The Mortgage Cicerone - The Loan Attraction Coach - Con

Monetizing Your Blog

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

If I had a dollar for each time I was asked if blogging will help you close more loans or sell more houses...I think you get where I'm going.

Getting to the point, I just listened to one of the best podcasts I have ever heard concerning this subject. In it, Dan Green masterfully articulates how to blog profitably and most importantly, provides critical information on how to integrate and focus all your marketing activities.

One of the things I like about Dan Green is the way he treats his mortgage practice as a professional business. He methodically and purposely engages in activities that maximize both his clients mortgage experience while intelligently building a sustainable long-term mortgage origination career.

You owe it to yourself to take the time to listen to Dan's very sage advice. Click the hyperlink below and you will thank your stars you did!

Monetizing Your Blog 

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

If I had a dollar for each time I was asked if blogging will help you close more loans or sell more houses...I think you get where I'm going.

Getting to the point, I just listened to one of the best podcasts I have ever heard concerning this subject. In it, Dan Green masterfully articulates how to blog profitably and most importantly, provides critical information on how to integrate and focus all your marketing activities.

One of the things I like about Dan Green is the way he treats his mortgage practice as a professional business. He methodically and purposely engages in activities that maximize both his clients mortgage experience while intelligently building a sustainable long-term mortgage origination career.

You owe it to yourself to take the time to listen to Dan's very sage advice. Click the hyperlink below and you will thank your stars you did!

Monetizing Your Blog 

2009 Mortgage Originator Event of the Year - 1000 Loan Originator March To Atlanta

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

First, I have been in the mortgage business for over twenty years, and during that period have heard and seen a lot of hype about this or that big event. Needless to say, I do not get excited about them. Yes, I have been to several and have gotten some bits and pieces of good information, but have found for the most part, the conference ended up being one sales pitch after another sales pitch from vendors or gurus marketing their wares.

End result...originators spending thousands of dollars to attend a big razzle dazzle, dog n' pony show at a fancy Las Vegas casino. It may have been fun, it may have given you a quick shot of adrenaline (or nasty hangover), however the end result being you walked away without the knowledge and tools you need to be successful without spending thousands of more dollars.

What has me excited is a phone call I received from Mark Green about participating in a three day event in Atlanta this fall focused solely on ethical and profitable mortgage origination. Best of all, the speakers and facilitators will NOT be pitching their wares from the stage and will be limited to providing 100% content to the participant loan originator attendees.

Additionally, the event is going to be priced extremely affordable with all net profits being donated to charities and NOT to the pocket books of the organizers.

Best of all, wait until you see the impressive list of organizers and speakers who have volunteered to donate their time and money to travel to Atlanta for the event! Needless to say, the response from some of the biggest names in the mortgage origination field has been overwhelming.

Expect to be hearing much more news and logistics about this event from some of the the big name real estate and mortgage blogs in the near future.

Again, this is the first time in years I have been excited about a mortgage learning event!

More news to come!

He With The Most Friends Wins

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

Mark Green and Brian Brady hosted an excellent webinar on effectively using the social networking site Facebook to build a powerful, passionate and profitable client sphere of influence that will build a sustainable annuity of referrals.

This replay of the webinar provides a powerful 54 minute power punch that only Brian Brady knows how to deliver.

Note: I fast becoming a BIG fan of Mark Green...he flat gets the future of marketing!

Brian Brady on Facebook and Social Networking

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Are You Likeable and Emotionally Attractive?

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

When it comes to the subtle soft component of business, Tim Sanders gets it! When people like you, they are more likely to refer and do businesss with you. Do you put people's needs first? Do you do stuff for individuals without keeping a scorecard? Are you a selfless resource for your friends, clients and co-workers? Do you make yourself emotionally attractive to others?

Listen to this clip from Tim and let him inspire you like he has so many other salespeople! Scroll down the page and click on video.

Likeability Factor

See You in Seattle at RE Bar Camp

A New Post by Rhonda Porter
Mortgage Broker/Correspondent Lender.
Read other posts by Rhonda Porter

I am really looking forward to RE Bar Camp in Seattle!  It's less than a month away (February 13, 2009) and takes place in my back yard.  Last summer I participated at the RE Bar Camp in San Francisco and I can't say enough about it.  They best way I can describe my experience there is that it's a gathering of real estate professionals who are eager to learn and share their knowledge.  It's an "un-convention".

