About Me
- Chris Ripley
- Title Marketing That Works, a division of the Strategic Marketing Group. 11668 Cygnet Drive Waldorf, MD 20601 301-638-4755 cripley@smg2.com www.smg2.com
Title Marketing That Works Fan Box
I've seen a big change in the marketing world and marketing media in the last five years. The ability of a company to use inexpensive, easy to use tools to market their company has exploded. While we've used email marketing for at least 10 years now, the last five years have seen social media like Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter really bring new approaches to marketing. Wide availability of high speed Internet service facilitated the growth of YouTube and online video in general. The next wave will be mobile marketing, as companies vie to bring their content to our cell phones and smart phones.
While there are almost 500 million Facebook users and millions of Facebook business Pages, there are still many business owners and operators who don't understand how to use effectively Facebook to market the business. We will help you with everything you need to have an effective, revenue generating Facebook Page. The New Media Doctor will help cure your Facebook marketing ills. We can:
- Set up a Facebook Page for your Business
- Create Home Page for your Facebook Page
- Help Create Content and manage your Page
The Trump Marina hosted this years NAILTA convention. The hotel is about 25 years old and shows its age a bit. The rooms are clean and other than the strong smoke smell from the gaming halls it’s a great place to have the conference from an exhibitor’s point of view. You can park near the hotel and easily carry your collateral to the room without difficulty.
The audio on these recordings is a little rough.
I can honestly say all of the speakers were very good. While I always want to learn more about the industry, I think everyone would agree these events can sometimes be used as a cure for long-term insomnia.
Regina Lowrie's keynote brought me up-to-date on the current state of the mortgage industry, the financial engine that drives our industry. She’s deeply connected to the politics of our industry. While I don’t always agree with her, her knowledge is unquestioned.
Harvey and Michael Pollack gave us an in-depth discussion of the income and expense structure of a profitable title company and gave many ways to honestly increase your revenue. I'm going to see if they will allow me to post their presentation so you can see it. One of the big questions they discuss is how much you should spend on marketing. I’ll post the excerpt from my book on this topic in the next couple of weeks.
One of the highlights of the day was Rob Holman's discussion of the current legal environment of the title industry and why we need to have NAILTA. I've recorded almost all of Rob's presentation and I'm sharing it in this blog. If this doesn’t convince an independent land title agent to join NAILTA I don't know what will. All of my clients are independent agents. The survival of the independent title company is critical to the success of the business I enjoy. I'm going to work to help educate agents about this organization. You should consider joining NAILTA and also consider volunteering to help it grow.
The other highlight for me was Adam Leitman Bailey's presentation. While he focused on the new HUD-1, the piece particularly interested me (and should interest you too), was the provision lenders must include up to three estimates of closing costs from three different title companies in their good faith estimate. I’m going to develop a campaign for title companies to use to market to lenders asking them for the chance to be one of the three companies. I even discussed with Adam the concept of actually guaranteeing a lender you would always be within the 10% rule on a deal you were given the opportunity to be one of the three companies. This would help the lender feel more comfortable with their estimates and give you a foot in the door of working with the lender. This is what competition is about.
The final presentation included a Fraud and Risk Management session where agents could also get CE’s. There were some great title stories. I learned I need to stick to marketing, as I don’t want to be responsible for all of that money and with a daughter at the University of Michigan on out-of-state tuition I don’t have the $440,000 to cough up if someone does an electronic transfer from my escrow account to their bank in Nigeria. One of the tools title companies need to prevent this from happening is called “Rynoh” www.rynoh.com. If I were you I’d have Rynow.
And I didn’t forget to stop at the White House Sub Shop before I left Atlantic City. I saw Joe Frazier there once.
Originally submitted at Staples
Prints up to 35 ppm (mfr specs) Up to 1200 x 1200 dpi resolution for 1200 Image Quality Duty cycle up to 50,000 pages/month Approx. 6.5 seconds to first page Duplexing Network ready Cable NOT included Small-workgroup network printing with paper-saving duplex
Toner Hog
Pros: Sharp detail
Cons: Too much toner used
Best Uses: Everyday documents
Describe Yourself: Heavy Duty User
Primary use: Business
This printer is a toner hog. And at $135 a cart I returned it for the $50 credit and bought the Brother 5370dn. I've used the Brother 5250dn for years with good results (I run a marketing business and I may print 1000 page a week).
While the copies were very good on the Lexmark, the cost of the toner makes the Brother (longer cart life and 3rd party carts available) a MUCH better choice.
(legalese)
I think it would be good for me to discuss another timely topic in marketing title companies – marketing to individual consumers.
