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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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.

Web marketing 101 is all about getting links from other sites that point to your site. As a mortgage broker or loan officer, you can boost traffic to your website by submitting your information to the many hundreds of web directories available across the internet. Each link you earn represents potential clicks to your site as well as potential bonuses in search engine rankings.

With that in mind, here is a list of 335 free web directories where you can submit your site:

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Marketing to a niche is my favorite way to get results. Why? Because you know better what your target customers need and want, compared to simply marketing to the general public. The more you know, the better you can tweak your marketing message and boost your return on investment (ROI). Niche marketing applies to many businesses but following is a list of eleven niches specific to originating mortgages:

1. Purchase Loans. We start with one of the basics. You can
   find subsets of niches within the purchase niche like FSBOs, Investment Properties, Land/Farms/Ranches, and referrals from Realtors. The various sub-niches represent a different group to whom you can market, all of which have different needs and interests, therefore they will likely respond differently to your marketing materials.
    
2. Construction Loans. Much like purchases, construction loans have sub-niches like Custom Home Builders, Subdividers, Condo/PUD Builders, Owner-Builders, Second Home/Vacation Home Builders.
    
3. Loans for Home Repairs. I considered including this in the construction niche, but decided it deserves a classification of it’s own. There are a wide variety of needs home owners might have when it comes to home repairs, including: updating roofs, windows, doors, heating, air conditioning, or other worn or outdated basics of the home. Home Repair customers might also be interested in finishing a basement, remodeling an area of their home, or adding a pool in the backyard. All these repairs and updates require money. Imagine the opportunity of networking with roofers, HVAC companies, window and door companies, etc. They have customers that need the money you can provide them.
    
4. Converting ARMs. This particular niche is hot right now, with rates on the rise and many ARMs set to make their first rate adjustment in the near future. You can get a list of borrowers with ARMs from your local county records and set up a simple mail merge in Microsoft Word to send a customized letter reminding the borrowers that their rate may soon increase. The more targeted you get, the better.
    
5. Mobile / Manufactured Home Loans. I decided to make this it’s own niche because there is a good amount of demand for loans on these properties, yet they seem to be fairly hard to place. If you can find a good lender or two with some good programs for manufactured homes, you can make a nice living focusing on these types of loans.
    
6. Foreclosure Bailout Loans. Yet another niche that requires knowing what wholesale programs are available to fund these loans. Find some good ones and you can make a good living working this niche.
    
7. Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Loans. FHA is your best friend when it comes to Chapter 13 BKs. Study up on the requirements under FHA and find other wholesale programs that allow recent BKs and you’re well on your way to working a solid niche. Here’s a direct quote from HUD’s website:
   

   A Chapter 13 bankruptcy does not disqualify a borrower from obtaining an FHA-insured mortgage provided the lender documents that one year of the payout period under the bankruptcy has elapsed and the borrower’s payment performance has been satisfactory (i.e., all required payments made on time). In addition, the borrower must receive permission from the court to enter into the mortgage transaction.

    

8. Debt Consolidation Loans. This niche is almost too big to be called a niche, but it can’t be forgotten. The only problem I have with this one is that it’s one of the most competitive.
    
9. Cash-Out Loans. Same deal for this niche – not very specific and could probably be combined with debt consolidation.
    
10. Rate and Term Refis. Perhaps "refis" should be the niche with debt consolidation, cash-out, and rate & term as the sub-niches. However, it is probably easier to find data that will allow you to target borrowers eligible for rate & terms than it would be to find those interested in debt consolidation or plain old cash-out refis.
     
11. FHA Streamline Refis. This is it’s own niche because of the nature of the FHA Streamline. Easy, fast, and somewhat neglected. Loan Officers can do well focusing on this niche.

Do you work any other niches not listed here?

You’re familiar with the expression “If life gives you lemons, make lemonade”, which suggests the theme of turning a negative into a positive. Well, while you don’t need to have a negative in your mortgage marketing efforts before you can gain a positive, so to speak, you can certainly turn lemonade into mortgage leads. Following is a simple, inexpensive idea for generating leads that any loan officer can do.

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Many mortgage brokers have been taken to the cleaners by fraudulent people who pose as mortgage lead companies.  They get promised the world, send in their check, and never hear from the lead company again – or maybe they just get the run around from that company and end up in a court battle to get their money back.  Before you buy leads from a new and unproven source, follow this one simple rule to help save yourself from potential trouble.

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The following seven methods for driving visitors to your mortgage website are not new or revolutionary; they are tried and true methods used by interenet marketers in various industries.  If you are new to having your own website, this information will help you begin to form a solid base of knowledge for quality site promotion and help you achieve success with your website marketing efforts.

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Need a few more loans but don’t have the cash to do some serious marketing? Have no fear. In this article I am going to reveal 7 fantastic ways to generate leads almost for free. These methods are super cheap (most are free) and work like gangbusters.

How do I know? Because I shared them with my coaching clients and they had excellent results.

These 7 methods are just a few of the over 30 cheap marketing methods I share in one lesson of my 24 lesson Jump Start Your Mortgage Career E-Class. This new class is for any loan officer who is new and struggling or any verteran that just needs a little help with their marketing. It took me over 2 years to create the content for this 12 week, 24 lesson class, and I can honestly say there is nothing available out there that compares to this class.

Here we go…

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