It’s coming up in under 100 days and my head is fully focussed on my 2020 goals.
And so, while it might not quite be New Year, I’m already in the mood to celebrate the incredible year my team and I have had with the Financial Pro Academy!
When I launched a new and unique training academy and network for UK mortgage brokers in summer 2018, some people thought I was mad.
Why on earth did those in the mortgage industry need dedicated help and support to grow their businesses and improve their brand, marketing and sales?
But as a trained business coach and award-winning mortgage broker, I could see the UK mortgage industry needed modernisation. I knew that the mortgage sector hasn’t kept pace with the times, and there was no one providing real leadership. Brokers need direction and guidance on how to grow their businesses in this noisy, competitive digital age.
I couldn’t be more excited to tell you that Financial Pro Academy’s membership has skyrocketed by 300 percent since we launched and it just keeps on growing.
The Financial Pro Academy, which was featured in Mortgage Solutions magazine this month, mixes online tutorials, training, accountability groups on Facebook as well as live seminars and networking events with expert speakers. These are designed to help mortgage brokers perfect their brand, improve their sales and marketing, increase their PR and media profile and ultimately grow their business.
Brokers can join from just £97 a month and more information on the networking and training portal be found at www.financialpro-academy.com/ There’s also a Mortgage Pro free group on Facebook which is a fantastic and hugely supportive community to join. The cliché really is true: together we are stronger.
And for me, Financial Pro is so more than just a training academy and network. In my mind becoming a Financial Pro should be the industry standard – something that ALL brokers aspire to be. It’s also one reason why in the spring we launched the Financial Pro Podcast (which I’m delighted to say has since been downloaded over 10K times). This is another fantastic way for brokers to stay informed, learn and engage with those in the sector.
The success and interest in Financial Pro show that my instincts were correct. As someone who was once paying an incredible £20K a month for leads for my own brokerage but who went on to learn how to use social media and content marketing to increase leads and sales without this cost, I’m delighted that I’m now able to show other brokers how to avoid the same, costly mistake.
My company, Active Mortgage – which works exclusively with business owners and entrepreneurs to make property finance easy-won best small broker at the 2019 Mortgage Strategy Awards. The judges lauded us for our energetic branding and innovative and successful use of social media marketing and we hope to continue this success in 2020 – so with 100 days to go, I say: bring it all on – bring on the awards, bring on the education and above all, bring on the collaboration and the all-important business growth!
