- It gets you free publicity
It is the perfect tool for holding seminars and attracting people to them My goal with my book isn’t to promote myself, but rather for all the benefits of it to be available to the Brokers that work with me.
So I have held back on seeking free media publicity for it, with the exception that I sent a copy to the Sunday Times (Western Australia’s state-wide Sunday newspaper) and they were more than happy to do a story on it in the Real Estate section.
The media are always looking for an easy story, and a new book is a simple one for them. I’m pretty sure I could get more publicity, even radio interviews if I choose to go down that path.
- It is the perfect tool for holding seminars and attracting people to them
Once you have a book you can use it as the basis for a seminar, with the offer of a free copy of your book to everyone who attends. As well as giving you the content for your seminar, it adds hugely to your perceived credibility.You simply need a to create a flyer that is specific to the topic or audience of the seminar and include that in the book to increase its relevance.
- It turns your marketing problem into a question of distribution
The big question every Broker faces is ‘Where is my next client coming from?’
If your book turns a decent proportion of people who receive it into clients, then your question now is just ‘How do I get my book in people’s hands?’ So now you have a much clearer path to success. I’m not saying distributing the book is simple, it still takes thought and effort, but that it is a much simpler problem to solve.
In fact, the question of distribution is really a fantastic opportunity, because that is what has led us to the co-branded versions we do with our referral partners.
- It gives direction to your marketing
The problem for most Brokers is they aren’t sure what to do and say to get clients, but having a book gives you a clear direction for your business as it says to your clients what you want them to know, and you know what you need to do is find ways to get it to them. It’s a lot easier to say to someone you’ve just met — ‘Here, have a copy of my book’, instead of ‘Here, have a copy of my marketing brochure’ (or just slip your brochure inside the book so it clearly shows you are interested in their business if you want to be more direct).
- It is a great package to put your targeted marketing message inside
My book is a fairly general one covering the main benefits of using a broker, so it is not significantly targeted at any particular home loan market segment.
The trick is, then, to include with it the target messages you want. That might mean giving it with a range of First Home Buyer resources or information on your specialty in helping teachers with their home loans.
What it does is give your specialised market that extra boost by making it part of a more impactful presentation.
As an example, in the next couple of days a broker with Mortgage Australia is giving a seminar to 50 overseas investors, invited by a major property developer. She is using my books as a giveaway item, but including brochures with information about the borrowing options and issues specific to overseas investors.The book will give a lot more weight to her presentation by showing that we are a substantial Australian mortgage company that knows what it is doing, but we also want to be sure we are making our message directly relevant to their immediate concerns.
It’s clear to me from my own experience that a book is your ultimate personal marketing and sales tool, particularly for a person-to-person business like a Mortgage Brokerage that requires a way to efficiently build trust. I’m not saying that every person who sees it will be lining up for a home loan, but it allows you to start out with a big first impression. It’s up to you to capitalise on that in your sales, operations and post-sales marketing.