Mortgage Marketing & Lead Generation Blog

Microsoft Excel Tip – Quick Copy and Paste.

Jackie, Mortgage Virtual Assistant, close-more-loans.com

Here’s a quick way to copy and paste data from one row to another.

The cell you are copying to must be directly below the one you are copying from.

Position your cursor where you want to paste the information.

Type Ctrl + D.

This copies and pastes information in one step.

Flash Home Page. How do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways.

JC Kadii, Mortgage Virtual Assistant, close-more-loans.com

While surfing the net, I came across yet another website that launches with a full-screen flash movie. Flash can be quite eye-catching, and is okay in small doses. Using a flash movie as the content of your website’s home page is a mistake. So, with all apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning, I wrote this short poem. Here goes.

Flash Home Page. How do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways.

I loathe thee for the way thou blockest my web site from the search engines. With few exceptions, the only thing search engines “see” is text. Having your home page 100% flash gives the search engine nothing to index.

I loathe thee for the way thou surprisest surfers when music comes blaring out of the speakers. Some people may be visiting your website from a place (ex., work) where it is inappropriate to have music blaring out of their speakers.

I loathe thee for the way thou preventeth potential clients from viewing my site. Some companies’ network security settings block flash sites. People trying to view your site will get a blue screen, or better yet, a lovely message asking them to download an application in order to view your site. Guess where that potential client goes? If you guessed to a competitor’s site, you may be right.

Do I loathe all flash? Absolutely not. I think it’s okay as a component of your home page, or as another page on your website. I am just not fond of flash taking over the entire home page.

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Fill your pipeline – quick!

By JC Kadii, Mortgage Virtual Assistant, close-more-loans.com

Business in a slump? Phone eerily silent?

Follow this proven process to:

• Get more calls from your ideal clients,

• Build your reputation as an expert,
• Fill your pipeline without spending a ton.

Think about the types of clients you want to attract. When I interview new clients, I have one or two questions that quickly help me hone in on their favorite types of clients. We then use that information to focus their marketing. For some of my clients, it’s about the dollar amount or size of the loan. For others, it’s about the feeling — they want to work with clients who are simpatico. Some prefer working with clients who have credit issues but are willing to roll up their sleeves and do the hard work to get back on track.

Brainstorm a list of your ideal clients’ problems, questions and concerns. As you take a client from prequal to closing, hopefully you’ve spent time getting to know them. If you have staff, let them contribute to this brain storming process.

Pick one topic from your brainstorming list. This topic should be one your ideal clients would find interesting, as well as one on which you can speak with authority.

Develop a workshop around this topic. Have different versions of the workshop, a 10-minute one, a 20-minute lunch and learn, and a 45-minute version. Create the workshop, and PowerPoint presentations. We can help you craft your topic into a professional PowerPoint presentation that not only educates your audience but also highlights your expertise.

Contact groups and offer your presentation. It doesn’t matter if it’s the Rotary Club or the Red Hat’s Society, the PTA or the Polka Players, offer every group you possibly can the opportunity to hear your presentation. Your goal is to make this presentation to a group every single week.

When you make the presentation, get each attendee’s contact information and follow up. There are easy ways to follow up, keeping your business top of mind without being pushy. You can send them a mortgage tips brochure. Mail them a thank you card. Call and ask if they have any questions or suggestions. Email them a survey.

This is a simple way to fill your pipeline and get your phones ringing with calls from your ideal clients.

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For addtional information, please read this post about how a Mortgage Virtual Assistant can help mortgage professionals generate leads. I also have an article about leveraging and profiting from homebuyer workshops on my web site.

MS Word Tip: Add a “word count” to your Word documents.
JC Kadii, Mortgage Virtual Assistant, www.close-more-loans.com

For those of us who write for blogs, article submission sites, and print media, making sure what you submit fits within word count guidelines is essential. Here’s a tip to help you keep track of the number of words in your document.

• Open MS Word.

