Drip Marketing Portal

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Frequently Asked Questions / Help
How Do I Use the Portal?
The Drip Marketing Portal lets you enter contact information for 3 types of prospects, 2 types of referral partners and your mortgage clients. Your prospect categories are: First Time Home Buyer, Refinance and For Sale By Owner. Your referral partner categories are: Realtor and Financial Planner.

To use the portal, you must first log in. A log in session is good for 30 minutes. If you do not click on a portal link within 30 minutes, you will have to log in again. Once you log in, you can click on any of your 5 portals. You will enter the information into a form and add the new subscriber to your email marketing list for that category. Your subscriber will then receive an initial newsletter, and period informational newsletters on a pre-defined schedule.
What are the Newsletters?
Your First Time Home Buyer, Refinance and For Sale By Owner prospects will receive a newsletter via email every three or seven days, based on if they are a short term prospect or a longer term prospect. A total of 12-15 newsletters are sent out to each person who signs up for your information. Your Realtor subscribers will receive 11 newsletters, one every 7 days. Your mortgage clients will receive 12 newsletters, one per month. Each newsletter covers one particular topic of interest to that prospect category. You can see all the newsletters by clicking on the Sample Newsletters page.

Each newsletter is personalized with your subscriber's name and your contact information. Your newsletters will have your name, company name, phone number and website listed, plus you can upload a photo for us to store in our system and display on your newsletters. All newsletters have a column that tells your prospects why they should do business with you. At the bottom of each newsletter is a remove link, so your prospects can remove themselves from your list.
Weekly Mortgage News
Each week, your Realtor and Financial Planner subscribers will receive a Mortgage Industry Update newsletter. This newsletter covers what is going on in the mortgage and housing industry. These newsletters will look as if they were coming from you, making you seem more as a mortgage consultant and trusted advisor. These newsletters are also personalized with your subscribers' name and your contact information. Other services charge as much as $60 per month just for this weekly newsletter service.
Can I Send Emails to My Subscribers?
Yes. Within each portal, you can either type a message or copy and paste a message into the form. If you use the tag '$firstname' in the subject line, it will be replaced with your subscribers' first name. When you send out a message, it goes to everyone on that portal's list. I suggest that you do not bombard your subscribers with emails, or they will unsubscribe from your list. If someone unsubscribes from your list, they will not be removed, but will no longer receive emails from our system. You can still send them an email from your own email account if you wish.  If you find useful information from any of the industry links you get in your Tool Box, you may want to send that portal group an email announcement.

If you wish to send out a single message to one of your subscribers who has not opted out of your list, simply click on the "View Subscriber List" button on the bottom of any portal page. To send an individual email out, click on any email address. A pop-up window will let you enter a subject and message.
What do My Subscribers Get?
Your subscribers will receive their series of scheduled newsletters sent via email. If you enter the month and day of their birth, they will also receive an emailed birthday greeting card from you and your company. They will also receive an email greeting from you on the following holidays, as long as they have not opted out of your list:
  • New Year's Day
  • Memorial Day
  • 4th of July
  • Labor Day
  • Halloween
  • Thanksgiving
  • Christmas (Happy Holiday's Greeting)

These emails are designed to keep them in your mind and for them to view you as someone who cares about them. It is all a part of your overall marketing program to convert prospects and to get referrals from referral partners and existing clients.
Can I Create a Mailing List?
Yes. Within each portal, you can export a text file containing all your subscribers for that portal. The list is in comma separated format, with each address field enclosed in quotes such as "first name", "last name", "address", "apartment/suite", "city", "state", "zip". The export list contains the subscriber's first name, last name, address, apartment, city, state and zip code. Simply save the file and import it into either Excel or Word to do a mail-merge or to print mailing labels or envelopes.
How Do I Use My Contact Manager?
Within each portal, you can click on a link to view your list of subscribers to that portal. You can then click on any subscriber's name to view and edit their information. You can change their email address, phone number or any other parameter. You can also enter any notes from phone conversations or personal visits and save them to produce a record of your conversations with each prospect. Each time you pull up a contact, the current date is added to your notes field so you don't have to enter the date of when you last spoke with that person. You will see the date you last contacted the person, and set up how many days until you are to call back. You can also delete the contact from your portal.

