Mortgage loan marketing:
Did you know there are an estimated 175,000 new blogs created every day? There are more than 1.4 million new blog posts on an average day as well. Why so much activity? What is so darn special about blogs that so many people invest time by the bucket full’s to create these curiosities? (These statistics are a year old by the way)
Because they work. There are inherent benefits to having a blog. But to understand these benefits, we first must understand what a blog really is. Have you ever asked yourself that question? What makes a blog - a blog?
A blog is by definition, a website. The difference in this website (Or “web log” as the term was coined) – is that it is dynamic. A blog is designed to allow the author to update quickly and easily. These updates are referred to as posts.A loan officer can manage his/her mortgage loan marketing strategy with hardly more than a push of a button. (No HTML code to remember)
To further contribute to the dynamic nature of the blog, commenting from readers is typically made available. What this means is that you now have 2 way communication between the author and the readers.
Why is this so important? Here comes the “money” part of this post! This is so important because search engines such as Google absolutely love new content. You may have heard the phrase “content is king” when it comes to marketing online. This is true, and very powerful for those of you serious about generating business on the web. As we get deeper into 2009, mortgage loan marketing will evolve – More people are just “googling it” to pre-shop and research financing options…
Let’s look at this from the search engines perspective. You have 2 websites. 1 website is static, and the 2nd website is a blog with a fair amount of posting and commenting going on. How do they compare in the eyes of the search engines?
1 – A static site changes little. (Typically) – The search engines have no incentive to visit when the site stays the same.
2 – A blog is dynamic. With regular posting, new content is added frequently. Commenting from readers also helps increase the popularity of the site. It doesn’t hurt that with proper setup, each post can be viewed as a new “page” by the search engines, and thus improves the blogs standing. Search engines stop by frequently to gobble up the new content.
Does this mean a blog will always be superior to a standard website? No it does not. But when it comes to quick search engine rankings, a properly used blog is a powerful tool.So let’s look at the original question again. “What makes a blog so effective?” When it comes to mortgage loan marketing, the answer lies in the fact that you can get your site to the top of the search engines much quicker, and arguably much easier since a blog is designed to make adding content simple.
Till next time!
CW – www.loanofficermarketinglab.com - Loan Officer 2.0 training coming soon!
“To further contribute to the dynamic nature of the blog, commenting from readers is typically made available. What this means is that you now have 2 way communication between the author and the readers.”
Blogs also create an additional level of communication between authors through links and trackbacks. One of the easiest ways for a loan officer to get on the radar of a potential real estate agent referral partner is to link to them.
ex: Loan officer writes about 203k and links to a local agent’s blog post using specific anchor text for “(city) foreclosures”. It may also drive potential business in the agent’s direction.
I can’t think of a better resume’ to present a business associate or client with than a blog.
Thanks for sharing Mark! You’re dead center on this as well. Selling to referral partners becomes a walk in the park compared to traditional methods when you have actions to back up your words: “Hey, I can help you build your business” is just more “me too” empty words.
On the other hand, demonstrating your expertise as you suggested screams “I know what the heck I’m doing and you should listen to me.”
Good stuff!
Mortgage Loan Marketing
And blogs allow people to talk about their cats and the nutty neighbour. That’s not generally acceptable behavior on static pages. Plus, blogs tend to link to each other more often, as opposed to linking to static sites, so its much easier to get some people to link back to you when your blog is new.
some people prefer blogs more than websites
as in blogs you can write more bout your personal view.
the style of writing is not fixed too. i can be informal and formal at the same time.
Blogs are really about letting your clients know you are on top of the market conditions, showing them you are the realtor to do business with. Some people say information is power, and when you are willing to give up that power and display information to the public, it empowers the consumer.
Which gives them that warm, fuzzy feeling that they now associate with you.
Ryan Philipenko – Edmonton Real Estate Blog
Rants and raves have such mental health benefits. I feel better don’t you?
Blogs are an absolute essential – EVERY business should have one. Period. They are great for keeping clients up to date, but also great for creating a central hub for up to date company and industry information.
Even if a blog is only updated once a week, the search engines will eat it up, and this has proven itself to me time and time again.
Mark hit it right on the button for me “I can’t think of a better resume’ to present a business associate or client with than a blog.”
Great post!
Seems like blogging is quite an important tool. One of my colleagues is working with an investor from London who is purchasing $20 million worth of local apartments. This equals a big fat $300,000 commission cheque for my friend.
How did they cross paths? His video blog.
Enough said.
Robert Eskiw – Home In Edmonton
Excellent Management tool, too! Easy to keep LOs who report to you in the loop re: Corporate changes, events, process and/or system updates, local events for networking opportunities, introducing new business growth tools, gadgets, training and even sharing company-wide goals and incentives and highlights on Super Star Loan Originators and what they’re doing to build their businesses. Nice, additional recruiting “wow” factor, too, to show your Company “gets it!”
Blogs offer such a great way to connect with a large audience at once and build some great interaction. It is also a great way to show clients how you are an expert in your area
Robert, that is an excellent story! I love hearing success stories like that. A great example of how the web has become an integral part of mortgage loan marketing. Blogs, social media, web 2.0 sites and more are great ways to spread your message.
http://www.loanofficermarketinglab.com
Thanks Chad and Elijah,
I actually prefer setting up multi-user blogs so that a group of people can benefit from the content and reach of the other contributors. Committing to a daily article and promotion schedule is overwhelming for most loan officers, especially if they are busy dealing with the normal responsibilities that go along with the job.
Blogs definitely create unique opportunities that can’t be realized by any other form of marketing of communication tool, but they take a lot of work and patience.
It also depends on your purpose – getting found in the search engines, providing content that can be referenced by current clients, or just branding yourself as a thought leader / expert on a particular niche.
It is easy to get caught up in the social media noise and lose sight of our original objective. Twitter, social networking, video, blogs…. I’ll admit it, I’m easily distracted by shiny objects. (Stole that from a friend, Chris Brown)
Either way, the thing that I like most about being a mortgage blogger is that I’m confident very few people will actually follow through with the steps necessary to being successful online. The burnout factor is significant, and the ROI is low in the beginning. This is why I don’t mind sharing and networking online, because the few professionals who can stick with it will make great strategic alliances.
Great discussion, Chad. Thanks for the article.
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Blogs help in building an interactive web. Lot and lots of people are attracted towards to blogging nowadays. It is a great way to express yourself.
It is amazing what social media can do for your business-blogging, like you said, helps generate new content for searches AND keeps people interesting in comig back for more.
And blogs allow people to talk about their cats and the nutty neighbour. That's not generally acceptable behavior on static pages. Plus, blogs tend to link to each other more often, as opposed to linking to static sites, so its much easier to get some people to link back to you when your blog is new.
Great article. I have both static sites and blogs. Both serve their purpose and attract different types of customers. The “community” blogging concept that Madsen mentioned has also been highly successful in driving traffic and target consumers to both my static sites and my blog sites.