Welcome back to Lending Leadership: The Creative Brief, your go-to podcast for actionable marketing and business-building strategies tailored for loan officers, real estate agents, and anyone involved in sales.

In this special New Year episode, we wanted to deliver a fresh, practical perspective on how to create a marketing plan you’ll actually stick to. It’s easy to get overwhelmed with too many ideas—especially at the top of the year when resolutions are high, but follow-through can be a challenge. Today, we dig into straight-forward strategies for building a sustainable marketing plan, sharing the methods and mindsets that have worked for us, for those we coach, and for countless other successful professionals in our industry.

In this conversation, we leverage years of experience in the mortgage and real estate fields, blending personal anecdotes, hard-won lessons, and concrete advice you can use right now to elevate your business.

In this episode, we break down:

1. Why it’s crucial to focus rather than try doing “everything under the sun”
2. How to pick a few marketing pillars that really move the needle (and keep you inspired)
3. What it means to set realistic, measurable goals that actually propel you forward (not just fill up your to-do list)
4. The importance of documenting your goals and making them visible—and how that transforms results
5. Tools, systems, and tech hacks that make it easier to stay consistent (especially if you find some areas daunting)
6. Plus, the power of creative prompts and leveraging AI tools like ChatGPT for brand clarity and content creation
7. And, of course, we share some laughs (hello pickleball league!) and anchor everything with real-world, compassionate advice for avoiding burnout and building momentum.

Key Takeaways:

1. Pick Your Pillars and Get Focused.
2. We challenge you to avoid spreading yourself too thin. Pick two to three core “marketing pillars” for the year—be it video, social media, event hosting, or building realtor relationships—and direct your time and resources there. Consistency in a few strong areas always outweighs a scattered, lackluster approach.
3. Write Your Plan Down and Make It Visible.
4. Document your marketing plan and goals—whatever format works for you (digital, paper, spreadsheets, notebooks). It’s proven: when you write something down, you’re more likely to follow through. Keep your plan somewhere visible and check in regularly. Out of sight is out of mind.
5. Set Realistic, Measurable Goals.
6. Don’t just jot down “do more video”—instead, specify: “I will post four videos a month and host one event each quarter.” Your goals should push you, but also remain achievable. This balance keeps momentum high and builds confidence with every milestone hit.
7. Leverage Tools and Team Support.
8. It’s not just about what you can do yourself—look for systems and team members who can help, and periodically audit your tech and subscriptions. Utilize platforms like Social Coach to streamline your social posting, and don’t forget to ask: “If not me, then who?” when delegating.
9. Use Creative Prompts and Embrace AI.
10. We recommend starting with three defining questions: Who am I serving? What problem am I solving? How will people hear from me? Use these to clarify your brand and your message. Tools like ChatGPT can help generate ideas, write bios, and even lay out your content calendar.

This episode isn’t about perfection—it’s about taking the next smart step, tracking your progress, and building a plan that works for you (not just copying what others are doing). We hope it inspires you to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), prioritize your focus, and move into the new year with clarity and confidence.

Don’t forget to follow us on YouTube, Apple, Google, and Facebook for more conversations, weekly insights, and a supportive community that’s ready to see you win. And maybe—just maybe—you’ll catch us launching our pickleball league or recording a walking podcast soon!

Until next time—here’s to taking that first step and turning your intentions into action.

Rach & Rinn

Don't try to do everything under the sun, because we've seen people do that, right, Corinne? And usually they kind of burn out.

They burn out or it just ends up being a lackluster approach anyway because they're spreading themselves too wide and too thin. So to your point, pick a couple things that you want to improve upon. Note a couple marketing areas or categories that you want to get better at, and then spend all of your time and dollars, if you have some dollars to spend on those things specifically.

All right, loan officers out there, what happens when you think you have a marketing plan, but it's actually written on the receipt of your Starbucks receipt or your Dunkin Donuts receipt? That's not actually a plan. So today we're talking about real strategies. Grab your notebooks. Or better yet, listen, absorb, then go back and grab a notebook and jot down some ideas, because we're giving you real ideas for marketing plans in this new year. Things that stick, things that will propel you forward. Let's get into it. Rin. Welcome to Lending Leadership.

