about it, suffice it to say our P&L will look fairly different than your traditional financial institutions’ income statement.

In the meantime, chew on this food for thought a bit: what if banks and credit unions adopted other common (but nonexistent in banking) business models such as:

• Subscription model: adding value in a way such that a customer would pay a monthly fee to maintain access to that value. Think Netflix.
• Membership model: similar to the subscription model, adding value in a way such that a customer would pay annually to continue being part of the inside circle (Note to Credit Unions: No offense, but using the word “member” doesn’t mean you’ve got a membership-based revenue model). Think Costco, or your country club.
• Advertising model: adding value to advertisers by providing them access to a huge number of eyeballs, in such a way that they would pay for the ability to put their messages in front of those eyeballs. Think NBC, or Google Adwords.
• Commission: adding value by facilitating a successful transaction of some type, and doing so in a way such that people would cut you a slice of the pie for your help. Think business brokers, or share-the-settlement attorneys.

How could build a bank using one of these models? We have at least one idea…

Niche banks take the opposite approach from traditional banks and credit unions:  instead of trying to build a social community around a bank, niche banks will build relevant banking services into a social community.

See the difference?

Niche banks identify existing social communities in the long tail (for instance, “people who love ______”). These people are already passionate, and they’re already organized. The niche bank then participates sincerely in those communities, and adds value to the communities by providing a new perspective on content that enriches the community. Then, it makes a tailored banking experience available to the members of that community…without forcing it.

Simply put: social community first, banking second. That’s niche banking.

So let’s go ahead and get one thing straight right now:  Customers will frequently outgrow Nicheruptive‘s niche banks. They will move on when we no longer fit them. And not only is that totally OK, it’s critical.

Here’s they key:  The wider range of customers and/or needs you try to serve, the less you can possibly truly tailor your experience to a niche group of people.  The more you stretch to accommodate more breadth, the more you stray from your vision. Instead, our banks will be boutiques.

Nobody goes to In-N-Out because of the wide range of food choices to fit any lifestyle. Nobody goes to ING Direct for full-service banking. And those aren’t even niche companies…just companies with a commitment to their strategies. Just imagine the focus a true niche bank will have.