podcast, the show where we flip the real estate status quo on its head and put loan officers into the driver's seat. We give you all the tools, strategies, resources, and mindset needed to modernize your mortgage business and thrive. My name is Luke Shankula, aka Long Form Luke, and this is the Loans On Demand podcast. going on? Welcome to the Loans On Demand podcast, the show where we help loan officers flip the status quo on real estate agents to put loan officers in the driver's seat.
And man, I'm excited for today's episode because we have a LinkedIn influencer with us today. His name is Connor Bartley. He is a business development manager or partner at Loan Depot. Really cool guy. I've actually met him on LinkedIn. And so I'm just messing around. He's an influencer, but he really is. I mean, he's got a lot of cool things he's doing on there. So man, welcome to the show. I'm excited to have you. Happy to be here, Luke. Yeah, it's gonna be a lot of fun. Let's do it.
Let's rock and roll, man. Well, I was going to introduce you letting people know that you are a two time pie eating champion. So tell us a little bit about that. And then just give us a background who you are, man. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So quick background, I'm a senior business development partner over here at Loan Depot. I've been doing that for almost seven years.
I support region four for us, which is Texas and Oklahoma, and I help with the recruiting needs of the region, whether it's adding loan officers to existing branches or opening new ones. But that's just a part of me. And that's why I include all those different things on my LinkedIn profile, because, you know, at the end of the day, yeah, we all have jobs, but there are other things that make us interesting and other things that we love and like to do.
And yeah, the pie eating contest, that was a fun time in life. Where I live, the community I'm in, it's a city called ULIS here in Texas. It's just right in the middle of Dallas and Fort Worth. And every year they have an annual Arbor Days celebration. So sometime in April. And it's, you know, it's at the rec center and you've got the tents that are up and all the food and all this stuff. And they give away little pine tree saplings.
And it's just when you have little kids and you just don't know what to do that weekend, it's something to go to, right? And so we went there and it was probably around 2018. I think we'd been a couple of years before. So we looked here a while. And this was the first time they were going to have an eating contest. And, you know, I've always kind of been curious about doing one. Like, how would I do? Right. You know, you see these at these festivals and you're like, I could do that.
Maybe You you see these at these festivals and you're I could do that. know, like, I could, you know, compete. Maybe I you compete. could, know, So I turned to my wife and I I'm going say, to hon, do that. But I promise afterward I'll start getting into shape. Right. So anyway, I enter into the contest. I've got my Chuck Norris shirt on you and, know, it's got all the fun Chuck Norris jokes. Like he starts a fire rubbing two ice cubes together, all this stuff.
I just thought it was appropriate for the event. And they bring out apple pies. You have five minutes to eat as much as you could.
behind your back couldn't use your hands oh wow you know and they just start the time and you just dig in man and you know the trick to it really is first of all i had some help because i would say about 80 of my competitors were children so that that helps right so i mean like two or three other adults, and then, you know, a bunch of other kids that were just having fun. But yeah, so I just dug in, just got covered in apple pie, came back the next year to defend my title.
Second year was a little closer, but I still won. And then COVID came, the festival was gone for two years. So I like to say that I was a four-year champion, right? Because no one beat me for two more years. But then when it came back, I actually showed up and lost. And that was tough. So I've retired. Now, if the right circumstances present themselves, I might come out of retirement. But no, I the guy that beat me, like he's a local legend.
Now, later that day, he won the pizza eating contest, too.
So how do you compete with it it's okay to lose to the greatest right it's like losing one-on-one against michael jordan or kobe bryant like you feel good about that right it's okay but uh yeah that was a lot do you good about that right it's okay but uh yeah that was a lot of fun that's pretty funny man yeah and obviously if someone could eat all that pie and then also eat pizza that's probably someone who maybe is a professional you know eater
or just someone that loves to eat man because that's a lot of freaking food to eat man but let's get a little bit get a little bit more serious. He was ringer. He's a ringer. Yeah, exactly. The ringer, man. They brought in the ringer to beat you, man. Otherwise, you would have been three years in a row, right? I mean, obviously, that's awesome, man.
