A few weeks ago we discussed call capture systems, now we want to have a look at your email marketing. Email is a valuable tool of course, and one that all of us should be using to generate more business. Before we go any further though, I just have to get this out of my system:

- An estimated 183 billion emails are sent each day

- 2 million emails are sent around the world each second

- There are more than 1.3 billion unique email users around the world

- The first spam email was sent in 1978 to around 600 individuals

- The first email was sent in 1971

- Homer SImpsons email address is: chunkylover53@aol.com (Yes, it’s real)

Ok, now that I have these fun facts out of my system, let’s get down to business. Email is a serious part of our lives. It’s a communication tool that is nearly unmatched in its cost effectiveness, instant delivery and versatility. If you’re not using email as the mortgage marketing tool that it could be, then you’re missing out on a serious chunk of business.

When most lenders ehar the word “auto-responder” they think of a pre-written message that is given the lowly task of informing your contacts “Sorry, I’m gone for the day and will be back on…” Not much more than an online answering machine when you think about it. This is not the auto-responder we’re discussing today. Not even close.

A true email marketing autoresponder comes with the following features:

1. Groups
2. Pre-set delivery intervals
3. Auto – subscription
4. SPAM check tools

So what are all these features for? Let’s have a look:

1. Groups

What is it: Most true email marketing systems allow you to set up multiple “groups.” A group is simple a list of people you want to email to, that all share something in common. Such as realtors may be one group you email to, while “past clients” may be a second group. Obviously you don’t want the same drip emails going to realtors, as you do your past clients, so you create 2 seperate groups. I recommend that you have at least 5 groups:

1. Past Clients
2. Deals in process
3. Prospects
4. Realtors (Or at least 1 other referral source)
5. FSBO prospects  

2. Preset delivery intervals

This one iss pretty straight forward. You want your auto-responder to have the ability to pre-set the delivery of your email campaign at regular intervals. Day 1, day 15, day 30 and so forth. This means that you setup your campaign once, and let the machine do the work for you from that point forward. Sounds nice doesn’t it? So where are all the mortgage marketing tools that convert sales for you? Can’t wait until they invent one of those! 

3. Auto-Subscription

This feature allows you to capture names and phone numbers (Along with any other relevant info you want) right from your website. A good auto-responder will make this a simple step as well. Place the form on the proper pages, ads, or blogs and voila – a new source of leads!

4 – SPAM Check Tools

Spam filters have gone crazy these days. It seems a higher and higher percentage of messages are labelled as spam. If your messages aren’t getting through, then they’re likely not getting read. Not a good situation. A good auto-responder will scan your email message prior to delivery, and warn you of potential spam red flags. There are dozens of words, and phrases that can set off spam filters these days. Not to mention font size and color amongst other things.

It’s best to find out now instead of 6 months down the road why your messages aren’t reaching your target. Mission accomplished! Yet another Mortgage Marketing Tools post under the belt! We have many more of these “how to” posts scheduled. Oh yea, before I go, here are some great autoresponder services that meet the guidelines above:

www.getresponse.com
www.aweber.com
www.loanofficermarketinglab.com (Part of the package)

Chad Weber -

Ok, so we’ve had plenty of “what” and “why” posts this week, now it’s time to give you some “HOW TO!” This post is called Mortgage Marketing Tools for a reason…

One thing that really mystifies me is why loan officers seem so resistant to learning how to market on the internet. With FSBO Lead Portal, I train both lenders and realtors, and I have to tell you, when it comes to online marketing, realtors are light-years ahead of loan officers in their willingness to learn and take action.

Sure, the agents have an advantage in that they have a product (homes) that tends to lend itself to online marketing, but let’s not make excuses… Instead, let’s make money! Sound good to you? Ok then, let’s get started. Today’s post is for those of you sitting around with a blog, but very little activity going on.

Without traffic, your blog (Just like any website) is useless! The blog you’re looking at right now, was picked up by Yahoo, MSN, and even Google in just under 3 days. We spent 0 dollars, and 0 cents in promoting it. Yet here you are, happily reading away! How’d we do it? I made use of the list you see below (Let’s call this mortgage marketing tool #1)

www.pingomatic.com

This is great. Sure, if you’re hosting your own blog, there are usually plugins with WordPress that can handle auto-pinging. But this is a great tool to target your focus on pinging some major directories when you’ve updated your blog. “Pinging” is basically a blogs way of tapping other blog directories (Which already have tons of traffic by the way) and saying “Hey!I’m over here! Come check me out!”

www.feedburner.com

I love this thing! You simply enter your blog URL and it will tell you what RSS feeds you have setup – if any. I went RSS crazy on www.fsboleadportal.com/blog back in April, and I needed to check and validate my feeds. In the middle of doing this, I simply setup a free account with Feedburner and now have access to traffic stats, subscribers and more. Powerful tool. It’s not nearly as complicated as it may sound. Just click on the link, and add your blog URL, and see what happens… Good times!

www.rssmicro.com

Here’s a feed directory you should be using. It took me all of 60 seconds to upload my information here. Not the largest directory around, but it has plenty of quality links. You can even search for other blogs you might want to add to your blog roll, or comment on. Get used to visiting sites such as this. If you want traffic, you need to go where the traffic already exists.

www.blogcatalog.com

The first rule of blogging is it has to be seen to be of any use to you. Get your blog added to some blog communities out there. Blog Catalog is massive! It also doesn’t hurt that you can setup a mini-community, and even get feedback from other blog owners. The backlinks…Don’t forget the valuable backlinks! (When submitting your blog, don’t forget to insert a few keywords you are optimizing for within the blog description! This will help!)

www.mybloglog.com

Here’s Yahoo’s entry into the blog directory arena. Another useful tool very similar to Blog Catalog. Use the same recommendation I made above when setting up your free account. My Blog Log also lets you syndicate dozens of accounts from social networking sites all in one place. Good stuff!

The tools listed above should be enough to get you started. If you complete each task above, and still crave more traffic generating activities, then here’s some more in my archives:

http://www.technorati.com/ping/

wwwfeedplex.com

www.blogsweet.com

www.solarwarp.net

There you have it! A quick overview of how to get traffic quick! I don’t want to hear any excuses. Just click on the links, and start submitting! If you have a blog, it will be better off when you’re done than when you started. Give it a few days for the links to start showing up. But don’t stop there! This is just the beginning. See you on the search engines!

CW – www.loanofficermarketinglab.com – www.fsboleadportal.com