A few years back, I found myself in my Ford F-150 pickup truck, sitting in the parking lot with my head in my hands thinking that this loan officer work was just too darn hard… 
 
Leads were a little hard to come by, appraisals were slow, and I was having to make some difficult “your deal is going sideways” phone calls… 
 
As I was having my own little pity party, I heard an inner voice tell me to look up. 
 
When I did, I had a life-changing moment.  Let me explain further. 
 
When I looked up, on top of the building next to me, there were 3 men and 1 lady on top of the roof.  And this roof wasn’t like most roofs, it was a flat roof. 
 
Well, from time to time with a flat roof, you have to “Tar Mop” it. 
 
That’s where you get buckets of super hot tar (so it’s spreadable) and literally get kitchen mops, and spread the hot tar on the roof.  
 
I did that one summer when I was in high school and I can tell you it was the hardest job I’ve ever done.  The tar was super hot, it splattered on my arms causing instant burn blisters, the fumes from the hot tar were almost as bad as the mosquito bites and the sunburn from the hot Florida sun.  
 
As I looked up from my air conditioned seat in my truck that day and saw those 4 people working very, very hard in the most miserable conditions, I heard “that voice” again… 
 
“Carl, you want to know what hard work is, those 4 workers on that roof are experiencing hard work.”  It’s hot, spreading the tar is like spreading molasses, just backbreaking work… 
 
… oh, and by the way, it pays around $14 an hour at best. 
 
I then heard that voice one more time… 
 
“Carl, I’m asking you to do 3 simple things to make more money than you could have ever dreamed of…” 
 
“I’m asking you to Talk, Type, and Think… Which you can do while sitting in an air-conditioned room, in a very comfortable chair… no fumes, no mosquitos, no sunburn… all while making more in 1 month than the roofers will make in an entire year.” 
 
Talk, Type on a computer, and Think.   Resulting in helping a lot of people, making lots and lots of money, and no tar fumes. 

… and here’s the other thing, we don’t even have to think too much because we can just copy the already super successful, well, as long as that’s who we’re hanging with instead of the doomsayers.  
 
Once that was crystal clear in my head, I felt a wave of relief and gratitude wash over me like a warm blanket on a cold night. 
 
So here’s the thing, we are not in “hard times” right now, we simply have to talk (saying the right things to the right people), type (communicate and follow up with those people), and think (again, this is minimized by hanging out with the winners). 
 
Now, those that don’t do those things, those that try to do business the same way they did it last year, well, it could be a very very hard season for them coming up.  Don’t be one of them.  

We have to be adaptable and work the “Epic Success Plan” while talking, typing, and thinking.  It’s really just that simple and doesn’t involve buying a bunch of widgets.  
 
The Epic Success Plan is exactly what we are mapping out on our coaching calls with our high-level and high production (while low-stress) loan officers.  It’s absolutely amazing what can be covered, and the results some of the LOs get on even just 1 of these 1 on 1 calls. 
 
If you want a free sample of what even just 1 of those calls can do for you, I’ll give you one.  <no credit card, no “trail”, and no strings attached>  We’ll help you with what to say, who to say it to, how to communicate with them, and what the top producers are thinking… you know, their Epic Success Plan. 
 
Free Sample 1 on 1 Coaching Call 
 
Just go here and we’ll help you with the right activities, the right conversations, and with the right people… right now ☺.   Why, because that’s the way we roll around here.

First of all, thanks so much for the well wishes.  Yepper, the “not so secret, secret headquarters” of my office is located in the epicenter of Milton’s landfall. 

Everybody is ok, just a LOT of future firewood and no power, but it’s all good.

With the no power, I was catching up on some reading and came across this article that Kevin Broughton sent me last week.

WOW!

Such a spot-on, yet simplistic analysis of the 3 things that the top loan originators have.

Here’s a copy of the article <no opt-in needed>, the link goes directly to the PDF to read.

Let me know what you think.

A while ago I received a course on “How To Get A Zero Inbox of Emails”. 
 
After spending about 12 or so hours reading the course and then implementing it, I came to a shocking conclusion: 
 
Zero Inbox Is Not A Prize!! 
 
After doing everything it said, which took a good part of a day, I found that I had ZERO more deals; Zero more income; and really accomplished absolutely nothing that is measurable. 
 

There is no magical check or money order that pops into your inbox when you get that “zero inbox” notification… 

I also shockingly discovered that just more emails pop in 3 minutes later. 
 