And I love that you share that kind of stuff because obviously, one of the things with platforms like LinkedIn, even from my perspective is, and I think I told you this via the DMs we were chatting a little bit was LinkedIn's hard for me, man. My favorite platform, I use Facebook a lot. I share memes. I share jokes. I share stuff like that. And I feel like I go on LinkedIn. It's just like all super stuffy and like people wearing suits and I don't wear suits.
You know, I'm wearing a hoodie right now and a hat. Like, you know, I got out of corporate for a reason. So I didn't have to do that kind of stuff. And so what I like about some of the content you share is it is a lot more authentic and cool and chill and stuff like that. So talk a little bit about like your journey with LinkedIn. What sort of got you? I mean, it sounds like you've been doing LinkedIn for a while, but I know you've been growing a lot over the last year, two years.
And what's been that strategy? And why have you sort of gone so hard into LinkedIn? ringer. Yeah, So about a year and a half ago, I decided, you know, Alec Hansen, Josh Pitts, Brian Covey. I mean, you see these guys, they talk about it all the time. And I thought to myself, well, would that work for somebody who does what I do? You know, and so I got real heavy into it probably about, I want to say September of 2022. Okay. And a lot of what I was posting, man, I was doing it all wrong.
Like I was talking about my company. I was talking about recruiting. I was just pitching, pitching, pitching. And then after about a year of doing that and really at the one year anniversary, LinkedIn is great because it gives you all these analytics. You can see the impression, the amount of engagement, you get to see all the data. And I looked at it and I said, okay, well, what if I shifted
strategy just a little bit? And so I just switched over to a one post a day strategy, but engaging way more with other people's content. So, you know, posting thoughtful comments, liking, reaching out through the DMs and all of that. And I mean, more than doubled everything when it came to all the analytics of LinkedIn. So really the trick is you got to be a part of the community. And that actually is where my comfort zone really is.
I guess if you want to call it a strategy to bring value and highlight LinkedIn. So how hard it is and how vulnerable you get when you're posting content. That's authentic and not just hiding behind the value props of your company or your successes, right? But if you're going to go and bear all and be vulnerable and share a little bit about like your life and your failures, and you want to share your goals and dreams so that you're held accountable to them, just get that forced accountability.
That's kind of a big deal. And so when I see someone else doing that, I really want to support that and get behind that too. And that's a part of why I do the High Five Fridays. Not only is it helpful for other people to see what others in the industry are posting and to get exposed to some great content creators that are out there. You're one of them, Brian View, Amir Saeed. There's a lot of them, right? But not everybody knows because they come on, they see what you
see, right? They see the stuffed shirt. They see all of the pitching that's going on. People talking about the last thing they closed or the last award they won. They tune out because it doesn't feel authentic. But if you really dig into the platform, there is so much free coaching going on out there. Right, right. So many great value posts being shared. In fact, I think that's how I found you, Luke, was I reached out to the network and said, share with me people who post valuable content.
And you were someone that was recommended. And I put together the starter kit for people who are on LinkedIn and the mortgage industry that don't know who to follow so that they can get some real valuable stuff in their feed. So anyway, but it's a cool platform. I've really formed some great relationships through it and get to know a lot of cool people and get to be on podcasts from time to time. So it's been a fun ride. Well, that's pretty cool, man.
Because obviously, like you even said, I mean, you know, people are starting to ask you to be on podcasts and things like that. And honestly, like, I feel like this platform and to be completely transparent to everybody who's listening, I have 20,000 followers on LinkedIn, but only because I have spent the last five years automating the crap out of my, you know, auto follows and auto things. And like, everything is all like, I have an automation in the background.
It used to be, you could add a hundred people a day. And now you got to add a hundred people a week, I think is what it is now. And so, you know, I've just been doing that for years and then auto spamming people. And so I completely changed that, you know, process and I still add people. I still have that going on, but my initial thing is just kind of a joke. It's like, Hey, like, you know, here's a thinly veiled pitch. And people love it.
