Marketing system for Loan Officers – what does it really do?

One of our beta members emailed me some comments from local real estate agents in his market about what was important to them and he wanted to know how our program addresses them.

Charlie wrote…

“Of all the Realtors I have polled they say closing the loan as quickly
as possible is their number 1 concern.”

Charlie,

Thanks for the input..  I don’t think anyone can argue with this statement from a real estate agent.

When a loan officer is working on the mortgage loan for one of the agent’s sales – their (the agent) biggest priority is to get the loan officer to work 24/7 on getting the sale to the closing table.

I think the best way to answer this is to state what our marketing service is and is not.

The TFSLO referral marketing program is designed to help you, the loan officer, build name recognition (brand) in your local market place by using co-operative marketing strategies with local real estate agents. It does not help you close loans, it helps you get loan!

The marketing tools – using a real estate listing service, marketing flyers, and internet posting tools – helps the loan officer put their name in front of active home buyers in their local market before they sign a contract. The program also co-promotes area real estate agent’s listings and services. This helps the loan officer and the agent build a business relationship before the agent has a sale to refer and it put the loan officer in the position of doing something to help the agents get business.

We think this type of marketing helps build business relationships, leads to referrals and promotes contact with active home buyers.

Our program does not replace the need for a loan officer to know their business once the get the referral. We assume that the loan officer will give any agent 100% effort to get a loan to the closing table once they have the referral.

So I do not think the agent’s comments are opposed to our program.

The primary goal of our marketing program is to help you, the loan officer, build brand awareness and to establish stronger relationships with local agents by helping them promote and market.

If we ask any RE Agent what is important to them.. and they know we are a loan officer the response Charlie got is the same response that you should get.

Our program allows you to have a different dialogue with the agent.. one about marketing and branding and about how you can help promote their listings. If our program is used successfully you will have more conversations with local agent about what you are doing to close their sale.

Thanks Charlie – I hope this addresses your concern.

(This post came from an answer to a question on our support forum)

That sounds simple and easy. All of the design work is done, almost all of your content is already written, you get an attractive well written web site right out of  the box. This is a great way to get a web site online fast. But when it come to search engines like Google, and Yahoo, the pre-written part is not so good.

Pre-written is the content. There are several companies that provide websites for mortgage and real estate professionals with pre-written content. The sites are full of well written  articles and information. In many cases the content is very well written and informative. So why are pre-written content web sites a problem when it comes to SEO, branding, standing out from the crowd, etc.?

The short answer is that original content is king! The major search engines award sites for original content and penalizes sites for content that is not original.

Take the phrase “Our customers save money and close their loans quickly because we employ the most advanced mortgage technology available.” This can be and is said in some form on almost all mortgage web sites. But the exact phrase can be a problem.

Google – “Our Customers save money…….”

Do the above search (click on the link)..  this is a line taken from one of the top providers of pre-designed web sites – there are over 15,000 web site listed on Google that use that exact phrase… word for word – multiply this by an entire site full of the same content other than the name, address and phone number.. now do you see the problem?

Content that is a 90% + match to 15,000 other web sites is not going to be ranked well.. this is not considered original content. If your web site is full of non-original articles and phrases the odds of your site ranking high in searches are not good at all.

Content for your site should be original – it should be written with your target market in mind, your target customers in mind.

Websites that use a Blog format are a great way to accomplish this with out the big price tag that custom websites can bring.  No one knows your market like you do, no one knows your clients better than you do.

We are working on a solution to this problem that will help you have original content designed to rank high in the search world and be as affordable as the pre-written – out of the box – websites.

If you find this information helpful please let me know. I always welcome suggestions,  comments and new subscribers.
(To subscribe use the subscription button in the upper right of this page.)

The forum replaces our previous email support.  Although the email support was working and our response times always stayed within our 24 hour target we believe that a forum is much better way to provide support.

With a forum all users get the advantage of being able to read the questions and answers. They also have the ability to participate in the discussion.

We think that support should be more than just questions about problems using the marketing tools. The marketing  strategy behind the tools is as important to discuss as the tips on how to make a flyer better or how to add pictures to an agent’s profile.

We are also opening up the forum to loan originators that are thinking about joining the beta group that  have questions about the marketing service.

If you are a current beta user or you are thinking about joining the beta user group please visit the forum and participate.

Support Forum
http://tfs-loan-officer.net

Advertisers think it’s the next big thing – Consumers are not ready to get on the bus (they are not even at the bus stop).

EFFECTIVENESS OF TWITTER
“When it comes to promoting products and ideas, how effective do you think Twitter is?”
Base: Advertisers and U.S. adults who have an opinion on Twitter
Advertisers                                Adults

Very Effective
8%                                                    8%

Somewhat Effective
50%                                                42%

Not That Effective
24%                                                 31%

Not At All Effective
8%                                                   19%

Twitter is something that is just at its infancy and its use will
grow exponentially over the next few years

Advertisers                                Adults
45%                                                 12%

I don’t know enough about Twitter to have an opinion.

