Karen Deis

If you are like me and regularly post on Facebook, Twitter, blog pages, etc., there are some days that I have "brain farts," days where I simply can't think of anything to post.

I just read a blog that stopped me in my tracks. It was called, "What If I'm Not Awesome Enough?" I'm going to paraphrase here, but I wanted you to know that awesome is not the primary thing that homebuyers are looking for!

You pick up the phone. The person on the line starts the conversation by asking what the interest rate is on your 30-year fixed rate loan.

I pay attention to tag lines! After the name of the company or the loan originator, a tag line is a phrase that "fills in the blanks" when it comes to providing a little more insight to what you do or what you have to offer your clients.

I own a pinball machine. BARRACORA is her name. It's part of the office furniture. I play it for fun. But I also play when I get stressed.

Larry King has made a career (and millions of dollars) interviewing people. You can do the same thing-by interviewing experts, authors, speakers, and real estate agents from different parts of the country-yes, even agents in your lending area.

It makes your head swim doesn't it? In 2011 alone, the mortgage industry averaged 22 mortgage rule changes per month according to www.MortgageCurrentcy.com - and that was just for loan originators. It seems like every day, there's a new social media platform. Phone apps. Everyone and his brother and sister are talking about new ways to use them in your mortgage practice.

So you've written this really cool article. You want to world to know about it. But just the thought of "getting it out there" is overwhelming.

If you had only $100 to spend on a killer marketing strategy, how would you spend it?I posted that very question on my social media page at www.facebook.com/karendeis and I wanted to share with you some of the ideas, including many that don’t cost you anything but your time.

Think about it - there are very few occupations where you are all things to all people.

Let me throw a National Association of Realtors statistic at you—70% of all first time homebuyers rented before buying their first home. So, when you market to apartment complexes, it's like shooting fish in a barrel, right?

Social media survival skills—if you want to become famous in your little corner of the mortgage world, there are some things you simply must do!

Do you have customers complete surveys? Do you solicit (or get unsolicited) testimonials? Do real estate agents tell you what a good job you've done? (Well, maybe I'm stretching this one a little bit.) The most powerful people on your marketing team are your past clients and real estate agents!

Did you know that Veterans Affairs loan assumptions are not restricted to veterans who have VA eligibility? Anyone can assume a VA loan if they meet the occupancy, credit and income requirements set forth by the VA.

There might be some Veterans Affairs loan program funding fee changes on Oct. 1st—or maybe not!

Starting today, your appraisals are going to look a bit different. Basically, the agencies have been warning us for the last year or so that they were creating a uniform set of "codes" that will be used by all appraisers nationwide.

So, were you one of the people who thought scrapbooking was just a fad and that it would go away after a short period of time? I did! But surprise, it’s more popular than ever!

I hiked what I call a small mountain in Imerovigli, Santorini, Greece. From the pool, it's about 900 or so steps down (and up again, puff, puff) zigzagging along the side of a cliff. When the steps finally end, there's a skinny little path that winds its way around the side of the hill and up to the top.

I’ve just finished my third (yes, No. 3) midlife crisis! I spent 30 days in Europe last month—10 days in Italy and 20 days in Greece! It has always been a dream of mine to not to be just another typical tourist—I wanted to spend three or four days in one location, getting to know each city, its people, how they lived and worked from day to day.

Do you blog? If you do, do you have trouble finding stuff to write about? If you don't, is the reason because you don't know what to write about?