It's just basically just joking about what everybody's doing on this platform and saying, I'm going to throw some dad jokes at you. And hey, if you want to go ahead and join our Facebook group. And that's really it. Very, very soft, nothing crazy. And then now over the last couple of weeks slash months, honestly, I've just been doing a lot of just browsing because I used to just like, I'd get on, I'd post and I'd leave and it'd be crickets.
It's like the same stuff that I post on Facebook that gets 50, 100 likes, that gets 40, 50, 100 engagements. I post on LinkedIn, nothing, crickets. I'm like, what the heck, right? And so I'm like talking to some of these guys, like, you know, Dan, I don't know how to say his last name, Smokosis, whatever, Smokosis. So I was talking with him and I was like, you know, and he started talking about it while engaging with people like, oh, like just like with Facebook. Oh, okay.
That's what I tell people with Facebook as well. And then you talked about it. And Brian, I had Brian view on and you know, he said the same thing. Those are the consistent strategies that I keep hearing is it comes down to engaging with the people that are one putting out content, but again, just being a human, right. And so many times, like, because this is a different sort of platform, I'm treating it like everybody else is like, it is a
business platform, right? So we just treat it like a business platform or stuffy, but it's not really these humans are humans. And human behavior doesn't really change. Yeah, I mean, I think you do adjust what you post on the platform a little bit. You know, I don't know that I would post memes all the time, like I do on Facebook. But still, I do think there's opportunities to post a lot more of the organic, authentic content as well.
But then a little bit more of the education, which I find seems to work pretty well for a lot of people is really just bringing value, value, value and showing in the post exactly what you can do to grow your business and things like that. So that's one thing that I found that you have been doing a lot of is bringing a lot of value. Then also you're showcasing a lot of people. So I'm interested to hear about your podcast journey, man.
You've been doing this like a hundred podcasts in a hundred days. Talk about that. And how are you finding a hundred loan officer podcasts? I don't even think there is a hundred loan officer podcasts. 100 do repeat from time to time. Okay. So now that I'm on kind of like the back half of it, we're probably going to start going back to some of the well on a few other shows and things like that. But I started that really just because I felt it was respectful.
And what I mean by that is I recruit loan officers. Sure. So I need to understand what a loan officer does, what it's like to be a loan officer. Like I'll probably never fund a loan. I don't know if there'll ever be a circumstance where I go ahead and get licensed and go through that.
But I heard something the other day, and it was on a podcast, and they mentioned that Wally Elbiari, who's out here in the DFW area, $200 million producer, mentioned early in his career that he wanted to be the best realtor to never sell a house. And what he meant by that was, I'm going to go get educated like a realtor. I'm going to understand what realtor problems are so I can help solve realtor problems. And that to me is like, that's what I'm doing.
I want to be the best loan officer to never fund a loan. I want to understand what it's like to go through this grind and be able to provide some valuable insight from experts in this industry to other loan officers that I talk to. Because if I'm not worth knowing, what's the point, right? Like if I can't give you something when I give you a call, you know what I do, a lot of people just tell me no, because they're not ready, right? Like that's the grind of recruiting.
A lot of people just, they're not ready for it. They don't know it's not worth their time at that time, making a move in the mortgage industry. It sucks. It's hard. It's a pain in the butt and a lot of moving parts. So to want to do that or to be, I guess, talked into that, which I never would want to do, but to want to go through that process, it takes a while.
And so along the way, I want to be able to provide value and be somebody that you see my phone number pop up and go, let's see what Connor's got for me today. Right. And so I started that journey and yeah, it's been awesome. Like just listening to the different perspectives of this industry. I've listened to a lot of different podcasts. There's one with, it was like mortgage moms. And that was kind of neat because they talked about being moms and their families along with mortgages.
