Look, I’ve been thinking a lot about what actually works in this industry. Not the flashy stuff everyone talks about at conferences, but the real nuts and bolts of building a mortgage broking business that doesn’t just survive but actually thrives. So let me break down exactly how I’d approach this if I was starting fresh today, or if I needed to seriously level up my game.
Growing Without Paid Ads: The Foundation
Here’s how I would grow a broker business without paid ads.
Number One. Pick a Niche
This isn’t just about choosing any niche. It’s got to be something I’m passionate about. Somewhere I got a real competitive edge. And critically, it’s got to be to a demographic I can actually market to. There’s no point picking a niche you can’t reach or don’t understand. The passion matters because you’ll be talking about this stuff every single day. The competitive edge matters because that’s what makes you stand out. And the ability to actually market to them? That’s what makes the whole thing commercially viable.
Number Two. Produce A LOT OF Content
I’m talking valuable relevant content for that target audience. But here’s the thing – whatever number you got in your head for how much content to make, 10x it. That’s our real number. I see brokers putting out one post a week and wondering why they’re not getting traction. The reality is you need to be absolutely flooding your niche with value. Every single day. Multiple times a day if you can manage it. That’s what cuts through the noise.
Number Three. Deliver a Five Star Experience
To every single client. Every single partner. This helps us to retain our clients and partners. Plus it jags referrals from our clients and partners. This isn’t complicated, but most people don’t do it consistently. They deliver great service when they feel like it, or when they’re not busy. The winners do it every single time, no exceptions.
The 20 Year Broker vs The 2 Year Broker
This is what I reckon separates the brokers who thrive over 20 years to those who fail in 2.
The biggest difference is the ability to get deals on our desk in enough volume to make it a commercially viable business. That’s it. That’s the game. It comes down to marketing that is scalable, predictable and profitable.
Once we got the skill set to get deals on our desk, our journey from a 2 year tenure to a 20 year tenure falls on our ability to systemise the biz. I’m talking team, tech and tools. That gets a lot of the heavy lifting off our shoulders.
You can hustle your way to deals in the first couple years. You can grind it out. But if you want to be here in 20 years, you need systems that work without you having to personally drive every single thing. The brokers who burn out are the ones who never make this transition.
The NUMBER ONE Mistake
I reckon this is the NUMBER ONE mistake new brokers make – not enough marketing.
The business model of a mortgage biz is marketing, selling, delivering, operating. In that order. Until we’re writing $2 mil a month, 85% of our efforts should be invested in that marketing department.
Think about that. 85%. Not 50-50 between marketing and servicing. Not “I’ll do marketing when I have time.” Eighty-five percent. Because without the deals, nothing else matters. You can have the best systems in the world, the best CRM, the best processes – but if you don’t have deals coming in, you don’t have a business.
The Exact Steps to Double Your Settlements
If I had to double my settlements in 12 months time, the first lever I’d pull is in the marketing department.
Step One. Run the numbers
Figure out how many leads we actually need to double the biz. This is basic math but most people skip it. You need to know your conversion rates, your average deal size, and then work backwards to the number of leads required.
Step Two. Pick a niche
Somewhere we enjoy playing, where we got a real competitive edge, and to a demographic we can actually market to. This is the same principle as before because it’s that important. Don’t skip this step trying to be everything to everyone.
Step Three. Run paid ads
Work out the required budget based on the sort of leads we’re chasing and the number of deals we need. Once you’ve done the math in step one, this becomes straightforward. You know what you need, you know what leads cost in your niche, you know your budget.
Step Four. Do content marketing
Put out a load of valuable content. As much as I possibly could. Each and every single day. This works alongside the paid ads. The paid ads get you immediate results, the content builds your long-term authority and creates a compounding effect.
Step Five. Deliver five star experience
Go out of my way to wow every single client, every single partner, every single time. This turns your marketing into a flywheel. The better the experience, the more referrals, the more your marketing compounds on itself.
Thinking About Your Exit (Even If You’re Not Planning To)
Every broker should think about selling their business even if they don’t plan to. Cause one day they will exit that business. Everybody dies. So there is going to be an exit at some point. We can either plan for it or it can happen unplanned.
There are typically a few ways we can successfully exit a mortgage broking biz.
Number one: Build a trail book
We’re lucky in this industry to have a naturally occurring intrinsic value with every single loan we write. It builds up and sells at a multiple of around three times.
Number two: Build a business so it operates without the owner’s day to day involvement
Can sell it at a multiple of profits. Aiming for more than three times. Who knows what the market will pay. But expect it will be higher than three times.
Number three: They build the business to the point where it can run under management
And they no longer have an active role in it.
The beautiful thing about planning your exit from day one is that it forces you to build a better business. A business that can run without you is a business that’s more profitable, more valuable, and frankly, more enjoyable to own. You’re not trapped in it. You’ve built something that has real value independent of your daily involvement.
Look, none of this is rocket science. But the gap between knowing this stuff and actually doing it consistently? That’s where fortunes are made in this industry. Pick your niche. Flood it with content. Deliver an experience that makes people want to refer you. Build systems so you’re not the bottleneck. And plan for your exit even if it’s decades away.
That’s the playbook.
