THE LETTER X

ISSUE #13

Presented by: PitchHub

Seriously, I am shocked! In case you didn’t see the news, Twitter had its worst targeted hack in its 14yr history. You had people like Elon Musk, Former President Obama, Bill Gates, and others sending out tweets about bitcoin (no surprise) to their followers. 

How did this massive hack happen? Well this dead hacker’s Twitter account could possibly hold the key. 

This week we are going to take a pause from your regularly scheduled programming to talk about some things I have seen this month in the industry. We will still have the same content you have come to know and love, but this week it will be all about helping. 

After all, my calling card is that “I solve problems and help people” so with that in mind let’s get into this week's TLX. Enjoy!

Say Yes Every Day 

This week Say yes to this moment in time. Last week I was speaking to a colleague and I was sharing that I saw a beautiful monarch butterfly in my backyard that morning. She said, hey, that’s savoring. I hadn’t heard that term before so I did some research, do you know that there is a certificate program on coursera.com, that is taught by a Yale professor that teaches you how to savor moments?  

Almost 10 Million people have signed up for the course since the pandemic. So this week, think about how you can savor your moments by opening your mind, your eyes and your ears because that moment will never come again.  - Laura Brandao

Sharing is Caring! Remember to share your personal referral link (bottom of email) for a chance to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card! 

The News X Recap!

Remote work is becoming all the rage. BUT...will the remote work craze sparked by COVID-19 sound a death knell for office buildings?

Same pros in the CRE space are starting to see some fallout. “Most companies have now realized that they can work as effectively remotely. Office tenants contemplating their future requirements are going to be leasing less space than they have now.”

What about Residential Real Estate? NYT recently published this article titled 5 Ways the Coronavirus Has Changed Suburban Real Estate.

We are starting to see more and more stories about people who have already moved from the Big City to The Burbs and as we continue to go through the era of covid, I am sure we will see more trends arise. 

Speaking about moving, fellow marketer and CMO Tim Wagner recently announced that he has moved from Supreme Lending to Synergy One Lending. I have known Tim for a while and I know he will do some great things for SOL. 

Barry Called It….again. With rates dropping below 3% MLOs have to wear oven mitts to answer their phone because they are on fire! Barry thinks we are heading to mid 2% rates, and I make a habit of never arguing with the legend. 

Speaking of Barry, on July 21st at 1pm Eastern, MBS Highway will be holding a Live roundtable hosted by Megan Anderson featuring Barry Habib, Danny Horanyi and Ryan Grant discussing how to Maximize Income in the Current Mortgage Market. This will be hosted on the MBS Highway Facebook Page.

The Vieaux

Last week’s poll results – it was a landslide – 75% of the respondents said that they plan to continue a work from home strategy and limit the amount of travel once we get out from under Covid. 100% of you said you are working extraordinarily more hours now than pre-Covid. Thanks for all of the responses – Neither of the above answers surprised me…..

Shout Out to the Young Guns!

Having spent my adult life in the mortgage industry my closest relationships (outside of my family) are with friends I have made in this great business. I am so happy to see the relationships forming with younger people in our business. I love seeing the bonds that are building and the collaboration that this younger generation of mortgage professionals has amongst themselves. Even as one of the OGs now in the business I am energized, motivated, and inspired by this younger generation of mortgage pros. I am excited to see where you take our industry over the next decade and beyond. I am proud and honored to work alongside some of the best and brightest of the next generation of mortgage experts!! - Brain Vieaux

Good things come to those who Mastermind! Have you joined the Mortgage X Mastermind yet? I would like to invite you to join our community that is 100% focused on helping MODERN industry professionals crush it. 

Mortgage X at CMLA!

Excited that the Mortgage X team of Christine Beckwith and myself will be speaking at the Colorado Mortgage Lenders Association (CMLA) Virtual Convention on August 6th. 

Our session is titled: 2020 and Beyond - What is the Future of the Mortgage Industry?