Advertisers                                Adults
17%                                                69%

It seems that the only people who will be making money from twitter in the mortgage business are the people selling “how to market your mortgage and real estate business using twitter” programs.

See the full report here.

All real estate agents produce marketing flyers to help sell their listings.

They use the flyers for open houses, sign boxes, and general handouts.  What if you could provide this valuable service to the local real estate agents in your market?  Customized flyers with color photos  and a full description of the property.

There are a number of companies that charge agents for this service. They pay anywhere from $19 to $49 a month.

As a member of The Full Service Loan Officer you can provide this service free of charge to real estate agents  in your market.

This is a great way to step up and do something to help someone else succeed and it is a great way for a loan officer  to begin building referral relationships with local real estate agents.

The Flyer Generator Tool is just one of the many tools that you have to use as a TFSLO subscriber.

Would you like to use these tools FREE of charge?

For details about your  Free  subscription -

Click Here for Free subscription offer.

Writing longer blog articles – part 1

Writing longer blog articles – part 2

As you can see, there is a small but important difference between writing a regular blog post of a few paragraphs and writing a longer blog article. A little more planning and thought at the beginning, before you actually start to write the post, is the primary difference.

Communicate

Actually, following the same process for all blog posts could produce for you better posts no matter what amount of content is in your blog post. Even on very short posts you probably will follow the 8 steps, but not formally. If you review this article you should be able to see how I used the process to write it.

I also suggest that you group the steps into 2 phases.

1. The first 4:  Theme, Brainstorming, Outline, and Tags, Categories, and Images should be completed, reviewed and updated to your satisfaction before you begin the second phase.
2. The second 4:  Forms, Breakup, Details, and Recap. Determine the forms you need and the references that you want to link to and use.  How will you break up the article and write the details are almost one process. The last step, Recap, is to tie up any lose ends and to address any questions that need addressed. The Recap is also a good place to include any forms or documents that you want to include.

For this article I created a short form that you can you use when you are working on your article. tfslocom-longerblogform .

If you find this information helpful please let me know. I always welcome suggestions,  comments and new subscribers.
(To subscribe use the subscription button in the upper right of this page.)

(It must seem that way to real estate agents and other loan officers.)

Asking agents for referrals could be setting yourself up to fail.

Almost every loan officer tells agents the same story..

* “You should give me your referrals because:”
* “I have the best rates!”
* “I provide the best service!”
* “I have the most experience!”
* “I have the most experienced staff!”
* “Yada, Yada, Yada”

Sound familiar?

If that is how you are trying to get an agents business it might be more fun to beat you head against the wall.

Why is this not going to work? what is wrong with the above statements?

All of the reasons listed above list the features you provide to the borrower / buyer but they do nothing for the agent in a direct way. Because it does not answer the question that all clients want to have answered. What is in it for me?

Although you are talking to an agent to get the referral to the buyer do not kid yourself into thinking that your mortgage services are so important to the real estate agent that you do not have to demonstrate to the agent what is in it for them.

Here area few questions to think about.

1. Does the agent earn any additional income by referring their clients to you?
2. Does the agent take on any additional responsibility to the client by referring someone to you?
3. Can their client find financing without their referral?

It’s an open book quiz. The answers are No, Yes, and Yes.

Agents receive no additional income by referring a client to you and they do take on the added responsibility of being the person who recommended you to the client.

That is a good thing when everything goes smoothly – but how many transactions have to seen where everything goes smoothly.

Agents can opt to take the safest route by not referring someone and leave the task of finding financing up to the client. If the client wants the property It’s going to happen with or with out the referral.

The real estate agent is one of your most important client groups. They are the client you need in order to meet the borrower / buyer. In many ways the agent is more important.

Why? Because the agent – if you have a good referral relationship and you have demonstrated that you add value will be an ongoing source of referral business.

Borrower / clients can also be a referral source but let’s face it how many friends and family contact referrals can you generate in a 1 years period from a borrower/client? The answer.. not as many as you could get from a productive real estate agent that sees you as an added value partner.

Until you start providing added value to the agent’s business you will have an up hill battle getting their attention and their business.

Don’t fool your self into thinking that you are doing something special for an agent by providing quality origination services. That is your job that is what you are expected to do.

Think out side the box and find ways to directly help the agents that you want to work with. Figure out how to go the extra mile. figure out how to add value to your potential referral partner’s day and you can stop asking for their business.

Are you a loan officer trying to build referral relationships with local real estate agents?

Would you like to know about a better way?

Click Here for details!

Referral Marketing, Loan Officers, Mortgage Marketing, Loan Officer Branding

Are you looking for ways to increase your origination business?

Are you interested in building stronger relationships with the real estate agents in your market?

If you answer is yes to both questions we have a special offer that will help you achieve both goals.

