Website & Internet Origination ... and still being sick
One thing that's bugged me most of the last couple of years (as mortgage brokers & bankers have had their focus elsewhere) has been the dwindling attendance at our ground-breaking Website & Internet Origination live classes (my favorite BTW - I like the classes smaller sized anyway, but ....). This class session has been at least 10 hours of information coming at you like a drink out water out of a fire hydraunt! Plenty of info, background, and answers to WHY.
Just now I took a peek our our Press Release page, and noted that it was exactly six (6) years ago this coming Friday, that I mentioned this class. Needless to say, it' s been long-running and actually was the underlying reason I stopped operations and got into teaching. As I (or you) Google - internet origination - we're still in the Number One position for that SERP, in and of itself not an easy accomplishment in the first place. You would think that alone would be one heck of an endorsement, when added to the nearly three+ (3) dozen we have posted from alumni of this class on our Testimonials page. So, even though I'm somewhat bummed out about attendance, I think the specific reason is the presentation on our Class Detail page about this one. Looks like I'm trying to say too much there, people read it, and say HUH? Go ahead, click it and see what I mean.
I'm gonna spend the necessary number of minutes this week (if I can), before the February newsletter hits the streets, and re-word the entire page so it hits the various points in fewer words and more to the point; as everybody in the industry should take this class! Finding and dealing with potential borrowers via a website (if utilized properly), and through the internet is the easiest thing I have ever done in my career - so ..... YOU should pull the trigger yourself.
posted by Secret! at 2:06 PM
4 Comments:
Secret!:
I've always respected your tenacity. But really (I'm not gonna beat around the bush with you)?
I think that your efforts are a bit misguided.
Are you a mortgage guru or an amateur SEO? Moreover, ARE YOU NOW ADVISING LO'S THAT ON TOP OF EVERYTHING ELSE THEY HAVE TO BE SEO'S ALSO!?!?!?! (poor guys barely can do what they do as it is...)
As for your "Class Detail" page, as far as I can see, it is not that you are saying too much, but you are trying to do too much, ergo: your efforts are not focused.
Don't waste your time telling me about what the class is. TELL ME (better yet, prove to me - there are ways of doing this) WHAT THE CLASS DOES - WHAT I GET OUT OF IT. Then, IF I am interested, I'll fill in my e-mail/name and you email me the rest (not all at once though - spread it out over a few days or weeks).
The up side: you'll build a list, you'll have data you can track, THEN you can test (this is the key).
Hope this helps!
PS: I don't mean to be out of line, but I am a bit annoyed that your SECRET! discussion board is not piped into an RSS feed and that it is not "open". I had to spend an hour writing a scrape to save myself the trouble of checking it manually (BIG HINT HERE)...
First off, Thanks for the compliment. I always get a kick when I get 'anonymous' remarks (who could be media people, 10 month experienced LO's, 3 or 4 decade old industry veterans [like me]or anywhere in between). Sometimes I think that's good because some folks cannot be candid when you know who they are; so comments like this I do appreciate.
Far as the RSS feed on the discussion board, you're right I have not set that up - we do have a feed for THIS blog (the code is there in the right sidebar) and also one for our Newsletter (code at the bottom of page), simply haven't gotten around to plugging in one for the board, for that tiny misstep on our part, I apologize. You would BTW, be quite surprised at how few people do RSS, the questions I get tell me you are rare in our biz, but we do try and accomodate everybody.
You ask WHO I am, inside the Profile in the rightside bar there's a link to my own individual and personal Resume - you can also Google me to find it, or link to it off our main website - 'WHO' I don't hide.
Far as 'Class Details' page not being focused properly, I think that is sorta what I was saying - I'm going to attack it tomorrow.
Your thought about LO's being in over their heads in many areas of this biz (and one more thing is/could be just too much), I could not agree more - you're dead on there. The training provided by almost everybody 'SUCKS' is all I have been hearing the last several years. That's why I am licensed and certified Teacher/Mentor now.
This class 'Website & Internet Originations' is restricted to owner operators of mortgage shops, it's not for LO's at all (unless they're about to open their own shop in a few weeks or so); people must be serious about the long-term career challenges they face for this class to really hit home.
Maybe after I re-write the page tomorrow and Thursday, you'll find it more interesting and clearer. It's all together possible you'll be a student in our next live class (in 3 weeks) here in Southern California, OR maybe you'll continue to source applicants and deal with them the old-fashioned 20th Century ways - and miss this easier and more effective method.