All right. I love that opener, Rachel. I love beginning of the year. It feels like it's like a fresh start. It's always an opportunity to improve. It's always a fresh intention that we set for ourselves. So let's talk about it in relationship to small business marketing, right? Yes.

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, I want to just set the tone because I think in the beginning of the year, we all have these intentions of, number one, going to the gym, eating better, all these things.

Right.

But getting started is the hardest part. And I heard this really great analogy that's kind of become my mantra. Although I do need to go to the gym and I do need to eat better, all the things. But I think everybody falls in that boat. But I heard this, and it's so true that the heaviest weight at the gym is the front door. Doesn't that apply to everything that we do? You know, just getting started is always the hardest part. So I'm excited to dive into some of the things that we've seen. Loan officers and really just anyone in small business do start implementing these things.

And it will. It will definitely push you forward and just get started.

I love that analogy, Rachel. I would also argue it's the commute, how long it's going to take you. It's the kids holding you back with all their minutiae. We could go off on a tangent and have a little fun here for a couple minutes, but I totally agree with the sentiment. It is always that first step that's the most difficult. And you know, as we're kind of as a, as a company and as a group of leadership team members, we're doing a lot of books and business building ideas and good habit setting together. So, you know, morning routine is really important. That sets you on the right path for the day.

We're going to talk more and more about that this year. And, you know, there's a lot of different small habits that really lead to very big results. And this doesn't just affect your personal life or other areas of your business as a loan officer, but it affects your marketing, too, and your confidence level and how you're presenting yourself. So again, sales and marketing related. But there's a lot of really good tips and tricks and books and things that we're going to get into that will help set the tone for, you know, a more successful 2026. Every year we're trying to get more successful. Right?

Yeah. I love what you just did there, and I totally see it because I'll give a. I'll drop a little teaser. The book that you're reading right now, I read this years ago and I actually should read it again, is Atomic Habits. That those small little things that you do to create the habit. We'll talk about that in more depth, maybe in another episode. But great book. Shameless Plug Go.

Actually, not a shameless plug. We're not getting anything from it. But Atomic Habits. Go read that book. All right, well, let's jump in. So we have a few things that again, loan officer, small business realtor, whoever you are, whatever category you fall in, listen to this and then come back and jot some notes down. We have some things that I really do think will help anybody in sales. And the first thing, it sounds so simple, but not a lot of people do it, especially when it comes to marketing, is writing down your goals and your plan.

Like, if it's just in your head, you're gonna forget it. You're not gonna know. And how are you gonna be able to measure something when it's not written down? It's not tangible.

Yeah, I mean, I couldn't agree more, Rachel. You know, it goes to the success. You can kind of learn about with journaling, journaling your thoughts, but just setting an intention on paper, whatever is the easiest way for you to do it. There's no specific rules. I can't emphasize that more. And everything that I've read and learned, there's no specific role. What works for one, and somebody likes to handwrite in a book. Another likes to have a digital remarkable notepad that they use.

Maybe somebody really has, is a, is a spreadsheet pro and that's how they organize their thoughts and, and document. That's all fair game. It's just that you're doing it right. It's that we're not just talking about it or learning about it in a coaching call and saying, o, I'm going to do that. Write it down. I think there's actual statistics. I don't have them sitting right here, but we can follow up in our chat or, you know, when this podcast goes live, we can continue the conversation. There's actual statistics that show if you write it down, you are percentage wise, actually factually more likely to do it.

So that is a very important first step.

Yeah, and I think the, the idea of getting that on, on paper, quote, unquote, paper. But if you don't, and it's just in your head, how are you going to measure if you've actually achieved those goals, Those good old KPIs, how are you going to know if you've, you've reached your, your key performance indicators? To know what's working, to know what's not working. So double dog dare, get your marketing plan, get your goals down on. I'll do it again. Air quotes on paper. I think that's huge. And actually have it somewhere that it's going to be visible too. So if you have it on a spreadsheet, you know, maybe I favorite that.

