Six Steps To Online Networking Success

A New Post By Brian Brady
America's #1 Mortgage Broker
Read other posts by Brian Brady

I contribute to the Active Rain Real Estate Network.  Active Rain is a tremendous resource for an originator looking to practice The Trojan Horse Strategy and make real estate agent connections.  This is a repost from an article I wrote there, today:

There are 11,000 loan originators or mortgage companies on Active Rain and some 55,000 real estate agents or brokerages.  Pretty target-rich environment, huh?  When I started here (August, 2006), the numbers were even better; like ten to one.  Active Rain is the virtual real estate office with a sales meeting every day.  Realtors come here to learn from each other, learn from you, and market their wares through weblogging.

Many members aren't active.  In fact, I'd guess that fully 70-80% of the members aren't posting on a weekly basis.  That's okay; there are plenty of onlookers or voyeurs, reading what everyone else is saying. How can a loan originator cash-in on the Active Rain bonanza without ever writing a blog post?  Here is a 6-step plan to help you close 45 loans, from Realtors on Active Rain, in the next 12 months:

1- Understand your metrics.  If you have a decent relationship with a REALTOR, you can close 3 loans annually for them- that's about it. Sure, some will refer to you exclusively but most have other lending relationships or will deal with listings, only.  I suggest that you search your home state for Realtors who have posted within the past week.  Try to target 20 agents.  You should be able to garner 4-5 loans a month from that group.

READ:  REALTORS are Important To An Originator’s Success…Sort Of.

2- Comment.  The nicest compliment you can give someone is to say that you have read their post.  Comment on all 20 of those "local" agents and try to engage them in conversation.  You can be argumentative, especially if your correcting factually incorrect advice, but try to phrase your discussions in the form of questions so as not to offend.  Work hard at trying to establish a relationship with them.  Do NOT ask for business at this point.

3- Buy a FlipCam and record a 60 second tip of the day.  Upload it to YouTube and post to Active Rain. You can show a video from a seminar you gave, a mortgage market report, loan guidelines changes, or just an inspirational tip.

4- Hold weekly teleseminars interviewing an Active Rain superstar.  Get a free conference line at FreeConferenceCall.com and hold a Tuesday afternoon session.  Record it with a digital recorder and upload it as a podcast, here on Active Rain, so that people can hear the value you add.

5- Offer a weekly newsletter with your "top 5" posts, on Active Rain, about real estate marketing (get it from one of the groups).  Use ConstantContact so you can insert "teasers" with links to the full posts.

6- Now, call those 20 agents and ask each one to be interviewed. Schedule them in for the teleseminars.  Susbscribe them to your newsletter.  Visit and interview them on your FlipCam.  After 2-3 months, ask them for business.  if you're delivering the goods, they won't be able to say no.

Add value first.  Work on establishing relationships.

The Law of Reciprocity will work for you.

Comments

[The Mortgage Cicerone]

So, so true Professor Brady!!!