Low cost marketing for one woman business?

August 25, 2006 4:03 PM

My mom opened a mortgage broker business this year. Advertising budget is under $800/month, local radio and cable have both been unable to come in under that budget. Currently running newspaper ads in 3 or 4 pubs. No responses. Any low cost innovative ideas to help her reach potential customers?
posted by swiffa to Work & Money (14 answers total)

Google Adwords targetted to her local market?
posted by dendrite at 4:11 PM on August 25, 2006

Best answer: Give presentations to college alumni groups. Focus on alumni within the first decade of graduation. Team up with a real estate agent and a real estate lawyer, and make it an evening on Homebuying 101.

I'm the president of my college Young Alumni Association, and put this event on twice a year. We always clear 300 alumni a session. A large majority end up using the presenter for their purchase. Total cost to your mom? Zero.
posted by NotMyselfRightNow at 4:24 PM on August 25, 2006

Does she live in a huge city/market? I'm surprised local radio couldn't fit that budget.

Has she joined the local chamber of commerce? Socializing with the local business owners might give some good returns on advertising ideas, maybe even business opportunities. Many chambers will refer members in response to public inquiries. If there's a website, she may be listed (and linked if she has a site) there. There may be a display area for brochures, business cards, etc, for people to browse.

Really, the benefits vary but they're almost always valuable. You can't put a price on that kind of networking.
posted by empyrean at 4:31 PM on August 25, 2006

Best answer: I'd say Google Adwords on searches for "mortgage cityname" (cityname being the city in which she has an office.

I bet for a couple hundred a month she can get a ton of leads (as long as she has a good website)
posted by mathowie at 4:36 PM on August 25, 2006

Best answer: What NotMyselfRightNow said, but don't limit it to alumni groups. I know of several monthly realtor/lendor/lawyer events like this in my area. Anyone's encouraged to attend.

Reserve an after-hours conference room. Spread out a selection of cookies and coffee. Prepare an informative, objective presentation and give out handouts that include your contact info plus an offer for free followup consult. Advertise via CraigsList and flyers (be sure to send one to any local housing assistance groups too). At the end of the seminar, ask for their contact info and also give them a couple extra business cards for handing out to to friends who might also benefit from the seminar.

A lot of these seminars bring people in by advertising a nice door prizes or a raffle. Of course, this is more expensive and can attract people who are more interested in the goodies than your services, but if she's having trouble bringing people into the first few events it could be worth it to start building word of mouth. (Just confirm first that local law has no objection to raffles.)
posted by nakedcodemonkey at 4:49 PM on August 25, 2006

We got our last mortgage referral from our Realtor. I assume/hope that part of her strategy is heavy networking with agents.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 5:38 PM on August 25, 2006

She needs to make nice with Realtors. They usually have their faves that they send people to.
posted by konolia at 5:59 PM on August 25, 2006

Assuming she has found her target market find the 'lifestyle' rags in her area that cater to that audience. I was just talking to a mortgage broker friend today and we were discussing how many people seem to be getting into the game now (which seems a little late IMHO) and they all seem to be catering to a very specific crowd. Of course she would still take business from anyone, but finding a more specific group to work would be a good place to get name recognition and referrals.
posted by paxton at 6:11 PM on August 25, 2006

Buy a mailing list of people who have been in their current house for 5-7 years, write a nice personel letter to each and follow up with postcards
posted by Mick at 7:14 PM on August 25, 2006

Flat out...guerilla marketing (the series) are some of the best marketing books (small business) that I've ever seen.

Amazon - guerilla marketing

Really. Ideas, concepts about marketing...written for the guerilla - not the huge company.
posted by filmgeek at 8:44 PM on August 25, 2006 [2 favorites]

Spend $2000 on a designer to produce some really nice brochures as leave-behinds when she chats with Realtors.
posted by miss tea at 5:31 AM on August 26, 2006

Start a newsletter on the health of the mortgage market and prewite new realeases quoting yourself a dn send to local newspapers.
posted by Kensational at 8:14 AM on August 26, 2006

Re: "prewite" and "a dn"

Uh, that is "prewrite News Releases" and "and." Wow I could use some writin' skilz.
posted by Kensational at 8:20 AM on August 26, 2006

Just a footnote here: The mortgage industry is very slow. Interest rates are up (although still reasonable) , so cash outs / refi's are extremely slow. Home sales have slowed as well.

So your indication of 'no responses' is currently symptomatic of the industry.

All that said, I know a mortgage broker who targets divorce attorneys--their clients need to cash out, regardless of market rates, and they don't have time to effectively shop loans. This individual is highly successful.
posted by vaportrail at 5:24 PM on August 27, 2006 [1 favorite]