• Start a new document.
• Hit your return key a couple of times.
• Click on the Insert menu, and select Field.
• Make sure Category is (All).
• Under field names, select NumWords.
• Move your cursor back to the top of the page.
• Start typing your article, and every time you want to see the number of words in your document, highlight the field code you inserted and hit the F9 key.
  

Lead Generating Tasks to Outsource to your Mortgage Virtual Assistant – Part 4

By JC Kadii, Mortgage Virtual Assistant^SM

This is a continuation of the series on Lead Generation Tasks you can outsource to your Mortgage Virtual Assistant

A Mortgage Virtual Assistant^SM can increase your online visibility.
Once your website is transformed into a lead generating tool, don’t stop there.

There are a variety of innovative, affordable ways to market your business online, and your Mortgage Virtual Assistant can help.

This includes:

• developing and maintaining a blog,
• writing or posting articles on the Internet,
• and listing your website in the appropriate directories.

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JC Kadii, Mortgage Virtual Assistant^SM . Through http://www.close-more-loans.com/, JC leads a team providing top notch administrative, internet marketing, and technology services to mortgage professionals. Mortgage professionals are encouraged to visit the website and sign up for the More Closings email newsletter to receive the report 6 Steps to More Referrals.

Lead Generating Tasks to Outsource to your Mortgage Virtual Assistant – Part 5

By JC Kadii, Mortgage Virtual Assistant^SM

This is the final post of the series on Lead Generation Tasks you can outsource to your Mortgage Virtual Assistant

A Mortgage Virtual Assistant^SM can develop and promote your lead generating speech.

The purpose of a lead generating speech is to get other groups to invite you to speak. It is usually shorter than a traditional homebuyer education workshop.

Your Mortgage Virtual Assistant will help you select a topic that (a) establishes your expertise while (b) appealing to your target audience.

We can also:

• identify groups where you can give your speech,
• create a package to market your speech,
• come up with strategies to convert audience members into leads, and
• promote your appearances.

This is the last post in the series on ways your Mortgage Virtual Assistant can help you generate leads. There are at least 15 specific other ways a qualified Mortgage Virtual Assistant can help you attract more exclusive leads. The purpose of this blog series is to give you a few examples.

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JC Kadii, Mortgage Virtual Assistant^SM . Through http://www.close-more-loans.com/, JC leads a team providing top notch administrative, internet marketing, and technology services to mortgage professionals. Mortgage professionals are encouraged to visit the website and sign up for the More Closings email newsletter to receive the report 6 Steps to More Referrals.

Lead Generating Tasks to Outsource to your Mortgage Virtual Assistant – Part 3

By JC Kadii, Mortgage Virtual Assistant ^SM

This is a continuation of the series on Lead Generation Tasks you can outsource to your Mortgage Virtual Assistant ^SM

A Mortgage Virtual Assistant ^SM can help you develop and promote market-specific homebuyer education workshops.

Properly crafted seminars can be leveraged to pull in a steady stream of leads.

With so many “free homebuyer education” workshops competing for attention, your Mortgage Virtual Assistant ^SM can work with you to develop a workshop or seminar to appeal to your target audience.

We can also prepare the PowerPoint presentation, develop promotional handouts, promote the seminar in online and print media, and automate the registration, confirmation and follow-up processes.

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JC Kadii, Mortgage Virtual Assistant ^SM. Through http://www.close-more-loans.com/, JC leads a team providing top notch administrative, internet marketing, and technology services to mortgage professionals. Mortgage professionals are encouraged to visit the website and sign up for the More Closings email newsletter to receive the report 6 Steps to More Referrals.

(Almost) Automate our Email Responses with MS Outlook

By JC Kadii, MortgageVirtualAssistant.com^SM

During a mortgage transaction, there are a number of emails that are identical (or very similar.)

Some examples are:

• Closing instructions,

• Directions to your office,
• “How we work” email to new clients,
• Responses to leads,
• Responses to frequently asked questions (ex., about rates, credit scoring models, and loan guidelines, etc.)