And have it pop up with your, your laptop, your computer when you start your computer every day, or if it's printed, you know, have it in front of you, have it visible so that you can reference that. Don't just set it and forget it because that's not any good either.

What's next, Rach?

What's next? Okay, so we're going to call these things marketing pillars. Okay, so choose, I would say, two to three marketing pillars to focus on for the year. I think a lot of times we get distracted by shiny objects or we look at what other people are doing and what's working for them. What works for somebody else isn't necessarily going to work for you. So choose two to three pillars that you're going to focus on. Whether it's for the quarter, for the year, maybe even for, I would say maybe not for the month. Actually focus on something for longer than a month because if you just give something a month, you might not see the results. So, so go quarterly and then yearly.

So these pillars can include things like Video doing more video, doing more. Social media in general, focusing on creating more realtor relationships, local community events, just hosting more of your events in general. These pillars are going to decide and dictate how you're spending your time. So don't try to do everything under the sun, because we've seen people do that, right, Karen, and usually they kind of burn out.

They burn out or it just ends up being a lackluster approach anyway because they're spreading themselves too wide and too thin. So to your point, pick a couple things that you want to improve upon. Note a couple marketing areas or categories that you want to get better at, and then spend all of your time and dollars, if you have some dollars to spend on those things specifically, and you'll notice that you're gonna see an improvement and uptick in where your effort lies. I also would recommend if there's a certain area in marketing that you enjoy something that you like doing, write that down, as we said in step one, and note that that's something you wanna stick with or maybe you wanna dive a little further into, because we're more likely to stick with things that we like doing if there's something that really is just not your cup of tea and you just struggle with it. You know, I would say if it's something you feel is really going to improve your business, maybe some coaching on it, but stick with the things that you like doing.

Yeah. Isn't that funny? You know, don't put something on your goal sheet that you're like, I hate this. I loathe this. But, you know, Susie over here, she's doing it and she's killing it, so I guess I got to put it on there. Why would you do that to yourself? And yet I see people do that all the time. I've been guilty of that myself. You know, if you hate again, we'll go back to working out. Because why not? If you hate the gym, then find something else.

Like, I love playing tennis. I love pickleball. I love going out for walks. So I know myself. If I just say I'm gonna go to the gym, I'm not gonna do it.

I'm not gonna do it.

So find something you like to do. Corinne's laughing at me. Ren, stop. Don't laugh at me.

Listen, I'm ready for a pickleball league. Let's do it. Maybe. Do we just organize a pickle. Pickleball league here? Guys, I think we just did, Rage. Write it down, Rachel, write it down. We're starting a pickleball league. No, I agree that actually that, that exercising analogy is perfect and relates perfectly to this.

It's always said, pick exercise that you enjoy doing if you're a walker, walk. If you're a runner, run. If you enjoy the community of going to a gym and lifting, lift. If you like classes and you're more of a yogi, do that. You know, it's important that you're moving. The movement itself is important. It's not that you try to be something that you're just not going to. To be because you, you highly, you know, dislike it.

So I think that's a good, A good analogy to use.

Yeah, absolutely.

Keep referring to this. I wonder what's on our mind.

We don't have the president's club coming up or anything in Punta Cana that we're trying to, you know, get in shape for. I can lose 20 pounds and get super fit in a month. Maybe not, but. But actually this does go to the next point, which is setting realistic, measurable goals. Okay, so along with picking one of the pillars on your goal sheet, don't just say, use the gym example again. Don't just say, go to the gym. Don't just say, do more video. Have a very measurable goal.

Say, I'm going to do. And don't start crazy. I'm going to do four videos per month and I'm going to post twice a week on social. Or I'm going to have one bigger event that I host per quarter and then I'm going to go to X amount of events. So make sure you're setting honest, measurable goals. Look at your budget. Don't shoot for the moon. You know, start small, but then don't start too small either.

