The Truth About Hope for Homeowners
A Special MSS Roundtable Discussion

FHASecure, Hope For Homeowners, Hope Now, the Rescue Bill, Loan Modification...It seems like every week a new government program is announced that will "save struggling homeowners" and help "stem the tide of record foreclosures."

As a mortgage professional, you want to have access to the resources that can help consumers reach their financial goals and needs, but with each new announcement from the government, the little hope inspired by these well-intentioned programs can quickly turn to frustration and confusion for both you and your clients, without the right information.

With this in mind, LoanToolbox is pleased to announce this special roundtable discussion in which our experts explore strategies that mortgage professionals can recommend to help their clients who are in dire straits stay in their homes.

In this informative 45-minute conference call, Mortgage Success Source's Sue Woodard is joined by LTB faculty member Jim Sahnger, LTB's resident FHA expert, Jeff Mifsud, and LTB member Sue Botelho of Northstar Mortgage Group, LLC, in Destin, FL.

Now is not the time for you or your clients to bury your heads in the sand. Listen to this informative call to hear some important tips, including:

• Keep an open dialogue between the borrower and the lender
• Be informed about foreclosure procedures
• Weigh advantages and hazards of loan modification
• Explore FHA Secure options
• Gather all of the information you can to help your clients now and in the future
• And much, much more!

This exclusive conference call is now available in the Conference Call Archive!

Learn how to automatically add this and other LTB Conference Calls to your iPod!

Mortgage Blogging 101, Part 4: Publishing to the Web
A Business Tip from LTB Member Mark Madsen

LTB member Mark Madsen is a loan officer and mortgage blogger from Raintree Mortgage Services in Las Vegas, NV. Since 2005, Mark has specialized in real estate Internet marketing, and has developed many high-traffic real estate and mortgage platforms.

Over the past month, Mark has shared Mortgage Blogging 101, a special 5-part business tip series to help remove some of the mystery of social media for LTB members. In Mortgage Blogging 101, Part 1, Mark provided a general introduction to mortgage blogging for LOs who have been thinking about blogging but don't know where to begin. In Part 2, Mark discussed the "why" of mortgage blogging, answering the most important question to think about before getting started. In Part 3, Mark shared some great tools to know about before getting started on your own mortgage blog. This week Mark offers the last few tips before going live!

Mortgage Blogging 101 - Publishing to the Web

Practicing the Act of Sharing vs Speaking
The purpose of publishing content to the web as a loan officer is not just to be found, but to be read. By delivering valuable information, your viewers become loyal readers, networking partners, or clients. It is common for new bloggers to be so concerned with finding their "voice" that they forget to speak to the needs and emotions of their readers. And sometimes, the fear of not knowing what to say can become paralyzing. Don't worry. This is part of a natural evolution, so don't feel guilty if you are struggling to find the right message.

Quick tip - Get over yourself for a minute.
Technorati has indexed a total of 133 million blogs since 2002, and they claim to track an average of 900k blog posts every 24 hours.

Combine that with all of the content being pushed through social networks, videos, and micro-blogs...The result is a bunch of noise.

If everyone is busy listening to themselves talk, how can you be heard?
You have to actively seek out your target audience and give them something worth paying attention to. This is not a bait and switch game - it is about proving that you are an expert in your niche, earning their trust, and being available to serve their needs.

What can you do now to connect with agents and clients online?
Before setting up your own blog, you need to develop a pattern that involves listening, sharing, and participating. If you can accomplish the following steps, setting up a blog after my article next week will be a breeze. Plus, you'll already have plenty of things to write about.

• Step 1. Listen – Google Reader, as mentioned in the previous article, allows you to monitor updated activity on your selected blogs from one centralized platform. Go subscribe to all of the real estate blogs in your area, national and local news sites, and anything that might give you valuable information to share with your agents and clients.
• Step 2. Share – Google Reader has a little tab at the bottom of each article that will allow you to "share with note" and publish your comments on your own public page. Read 20 articles a day and publicly share three or four. Email the link to the people you think will gain the most value from the information you're participating in. When they receive your email, it will also have a link to your Google reader profile. Here is a link to my public reader that I just set up for Mortgage Blogging.
• Step 3. Participate – Take it a step further and actually comment on the blog article you are sharing. This will show people that you are actively involved and educated enough to participate. Make sure you say something intelligent that adds value to the discussion. Very important - Do Not put a link in your comment directing their viewers back to your web site. That is bad and considered spam. Viewers will be able to click on your name and end back up at your site or profile (see step 4).
• Step 4. Establish A Web Presence – Join the online community - mybloglog.com is a free Yahoo! service that tracks all of your published content and web activity. Once you have established a quick profile, it will stream in all of your Google Reader comments that you set up in steps 1 and 2. Another huge benefit of MyBlogLog is that your face will show up on blogs that you visit. So, if all you do is visit 20 real estate agents' blog every day, they'll get very familiar with you. When they click through to your profile page, they'll see all of the valuable information that you're sharing and may contact you, especially if you leave some decent comments on their blog. It is really that easy. Check out MyBlogLog profile.

Remember this – You are significant. What you say does matter to someone. Write with a particular person in mind, but embrace the possibility that your words can impact thousands. Value...find it, share it.

Stay tuned for more Blogging 101 Tips from Mark Madsen coming soon. In the meantime, check out Mark's blogs mortgagesalesblog.com and myfhablog.com