Click Here For Details

Branding / Positioning / Reach / Frequency

~Free Report~
Marketing your services, letting people know you are there to help and that you want their business is one of the essential pieces of the puzzle to creating a successful real estate or origination business.

You can be the most knowledgeable, the hardest working, person on the planet but if no one knows who you are and how to reach you I’m afraid that you will be spending a lot of time playing solitaire on your computer.

Click Here to download the complete report.

marketing-what-is-your-position-2009.pdf

Blogging for mortgage loan officers.
In our industry there are usually no short answers and there are times when you need more than a paragraph or two to cover the topic effectively. Longer articles are approached a little differently than short blog posts. The longer blog is a more detailed look at a situation or it is an educational article that requires more than a couple of paragraphs to successfully tell the whole story.

The longer blog article is not harder; it just requires a little more thought regarding content.

Let’s take the 8 steps and break them down.

1. Theme / Title.
Start with a title or theme. Write out your blog theme in one or two sentences. This is your topic focus. In this article the title is: “8 Steps to writing longer blog articles”. As you gather more information and start to write more details your title will be your compass that keeps you on track. As your content increases you should keep referring back to your title to make sure you have not strayed too far off track. If you do, you could have the beginnings of another post. So, if the points you make are not on target but you think they are important, copy the information onto a new document for later review. Your theme should be concise and to the point. What is the main idea of the article?

2. Brainstorm.
This is a simple, but very effective process. Start with a blank sheet of paper or a fresh document opened on your word processor and write down every idea you have about the article. One of the secrets to successful brainstorming is that there are no bad ideas at the beginning of the process. Write down every one without trying to prejudge its merit. After you complete this step, go through each idea with a critical review to determine which ideas you will use. Usually you will need to do some editing and rewriting. Some will need to be combined to make a stronger point. Others will need to be discarded. You only review the ideas with a critical eye after you have finished brainstorming ideas for your article.

3. Outline.
Using the main title theme and your brainstorming ideas, start writing an outline of your article. Write down the main points that you want to make. When I was writing this article I did not start with 8 as the number of steps. I started by writing out the steps and when I was satisfied, I discovered that it was 8 steps. My original theme was “Steps to writing longer blog articles”. Then 7 steps… After my outline was completed and I was part of the way through the details step, it was obvious to me that my title (and the number of steps) should be 8, not 7. Every blog title or article does not have to have a determined number of steps that are detailed. This really depends on the subject of your blog article. Other possible titles that I could have used are: Elements to successful mortgage blogging, Bloggers learn how to write the long blog, or Tips for better blogs.

4. Tags, Categories & Images.
When your outline is finished you should now think about tags and categories. These should be written out in a list and used throughout your article. The tags I decided fit this article are: mortgage blogging, writing blogs, long blog articles, bloggers, mortgage, and blog tips. How did I do? Did I use each tag at least 1 time in my article (not counting this sentence)? I decided what my tags and categories would be before I started writing the details. This helped me stay on track and incorporate the tag words into my article instead of just jamming them in to places where they do not fit easily.

5. Forms.
Next, decide if there are any forms or references you should use. Make a list to use as a checklist as you complete your article. You can link to your forms in your post or you can talk about them and link to a forms page that has the forms you use. Either way is correct. For this post I created a simple form that you can use when you are working on a post.

6. Break it up.
Decide how to break up the information into 2 – 4 blog posts. This article for bloggers is going to be a 3 part blog article. There is no wrong answer. I was not sure about how many parts to break the article into until I completed a majority of my outline.

7. Details.
With your outline, tags, categories, and forms you can flesh out the article, writing in detail to explain each of the main points. Working from a blank page is a lot tougher than working from a well planned outline with notes and comments. You might not use everything you initially wrote and you probably will rearrange the order as you go. The final blog post will not look the same as your outline. That is part of the process. If you follow the brainstorming and outline phases you will have a better article. (As I was writing this section I determined that I had left out an important part of the process “Brainstorming.” This is where I decided to add an additional step to the article. I just went from 7 to 8.

8. Recap.
To finish, summarize your article by reviewing the key points and link to your forms or references. This post is a 3-part post. In the first part I outlined for you the process that I would discuss. The second part is the details. I broke each step down and provided a more detailed explanation. The third part is used in this article to recap the main points of the article. If I am doing my job correctly, I am telling you a lot of the things I told you in the initial summary, but I am saying them in a different way. After reading the first two parts of the article you now have a better perspective and the summary should help tie it all together.

In part 3 I will wrap up and summarize this series on writing longer multi-part blog posts and include a useful outline form that will help you write longer blog articles .

If you find this information helpful please let me know. I always welcome suggestions, comments and new subscribers.
(To subscribe use the subscription button in the upper right of the home page.)

The Full Service Loan Officer (www.tfslo.com) is dedicated to helping loan officers build referral relationships by establishing a branded position in their market as a trusted mortgage professional.