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FEATURE ORIGINATION and the Mortgage Professional Social Media The new year means new rules for industry professionals utilizing new media outlets to conduct business. By Dave Savage, CEO of Mortgage Coach I t's paradoxical. In most of the business world, "real" existence relies upon a virtu- al one. Professionals who don't exist online are going to have a tougher and tougher time thriving in the real world. Don't take it from me. Listen to the loan originators who are successful in using social media to grow their businesses. According to Scott Nicholson, a loan officer with First Cal who has also been one of the nation's top loan officers for the better part of his career, "If loan officers aren't building a presence on Facebook, they are really missing the boat on the future of marketing." Social media is everywhere. Turn on a TV, read a magazine, or attend a sporting event—you're bound to encounter a URL, QR code, or other way to connect to an online social presence. Even the Boy Scouts of America have a solid online stake, with more than 175,000 Facebook followers. While social media is ubiquitous, it isn't new. Twitter launched in 2006. Facebook debuted in 2004. LinkedIn hit in 2003. In the past few years, others like Path, Foursquare, and Google+ have not only jumped in, but are also making quite a splash. Our industry has had plenty of time to get acclimated to and maxi- mize these powerful marketing tools. Unfortunately, many have lagged in their usage of social media, thereby missing numer- ous opportunities. But all is not lost. It's not too late for originators who want to maximize opportunities through social media. How 'Social' a Loan Officer Are You? B ased on my discussions with thousands of loan officers, I've found that there are four primary approaches originators take toward social media: 01 COMPLETELY UNINVOLVED Some might say these origina- tors are in denial about what they consider the fast-moving world of technology. I won't call them dinosaurs, but you get the picture. These originators are completely checked out when it comes to social media. This is the smallest group, and it is rapidly shrinking. 02 INVOLVED BUT GETTING IT ALL WRONG These originators have de- cided to jump into social media but forgot to look before they made the leap. As a result, they often end up looking unprofes- sional and outmoded. This is the biggest group. 03 INVOLVED AND GETTING IT MOSTLY RIGHT A growing number of loan officers are getting smart about how to employ social media to their advantage. A common trap, however, is accidentally turn- ing social media into a full-time job. Too many otherwise sharp originators are spending more time on online marketing than on their clients, which hurts production. This enthusiastic group has yet to learn how to be efficient with social media. They're close to getting it, but it's not close enough to help their production like it could. 04 SOCIAL MEDIA SAVVY Mortgage pros. This is the smallest group. These loan THE M REPORT | 41 ORIGINATION SERVICING ANALYTICS SECONDARY MARKET