Other featured speakers include:

Kristin Messerli

Barry Habib

Phil Shoemaker

Eddy Perez

Tony Thompson

Dave Savage

Alec Hanson

Bruce Lund

Rick Arvielo and more…

For more information or to register visit the link below!

https://cmla.com/convention/2020/home 

#RealTalk

Followers Don’t Mean Jack Squat

Pretty bold, huh? Well yes followers matter, but ONLY if they are the RIGHT followers. I received an unusual amount of messages asking me about services that help grow followers, specifically on instagram. But here is the thing. Follower Growth only matters IF it also equates to Business Growth. These services rarely do that. How rare? Like getting bit by a shark, rare. 

Don’t get me wrong, having a good amount of followers helps, but only if they serve your intended business goals and are engaged with your content. If they aren’t then you will meet the same fate as this Instagram “Star” who couldn’t get her 2 million followers to buy her t-shirts. 

Leads, Leads, Leads

I have covered this topic before, but for those that are looking at buying leads, I want everyone to understand one simple fact. The amount of leads sold FAR OUTWEIGHS the amount of transactions that happen in a given year. Not only that, only a certain percentage of transactions come from those leads. 

After doing the math using data from the MBA and NAR, in 2019 there were roughly just a little under 4 million transactions that used financing. According to NAR’s reports, a little over 50% of total transactions are referral based. That means the rest are a combination of direct to consumer marketing, paid advertising, and lead buy. In a given year tens of millions of leads are sold to the industry. 

My point? You don’t want to buy leads, you want to buy customers. Don’t be wowed by a firm that says they sourced hundreds of thousands of leads because a majority have no chance of converting. 

Voice X

What we are listening to - Presented by REAL Disrupt

Positively Charged Biz - Pam Marmon

Next Level Loan Officers - Meet the Coaches with Sean Zalmanoff

The Confident Closers - Breaking the Cycle

Culture Matters - Adam Contos: A Mindset of Abundance

Blondes Have More Funds - Back to the Beginning

Laugh, Lend, Eat - Creating the perfect CRM

Mortgage X - Coaching WILL Make a Difference w/Whitney Hall

Mortgage 75x - Angels and Demons

Marketing Interrupt - DotCom Secrets - Hook, Story, Offer

Meme of the Week

This is courtesy of Chris Mason. 

If you have a meme you would like featured send it to frazier@marketinginterrupt.com

My Announcement

Excited to announce that the management team at PitchHub has brought me on as a Strategic Advisor for their video service. This is not a full-time position, but just an advisory role. They have some next gen tech that will help Loan Officer and Agents crush it on video. I am excited to help them dominate the Mortgage industry.

PitchHub will also now be joining FinLocker, Whiteboard CRM, Podium, WikiRealty, Leadpops, Floify, and Homebot (Very soon) as partners of Mortgage X. 

You will soon be able to get access to all these services at the MX discounted rate through the Mortgage X Mastermind channel. 

Want a Mental Challenge?

A lot of you have been watching my journey as I do the #75HARD program and I appreciate all the support. So many people have felt inspired by my story to start the program themselves, so I started a Mortgage & Real Estate motivation and support group for those interested in taking the 75H challenge. Right now we have about 23 people and always open for more. 75H has truly changed my life and if I can help one person experience what I have, then it is all worth it. You can join the group here. 

It has been a challenging week for all in the AIME Community, but that should not take away from all the great work Mortgage Brokers have done in growing market share and more importantly putting people in homes. Today is the Third Annual National Mortgage Brokers Day! Brokers have been responsible for closing nearly 25% of the mortgage volume in the first half of this year and have continued to be a bright spot in the economy. Enjoy your day Broker Fam!

This Month’s Giveaway

A special thank you to Laura Brandao who is again sponsoring this week’s Book, Everything Is Negotiable: The 5 Tactics to Get What You Want in Life, Love, and Work by Dr. Meg Meyers Morgan. 

In order to win a free copy please text the word “letterx” (no quotes) to 66866 and follow the instructions. Good Luck!

Remember to share your personal referral link below for a chance to win a $50 Amazon Gift Card! I hope you enjoyed TLX #13! Have a great weekend.