You can save tons of time by creating standard email messages as Microsoft Outlook signature files, inserting and tweaking them when the situation warrants it.

Here’s how.

Creating a Standard Message using Microsoft Outlook Signatures..

1. Create and edit the standard message in Microsoft Word.

2. Select and copy all of the text in the message.
3. In Microsoft Outlook, click on the Tools menu, and select Options.
4. Make sure the Mail Format tab is selected
5. Click on Signature, then New.
6. Type in a name for your signature, ex., Directions.
7. Select Start with a Blank Signature.
8. Click Next.
9. Under This text will be included in outgoing mail messages, paste the text.
   You can use the Font or Advanced Edit buttons to make changes to your signature.

Using the Signature File.

While editing your email message, click on the Insert Menu, then Signature. Select and insert the signature.

This is one of my favorite time-savers of all time. So, make a list of all of your routine email messages and start creating signatures!

Update: MS Outlook Express instructions found here.

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JC Kadii, Mortgage Virtual Assistant^SM . 770-469-7385. Through http://www.close-more-loans.com/, JC leads a team providing top notch administrative, internet marketing, and technology services to mortgage professionals. Mortgage professionals are encouraged to visit the website and sign up for the More Closings email newsletter to receive the report 6 Steps to More Referrals.

By JC Kadii, MortgageEzines.com^SM

One way to encourage subscribers to your mortgage email newsletter is to provide an incentive or complimentary report. This report should contain valuable information that appeals to your target subscriber, something that they would be hard pressed to find anywhere else.

A great starting point for developing an attractive complimentary report is to think of types of problems you hear your clients mention, or the questions they often ask. Your target market will find any information you provide that addresses their most pressing problems irresistible.

We help our mortgage email marketing clients brainstorm topics, and develop complimentary reports for their target subscribers.

If your mortgage company targets real estate professionals, for example, here are some ideas:

• A beginner’s guide to blogging,

• Tips on keeping your blog fresh without turning it into a full-time job,
• A marketing plan workbook, or
• A collection of shortcuts for the most popular real estate software.

Subscribers expect to receive their complimentary report immediately, and no one has the time to monitor subscriptions and send out individual reports.

If you are a constantcontact.com user, here’s a way to automate the distribution of your complimentary report.

Step 1 – Upload the report to your website. Some of the mortgage website template packages will not allow you to upload documents. If this is the case, use one of the many free document hosting services available.

Step 2 – Make a note of the link to your complimentary report, ex., http://www.yourweb~site~url.com/moreblogging-lesstime.pdf. If the link is long and unwieldly, use snipurl.com or tinyurl.com to shorten it.

Step 3 – Insert the link to your complimentary report in your welcome message, which is automatically sent by Constant Contact to each new subscriber to your mortgage email newsletter.

To customize your welcome letter, click My Settings > Site Visitor Signup > Edit your Contact Email > Edit welcome message.

Please note: It is always a good idea to take the time to customize your welcome message. ConstantContact sends the welcome message to subscribers who use your sign up form. The subscribers you import will not receive the welcome message.

That’s it. Now, everyone who signs up for your constantcontact email newsletter will automatically receive your complimentary report.

Want more tips? Join the Constant Contact Users’ Group on Active Rain.

Ready to try Constant Contact? Get 60 days free now, and a $30 credit when you become a paying customer.

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JC Kadii, MortgageEzines.com. 770-469-7385. JC’s team provides email marketing services to mortgage professionals. Mortgage professionals are encouraged to visit the website and sign up for the More Closings email newsletter to receive the report 6 Steps to More Referrals.

One of my clients uses Outlook. He’s looking for a way to keep appointments, emails and contacts synced between his PC and his assistant’s. They both have access to the network. Anything complicated (ex., Exchange) is not an option.

Have you found a system, software application, or combination that successfully accomplishes this task?

Thanks in advance.