Art of Mortgage Marketing

How Jason Cope went From Almost Nothing to $1M/month in Just 2 months!

We’re all told that massive success takes years of grind and personal sacrifices. How do some business owners reach their goals faster than others? What role does mentorship play in finding shortcuts to success? What are some of the most common sales tactics that aren’t worth doing? And what should we do instead? In this episode, Jason Cope shares how he learned to focus on effective tactics, enjoy his work, and grow his business from almost nothing to $1M per month.

You just have to work smarter, not harder. -Jason Cope

 

Takeaways

• Cold calling works, but it isn’t the best tactic. It takes a lot of time, and in the end, very few people are interested in working with us after cold calling.
  
  
• We should focus on prioritizing who we call. Not all of the people in our database have the same problems.
  
  
• If we choose our business partners only based on profit potential, we might end up miserable because we have to interact with people we don’t like on a regular basis.

 

At the beginning of the episode, we talked about why cold calling occasionally works, but also how it can make our journey to success more painful. Next, we talked about prioritizing certain contacts in our database and surrounding ourselves with people who energize us and make our job more fulfilling.

We also covered:

• Why we need to ditch the idea that only hard work and grind leads to results
• How automating mundane tasks can give us more free time
• Why we should strive for progress, not perfection

The first investment we have to make is in ourselves. Building habits that grow our knowledge and make us more confident are essential to success. We have to become more intentional with how we spend our time instead of using our free hours to watch Netflix. Reading more, meditating, and practicing visualization are all ways we can improve ourselves and become better in all aspects of life.

 

Guest Bio

Jason Cope is a loan consultant with a background in commercial real estate. He has experience in global financial markets, procurement processes, and loan valuations. His aggressive marketing tactics combined with a deep understanding of his market enabled him to help many of his clients get the home of their dreams.

You can learn more about Jason here.

How to Put an End to the "Income Roller Coaster" and Create Consistent Income Growth

Inconsistent income is the biggest nightmare for most mortgage pros. Yet, instead of fighting against it, many MLOs consider it to be “normal” and just learn to live with it. How can we escape this “average” mindset, and how does having low expectations impact our income? How can we become more consistent with our marketing efforts -- and results? Why do we need systems in our business to do the heavy lifting for us? In this episode, I talk about how to overcome one of the most common struggles: inconsistent income.

 

Success is not easy. If it was, everyone would be fit, rich, and happy. -Doren Aldana  

 

Takeaways

• Not having consistent income is a symptom of issues, not the root cause.
  
• When we see ourselves as winners, we do whatever it takes to make our vision a reality. When we see ourselves as average, we take an average course of action.
  
• One of the biggest reasons why we experience income inconsistency is the fact that we don’t have a daily schedule that includes lead generation.

At the beginning of the episode, I talked about why we need to have a winner mindset and how thoughts about prosperity lead to actions that create wealth. Next, I spoke about the importance of consistently generating leads.

I also covered:

• Why we need automated marketing processes to generate leads
• How a mentor can help us get to where we want to be faster
• The difference between dreamers and doers

 

The best way make our income more consistent and predictable is to put together marketing systems that generate leads on autopilot. This way, we free up some of the tasks that we have on our plate and create more consistency in our course of action. When we aren’t backed up by systems, the moment when we stop showing up, even for a day, the lead generation machine stops.

Another important component to making our income more predictable is having the right mentor on our side. It needs to be someone who already knows the ins and outs of the industry and can show us shortcuts.

Marketing Metrics that Matter: How to Measure Your Progress

 

Let's face it: The mortgage pros who track their numbers and have systems in place to hold themselves and their team accountable to results, tend to be more successful than those who don't. What are the key metrics we should focus on? How much should we be paying per lead or per client? What activities generate the highest ROI? In this episode, I talk about how we can make powerful progress by tracking key metrics and bringing structure to our business.​

 

Not having data is like driving blindfolded and trying to stay on track without the feedback of vision. -Doren Aldana  

 

Takeaways

• We can’t improve what we can’t measure, and the best way to measure how we spend our time, on what we spend our time, and how efficient our tactics are is to look at KPIs (key performance indicators).
• We have to take steps toward knowing where we are when it comes to our income, how many hours we spend being productive, and what activities drive our business.
• The goal metrics umbrella includes metrics such as income, funded loan volume, units closed, and leads. When it comes to activity metrics, tracking calls is one of the most important.