I remember that early in my career, feeling overwhelmed with all the emails, that I actually did an “email bankruptcy” and just deleted all the inbox, and never saw a difference… 
 
I discovered that when I really wanted to see a difference in my productivity, when I really wanted to increase the purchase deals in my pipeline, that I had to do actual “Loan Getting Activity”. 
 
I spent the next 30 days in “lockdown mode” and mapped out, then implemented a simple 4-step plan to bring in more purchase loans… 

… and not just a few more loans, but A LOT OF PURCHASE LOANS. 

I did this by doing an intensive study of my last 50 purchase deals that came in. 

I asked myself this simple question: 
 
“What specific activities brought in the last 50 purchase deals?” 
 
and “What do I need to do to do more of that / those things?” 
 
I was actually shocked to see how simple this was going to be. 
 
I found it was 4 basic activities: 

1. Talk to more agents that were currently closing 8 or more buyer sides in the last 12 months. 
 
2. Ask for more referrals from the agents and buyers that I was currently working with in current deals in my pipeline. 

3. Contact my past database using 3 methods (phone calls <gasp>, monthly mailers, and emails (the emails were the least effective even though I could automate them) 

4. Call my pre-approved buyers once a week, encouraging them (by having them mentally visualize why they were buying a new home in the first place), and then using a very simple and cool script, ask them for referrals of their friends, family, and co-workers who were looking to buy, sell, or refinance. 
 
That’s it.  Just sooooo simple. 

That’s how I drastically increased my purchase deals in a very very short period of time, and that’s how my team still does it today to have one of the most successful teams in the nation, all while I am working a 32-hour work week with frequent vacations. 
 
If you are going to work, if you are going to put effort into something, let’s make sure it has actual measurable results (more closed loans). 
 
I know that doesn’t sound sexy, I know it all happens without having to “build a funnel, I know it all happens without me paying for a bunch of Zillow leads or using some fancy schmancy widget of some sort. 
 
It’s just following a simple 4 step process that I now call the Daily Success Plan. 
 
It is just that simple. 
 
That’s exactly why I now help thousands of loan officers across the nation. 
 
Just to show you how simple it is, I’ll give you a completely free and LIVE 1 hour 1 on 1 Zoom call, just like the ones that these high-producing loan officers and branch managers get on our private one-on-one calls, and walk you through it step by step. 
 
Go Here to schedule your free and private 1 on 1 sample coaching call and we’ll map out in detail, along with scripts we use on our Daily Success Plan.  I’m convinced this will be a very very good use of your time. 
 
See you on the inside (and don’t waste time getting to “zero inbox”)… 

There’s a phenomenon I’ve been talking about for years, and I call it “getting ready to get ready.” One of the biggest things that holds loan officers back is the feeling that they need to be “ready” before starting something new.

This inevitably leads to procrastination, and it holds LO’s back from making major progress in their businesses. Over the years at Mortgage Marketing Animals, I’ve found myself having the same conversations over and over again with LOs in the program. One of those conversations goes a little like this:

“I knew about Mortgage Marketing Animals 15 years ago, but I kept putting it off. My biggest regret is that I didn’t join back then—I would be way further ahead if I had just joined when I had first heard about it! I had friends that did and I could see them growing, but it took me another six to seven years before I joined.”

The reason so many people say they wished they had joined us earlier is because even within the first few minutes of their onboarding call, they developed a completely different view of their business and their lives.

Only after that first call did they understand the changes they needed to make and how to get ready to maximize their success. They realized they didn’t need to get ready to join Mortgage Marketing Animals, because they had no idea what to get ready for. It was just procrastination.

If you need help overcoming procrastination in your mortgage business, I think there’s one lesson we can all learn here. Just dive in and get started!  Schedule a Discovery Call to see how our Program can help you overcome procrastination and other loan officer obstacles. You’ll be energized that you took the first step, and you’ll enjoy the process.

Check out the text that Tara McCafferty, a great friend of mine (and Freedom Club member) sent me.

What you may not know is, she just moved to Jacksonville, FL from Reno, NV knowing literally nobody here, and yet working Thor’s Hammer strategy, 67% of her scheduled closings are from her new connections in Florida.

#RealCourageRealLeadsRealClosings

Come to find out, good ol’ fashion prospecting works!

Proud of you Tara!!  Leading through inspiration.