“The secret of making an inordinate amount of money in the note business is to find lots of brokerable notes. To find brokerable notes, get in front of a group of professionals,” says master marketer Tim Fitzgerald.

“If you can talk to a group of Realtors, attorneys, accountants etc., you can develop an ongoing and reliable source of profitable notes. The secret is to have a professional note presentation that shows financial professionals how they can help their clients and/or increase their business.”

Tim points out that speaking is not for everyone, but those brokers making the most money are making presentations. It is the most profitable, yet least expensive way to market your note business. By presenting your note story to a group, you can generate the very best type of marketing.

Tim says there are four clear advantages gained from making presentations:

(1) you present your message to numerous people at one time,
(2) your prestige, image and reputation get an immediate boost,
(3) what you say has considerably more impact than a one on one presentation, and most importantly
(4) you will generate more business and you will make more money.

To become a speaker on notes, you need to solve three problems: you must find an audience, you must have something to say that interests them, and you have to say it in professional manner.

Finding An Audience for your Note Presentation

Finding your audience is no problem, says Tim. “Within ten miles of my house are more real estate offices than I could speak to in the next five years. If they have 10 or more agents, they have sales meetings. The sales manager needs speakers. The ‘hook’ you should use is: ‘I have a presentation that will increase your agents’ income’.

There is no reason the average note broker, who is comfortable in a group setting, could not easily make several presentations a week. If each office has 15 – 20 agents, you will be talking to thousands of note referral sources a year.

Dealing directly with financial professionals is the best, most profitable road for the average note broker to take for the following reasons:

(1) Your marketing costs will drop dramatically. This is extremely important. Most note brokers fail because they do not have the money to sustain an effective marketing campaign.

(2) It is much easier to close transactions referred by financial professionals. The financial professional will often pave the road for you, and many of the usual objections will be handled before you ever meet with the note seller.

(3) Most important – repeat referral business. I am convinced that the secret to prospering in the note business is establishing sources of repeat referral business. It is much too costly to work with individual note sellers. Financial professionals have the ability to refer profitable ongoing repeat referral business to you.”

In an effort to capture professional referral business, I have also marketed our Note Owners Manuals, Note Appraisals, etc. through speaking.

It doesn’t cost anything to make a presentation, and it is easily the most cost effective marketing you can do. If you make a of list of professional referral sources, you will find that there is almost no end to the groups who would be willing to listen to the message of making money with cash flows and mortgage notes.

For example, I have given talks to mortgage brokers, attorneys, investment groups and accountants. You could expand this group to include classes on notes to the general public, tax preparers, charities, appraisers, bankers, builders, contractors, insurance agents– and the list is only limited by your imagination. In short, if you have a powerful message, you can find an audience.

What To Say

“Many new brokers are intimidated to talk to professionals because they feel they do not know enough. The truth is that after you take one course on discounted mortgage notes, you know more than 99.9% of any audience.

You can find many excuses not to start. Not knowing enough is just another excuse. Many years ago, when I first started speaking, my biggest surprise was how much business I was taking away from brokers who were much more expert and experienced than I.”

Tim suggests that your presentation should get the professional “up to speed. I start out with what’s a note, I describe the terminology, and finish with how they can make money by working with a note broker. I use overheads, I have a script I follow and I leave them with marketing material and my brochure. It took me a year and half to develop my presentation, but I would not be in business without this speaking program.”

Tim goes on, “There is always hope. When I started out as a speaker, I wasn’t bad– I was terrible. It took a little nerve and a lot of practice, but the rewards are more than worth your effort. As you gain experience, you are on your way to the single most lucrative ways of finding notes. My most gratifying project recently has been putting together a speaking program for note brokers. This program is designed for note brokers who understand the many benefits of getting in front of an audience but do not have the time to experiment with putting together their own presentation.”

You, our readers, can develop your own agenda depending on what type of group you are talking to. People are interested in the industry and some of the more interesting financial calculations about discounted notes and partial purchases. But above all, your audience wants to know that you have access to unlimited amount of money with which to buy their clients’ cash flows. They want to know you can help them earn a commission, sell their house, or help their clients. The topic of your talk is not difficult.

How to Say It

If you are new to public speaking, you might want to take a course and read some books on how to be effective. One good book with a terrible title is, “You’ve Got To Be Believed, To Be Heard” by Bert Decker.

You can also join Toastmasters or similar groups in your area to get speaking experience. Public speaking is usually listed as peoples’ number one fear. Some people say fear of drowning or jumping out of an airplane is less stressful than speaking to a group. But you can learn to turn nervousness into positive energy. Toastmasters can teach you to harness your nervous energy and transform it into vitality and enthusiasm about the note industry. .

Also, see our speaking program Paper To Gold-How To Market Your Note Business Through Seminars.