Creating “Link Bait” is what search engine marketers call the art of creating unique, compelling content that motivates other webmasters to link to your site. It often comes in the form of weird, funny or controversial and it is probably the single most effective thing loan officers can do to boost their website or blog’s search rankings and website traffic.

The reason link bait is so effective is that it plays to what search engine algorithms like the most: growth of so-called “natural” one-way links from other websites. If you put something on a page of your site that inspires other webmasters and bloggers to link to it, you have generated more positive affect to your search engine rankings than submitting your website URL to 1,000 directories or getting 1,000 reciprocal link deals with other sites BY A HUGE MARGIN.

A great example of link bait and it’s close cousin, viral marketing, is the following video posted to YouTube. You’ve probably already seen it because it is effective and people have talked about it, linked to it and generated buzz for the creator.

Viral marketing isn’t a term often used in the mortgage industry, probably because many people believe it’s too difficult to achieve viral-like results in an ultra-competitive marketplace and the concept really only exists in online marketing.  However, thinking “outside the box” may lead you to alternative approaches in your marketing that can achieve viral symptoms.   So what makes marketing viral anyway?  There are three basic keys we’ll discuss in this article.

Viral Marketing Key 1:  Make it easy to pass on 

Think of a virus - it easily transfers from host to host usually via air or touch.  Viral marketing gets it’s name because the marketing material is easily passed from one person to another and so your viral marketing campaign must include a way to get your material from one person to another, the easier the better.

When a customer visits your website and finds some aspect of it really cool, do you have a way for them to quickly and easily share it with their friends and associates?  If not, find a way to do it because otherwise you may not be maximizing the investment you’ve made in your mortgage website.  A feature that lets site visitors “share with a friend” is a good example.

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The brokers out there who are still around since the market turned sour all have the ability to adapt.  Congratulations to you all!  Looking at the silver lining in heavy storm clouds doesn’t pay the bills, however, but returning to business basics can help you weather the storm until the cold winter the industry is now facing melts off into a warmer spring-like market place again.

FHA

With subprime loans going extinct for all intents and purposes, FHA loans are more important than ever.  If your brokerage is still not approved to originate FHA loans you may want to get approved now or it just may be “never”.

Work with Realtors

When refis are few and far between, funding purchases can be the gravy train you need to keep things rolling until refis heat up again.  Establishing new Realtor contacts and greasing existing ones is a good place to start.

Home prices falling across the board in the U.S. is good for buyers and though there are currently less buyers eligible for financing, many eligible buyers may be looking to upgrade while prices are low.

Cut Costs

Cutting costs is not only not enjoyable, it’s often difficult to do.  Equipment leases, leases for office space, employee salaries and other expensive items can be difficult to reduce and possibly impossible to cut when the revenue isn’t around to pay all the bills.   However, now is the time for creative thinking so that cash flow can meet expenditures.

Overall, a shift in mentality is required to make it through times like these and if you don’t adapt, you die.

If you’re into search engine optimization as a strategy for driving traffic to your mortgage website, you may want to purchase a listing in the BOTW.org directory.  They aren’t cheap, but they are quality links.  If you have a blog, you can get into the blog directory for much less since it’s still relatively new.

Also, if you go before the end of today (Aug. 31st), use promo code SIZZLE25 for 25% off.

If you are like me you have a certain number of hobbies (unrelated to the mortgage business even) that make life more enjoyable. Pursuing hobbies is not only enjoyable because of the hobby itself but also because of the people you meet who share the same interest.

A few months ago I volunteered to help out with a local film festival, movies being a hobby of mine, and promptly met some amazing people. What I wasn’t expecting was a great opportunity to both support the festival and do some fantastic marketing at the same time.

As it turned out, the festival was looking for sponsors from local businesses (mostly film related businesses at that) to pay for some of the expenses, provide locations for viewings, and provide food for parties. Sponsors could donate cash, goods, or services and received exposure at three levels depending on the cash equivalent of the donation, with the minimum being $100.

The exposure for the sponsors was fantastic with things like logos in press releases, logos and links on the film festival’s website (excellent link value from a very respected site), logo screen time before viewings, and even the ability to provide an insert in the festival program.

What’s more, the festival organizers had developed a demographic profile of the historical and expected attendees to help sponsors better formulate their ads. 400-500 people were expected to attend, not including participants.

So what started out as merely an opportunity to get geeky in a particular hobby soon became a great opportunity to do a little marketing as well. (And there’s nothing wrong with that, right?!?)

The point of this story is that there are opportunities to expand your business all over the place - sometimes you just need to open your eyes and your mind to see them.

If you don’t already have an account with Yahoo search marketing, you can register for a new account and get $75 in free credit.  This is not a bad way to try to generate some leads for yourself.

