Archive for May, 2009
Have you seen this picture yet?
Posted by: | CommentsHere’s a picture that all loan officers should see! Have a look:
This image is a screenshot of the results from a heat map study of Google browsers. In other words, (Look very closely in the upper left hand corner, you’ll see the Google logo, and see this is a Google Search page) what this picture shows, is the results of an intensive, sophisticated study of how average people use search engines.
To put it in a nutshell, the red area covers search results numbers 1, 2, and 3. This shows evidence that 80 – 100% of web users view and click on a link within the top 3 search results of Google when looking for something. (Such as a loan officer)
The orange and yellow areas show that 60 – 79% of people will view and/or click on the results within search results numbers 4 and 5.
The red horizontal line shows where you have to scroll to view the rest of page 1 on Google. As you can see, once the browsers have to scroll to continue viewing results, the number of people who bother viewing and clicking the websites at these positions begins to severely drop off.
By the time you reach position 9 and 10 on page number 1, you’ve lost nearly 80% of visitors! What does this tell you? It tells you that you need to have your website on page #1 of Google. It also tells you that even on page #1, you need to be as high up the food-chain as possible!
Once we get to page #2 on Google, the number of people clicking has been reduced by 91% and drops off even more as you scroll down. The real question to ask here is “where is your website at on Google?”
If you’re not on pages 1 or 2, chances are you’re getting nothing out of your website. If you want regular leads generated from serious and targeted buyers, your web ranking matters. More specifically, it matters when your site shows up.
Do you show up on page 1 of Google when you type in your city and the words: “loan officer, mortgage, or mortgage loan?” If the answer is “no” then you’re not being found by your prospects and you’re losing out on business.
In St. Louis last month, Google tells me there were more than 79,000 searches for loan officers and mortgage loans. In just 30 days! Imagine being on page #1 for each and every one of these searches!It can be done, but you have to take action.
Make it a great day!
- Click Here to learn how to get page 1 rankings
It’s Critical You Ask Yourself…
Posted by: | CommentsMy post is two – fold today. Something useful, and something entertaining! It’s Friday, it’s ok for me to share…
Today I want you to ask yourself questions about your current mortgage marketing efforts. Your marketing should accomplish 3 things.
1. It should reach large groups of people
2. It should be focused to grab attention
3. It should be targeted at likely targets
Why do I bring this up? Because even those who nod their heads yes, and claim to understand these facts don’t do anything about it! When I began building websites and online marketing strategies for loan officers, I had a unique opportunity to look closely at what most lenders use as a website, as a mortgage marketing plan, as a lead generator.
Let me tell you, there’s a reason most loan officers are not earning money from their websites! Why not?
1. The same loan officers who claim they already know they should target large groups of people, and also claim that hey “do” – most definitely do not. Less than 5% of the websites and online marketing plans I’ve reviewed for both individual loan officers, and larger offices get more than 2 or 3 visitors to their site per day.
In fact, most of these websites are all but invisible to the search engines and impossible to find by anyone interested in a mortgage. Please don’t make this mistake. It’s costly, it’s frustrating, and it’s unnecessary. A little bit of online mortgage marketing attention can go a long way!
2. Repeat after me: “Get a free quote now” is not a call to action! Well, maybe it is, but it’s not a good one. Yet I see this one phrase on the front page of nearly every mortgage website I stumble across. The call to action begins with, and ends with this one line.
This accomplishes little more than screaming to your prospects: “Hey! I’m just like every other website you’ve browsed and other than shopping for a rate and closing costs, you won’t get anything new here!” Think about it. Your website is you. As far as the prospect is concerned, this is likely the first exposure they’ve had to your business, and the only basis for judging your worth to them.
By placing a tired, overused statement on your front page as the one and only call to action, you’re telling them that you’ve got nothing else of value to offer. Not the message you would hope to communicate right? It’s an honest mistake for most, but one that should be rectified as soon as possible.
Put yourself into the shoes of a prospect visiting your website. What concerns would you have? What would grab your attention? Usable information right? Preferably offered up for free. Articles, how to, blog posts, and lead capture forms offering a report or “mini-course” that will help them avoid mistakes are all great ways to stimulate interest and capture leads.
3. Once again, most mortgage marketing I stumble across would not pass inspection when it comes to targeting prospects. Yes, it can be difficult to focus your energies and efforts on a niche market when you see so many possibilities – not wanting to let opportunities slip through the cracks.
But if you’re serious about closing more loans, and you want to give your marketing efforts a boost, then it’s time to figure out just who you are selling to and why. Most websites are a large mass of links, with no true direction. They try to be all things to all people in the hopes that whether you’re a FSBO, a first time home buyer, a move up buyer, an FHA candidate, a refi prospect, a mortgage mod prospect, a…. Well you get the point.
