TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
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FEATURE ORIGINATION officers are social media savvy and maintain balanced, produc- tive workloads. They are doing it right and not wasting time. They use these free, powerful tools the right way and generate extra profits in the process. Right now these originators are hard to find, like needles in a haystack, but they can and should be the norm. Stepping Up Your Social Game T ransitioning from one of the first three categories into a social media savvy mortgage professional may seem like a huge task, but it really isn't. At Mortgage Coach, I see it happen every day. I've seen some of the most time-strapped, tech-phobic mortgage professionals transition into high-production mortgage powerhouses by creating a dynamic, lead-generating social media presence that they maximize on a daily basis. Realtors currently lead the mortgage industry in using Facebook to land new business. There's no reason loan officers should not be equally active. The mortgage industry needs to position itself as an industry of knowledgeable and trusted advisors—the people with the tools to show any individual the specific information that will make a tangible and meaningful difference in that person's long- term, interim, and immediate financial standing. Positioning themselves as the industry's lead- ers in delivering timely, valuable content will help loan officers become trusted advisors, which will ultimately restore client confidence and ensure long-term industry growth. Up to Speed, Overnight T hey say Rome wasn't built in a day. A social media presence, however, can be. And I mean that quite literally. You can 42 | THE M REPORT absolutely turn this ship around quickly. You just need to follow a few simple steps. 01 IDENTIFY YOUR CURRENT STANDING Where do you rank on the social media scale discussed earlier? Be honest with yourself. There's no shame in not being a social media frontrunner. Most of us aren't. The biggest mistake you can make is to be willfully ignorant of your shortcomings. If you're truly a social media maven, that's awesome. But you're not off the hook. It's up to the mavens to pay it forward and help their fellow loan officers. 02 DOCUMENT AND SET GOALS Spend 30 minutes to jot down your approach to social media. Maybe it's a single personal page on Facebook—not quite ideal, but certainly a great start. Determine your social strategy. Ask yourself what kind of content you want to deliver and to whom. Is your communication approach one- sided or do you engage in robust conversations? These questions will probably lead to others. Take the time to probe and don't forget to ask yourself the most important question of all: What do you want to get out of your social media efforts? Be specific and focus on how you can help prospects, clients, and referral sources. Maybe you'll say something like, "I want to be my city's local leader in providing high-value finance and real estate information." If you're gifted at, say, interpreting how national policy will affect your local mar- ket, include that as a key part of your content strategy. While pro- viding such information is a gift from you to your community, it's also in your self-interest. Set an aggressive goal for generating new referrals through your social SECONDARY MARKET ANALYTICS SERVICING ORIGINATION