Chad Weber here from the Loan Officer Marketing Lab. Thought I’d share something exciting I read online today. The 2009 National Association Of Realtors Profile Of Buyers And Sellers report was released in December 2009. This is a yearly compilation that the NAR sells on their site for real estate professionals to get a good idea of how the industry is doing, and what has changed in the past year.

Well, I found a great blog post that summarized some of the more important statistics found in this 125.00 report. (See? Reading my emails just saved you 125 dollars! - haha)  I found 3 of those statistics useful for loan officers:

In 2009:

- 90% of home buyers used the Internet to help find their home
- 78% of buyers purchased through a real estate agents
- 85% of sellers used an agent to sell

What’s the big deal about these stats? Well first of all, we can go back to previous year profiles released by the NAR to see the growth of the web and how it plays an ever increasing role in how buyers shop. Last year the statistic for those using the web to find a home was 87%. Prior to that it was 84%, and it shrinks little by little the further back you go. (This figure was 2% in 1995, 74% in 2004, 77% in 2005 and so forth)

In other words each year, more people are using the web to shop for a home. This also means that your opportunity to capture home buyers (Who will obviously need a loan soon right?) has gone up year after year, so long as you know how to effective use the web to market yourself. Think about it. You have 90% of all home buyers last year who went online, identified themselves by using search engines, and ultimately spent time actively searching for a home. What if it was your name, or your website that showed up first when these buyers performed a search?

Even though you don’t sell homes, how difficult would it be to work hand in hand with local real estate agents to place homes, or links to homes for sale onto your site? Think about it for even a moment, and you’ll begin to see the opportunity that exists here for enterprising loan officers.

The statistics above also tell us that most buyers and sellers are also using agents to represent them. This means that there is still a huge opportunity to work with high producing real estate agents, and benefit from an avalanche of referrals. Imagine having just 3 or 4 high producers sending you their referrals… What impact would that have on your income?

See what I mean? This really is exciting! I have no real goal for today’s post other than to share this information with you. Perhaps it will get your creative juices flowing? Have a great one!

NOTE: This weeks online marketing webinar is scheduled for Friday:  https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/842465875

Just a quick follow-up on the post below… We have another Pre-Training webinar scheduled tomorrow at 1:00 CST. Remember, this is the final 5 Days of free coaching we’re offering for the year, so you need to get in now if you don’t want to miss out. Here’s the latest link:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/674482123

PS - I could’nt resist a Halloween specific post on my main blog:

http://loanofficermarketinglab.com/blog/halloween-i-just-couldnt-resist

We have one more round of mortgage marketing instruction scheduled. We added a new signup form to get involved: www.loanofficermarketinglab.com

Here’s a copy of the agenda for hte first 3 days:

Day #1 Agenda:

- 3 things you must know about web marketing before you’ll generate a single lead
- What Google cares about and why
- 3 ways to make rapid online progress
- Build your website - Live walk-through
- A realtor marketing plan - Identify the top 250 realtors
- 5 things you must never do with your website! (This would kill your SEO)

After the call: - Supplemental video and downloads

Day #2 Agenda:

- How to make your website more effective
- Basic Search Engine Optimization strategy
- Realtor marketing: pre-written script
- how to use RSS Feeds
- Blogging basics for SEO

After the call: - Using plug-ins the super easy way - Video plus downloadable script

Day #3 Agenda:

- Widgets - easy and powerful
- Mid-Level SEO with permalinks (This part is fun)
- Page customization
- How to get prospects to convert
- Final step of realtor marketing strategy

Hope to see you there! This instruction will change the way you think about online mortgage marketing!

Online Mortgage Marketing Registration

Hey there loan officers! Just a quick heads up that this Friday is your final opportunity to be included in the next round of The Loan Officer Project 5-Day training! Here’s the link to the Pre-Training Webinar:

https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/834542658

We begin this Friday at 2:00 CST. Hope to see you there!

So tomorrow we begin the 5 days of free online marketing instruction and website building for loan officers. Those of you who got in before the doors closed, congrats! In the meantime, we just posted our latest video regarding online mortgage marketing.

This one really clears things up quite a bit. Considering self-generating your own leads? Here’s what you need to know…. No punches pulled:

Online Mortgage Marketing Video - Click Here

You can’t walk 3 feet these days without hearing something about 1 of the major social networks out there! But the question remains… Should loan officers being using these tools? Are they money makers, or time wasters?

Day 3 of The Loan Officer Project tackles this topic. As usual, we decided to over-deliver and provide a downloadable guide to accompany the free video. If you haven’t watched the vid yet, here it is:

Watch Mortgage Marketing With Social Media Video Now

Don’t forget to download the guide - There’s 1 very important point included that no loan officer should miss.

CW - Loan Officer Marketing Lab

Day 2 is already here of The Loan Officer Project pre-launch training series. Today, we talk about how to get near - instant respect from high perming real estate agents. Heck, I even give you the exact script I used, a sample of the newsletter I delivered which had realtors calling ME back, and a few other juicy tid-bits. Go check it out:Loan Mortgage Marketing Day 2

Enjoy - Hope you’re having a great week!

Ok, it’s finally day 1 of the pre-launch of The loan Officer Prokect, and we’re already talking about grenades! Ok, so we’re having a little bit of fun sure, but these are some serious topics we’re covering, and we’ve posted a new video, and 3 page guide to download from the site. Go check it out:

Loan Officer Marketing Lab Blog - Click Here

I’ll be posting updates of all the activity whenever possible. If you haven’t registered yet to get the updates via email, you can do so in the right sidebar form on this blog. Do it now so you don’t miss out on getting in for FREE come next week!

CW -

For those that can’t wait for the BIG NEWS surrounding The Loan Officer Project, fill in the form below to get more details. I promise you, this is going to be the most exciting FREE Mortgage Marketing Event all year!

Ok, I admit… I’ve gone just a little bit crazy! I t was Memorial day and I found myself in front of the computer looking for an excuse to work. 20 minutes later I found myself recording a video that shows you some of the materials and strategies I used to lure in the highest producing realtors around!

Nothing is held back. If you have a few spare moments, you should probably have a look at this video:

Watch Video Now — It’s intense! Pay close attention to the 7 - 10 minute mark!