 

In the beginning of the episode, I talked about how important it is to know where we stand, what drives clients to our business, and what our current income is. From there we can start focusing on goal and activity metrics.

I also covered:

• Funnel metrics (cost per lead, cost per app, cost per closing, ROI)
• Database metrics (repeat and referral business from past clients)
• Conversion metrics (lead to app ratio, app to closed deal ratio, lead to closed deal ratio)

 

We can’t live the life we want if we don’t keep an eye on our progress. Looking at our current numbers and tracking everything might leave us a bit anxious, but we don’t have to be perfect. Just be better than we used to be last week. But in order to make progress we need to learn more about the key metrics that drive income and find out what areas in our business we’ve mastered and what needs to be improved.

Being Proactive vs. Reactive: How to Build a REAL Business, Not Just a Glorified Job

Many of us get caught up in the everyday tasks of our jobs without realizing that "busy" work, doesn't necessarily mean productive work. What’s the difference between working IN our business vs. ON our business? Is it possible to build a business that brings you consistently-growing, reliable income without you having to "wear all the hats" in production mode? What’s the drawback of focusing only on the urgent and important tasks? In this episode, I talk about building a REAL business vs. building a practice, and the dangers of getting caught up in minutia of low-value tasks.​

 

You have to get a systems-based business, not a “you”-based business.-Doren Aldana  

 

Takeaways

• There are two approaches: We are either reactive or proactive about our career. We are either practice-builders or business-builders.
• A reactive person is always on top of things, solving problems as they arise and meeting deadlines, but they work only on things that their job dictates.
• A proactive person works on important tasks that aren’t necessarily urgent, but he or she is also a business builder.
• Being proactive is all about future planning. It involves making time for important tasks that aren’t urgent, but are critical for the growth of our business.

At the beginning of the episode, we talked about practice builders vs. business builders. Next, we talked about how we can be more proactive. We also talked about how reactive people respond to life, and how proactive people are different.

We also covered:

• How mentors can save us years of learning and making mistakes
• How systems help your business run even in your absence
• How we can be avoid being busy yet not productive

 

Most of the tasks we do on a daily basis are urgent, but not life-changing. We need to ask ourselves where we will be next year if we continue to do the the same things we do today. Becoming a better version of ourselves is never urgent, as nobody forces us to build a business. Being proactive is important if we dream of building a business that can run by itself without us being part of the production. There’s only one solution to this: making our growth the priority instead of focusing on growing somebody else’s business.

Branding Yourself vs. Utilizing Your Company’s Brand

 

Many mortgage pros make the mistake of using the reputation of the company they work for as a form of branding. What happens when we leave a company and we’ve built our entire reputation based on theirs? How do we make our brand “portable”? And what comes first: lead generation or branding? In this episode, I talk about the advantages of branding ourselves and building our own reputation.

 

 

You build your reputation through repetition. -Doren Aldana  

 

Takeaways

• Branding consists of the associations we make in our head when we think about a certain company.
• When someone works with us, they experience our expertise, so it makes sense to use ourselves as the face of our brand—not the company.
• If you want to stand out, it’s okay to be polarizing in your marketing. You can’t please everyone, so make your voice strong enough to have people either love or hate what you’re saying, but never ignore you.

 

In the beginning of the episode I talked about what branding is, why we should be the face of our brand, and how can we avoid sending out a diluted marketing message.

I also covered:

• Why we shouldn’t use the company’s CRM or send materials unbranded
• Why branding is a byproduct of successful lead generation
• How focusing on doing what we love and delegating everything else makes our business more successful

 

Branding is not excellent customer service or fair rates. Branding is the product of the lead generation and lead conversion process. When we do a great job, people remember us. Because of how competitive the market is, covering the bare minimum no longer cuts it. Instead, we have to find ways to make our business stand out by bringing unique value to the table.

Building Your Business the Easy Way vs. the Hard Way

 

We all want to reach our goals in the fastest, most enjoyable way possible. How do we find the easiest way to success? What are the dead giveaways that we are working too hard and getting too little results to justify our work? Most importantly, what can we do to make the switch from the “hard way” to success to the "smart way"?

 

If you aren’t moving forward, you're going backwards. There is nowhere in between. -Doren Aldana  

 

Takeaways

• Nothing has meaning inherently. We give everything its meaning. If we could think about what happens in our lives without adding negative connotations to it, our lives would be much easier. 

   

• Don’t neglect your database in the name of immediate profit. Ask yourself what you’re doing on a consistent basis to nurture the leads that might bring business in the future.