On the day you are to call each person back, you will receive an automated email. It will let you know what portal that person is in. By entering a new contact date, you will stop receiving email alerts for that person.

Your Contact Manager also lets you move a subscriber from any of the three prospect portals to your client portal. Thus, if you sell someone a mortgage or a FSBO sells their home, they will no longer receive newsletters related to those topics. Instead, they can receive your monthly Financial Planning newsletter, where it reminds them to give you referrals.
How Do I Access My Website?
 Your account includes a 14 page website that lets you acquire prospects over the internet. Your site includes the following pages:

You can not edit the content on your site. You can only edit your contact information, which will then be reflected on your web page. To use your site, you need to register your own domain at a hosting service such as 1and1.com. We will then show you how to point your domain to your home page. You can promote your site online using some of the internet marketing methods taught in the Loan Officer 101 package.

What Do I Get for My Sign-up Fee?
Your sign up fee includes the following:
How Long am I Committed to the Program?
 If, at any time, you feel that your portal is not helping you acquire prospects and convert them into clients, you may cancel your service at any time by sending us an email, calling our office or sending a letter in the mail. Our contact information is on the "Contact" link.
How Do I Get Subscribers?
 To get subscribers for your First Time Home Buyer and Refinance portals, take advantage of any existing advertising you or your company does. Or, get your phone ringing by using the marketing tools in the Loan Officer 101 program and Marketing Tool Kit. When people call you about buying a home or refinancing their mortgage, ask them if they would like to receive some free information. You can offer home buyers the opportunity to register to watch a free online "first time home buyer" presentation, or to receive any of the following free reports:
  • Six Things to Make You Stop Paying Rent
  • Nine Dirty Little Secrets Your Credit Card Company Hopes You Never Find Out
  • Why You Should Never Sign Another Rent Check
  • Divorce: What You Need to Know about the Mortgage, Taxes and your Home
  • How to Escape the Financial Prison of Debt
  • How to Avoid the 10 Biggest Blunders You Can Make When Buying a Home
  • Six Myths of Credit Scores

If they say yes, simply get their name, address and other information and add the subscriber to your list. They will be redirected to the first time home buyer presentation and you can then email the other reports. You can personalize the reports with your contact information before sending them out. Your home buyer prospects will be redirected to a personalized version of our First Time Home Buyer Presentation. Click here to see a sample presentation. Note the first and last slides. Your contact information and photo will be displayed.

For refinance prospects, you can offer them a free report that explains the pro's and con's of Option ARMs, plus the ability to receive a 12 part newsletter that educates them on the refinance process. If they are interested, enter their contact information into the form and add them to your list.

For "For Sale By Owners" or FSBO's, you will want to use the FSBO marketing package that comes with your Loan Officer 101 package to show FSBOs how you can help them sell their home faster, with you, of course, pre-qualifying all prospective home buyers, and having the opportunity to add them to your First Time Home Buyer list. You will be able to offer FSBO's a copy of "How to Sell Your House by Yourself", a 46-page guide that you can personalize with your own contact information, save as a PDF and then give to FSBO's. This guide covers the following areas:

  • Chapter 1.  The Truth About Selling Your Home
  • Chapter 2.  Preparing Your House to Show
  • Chapter 3.  Setting the Right Price
  • Chapter 4.  Marketing Your House
  • Chapter 5.  Adding Deal Sweeteners
  • Chapter 6.  Keeping Yourself Safe
  • Chapter 7.  How to Conduct Negotiations
  • Chapter 8.  Getting Ready to Close
  • Chapter 9.  The Settlement Process
  • Appendix A.  The Mortgage Payoff Request Letter
  • Appendix B.  Calculating Your Net Proceeds
  • Appendix C.  How To Hold A Successful Open House
  • Appendix D.  Open House Sign In Sheet for Visitors
  • Appendix E.  Sample Classified Ads
  • Appendix F.  Newspaper Classified Advertisement Request
  • Appendix G.  Getting Ready to Move
  • Appendix H.  Moving Checklist

You will learn several ways to find FSBOs and how to approach them.

