By B.J. Bounds
Senior marketing
communications specialist
Calyx Soft ware
Business of a Feather Flocks Together
Market your niche to help expand and concentrate your business
Either through experience or ed- ucation, you may have discov- ered that you want to narrow the
focus of your business. for instance,
perhaps you want to concentrate on
rural properties, or perhaps you want
to zero-in on urban loft buyers or
make yourself an expert on particular
loan programs, such as those offered
through the U.S. Department of Veterans affairs (Va).
focusing your efforts on a specific
target — or niche — in the market can
help you develop a reputation as an
informed and trustworthy industry
professional. but establishing yourself
as a specialist means that you need to
determine where your interests lie and
how you can spread the word about
yourself and your expertise.
When it comes to today’s consumers,
the first step to marketing yourself is to
meet your clients where they conduct
most of their research and business:
the Internet. Second, as you move into
outbound marketing activities such as
e-mails or phone calls, maintaining an
efficient database of contacts becomes
very important. you’ll also need to expand your referral network and ensure
that your communications are consistent throughout your networks. Two resources that you can use to accomplish
these tasks likely are available to you
right now: your website and your loan-origination system (LOS).
Create a welcoming space
When you establish your niche, your
website will need to reflect your new
focus. The advent of website templates
makes this easy to do.
Choose images and copy that speak
to your target audience. Even your
choice of colors can be crucial — for instance, wide-open spaces on your website may reflect rural living, or particular
shades of green may invoke images of a
military environment. your focus should
be apparent on your home page; consider including helpful links to industry
statistics or other topics that pertain
to your audience. If you’ve developed
a network of referral partners such as
realtors or builders, consider adding
links to their respective websites.
One of the most important things
that you can have on your home page
is a clear directional link for people
who wish to complete an online ap-
plication. Offering online uniform resi-
dential loan applications — aka 1003s
— can give potential clients an option
that many of your competitors don’t
offer. your online applications also can
be tied to your LOS, enabling all bor-
rower information to be automatically
downloaded and prepared for further
processing, all without the time-
consuming step of re-keying data.
Consolidate data
Once an applicant’s data is dropped
into your LOS, the borrower’s contact
information can become a significant
part of your LOS database. That data
can then join others in what will become your marketing database.
Within your LOS, you can add your
contacts and categorize them according
to segments of your choosing. Having
your network partners and referral contacts collected in one place makes it
easier to maintain and grow a base to
which you can market your expertise.
The contact database within your
LOS is the most logical place to store
your contacts, as this allows you to consolidate and parse data as you need it.
furthermore, consider the fact that the
most important portion of your records
— your list of potential and current
clients — is already available in your
contact database, as well. With this in
mind, it makes sense to add to your current database in lieu of exporting your
resources to a less functional and potentially less secure platform.
Extend your reach
Let’s say that your database is in place
and your website is up and running,
all ready to accept applications from
your niche. your next step is to begin
your marketing outreach to potential
clients. you already have a database of
contacts with which to begin.
Love your niche
Establishing a niche market within a
heavily regulated industry can prove
profitable if you use all the tools at
your disposal. Marketing a niche program and spreading the word about
your expertise don’t have to be cost-prohibitive or time-intensive, but you
Illustration: Dennis Wunsch
do have to make a concerted effort to
produce a consistent message for your
contacts while also maintaining a rel-
evant Internet presence.
B.J. Bounds is the senior marketing communications specialist for Calyx Software.
In addition to media relations and copy writing, she’s a contributing author to the Calyx
Software blog, CalyxCorner. bounds has
more than 10 years of experience in sales and
corporate marketing with a focus on technology that spans several industries. for more
information on Calyx Software, contact
(800) 362-2599 or visit calyxsoftware.com
and calyxcorner.com.