   

• Many mortgage pros make the mistake of waiting too long before they contact a lead. We can be experts when it comes to selling, but our response time needs to be strong as well.

 

In the beginning of the episode, I talked about the negative emotional suffering we put on ourselves unnecessarily, and the risk we run when we stop leveraging our database. I also covered how being slow when contacting your leads can send us down the slow lane of success.

I also covered:

• How to stop making friends and attract business partners
• Why we get distracted and how to relieve the pressure in our lives
• Why the trajectory of our business (upwards or downwards) is the biggest diagnostic tool for us to find out if we took the hard or the easy way

The biggest diagnostic tool you have to figure it out whether you’re doing things the hard way or the easy way is to look at the profits of your business. Is your business growing? Is it decreasing in profits? There’s no stagnation in business. Once you stop growing, you are already moving backwards. As a result, you need to take action right away and identify where you could improve in your business to raise your income.

How to Avoid Wasting Our Time, Energy, and Money on the Wrong Realtors w/ Peter Fickeisen

What exactly does your "ideal referral partner" look like? How can you target the right Realtors who actually fit that ideal profile? How do you attract the right partners, without the hell of cold calling or losing your dignity? What’s the biggest mistake most mortgage pros make when working with agents? In this episode, you'll get answers to all those questions and more, as Peter Fickeisen talks about how you can pick the right people, so you can on their "speed dial" as their exclusive lender.

 

You can only wear yourself so thin with partners you don’t want to work with. -Peter Fickeisen

Takeaways

• We have to look at it as if it would be a partnership. We wouldn’t take someone we barely know and have nothing in common with as a partner, and this applies to searching for a Realtor to work with as well.
  
• Weed out the good from the bad in the beginning. This translates into being upfront about how we work, what our work hours are, what we can deliver, etc. Otherwise, we might end up with people who disrespect our time and treat us like a commodity.
• Stand out by being fast and always delivering on your promise of offering the information the agent needs right away

In the beginning of the episode, we talked about how many mortgage specialists end up in companies where their free time isn’t respected and how we can make the shift from working for others to being our own boss. We also talked about how we can attract agents and the importance of having a strong value proposition.

One of the things that can damage our reputation as a mortgage specialists is “not knowing” the answers to certain questions when our job is to provide those answers. If we want to attract rockstar agents, we need to be a rockstar mortgage pro, and part of that is always being fast and accurate when it comes to helping the agent. These days, the internet alone is enough for a mortgage pro to find all the answers they need.

 

Guest Bio

Peter Fickeisen is the Director of Business Development of Luxury Mortgage and has over 14 years of experience in mortgage banking. He ranked in the top 200 USA loan officers and the top 20 Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers severals times. His approach is to focus on building lifetime relationships with his clients, rather than moving from one transaction to another.

Why Most Facebook Ads Don't Work w/ Chris Reale

One of the biggest challenges mortgage pros face is finding real estate agents to partner with. These days, real estate agents are flooded with calls and emails from mortgage pros looking to connect. How can you tilt the power balance in your favor? What is something you can offer to agents that will make them come to you? And how can you bring more leads from Facebook at a fraction the price of Zillow and other lead sources? In this episode, Chris Reale shares how he went from chasing real estate agents to having them come to him!

 

 

To get the highest conversion, you have to reach out to someone at least 7 times. -Chris Reale

 

Takeaways

• The problem with most lead generation platforms is the price tag and the fact that the leads are not exclusive.
• As a mortgage specialist, if you know how to attract leads via Facebook and give them over to realtors, you will be flooded by offers.
• Facebook ads have the advantage of flexibility. You don’t have to sign any contracts, and you can shut it down when you want or change the daily spend and make whatever changes you want without any negative consequences.
• As a mortgage specialist, when you come to the table with exclusive leads, you are no longer the one who is looking for real estate agents. They will do whatever it takes to come to you.

 

In the beginning of the episode, we talked about how to maximize Facebook ads and how they change the balance of power in the favor of mortgage specialists. Next, we discussed why branding doesn't necessarily bring a higher conversion rate.

We also covered:

• Video has been a key component of differentiation in the ad space
• Exclusive leads need immediate follow-up as well
• Anything below 15% conversion rate on a landing page means that you should tweak your website copy

The secret to Facebook advertising is grabbing the attention of users. Unlike paid search engine ads, your audience is not looking for you. You have to create an ad compelling enough for them to click through. Facebook will help you set the demographics, but only a small percentage from that segment is interested in buying a home. Your job is to find the right image and the right message, and stir their curiosity in order for them to sign up on your landing page.