For Realtors, you will simply call on area real estate agents or offices, and ask them if they would like to receive a copy of a First Time Home Buyer PowerPoint presentation that is customized with their contact information. You can burn as many copies of this presentation for as many Realtors as you wish. Get their contact and mailing information and send them the CD. They will then also receive you 11-part newsletter, one per week for 11 weeks. They will also receive our "Mortgage Industry Update" newsletter on a weekly basis, and it will look as if it comes from you.

You can also ask if they would like to receive an online, personalized First Time Home Buyer presentation. Here is what to say:

Hi, this is [your name] with [your company]. I'm working with Realtors to provide them with an online seminar for first time home buyers. Do you have anything like that to show to your prospective home buyers?

I can set you up with a personalized presentation that goes over the basics of buying and financing a home. There is no cost. All you have to do is register to get your own presentation link. Your name, company name, phone number and website will be on your presentation. You can then link to it from your website and promote it to your prospects.

Would you be interested in seeing what your presentation would look like?

Great, just go to OnlineSeminars.us, click on the Realtor link, and enter my Mortgage Consultant ID, which is XX.

You can also email a link to Realtors that takes them right to the registration page, complete with your ID:
http://onlineseminars.us/homebuyer/info.php?id=XX.  XX is your ID that you get with you sign up for the Portal.

For Financial Planners, you will call on area financial planners and insurance agents, and even CPAs, and offer to send them a copy of a 5 page article that shows why homeowners with equity in their homes would be better off by pulling out that equity and investing it in investments that they offer. You will be able to send them a copy of the "Home Equity Wealth Builder" PowerPoint presentation plus a spreadsheet that shows the net gain that can be obtained by pulling out their clients' equity (with your help, of course) and investing it. Financial Planners will receive the weekly "Mortgage Industry Update" newsletter as well. You can also ask them if they would like to receive an online, personalized Home Equity Wealth Builder presentation. Here is what to say:

Hi, this is [your name] with [your company]. I'm working with financial planners to provide them with an online seminar that shows home owners the benefits of investing the equity that is in their homes. Do you have anything like that to show to your clients and prospects?

I can set you up with a personalized presentation that goes over the reasons why homeowners should not leave the equity in their home. It gives them reason to have you invest that equity for them. There is no cost to you. All you have to do is register to get your own presentation link. Your name, company name, phone number and website will be on your presentation. You can then link to it from your website and promote it to your clients and prospects.

Would you be interested in seeing what your presentation would look like?

Great, just go to OnlineSeminars.us, click on the Financial Planner link, and enter my Mortgage Consultant ID, which is XX.

You can also email a link to Financial Planners that takes them right to the registration page, complete with your ID:
http://onlineseminars.us/homeequity/info.php?id=XX.  XX is your ID that you get with you sign up for the Portal.

If you have questions on how to get new subscribers to your portal, feel free to send an email to Support@DripMarketingPortal.com.

When someone requests free information from your website, or wishes to watch the First Time Home Buyer presentation online, they will be added to either your First Time Home Buyer portal or Refinance portal automatically. You will be notified by email when someone subscribes to your newsletters.
How do I get Subscribers from my Existing Website?
 If you already have a website, you can acquire subscribers by creating a sign up form. You need to know how to either create an HTML table or just copy and paste text. Here is a generic form, without any special formatting:

<form method="post" action="http://DripMarketingPortal.com/mortgage/add_subscriber.php">
<b><font face="Arial" size="2">First Name: </font></b> <input type="text" size="24" name="sub_first_name"><br>
<b><font face="Arial" size="2">Last Name:</font></b> <input type="text" size="24" name="sub_last_name"><br>
<b><font face="Arial" size="2">Company Name: </font></b> <input type="text" size="24" name="company_name"><br>
<b><font face="Arial" size="2">Email Address:</font></b> <input type="text" size="24" name="sub_email"><br>
<b><font face="Arial" size="2">Phone Number:</font></b> <input type="text" size="24" name="sub_daytime_phone"><br>
<input type="hidden" name="portal" value="fthb OR refi" />
<input type="hidden" name="source" value="client" />
<input type="hidden" name="cid" value="YOUR CLIENT ID" />
<input type="submit" value="Subscribe to My Newsletter" name="submit">
</form>

Here is what this all means. All the text in BLUE is mandatory, including the GREEN items. You can insert these in any formatted table as you wish. The text in GREEN is stuff you can change. You can change the size of the fields, and you MUST select EITHER 'fthb' for the 'First Time Home Buyer' portal, or 'refi' for the Refinance portal, but NOT both. Be sure to change 'YOUR CLIENT ID' to your actual client ID number that you get when you register. You can change the 'Subscribe to My Newsletter' text to whatever you wish. For the home buyer list, you can use 'Register to Watch the Online Seminar' or anything you wish. All the stuff in BLACK is just formatting and labels. You can change the font, font size, font color, bold, etc...

