Screw the banks? Today's hero is tomorrow's sitting duck.

There's an excellent article in today's New York Times, called "Home Equity Frenzy Was A Bank Ad Come True." (just go to http://www.nytimes.com and enter this headline in their search box)

There are three very important mortgage marketing lessons you should take away from this article:

One, more than half of your success is just getting out there and putting your message across. Like Woody Allen says, when it comes down to it, 80% of your success is just showing up. Easy step, yet most people are too scared to even go there, so they die a slow death on the vine, before harvest season's even begun.

Two, there's a huge benefit to creating proprietary names and processes for yourself. Like the article says, anyone can get a "second mort.gage," but having "equity access" is a privilege reserved for the few people lucky enough to get involved with the lender sponsoring this program.

I don't think I've ever created any kind of a marketing campaign yet, that isn't using at least one form of proprietary marketing. This is one of the easiest ways to differentiate yourself and yet, few people sit down and try to think this through. Instead, they rush to copy what the next guy is doing.

Look, if you want great results, you have to go to great lengths to get them. Conventional wisdom and "doing what the other guy is doing" only takes you so far, if it even takes you anywhere at all. (Conventional wisdom May get you conventional results, if you're lucky.)

And lastly, no matter how much of a hero you may look like today, at some point you're going to face stark criticism for something you've done. And believe me, you don't have to create an economic crisis to be the target of abject criticism -- when you're successful you're the target "just because."

But the good news is, if you're being criticized you know you're having an impact, and most of the people criticizing you are watching you in frustration, not criticizing you constructively. So ignoring them is easy as long as you're aware of this.

There are other good lessons in the Times article as well, and I encourage you to read it.

*** Loan Officers: Need More Cash? There are less than 30 days until the kickoff of our ARMs Marketing Program. Join us at http://www.loturnaround.com/arms and read all about it at http://www.loturnaround.com/armsprogram ***

Now go close some deals, Craig Garber & Mike Miget

P.S. Loan Officers: Need More Cash? There are less than 30 days until the kickoff of our ARMs Marketing Program. Join us at http://www.loturnaround.com/arms and read all about it at http://www.loturnaround.com/armsprogram

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