Leads 360 is a longstanding sponsor of lenderama. It’s thanks to companies like them that I can pay for the costs involved in maintaining infrastructure involved in keeping up with our ever increasing web traffic.
They have a new product called Leads 360 Express, and I’m happy to share Avi Fischer’s (Leads 360 Marketing Manager) announcement with you.
We have just opened the beta for our new Leads360 Express product, which is the first full-fledged and full-featured lead management system for the small shops (with 1-5 LOs). Express is both really powerful and really affordable. And we are offering a special deal to beta testers, which is that they will be able to use Express for FREE in the future if they are accepted into our beta pool. The application is available at Express.Leads360.com.
Hmmm, free is my favorite word. It’s worth a look.
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Just a brief heads up that I’m at it again… Yep, I’m running free training teleseminars this week. Most notably, tomorrow we have a FSBO Marketing training session scheduled with Doren Aldana as part of his Meetings With Mortgage Masters interview series.
There’s been a flurry of activity in the industry these last few weeks, and it’s difficult not to get distracted. But a good solid hour of learning can be worth its weight in gold, so I hope to see you there!
It must be ten years old, and I’ve been using the term “flaming logo” ever since. To me, a flaming logo is something that looks really cool, but once the shine wears off, turns out to be less than useful. I’m willing to be persuaded otherwise, but my first reaction to Zillow Mortgage’s new charts is that they are a glorious flaming logo.
As my previous posts reflect, I’m a big fan of Zillow’s mortgage platform. They’ve leveled the playing field for consumers more than any other product to date. I won’t even argue that they may have “leveled” it a bit to much (and I like that too). But adding these charts is a step backwards if you ask me.
I get the premise, the charts average up to the second rate quote information that allows consumers to look at how rates are trending in their markets, or even nationwide. The technology behind the charts is top notch, but the results are gobbledy gook.
If rates have trended up for five days straight, what does that mean?
If the average rate quoted for a 30 fixed with a 720 fico in California is X, what does that mean?
If rates are trending lower in Florida than they are nationally, what does that mean?
The answer to all three questions is that it means nothing. At least they mean nothing to a consumer who’s trying to find a good mortgage. Zillow’s already built a fantastic platform that allows borrowers to compare quotes that are specific to their situation. What other people are being quoted is not relevant. It may cause them to think they are not getting the very best deal for them (when they are). Or even worse, it may cause them to settle for a rate that is not as good as it could be. These charts are TMI, and TMI is the chief reason why consumers become discouraged in their search for a decent mortgage.
Just like the Zestimate, Zillow has a lot of innovative and fun tools to get the conversation rolling. These charts will definitely qualify, and consumers might even say they like them. But I think it’s hurting the very people they’re targeted to help. I’m all for transparency, but relevancy is just as important.
I have resisted tagging blog posts because, frankly, I felt like it was extra work and I just wanted to write and post. I knew my posts were getting good Google coverage because there just wasn’t much out there in the blogosphere to compete with in the title insurance world.
That’s changed.
PLUS, I now have the Ligonier Living blog which is competing with all sorts of Ligonier sites and it’s a different search engine play……so……..I started using tags on Ligonier Living.
I can’t believe the difference in search results. NOW I’M A BELIEVER……
and guess what my new hobby is? I’m going back over old posts and tagging them. YOI - better late than never.
Over time I’ve come to follow quite a few real estate, tech and marketing blogs (my google reader RSS feed) These blogs are consistently informative, have very intelligent authors and many have very large audiences. Many times I have the need to reach out to these bloggers big and small and send them a quick note. I might want to TELL THEM THEY ARE AWESOME, let them know how much I like their writing, that there is a bad link or formatting or broken something on their blog they might not be aware of, ask their advice, or perhaps refer them business. I could just as easily be a consumer trying to give them business.
The only problem is …… they don’t have a contact us page. Sometimes you have to go to the “about us” page and even then I’ve encountered blogs that give an email address that is bad or simply nothing at all. I could just drop a note in the comments, but I feel like awkward doing that, it feels very disruptive. I’m usually not going to do it.
Considering most real estate bloggers blog at least in part to generate leads and there will certainly be consumers that end up on your blog even if you are B2B facing as opposed to consumer facing in your topics, there is no reason that there shouldn’t be at least one simple contact link on the top navigation bar linking to a shiny new contact page.
It may sound silly but I’m seeing this consistently and it is a bit odd. The thing is that creating a contact page is so dead simple there is no reason not to have one. If you are a wordpress user, then my favorite contact plugin is cformsII It will accomplish the most easy tasks if needed and has extensive customization abilities.
Don’t make your readers, referrals and future clients work to get your attention. New Rule: Your blog must contain a contact page linked to from your top menu navigation.
