Marketing Tips Archive

Reality Marketing

Listen Up!

Listen Up!

Reality TV is booming.  What began as a concept that most people believed would be a passing fad has grown into a national viewing pastime.   From singing and dancing to finding love and racing across the world to relationships among strangers thrust together in one house, reality TV has hit the big time.  Why?  Because reality TV feeds our hunger for a reflection of ourselves; its core purpose is to show real people in real situations. Watching and building relationships with real people like themselves. By the millions, Americans have replaced actors with real people.

Enter YouTube: new technology that gives the general public the ability to not only watch, but to participate. This became the fastest growing online community in history. 20 Million users in 16 months! In 2007 it was estimated that on any given day, 13 hours of videos are uploaded onto YouTube every minute.  There is clearly an intense and global interest in regular people and their unique personalities. People are interested in other real people like themselves.

So what do reality TV and YouTube have to do with successful sales?

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Going for VA….

I’m going for VA!  I’ve decided to really focus on a niche, like Seth Godin suggests in his book – Purple Cow.

Why VA?  Well because the focus is so heavy on FHA right now that I feel VA has been kind of lost.  I’m going to launch my campaign within the next week, and I’ll keep everyone posted on my results.

I’m going to make a video in my TBWS account that will have several other videos as hyperlinks in the description box, that will cover all of the aspects of VA financing.  It’ll be kind of like a “one stop learn everything about VA” video.

I’m going to send it to my database, track who viewed it and who didn’t, call every freaking one of them and encourage them to refer me people they know are Vets, and/or forward it to Vets.  I’m also going to hit the local Air Force Base and see what I can get done there as far as getting my video posted.  Then to top it off, I’ll run a Google Ad Words account on it.

Being that I am a Vet, I think I will be able to have some fun with it.  Now more than ever VA is a killer option with home prices so low along with rates.  VA is really the only true 100% option out there as well.  I’m going to commit to it for six months – nothing worthwhile happens overnight.

So wish me luck!  I’ll keep you posted!

Frank Garay – www.TBWSDaily.com

Broke and optimistic…

This industry has taken it’s toll on the whole earth.  I don’t think anyone has escaped it without some kind of abrasion.  With that in mind, is it wierd that even though my income has dropped by 65%, my savings have been evaporated, and I’m growing accustomed to “Devilwood Ham” sandwiches for lunch, that I’m still optimistic?

I get up every morning, knowing that a gut punch and a swift knee to the balls is waiting for me somehow.  Do I let it stop me?  No.  Why? I clearly have issues, and the scotch does help at the end of the day, but really I think it’s because I get such a great feeling from the small victories I experience every day.

Sometimes I’ll get a great comment from a viewer of the TBWS Daily, or we’ll pick up a new partner for TBWS Rate Alert.  Or I’ll nail a “Frank Flick” that I know the peeps will use.  It’s these moments that seem to make the 4000 pound anvil on my head somehow feel a little lighter, and getting up at 4:30am to shoot the Daily all worthwhile.

So I’m broke, yet optimistic.  I know that if I work small and celebrate the little victories that eventually it will all pay off and bring me to a better place.  I honestly believe that celebrating the small victories is the answer to staying focused and motivated today in our industry.

Well, it’s back to the grind for now.  Haven’t had my knee to the balls yet today, but the day is young.  At least I got this blog post up – my third small victory of the morning.  Hope the knee to the balls comes after the scotch today - makes it less painful.

Go get ‘em.

www.TBWSDaily.com

Guest Contributor Frank Garay, co-creator Think Big Work Small

Loan Officer Training: What do I do now?

Have you ever asked yourself this question? With all the crazy happenings in the industry these days, it’s easy to get down on yourself, and feel powerless to do anything about your career. It starts to feel as if the market has targeted you specifically and is punching you over and over again… Even hitting you when you’re down…

I hate that feeling! It stinks! The best news you’ll hear all day is that there is something you can do about it! You can have control over your career even in the worst of times. So what can you do?

 

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The Learning Curve…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the biggest problems we face today as mortgage originators is the “learning curve”.

What learning curve?  The learning curve of the new technologies that can dramatically help us in our marketing efforts.  An example would be video marketing.  You know that millions of videos get viewed and forwarded to others every day, and it would be cool to be able to do it, but your mind kicks in  and says “it’s too hard… No one will teach you… You’ll need to invest tons of money into equipment”, the wind gets knocked out of your sails and you drop the whole idea.

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One Quick Question

It’s Sunday night and I have one quick question for you.

What will you do differently this week than last?

That’s it. It doesn’t have to be monumental, but keep this in mind. If you don’t do something differently this week you are almost guaranteed to keeping the same results you’re getting now.

I think the key to change is getting used to change itself until change becomes comfortable. Start with something small if that is easier for you. Or start with something big if that motivates you. But start with CHANGING something.

If you’re cool (a little peer pressure) you’ll come back to this post and leave a comment about what you chose to change…. if anything.

Loan Officer Training Tip – No more lies…

I know what you’re thinking… “Hey Chad, what the heck are you doing posting on your blog at 4:37 am Monday morning!?” Well, something has been eating at me. I needed to get it out, so here we go.

When things go wrong, what do you do? When something isn’t working for you, how do you respond? I cannot count the number of times loan officers call me up begging for a solution to their lead generation problems, but in the same breath they tell me all the things they have tried that don’t work.

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Stefan is a nut… And it’s a good thing!

Ok, I admit it… Stefan Lubinski is a crazy man! I mean, you should hear some of our conversations! Talk about HIGH INTENSITY! Sometimes I worry that he’s going to jump out of his seat and crawl through the phone just to prove that he can!

Before you start sending me a bunch of hate mail for bagging on Stefan, I want to emphasize that I believe this is a good thing. Stefans <ahem> “high intensity” is actually a huge plus within ourworking arrangement. Why? Quite simply, because I’m so darn laid back!

You don’t need me to tell you that we’re all unique. Each of us have our own

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Loan Officer Marketing Tip #1 – Stop making it difficult!

I want to talk to you guys about something. Networking. If I had to take a wild guess as to how many loan officers (percentage-wise) actually get a reliable amount of business from realtors (Or any affinity partner for that matter) I’d have to guess that number is less than 20%.

There’s nothing scientific about this number, but I’m basing this off the fact that I speak with thousands of loan officers each year and most of them want to know 1 thing… How do I get more loans closed!? Better than 80% of these loan officers tell me they are not working with realtors.

I cringe at this. I cringe because in a market this tough, why would you want to make your job more difficult than it has to be? If you had to get your house cleaned in the shortest amount of time possible, would you rather do it yourself, or have 3 others helping you?

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The Worst Loan Officer in the World…

The Worst Loan officer in the World

I’ve created an imaginary situation for you to read. This guy is a loan officer/trainer, and this is a list of his preferred methods to market himself. Would you buy into his products/methods? (The answer will quickly become obvious)

He claims to have the solution for loan officers who want to get more business from real estate agents. Who doesn’t want that right? Take a look at his marketing strategies:

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