Don't just say, like, I'm going to make one video a quarter. Okay, congratulations, you met your goal. But, like, is that really going to make a difference? So choose something that's kind of in between, that's going to push you a little bit, but not push you totally out of your comfort zone that you'll never reach.

Yeah, I agree with that, Rachel. And just to bite off of that, when you're saying, don't shoot for the moon, it's important. A goal is supposed to be something that you're reaching for. But, you know, to Rachel's point, you know, it's something that needs to be measurable and that you can clearly say, I did it each month and check it off the list and have it on your sheet. But it can be something that's just taking One larger step or a couple larger steps. If you're a person that only posts twice a month, try to post four times a month, try to post once a week. That's. That's better.

Um, that's a way to stay in front of your audience more. We have tools in place for that too, that you can use. If you're a person that is using your database and you're trying to reference, you know, previous relationships and want to dive further there, make a goal to log in every single day to your CRM. Make sure you're logging in the morning, you're referencing tasks, you're. You're looking at contacts, maybe you're updating some database information on your realtors. These are all really important tools that you have at your disposal that you can use. And you can again, set a measurable, attainable goal with. That's not too crazy, but is keeping you more in line with what you're trying to do.

So there are some great examples. I love the event example. You know, video, obviously, we always talk about video and how important it is on social media, so we can dive in on all these categories. But measurable goals and, you know, take yourself a little further than you did in 2025, but don't make it so difficult that it ends up mentally bringing you down because you're not able to. To come close to it or not able to achieve what you were trying to do.

Yeah. And I want to hit on something that you just mentioned, tools, because Carl White of Mortgage Marketing Animals, and maybe he didn't coin this phrase, but he would always say, if not you, then who? So it doesn't. On your, on your goal sheet and your planning sheet for the quarter or for the year. It doesn't always have to be things that you're doing, you know, engage your team, engage your company. We work very closely with our loan officers here at hma and many companies work closely with their loan officers, the marketing department or sales teams. Or maybe you have a team of people in house that you work with, look outward other than just looking internally and say, okay, well, who on my team can handle this? Or what platform or software system can I incorporate that isn't going to, you know, kill the bank and is going to help me move forward. So a great example of that. Again, we'll go back to social media, because that's a big one, I hear, because it just feels daunting, I think, to a lot of people.

But is Social Coach, Because Social coach is a platform that we have for our Loan officers. You know, many companies use it. It's a great platform where you can connect all of your social media platforms under one umbrella and then just be posting once. You know, you don't have to go to each platform and post separately. You can go to social coach, make your posts. We have a ton of things that we've pre. Made put in there and it kind of takes the guesswork out of it. So that would be a really good example of something to incorporate if you don't already have that.

But. But make sure you're looking outwardly doesn't always have to fall on you.

I like that. Rach, what's next?

So the. And actually this kind of goes to the next point which is identify your systems and support. I would, I would look at. This happens all the time where we. And this is just salespeople. Salespeople I think are suckers for really good salespeople. We. We invest in programs and then forget about them.

So look at your systems, look at your. What you're spending money on, because a lot of things that you probably have subscriptions to you're not even using. So you're spending money on something that you're not using. So look at. Do. Do kind of an inventory of the year and say, okay, what have I used in the past? Or what have I paid for in the past? What am I using? What am I not using? What do I need to focus on?

Yeah, and I hope we kind of did that scrub at the very end of 2025, fourth quarter, which leads us right into first quarter of this year to say that scrub is complete. I have a good gauge. You know, we talked about, I think in a previous release that we did. I have a good gauge on what worked and what didn't work at the end of 2025. So now I have a fresh palette for 2026. Maybe you have noted a tool that you do want to test and spend money on, or you've noted a different system or process that you'd like to try and take a shot at that you've seen maybe another loan officer execute successfully and you think you can as well. So it's a great point Rachel makes. How are you putting maybe a team member or player on the field if you think their time could be adjusted if you have one or are building a team or, or if you're using a software system or outsourcing a group or another professional to help you.