I especially enjoyed the break out session with my fellow mortgage professionals and I hope we can do that at the Seattle event too. 

Zillow has been kind enough to donate space at their office downtown at 999-3rd Avenue, Floor 41.  For more info and (very important) to RSVP, please click here. 

I'm going--and I hope to see you there too! 

 

I'll meet you halfway...

A New Post By Mike Mueller.
The Mortgage Vloger Extraordinaries.
Read other posts by Mike Mueller.

How many times have you said or heard that? 

Have last minute docs that need to be signed and the client is at work?  How often has that happened?
Can they meet you halfway?
So where is halfway?
And when we decide where that point is, where do you want to meet?
The side of the road isn't the right option.
Want to have coffee?
How about a little Pizza & Beer?

So many questions! How do you figure it all out?

Fear not!

I have the website to quickly answer all your questions. 

It's a Google Maps mashup called meetways.com and it'll not only calculate where that middle ground is but also show you the available coffee shops, pizza parlors or whatever you specify.

Here's a real life case in point.

My friend and fellow car guy Lane Bailey found some cool car parts online.  The seller didn't want to ship.  Lane had a small problem.  He lives in Lilburn, GA and the parts were in Livermore, CA.  That 2,456 mile trip is a little too far for some greasy car parts.  Lane knew I lived close so he asked if I could pick up the parts.  Using meetways.com I quickly came up with 4 coffee shops near the halfway point where "Mr. I'm afraid of Fedex" can meet me.

Now, if these parts are too big to ship - I can always make the drive and meet Lane halfway. 

"Hey Lane!  How about a little Pizza and Beer in Walsh, CO? - I know the perfect spot!"

Try Meetways - it'll make you look like a star!

Are you following me on Twitter?

10 Secrets to Turn Aged Leads into New Clients

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

Bill Rice (via Twitter) recently pointed us to a fantastic article posted by Troy Wilson titled "10 Secrets to Turn Aged Debt Leads into New Clients." According to Troy:

"Aged leads are simply customers that haven’t been helped. So often we miss this opportunity, believing only fresh sales leads can produce closed deals. Meanwhile, many sales and marketing studies reveal...customer inquiries tend to close at a higher rate 30-60 days after the initial inquiry."

Troy also addresses several methods to professionally harvest a steady flow of quality clients:

1. Use lead management software
2. Create call and email scripts
3. Develop lead nurturing workflow
4. Lead with value, not hard sell
5. Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up
6. Never kill a lead (unless they opt out)

Take the time to read this post and apply the same principles to your aged leads sitting in your data base.

10 Secrets to Turn Aged Debt Leads into New Clients by Troy Wilson

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Posting Rates on Twitter

A New Post by Rhonda Porter
Mortgage Broker/Correspondent Lender
Read other posts by Rhonda Porter

I just received this email from a fellow Mortgage Originator:

"Hey Rhonda!

I follow you on Twitter, and read your blog.  I enjoy reading all of your posts, thank you! 

I have been toying with the idea of posting interest rates on my blog each day, similar to what you do.  I am afraid of putting myself in a box though.  I will match or beat anyone, so I do not want my customers to see that post, and get scared off.  Have you had much positive feedback from posting rates like that?"

I sometimes wonder which I have more of, consumer or mortgage originator "followers" on Twitter!  Teasing aside, I do have more and more local consumers and real estate agents who are finding and following me on Twitter.

Posting rates on Twitter has been beneficial for me.  Here are some recommendations I have for you:

• I'm careful to post as much criteria as possible that supports the rate quote so consumers can hopefully see that their credit score or loan to value is different than the rates I'm quoting.
• I promote the quotes on Twitter as "examples of live quotes".  It's important to convey that this is a custom rate and one reflective of that moment.
• Be sure to include APR with the rate.  DON'T BE LAZY (or out of compliance).

In addition to promoting what I'm quoting on Good Faith Estimates for consumers, I also like to Twitter when I'm locking a rate, writing preapproval letters or restructuring debt via a refinance, lowering a rate...you get the picture.   

Twitter is a great tool to show your followers that you are actively working.  Give it a try! 

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Use Twitter to Test Headlines

A New Post By Bill Rice
Marketing & Lead Generation Expert
Read other posts by Bill Rice

Twitter is a great way to test your headlines and short copy effectiveness. Hundreds of followers and a 140 characters maximum makes for a powerful marketing test environment. Twitter is a quick and efficient way to see if your headlines convert into clicks.