 

Guest Bio

Chris Reale has managed nearly 1 billion dollars in value in residential loan transactions during the last 17 years. He founded a business that started with zero employees and now has over $2 millions in revenue. He is the founder of CJ Reale Consulting Services where he helps small and medium businesses attract traffic via social media and search engines, and he is also the branch manager of NFM Lending.

How to Go from Just Making Friends with Realtors to Attracting SOLID Referral Partners

The days when a few donuts and a smile would land you a referral are long gone. Real estate agents are bombarded with new offers every day. What prevents you from taking it a step further? How can you get the attention of a real estate agent? How do you make a WOW first impression with a Realtor, so they send you ALL their buyers? In this episode, I speak about the importance of making a diagnosis, building trust, and making an offer no agent can turn down.

 

It’s the extra bells and whistles and the value you deliver that makes the difference between being seen as a Fiesta or a Ferrari. -Doren Aldana  

 

Takeaways

• Making friends is easier than making business partners, simply because real estate agents are bombarded with requests from mortgage specialists. When you can’t make the next step, trust is usually the issue.
• To convince them, you need to have a unique value proposition and articulate it in a way that makes them believe you are better than their current listing partner.
• The secret to getting the attention of real estate agents is to enable them to work less and earn more.

 

If you want to find out more about the exact questions you should ask a real estate agent and how to blow them out of the water during the first meeting, head over to https://www.mortgagemarketingcoach.com/apply/ and apply for a seat to our breakthrough coaching session.

 

In the beginning of the episode, I spoke about how important it is to build trust and provide a unique value proposition. Next, I talked about finding out what’s broken in your process. Where does the real estate agent stop being interested in talking with you?

I also covered:

• Why you shouldn’t make your pitch before performing a diagnostic of the agent’s problems
• Bringing attention to the pain points and showing them your solution
• Why you shouldn’t use price as a selling point
  
  

Diagnosing the problem without listening to the real estate agent is business malpractice. You can’t help them unless you sit down with them and ask questions regarding their current worries, pain points, etc. Many mortgage professionals make the mistake of skipping this step and going straight to speaking about their tools, systems, and services. How can you help someone if you don’t know their problem? The secret to attracting more real estate agents is to diagnose and prescribe a solution that will save them time and make them more money. There is nothing more compelling than a practical strategy that results in less work and more income.

How to Be Peaceful, Powerful & Productive in the Face of Problems

We have a belief system that says problems shouldn’t exist, but crises are a part of life. Are you overwhelmed by the problems in your life? What is your mindset when facing daily struggles? In this episode, we bring a new perspective to problem-solving. It’s not about avoiding problems, but controlling the way we perceive them-- and cultivating a warrior-like mindset.

If you say it’s bad, it’s bad. If you say it’s good, then it’s good. It depends on how you attach the meaning to it. That’s how powerful we are. We are meaning-making machines.

-Doren Aldana

 

If you want to find out how you can change your mindset from victim to warrior and build a roadmap to financial freedom, go to https://www.mortgagemarketingcoach.com/apply/.

 

Takeaways

• Our belief systems rule who we are and what we do. Life is sprinkled with problems and crises, but what separates successful people from those who feel trapped is embracing them with a warrior attitude.
• Embrace failure instead of resisting it, and ask yourself what you learned from your experience. What can be done differently next time?
• You give meaning to your life experiences, and you choose how you feel about them. The most joyous and successful people around us didn’t get to be what they are because of luck.
• When you realize you can paint your life choosing your own colors, you are suddenly more energetic and powerful. You can now unleash your true power simply because you choose to fight the negative thoughts in your head.

 

In this episode, we talked about how we are capable of controlling our own emotions and training ourselves to be stronger and more energetic. We also talked about the importance of constantly challenging yourself and seeing problems as a part of life, not as something that happens to only the most unfortunate of us. 

I also covered:

• How to switch from the victim mindset to the warrior mindset
• Why champions have champion routines
• The importance of waking up early, having enough sleep, and investing in self-care
• Why asking the right questions determines the quality of your life

 

Beliefs determine how you feel in the face of challenges.The good news is that we are in control. We can change the way we look at our daily hurdles. By using daily affirmations, visualization exercises, and meditations, we can learn how to energize our minds and bodies. Having the right mindset can help us create a routine and roadmap that will bring us closer to success every day.