These are the types of things that we want to have dialed in beginning of this quarter. So we can measure really, really well this entire year together.

Yeah, absolutely. And then another idea is to focus on creative prompts. Okay, let's kind of pivot a little bit. Creative prompts that can help loan officers just maybe give them ideas or again, actually start, since that's such a. An issue for a lot of people. Ask yourself this. And you can ask yourself this. Jot this down and then put it into ChatGPT or your favorite AI platform.

Three questions to ask. Who am I serving? What problem am I solving? And how will people hear from me? So I think a lot of times we just cast this huge net. You mentioned that before, Wren, where it's like you're covering everything, but then who's your audience? You know, you want to make sure you've. You really know who your ideal avatar is. So ask yourself those questions and then pop it into ChatGPT. I love doing this. And double dog. This is my second double dog dare.

You know, if you go to ChatGPT and ask it to tell you everything about yourself. So I. I named my chatbot on Chat GPT Chad. So I'll go in, I'll say, hey, Chad, tell me everything you know about Rachel Tresh from HMA Mortgage. And it's amazing the kind of stuff that it pumps out there. So I would start with that and then ask it the question, who am I serving? What problem am I solving? How will they hear from me? And I feel like asking yourself that question helps you to create your brand, helps you to create your brand identity. And to be able to do that in a couple sentences is huge. If you don't know who you're serving, then how are you going to serve them? The best way.

Yeah, I like that a lot. Rach. That was a great little deep dive there, a mini deep dive, we'll call it. And you know, if this feels like an overwhelming process for you or like, oh, I don't have time to get into all that and do all that. Reach out for help, reach out to us. That's what we're here for. That's why we've made this version of the podcast for loan officers. And we have active social media pages online where we're sharing, having a conversation and talking about these topics every single week.

So you're not alone. That process is newer for some people that are just diving into chat a bit, maybe creating content, but don't have all the paths built out in their account. You know, we can definitely give you tips and tricks on how to take that further, but it is really going to be an important tool to be using this year. And that's a great example that Rachel just provided.

That's. I mean, that's kind of the basics of what I really wanted to focus on today. I guess we can just wrap with this. You know, again, this is. This is geared towards loan officers, real estate agents, but really, this is important for anyone in sales to ask yourself these questions. Okay? What has stopped you from writing your marketing plan in the past? You know, I think a lot of people think about it, but what. What's the reason that you didn't do it? So let's ask ourselves that. And this is just a, you know, a rhetorical question, if you will, to.

To really help get you to the next level. Because if we don't understand, this isn't new stuff. This isn't rocket surgery, my favorite term ever. This is stuff you've heard before. So let's really do a deep dive to understand why we haven't done it or why we haven't followed through. Okay, so what stopped you from either putting your marketing plan together in the past or following through? So let's ask ourselves that. What three pillars that we mentioned before or two to three are pillars that you feel you could actually focus on? So think about that. What are you committing to measure this year? You know, don't pick everything that we talked about.

Pick a couple of things and really focus on those few things. And then what's one marketing habit you will drop and what's one that you will add? So that's just a little recap of some of the things we talked about today. We want to make this measurable. We want to make this successful for you. And I think if you just try to do everything all at once, it's not going to happen. It's little by little by little, one day at a time. Not cheating on yourself is huge. And hopefully this has given you some ideas on how to be successful in this new year.

That's great, Rachel. I love it. Hey, guys. It's been an awesome episode. Lending the creative brief. Please follow us. YouTube, we're on Apple, we're on Google, Facebook, all the things. Make sure you're following us.

And until next time, I think I need to probably get to the gym at some point here after this episode.

Rach, let's go. Maybe we'll do a walking podcast. We'll just walk and talk.

Hey, there you go. A walk. We will do a Rach and Rin walk and talk episode. Thanks, guys.

All right, everybody. Thanks, Rin. Talk to you soon, Sam.