Had I personally, not attracted over a quarter of a million potential customers to our mortgage broker origination webpage (built as an experiment from scratch) and originated more than 2,200 transactions (in just over 3 years), doing the process I developed - then I might re-think the direction of this class. You shouldn't be so STUNNED, there are indeed a few of us out here that are pioneers, and who have a clue as well! Do ya think this class about internet originations got ranked #1 in Google by accident?
Ya see, I am so passionate about this - because for several decades my company and I worked hard (utilizing old fasioned methods) to do business - now I know better.
Your continued interest in what I have to say, and potentially in some of our available products, materials, and services is hopefully around the corner from where you are right now!
You can always come to our next 'Seminar' and engage me 'face to face' if you like, on any industry sector you want to know more about.
SECRET!:
Thanks for your timely reply. You never cease to surprise me (when I asked who you are, I did not mean that literally, I meant it more “existentially”: mtg guru or SEO)!
My anonymity is not intended to shield myself from you (as a matter of fact my home is always open to you). I just happen to value my privacy and I am still dipping my toe into the proverbial "my-personal-identity-is-my-brand" pool. Moreover, I am just a guy (one of millions), not a media-guy, not a 10 month old LO posing as a veteran of the good ole days, not a competitor (no way I am at your league), not a hater; just a regular unassuming unimpressive guy who really enjoys intelligent conversation with one worthy of my respect. Revealing my “identity” to you would make me no less anonymous.
I am disheartened to learn that RSS feeds do not resonate within your target market. I am even more disheartened by what the above observation implies. I have had many debates with my former colleagues end with “quit trying to reinvent the wheel, man”. All these years later, most of of them have left the business. The few which remain do so because they have found it impossible to liquidate their assets. I left because I chose to...
I totally agree that training is lacking, it is one of the reasons why I left. All of the “training” (to use the term loosely) which I received over the years was predicated on the opinion that mortgage originators are a subset of professionals within the financial services industry. That is a complete fallacy (one which does not rise to the level of outright lie given that those propagating the fallacy do not know any better). I've concluded that it is the desperate adherence to the above fallacy which has in large part contributed to the present debacle. I digress (one of the pitfalls of using voice recognition software). I do not know that I would say that the training “sucks”, rather I prefer to use the term misdirected/misguided. My guess is that the type of training I received in the late '90s was similar to the training you provided back in your days with Beneficial in the '60s.
The sad thing is, I was “fortunate”. I had degrees in economics, history (emphasis on 20th-century American economic history and regulation), with an emphasis in mathematics, and a teaching certificate (fall-back). I had an internship during my senior year with American Express Financial Advisers, put myself through college working “loan servicing” for a very large mortgage company, and spent one of my summers working for an individual who at the time was in the top five originators in the country (I answered directly to the person who trained him). I was the epitome of seriousness.
And I floundered.
My mistake: failure to realize that a loan originator is a salesmen selling a commodity that as widely available as toilet paper itself. He is (ideally) simultaneously both astute marketer and bond guru; a hybrid consisting of the cunningness of Neil Strauss himself (actually his mentor is probably even better) with and the analytical skills necessary to understand (appreciate) the root cause of the fluctuations in the bond market. ANYTHING LESS THAN THAT AND THE LO FAILS TO PROVIDE...
Once I accepted that, things started to change very very rapidly.
And then other opportunities appeared and I left the business.
First, I'm pleased you follow some of the things I have to say, even though it now appears you're no longer in our industry, that's unfortunate.
Mtg guru, SEO semi-expert/teacher, and still our firm's parking lot attendant (should clear my confusion up somewhat).
My RSS remark, goes along nicely with how the industry has been since I was a twenty-something snot-nosed beginner ... VERY slow to adapt to change. Considering the things I have personally pioneered, I have seen it time and time again. My bet is 87% of all in the biz, don't know what RSS is, how to use it, why to use it, etc. couldn't even describe it easily or clearly to their uncle over diner. That's both positive (more opportunities for leaders), and negative as they tend to cling to quaint ways of doing things!
I think you should visit the News Library on our main website, take a look at some of the previous editions, (based upon what you've said here, I think you'll especially enjoy the Nov'07 edition).
I want to also direct you to the Aug '07 edition, it explains what an LO really is -- a viewpoint I know you've not seen from anyone else. It's how that job position worked for the 50+ years BEFORE I began in this biz, and how I (and my former consulting clients and students) and my own company operated. Any other views you've seen (and I mean everyone that disagrees with me) have not stood the test of time with their concepts - you should get a real kick out of that one.
Stick around and keep reading, if you want to become semi-famous, and not an ordinary dude in the shadows, give me a phone call - I would enjoy chatting with you anyday.
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