You can link to your online first time homebuyer seminar directly from your site by doing the following:
<a href ="http://dripmarketingportal.com/buyahome/YOUR CLIENT ID">Watch the Seminar</a>

You simply use your client ID and use whatever text you want instead of 'Watch the Seminar'. I recommend that you use the registration form instead, because this way you will get new subscribers to your portal, which is the whole goal of this system!
How Will This Portal Help Me Get New Business?
 Studies show that prospects do not decide to do business with you until you have marketed to them several times. When you or your company spends money on advertising or on purchasing internet leads, you are not maximizing the return on that investment unless you continue to market to your prospects. Your smarter competitors are already doing this. This portal program is designed to provide useful information to your prospects on a regular basis, and to provide your contact information and what you can do for them to help them achieve their goals. You will become their trusted advisor, and as such, in a better position to get their business. The personalized website that you get with this program lets you obtain leads over the internet either from your own direct marketing, through referral links or by prospects finding you through the search engines.
How do I Promote my Website on Craigslist?
 Posting messages on Craigslist.org is one of the best ways to get subscribers to your newsletter list. Typically, you would either click on your state and then metropolitan area, or various metropolitan areas, then navigate to either the financial services or real estate services section, then click on "post", then again click on the service you want to post to, then type a message and post it. However, to do this on multiple cities or states takes a lot of time, plus, you can not post the same message or a message similar to one of your other messages to different cities or even on different days while your current message is still being displayed.

To get around these problems, we have created a website at http://Webmall.net/craigslist that lets you click on the posting link for Real Estate Services, Financial Services or Business Services for the major metropolitan areas. It saves you plenty of navigation time. You can simply type your message in and post it.

To get around the problem of posting similar messages, our portal program has a unique tool that lets you take your marketing message, save it in our database, then create HTML code that inserts a string of over 500 random characters at the end of the message. You can not see the random string in the message, but it does do a pretty good job of making it seem that your message is different. Simply click on the button to create the HTML code, then copy it and paste it directly to the message box on the Craigslist site. You will want to generate new code for each location where you post your message.

In your Loan Officer 101 package that you get with your registration, you will find a few good marketing messages to use. Or, look for mortgage messages that others have posted, and modify them to use for your own. If you have registered your own web domain and linked it to your website, you can post the URL of your website in your ads. When doing so, do NOT place a period at the end of your URL. If you do, the period gets interpreted as being part of the URL and your prospects will get a "Page Not Found" error message.
Do You Have an Affiliate Program?
 Yes we do. Once you sign up, you will have your own marketing URL that you can use to promote this program. You earn a one-time fee of $30 for each new client you bring on. We use cookies to track your prospects. This means that when someone comes to our site from your link, we insert a tracking cookie in their browser. If they decide to order the service at any time, that cookie will be pulled and you will get the credit for the sale.
How Does the Corporate Account Work?
 If you have other loan officers that work for your company, each person can have his or her own account. You will receive a validation code that gets stored in our database. When a loan officer signs up, he needs to enter that unique code. If it matches, the account is created. There is only a one-time fee of $20 for additional loan officers, up to 10 per account. The additional loan officers can not edit their company name. Only the master account can change the company name. Each loan officer will have their own web page and their own personalized First Time Home Buyer seminar. We will be working to enhance the program to let Corporate Accounts transfer subscriber lists to other loan officers in the company if a loan officer leaves your company or if they are not following up with their leads. We will also be adding a method for you to assign internet leads to loan officers and be able to monitor how they follow up with them. Internet leads will receive periodic invites to get on the newsletter list, helping you convert more of these leads to customers.