The Mortgage Cicerone

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.

The Trojan Horse Strategy

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

I'm a Johnny-Come-Lately to The Mortgage Cicerone.  While intimidated is hardly an adjective to describe me, the Cicerone Crew is an accomplished bunch. I'm taken by the assembly of talent we have here.

I'll start off with a simple social media marketing strategy every originator should employ; The Trojan Horse.  Look for online communities filled with real estate agents and few or no originators.  The proliferation of real estate networks like Active Rain, Wanna Network, and RealTown offers us a chance to show up and add value to the community.  SEO should not be the focus of your participation on those networks but you'll get that benefit, nonetheless.

Here are six quick and easy rules to The Trojan Horse strategy of social networking:

1- Add value through educational posts- understand that your readers are real estate agents.
2- Sit back and watch for the talented agents to reveal themselves.
3- Comment and engage those talented agents in an online conversation.
4- Pick up the phone and introduce yourself- ask permission to keep in touch with them via e-mail.
5- Add them to your weekly e-mail newsletter for REALTORs.
6- Call them at the beginning of every month and ask them, "What specific information do you need from me, this month, to help you close a transaction?"

You'll be surprised how quickly you'll build, what social media marketers call, "platform". Before long. real estate agents will go viral about you and recommend you to their colleagues.  They'll be commenting on your posts, calling you for advice, and referring you clients.  Old-timers will remember how we used to gain REALTOR referrals; we banged on office doors and showed up with donuts and rate sheets.  Think of a social network as the busy corner in town with 3-4 real estate offices on it.

The principles remain the same.  Show up regularly, add value, and ask for the business.

Is There A Social Media Marketing Guru In The Mortgage Industry?

A New Post By The Mortgage Cicerone
A Guide for Mortgage Professionals
Read other posts by The Mortgage Cicerone

Are the rules of Social Media Marketing confusing? Do you wish there was an individual or book that would tie together the finer points of Social Media Marketing (SMM)?

Perhaps Brian Brady (Mr. Ubiquitous) is the answer.

Frankly, I don't know of anyone in the real estate or mortgage business that has a better feel or understanding of the tools/concepts of SMM and how to apply them profitably/efficiently at the street level.

Brian is one of those rare individuals that can articulate and help us ordinary folk understand the complexities of the online world...a landscape that can be quite bewildering, even to savvy and experienced marketing professionals.

With so many SMM options at our fingertips (literally), such as:

• Blogs
• Podcasts
• Social Media sites (Active Rain, MySpace, Twitter, etc...)
• SEO
• Paid search
• Viral marketing

The options can be overwhelming and considerable for individuals desiring to enter the SMM environment. To make matters even more confusing, technology is constantly changing and new tools are being introduced on daily basis.

Where is all this leading?

Since the inception of The Mortgage Cicerone, I have never endorsed an event, however that is changing (and I'm NOT getting paid for this endorsement).

On May 18 -20, Brian Brady is sponsoring a "Nut's N Bolts" SMM workshop titled BloodHoundBlog Unchained.

Make no mistake, there are several other high-quality individuals that are integral and key to BloodHoundBlog Unchained being successful. Yet, in my humble opinion Brian Brady is what will make this event special, unique and of utmost value.   He is the star that shines the brightest...the reason the masses are gravitating to Unchained. If you are interested in learning the finer elements of SMM, I'm confident Brian can teach you how to jump into the trenches and successfully/profitably integrate SMM into your marketing mix.

As Todd Carpenter at Lenderama recently stated :

"I would pay $199 to watch Brian Brady throw-up...much less hear him share his marketing expertise"

With such a ringing endorsement from Todd Carpenter (one of the best and most experienced practitioners of SMM), any mortgage professional should seriously consider attending this event in Phoenix.

While there are going to be many other wonderful speakers at Unchained (like Jeff Brown and Jeff rocks!!), you don't want to miss Brian Brady share his strategies and guidance on how to profitably navigate the SMM jungle.

Click here to find out more information about BloodHoundBlog Unchained.