We’ve seen many companies market to homebuyers and sellers. One of the points of contact in marketing to individual consumers is Google search. These companies either use Google pay-per-click or search engine optimization (SEO) to be on the top of the list when a home buyer searches “title companies in Waldorf, MD” to get information about title companies in the area so they can choose a title company to do their settlement. They may also advertise on home sales web sites and run banner ads on similar sites.
While this is a good strategy, I’m just not sure this is where a traditional title company wants to start their marketing efforts. If you can say you’ve got every real estate agent and mortgage lender possible in your target market and you need to continue to grow, this may be one market to try to exploit.
I’ll tell you right away that this market will be much harder. While the legal environment may be trying to get more buyers to choose their own title company, the reality of the situation is most lenders and real estate agents are involved in the decision. Consumer marketing is much tougher. You will need to develop a separate strategic and tactical marketing plan. Start with the surveys. Good luck!
1. Dallas Texas - April 28th 10am-5pm - Dallas Sheraton - 400 Olive St.
2. Ann Arbor, MI - May 13th 10am-5pm - Holiday Inn Express - 600 Briarwood Circle
Boot Camp attendees have really enjoyed these sessions. In Orlando we got great reviews and ended up with a great recording of the whole day.
Some thoughts about making it sane again...
I just got back from a whirl-wind long weekend in Orlando, FL. On Thursday I hosted our first Title Marketing Boot Camp (TMBC) for 2010. The attendees enjoyed the day and couldn't wait to get back to their title companies and start implementing the strategies and tactics we discussed. I’ve put up a You Tube clip of the Title Marketing Formula presentation. Check it out.
At TMBC had great discussions about getting better results from their mailings, how to set up their database, and how to set up a Facebook page for their title company. We actually had people setting up their company Facebook page on their smart phones while the class was going.
I spent Friday through Sunday at The Glazer-Kennedy Outrageous Marketing Academy. I learned more than my brain can hold. I took a lot of notes. I had some cool photos taken including the one in the straight jacket in this email.
Today we started burning the DVD's of TMBC. All of the boot camp survivors ;) will receive DVD's of the day to watch again and review what they learned. Everyone who attended TMBC also receives 2 hours of tele-consulting. I've already scheduled a few sessions.
When we were promoting TMBC I had many people ask me when were having our next live event or if they could purchase recordings of the Orlando boot camp.
Today I have the answer to both of these questions.
When are you having your next Title Marketing Boot Camp and why are you wearing that stupid hat?
We're scheduled our next Title Marketing Boot Camp for March 17th - St. Patrick's Day - in Washington, DC (actually, Clinton, Maryland, were John Wilkes Booth was from). I'm hoping all of the attendees will have their luckiest day of the year - and learn how to systemize the marketing of their title company. The Web site has been updated with all of the boot camp information and we are giving you the chance to sign up by January 31st for only $247, $50 less than we have ever offered. Click here to learn more. I'm wearing the hat because I like it! - it keeps my head warm.
We are also selling a complete set of unedited DVD’s and CD’s from last week’s Title Marketing Boot Camp. You will receive DVD’s for watching at home or on your PC and CD’s to listen while you’re driving or working-out. You will also receive the 300+ page manual including copies of all of the letters that come with the TMTW Sales Automation System. You can purchase the unedited DVD’s and CD’s at our Web site for only $297, $200 of the full seminar price. If you purchase the unedited DVD’s and CD’s before January 31 we will include one hour of tele-consulting, $150 value. Get the same information in the comfort of your home or office. Get it now.
New! Social Media Seminars
I've partnered with the Virginia Land Title Association to offer the more Social Media seminars in the next few weeks. Many people have asked when our next social media seminars were scheduled. The schedule is:
January 21, 2010 Focus on Facebook - Register by 01/19/2010
February 18, 2010 Look at LinkedIn - Register by 02/15/2010
February 25, 2010 Taking Up Twitter - Register by 02/23/2010
The Virginia Land Title Association is handling all of the registration and they charge a little more for non-members but it's going to a good group. Click here to register.
That's all for me right now.
Followers
Links
- American Land Title Association
- Annual TMTW Marketing Survey
- Chris Ripley's Twitter
- FREE $523 Title Marketing Education Gift
- FREE Email Marketing - Constant Contact
- FREE Email Marketing - Swiftpage
- FREE TMTW Audio CD and TMTWSAS Demo CD - $74 value
- National Association of Independent Land Title Agents
- Real Estate Marketing That Works
- Source of Title
- Strategic Marketing Group
- Title MarketingThat Works
- TMTW Facebook Group