When you try to get 1 website to sell well to so many different prospects, all that is really accomplished is the message is severely diluted. It’s a lot like the guy trying to be the jack of all trades – ends up doing lots of things, but none of them all that well.
With all that said, I hope this is taken to heart. I may be quite gruff, or blunt at times, but I prefer to tell it how it is as opposed to beating around the bush. This is your career after all, and it’s an important topic worthy of a critical eye.
If you’d like to learn more about using your website as a mortgage marketing tool, here’s a link for you to check out: marketing online
Now… Onto the fun part. I received an email last night with pictures of cakes. That’s right, the pics below are all just flour, sugar, eggs, and frosting. (Ok, a few more ingredients – But impressive no?) – I want to eat the soda can cake…
Hope you found this interesting! Hey look, whoever made this cake even fashioned a cord and plug on the money machine! Attention to detail. Now to salvage my image as posting on topic and relevant blog posts? Well, what can we learn from this? That anything, even making a cake can be elevated to a fascinating level.
I’m stunned by the talent and creativity on display here, how about you? These images have been forwarded from email to email millions of times. They’re cakes! Did you wake up this morning thinking you’d be stunned by pictures of a cake? Point being that we as a people appreciate excellence. Put the same level of excellence into your marketing efforts.
Don’t make this an ordinary day, make it extraordinary. Ok, I’m off to go grab myself a boring and likely very square cake from the bakery… At least it will taste good…
Shocking Loan Officer Behavior – Caught On Tape!!!
Posted by: | Comments- Ok, so no video recordings here… The tone of the post just reminded me of one of those “Caught On TAPE!” Series…
Blooper time people! Usually my posts are very serious in tone, and <gasp!> educational in nature. Looking for a light-hearted post today, so I began thinking back to some of my early days as a loan officer, and some of the more laughable (At least now they are) mistakes I made.
But fair is fair, so if I’m going to serve up some stories, I want you to share as well. Ok, now that we’ve agreed, here’s my worst of the worst story:
One of the most difficult transitions for me as a new loan officer was dealing with those clients who would never send in their stips, but yet would call multiple times per day demanding you “hurry up!”
So I had this client who became quite hostile when I told her the loan was not ready, as she still had not delivered proof of income, bank statements, etc. She called and left me a really nasty voicemail. Another loan officer was in the office with me as I listened to her angry message.
I decided it was best I call her back to diffuse the situation. I left her a voicemail once again reminding her that the loan would not make progress until she delivered the documents I had asked for multiple times now. I set down the phone on the carriage after I finished leaving my message, and proceeded to complain to the loan officer in my office.
He inquired about the situation, and I explained how ridiculous this woman was, and made some cracks about “She probably doesn’t want to give me her bank statements because she must not have the money she told me she does to qualify!”
The words and the back story had barely left my mouth when I realized in horror that there was another voice in the room… “What the?” I looked around for the disembodied voice but could not find it! Where is this sound coming from? My eyes finally settled on my phone!
In my frustration with the customer, I apparently set the phone down too quickly and the phone was not resting on the carriage properly – meaning that I never hung up! I reached down to snatch the phone up hoping the voicemail system would give me an option to cancel and re-record my message!
The pay-off for my speedy phone grab? “Thank You – Goodbye!” AHHHHHHHHHH! I was too late. The already angry and unreasonable customer was sure to blow her top! But what could I do? You know that sinking feeling you get in your stomach that comes with the realization of impending doom? That’s what I enjoyed for the next few hours waiting for the inevitable tongue lashing that was sure to come with every ring of my phone.
So what happened? I never heard back from her. I often wondered if it was because she found my comments insulting, or if she realized from my message that I was not going to approve her loan without proper proof of income and funds in the bank.
Either way, I learned an important lesson that day. But not the one you might expect. I learned to always manually press the button on the phone with your finger and listen for the dial tone before venting in frustration about a customer…Or a family member…Or anyone for that matter! (No high-horse soap box preaching today folks! We all have to vent sometime! It’s how we stay sane when things get tense)
So how about you? Any interesting stories to tell from the trenches? If this post gets enough interesting responses, I just might be able to be persuaded to share my story about the borrower who brought her father with her to the closing table… After he passed away! (Yea, think about what that one means for a moment!) Now share!
Audio Replay of Online Mortgage Marketing Tele-Conference
Posted by: | CommentsI hope you were able to make yesterdays tele-conference: Online Mortgage Marketing – What You Need To Know.” We filled the call to the max (110 available spots), and I know some of you were’nt able to login.
Luckily we were able to record the call! Thank all of you for asking some great questions during the Q and A session. We don’t get a chance to host these calls too often, but when we do, it’s nice to see the audience participation as a sign that you “get it.” Here’s the replay details:
Dial – (712) 432-1088
Enter Access Code – 783319#
About half-way through the call, we hit some very important strategies that I want you to pay extra special attention to. Enjoy!
CW -