Article Library

Start with a good repository of articles. You should create a significant number of articles in a variety of topics. Good article diversity and quantity will ensure you have a ready-made test bed for a variety of projects.

This article library can be an article directory (eZineArticles), one or more blogs, or your website copy portfolio. Using your own blog or website gives you the added benefit of driving prospective business traffic too.

Since Twitter users, like most social networkers, don’t like constant self-promotion I suggest you routinely test using others websites, blogs, or articles as well as your own. The other authors will love the traffic, may link back to you, preserves your credibility, and it still achieves your conversion testing.

Tracking Conversions

Don’t forget the primary objective–tracking conversions. If you are using your own website or blog this is pretty simple–look at your blog stats or Google analytics. However, what about Tweets that you point at websites you don’t own?

In the past there was little opportunity to collect measurable results from these tests. You could use Summize to track keyword discussion and possibly track re-tweets. Unfortunately, this only measures buzz and typically has more to do with the destination content, not the headline. It doesn’t give you the core metric–do people click because of my copy?

Enter bit.ly Tweetburner, a new tiny URL technology that lets you track source and traffic through your shortened URL. So, now simply shorten and attach a unique bit.ly Tweetburner URL to each of your headline or short copy tests. Then you can track sources and volume of click-throughs.

Respect Your Audience

The quickest way to damage this excellent focus group is to abuse it. So, here are a few cautionary etiquette suggestions to keep yourself from poisoning the water:

• Promote others, as well as yourself, with your headline tests
• Stagger test headlines over various days
• Make sure the destination content is interesting
• Do not link your headline tests to sales letters or landing pages
• Participate in the community too (ask questions and participate)

Happy Testing!

Does Your Social Network Generate Leads? It Should

A New Post By Bill Rice
Marketing & Lead Generation Expert
Read other posts by Bill Rice

We’re all buzzing about social media and social networks. Is it just a waste of time or can it produce a reasonable ROI? Stop talking and do the math. Does your social network generate leads that convert into business? It should. It might even become a personal asset.

Is Your Social Network Important?

It is becoming obvious that social networks are important. Chris Brogan talks about the vital importance of your network and even ventures to state that companies (employers) will value your person networks. And, because there is real dollar value in a network Jeremiah Owyang cautions us that social media has risk and reward.

Still need to be convinced it is important?

Why Build a Social Network?

Chances are you have already have some foundation of a social network. However, building a social network that adds value to your community and produces business opportunity for you should must incorporate some strategic thinking.

A value-based social network should accomplish three primary objectives:

• Increase the efficiency and frequency of your communication
• Facilitate you consistently adding value to your network
• Generate and/or spot business opportunity

Unfortunately, social networks often degenerate into ego arms races. Creating or growing your network in this fashion creates an overwhelming and useless mess. This approach simply creates a high noise to signal ratio, which destroys any hope of value.

What Services Do I Use?

New social networks and supporting applications pop up daily. Getting distracted by every venue for your network can be paralyzing. Organizing these solutions into categories, based on your objectives, quickly sorts them.

• Contact database: Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, Mac Address Book
• Reputation and identity: LinkedIN, Plaxo, Personal Blog
• News and opportunity: FriendFeed, Twitter
• Communication and nurturing: Twitter, FriendFeed, Personal Blog
• Metrics: TweetBurner, Bit.ly

Each of these services allows for the simple importing and connecting to contacts in any of the major address book applications. I highly recommend you begin organizing your network there, import, and then continue to sync back to that as a master contact database.

How to Nurture a Social Network

Getting your network to generate leads and business opportunities is perfectly correlated to your lead nurturing strategy. Or, as Tim Sanderssays refresh your network for better performance.

Nurturing a social network is significantly different than nurturing a sales prospect database. You are not creating a drip email campaign. This type of activity will quickly erode your network. Lead nurturing and network building in social media should be focused on listening, discussing, and adding value–in that order.

Listening teaches you what people are interested in learning about, what they find valuable, and messages that call them to action.

Discussion allows you to build relationships and grow your audience. Again, you should be learning here too.

Adding value, this is what produces business opportunity leads. Directing people to and providing valuable, problem solving information drives them to you. This approach drives them to you in solving these problems and attracts others with similar problems.

How do you maximize the value you get back from your time spent on social media and social networking? What are the tools you use?

Reprint: From Bill Rice's "It's About Conversion"