To get the $75, go to sponsoredsearch.yahoo.com/sellmore then enter promo code US1626B while registering.

If you have a website for your mortgage business, and are wondering about pay-per-click (PPC) advertising you may want to take advantage of this offer from MSN AdCenter. When you register a new account, just enter promo code AD4500 to get $100 free.

MSN charges a $5 verification fee, so you end up netting $95, which isn’t a bad deal at all. It’s a great way to do some experimentation with PPC advertising on someone else’s dime.

In addition to the free money, MSN can deliver highly targeted traffic to your site on a wide variety of demographics - not just based on your keyword list. Only want traffic in Miami, FL? Done. Only want traffic on weeknights after 8 PM? You can do that, too. Add in specific keywords and keyword phrases and you can send yourself highly targeted potential leads.

If you like to integrate gifts as part of your marketing strategy (for borrowers - remember RESPA compliance), you may find a few of the following resources useful. And if you aren’t currently giving closing gifts or doing any sort of promotion by using gifts then you might formulate some ideas to drum up more business for yourself, and extend the reach of your marketing dollar in the process.

• Promotional gifts at Branders
  This place has it all - USB memory sticks / MP3 players, wireless rechargeable optical mice, multi-purpose tools, and the common stuff like calendars, pens, & mugs.

• $25 gift certificates for $10 at Restaurant.com
  Not a bad way to extend your marketing budget. This site has restaurants in every major city that participate, with one draw back: most gift certificates require a minimum purchase. The selection isn’t too broad, either. You won’t find any chain restaurants.

• 20%-25% off at Borders
  This is a nice perk if you have an LLC or are incorporated. It’s a standard discount available to any business or group and is available for in-store purchases.

• 15% off a LobsterGram
  Different, and definitely not for every client, but huge potential to get your clients telling their friends and family about you and your gift.

• Exclusive event tickets at StubHub
  If you’re like me, gift-giving is all about doing something for someone that they wouldn’t normally do for themselves. Event tickets are a good way to accomplish this for the average client.

• Movie Gift Certificates - Fandango Bucks
  The largest brand in online movie tickets will let you buy tickets and send them instantly via email or you can have them sent to your email so you can print the tickets out and deliver or mail them to your clients.

• Any Gift Certificate You Want - GiftCertificates.com
  This is one easy, convenient site where you can purchase gift certificates for almost any national brand you can think of.  Not a bad way to save some time (and money when they run promotions) on a gift card for your clients.

• Moving Boxes or Supplies
  This is an interesting option for a client that is moving and could use more boxes. Thoughtfulness can go a long way to developing loyalty and eliminating a client’s desire to “shop” rates.

• Stumped? Try eBay
  Just browsing eBay looking for nothing in particular will often get the creative juices flowing, even if you don’t end up buying your client a gift there.

If you are a direct mail marketer, you probably have already got an idea of what works best for you. If part of “what works” includes continuous testing and experimentation, then you might find a new product from the United States Postal Service quite intriguing: photo stamps.

One strategy that many direct mailers find effective is to make the piece look as personal as possible. In other words, hand-written addresses instead of computer printed addresses, hand-written return addresses instead of printed, and stamps instead of machine-printed postage.

Photo stamps can add another level of personalization to your mail pieces by allowing you to put your picture on every stamp, in a larger size than a standard stamp.

In addition to added personalization, having your personal photograph on your stamps could also help draw attention to the piece simply because custom photos on stamps is a relatively new concept - they would almost certainly stand out.

Stamps.com will allow you to upload any image you want, manipulate it, and order directly from the site. These stamps are more expensive (about twice the normal cost), but overall may yield a higher ROI on your marketing dollar.

What do you think about using photo stamps in your direct mail marketing efforts?

It’s been a long time coming, but I’ve finally gotten ’round to completing the user directory here at MBL. There are a number of new links toward the top of the site for the various categories in the directory, which are meant to help users find others by what they do.

As the site grows, so will the directory. New categories are possible and if you belong to one that doesn’t appear please feel free to contact me with a suggestion.

Here are some answers to (what will probably be) common questions about the directory:

• How do you get a picture/logo by your listing in the directory?

  First, you must be a V.I.P. Member, then you must upload a profile picture in your user control panel.

• How do you get a bolded box around your listing?

  You must be a sponsor, which will also put you at the top of the list.

• Who shows up first in the list?

  First, sponsors. Next, members are listed by their MBL score. The MBL score is a combination of total posts in the forums and reputation points received from other members. Therefore, the more you post and the better quality posts you make, the higher you will be in the directory.

• Do you have to participate in the directory?

  No. You can opt-out through the control panel.

• Why participate in the directory?

  For service/product providers the answer to this question should be obvious. For originators: borrowers reach MBL through search engines all the time, and may find you through the directory.