I listened to one of a guy about like new housing legislation in New Hampshire, which, you know, I mean, like, what do I have to do with New Hampshire? But at the same time, like I can see the value in that platform for a loan officer to say, hey, have one of your local representatives on a show with you and talk about legislation and get that news out to your agents. And that's providing value to your network of people.
And then, of course, you've got the longstanding shows like yours and Alec Hansen's Modern Loaning Playbook. And there's a lot of them out there. So Mortgage Marketing Radio, those types of shows. And so I love to listen to the different guests. I love to hear their stories. And yeah, it just gives me a lot of valuable insight for me into the type of people that I talk to day to day. And like I said, it all goes back to respect. Like, I feel like it's what I should be doing.
If I'm not studying this business, then I'm just, you know, throwing value props at you and hoping something sticks at the wall. And I just don't feel like that's good recruiting. So, you know, it's just part of my growth and journey. And so I not just part of my growth and journey. I agree, man. And something we talk about in sales, you know, when I'm doing coaching on sales and things like that is like most salespeople think that the most valuable part of a sales is like the pitch.
And the truth is that is probably the least important part of the sale, right? What really matters, and honestly, recruiting is a form of sales, really everything is a form of sales, right? Like, you know, finding your wife is a form of sales, like everything we do is pretty much a form of sales or persuasion. And so from that perspective, sales really is identifying a problem and providing a solution.
If you don't identify the problem that someone has, how do you provide a solution to that problem? And so without understanding the prospects that you're going after, how can you give them the solution to their problems? Because you don't know their problems. And so I think that's super valuable for you. And we talk about this a lot with even loan officers. So many loan officers have this... I don't call it this. It's not some I-coin, but it's called the curse of knowledge.
You think that people know more about the thing you do than they actually do. I mean, even from a marketing perspective, I'll start talking about stuff like pixels and unique value propositions and unique mechanisms and things like that. People are like, Oh, what are you talking about? Right. And it's like, Oh crap. Like let's boil it down to marketing 101. The same thing that loan officers do all the time. DTI, LTV. Like I want to educate these people.
It's like, yes, you want to educate your prospects. But when you start to use words they don't understand, they feel talked down to instead of educated, right? So like you're using all these big words, like no, they just feel overwhelmed. What they need is a leader. is a need a leader to guide them to the promised land, right? They want someone that's going to show up and hold their hand and put them in the best position for
themselves, right? And a lot of times people hide behind, I'm not a salesperson. The truth is you are a salesperson first, because if you're not, then you don't deserve to get paid 5, 10, 15 grand on a loan. I'm sorry, you don't. Those people get paid because of the value they bring, which is new deals. They don't get paid because they educate people. Because if not, then teachers will get paid a lot more money and they don't.
So again, I think that's super valuable and something that we can all learn from. And I think the same thing when I'm thinking from a marketing perspective, when I'm marketing the consumer, what's in it for me, that's always the concept that I think about is like, what is the consumer thinking when they see this ad? What is the consumer thinking when they see this post? Like, what can I do that's going to spark an interest, but you have to get in their shoes.
And so you're doing that same thing, going through these podcasts, talking to loan officers every day, having masterminds, bringing them value. And that's something that, if I can be frank, the mortgage industry is terrible, for the most part, at actually giving people tangible value and educating them on how to get more business. And I'll point to this. I used to be an AE at a reverse mortgage company. And a new CEO came in and he's like, well, what can we do to help
you? I said, man, I would love some more training. I would love to learn more like scripting and sales training and yada, yada. He's like, yeah, companies don't really do that anymore. And I was like, oh, I was like, this is going to go great. Of course, business ended up imploding and we got laid off in 2017 and here we are. But I realized as I started my business, I would never do that. It's like, no, like the truth is, people are not educated. What are most loan officers
taught? Go talk to real estate agents. What do they say? How do they do it? What's the value prop? How do you create a value prop? What's your offer? How do you stand out from other people? Oh, I have good rates. I answer my phone and you don't have good service. Like that's your job description. That's not your value proposition. So when you're sharing this information, like what are you sort of thinking about from that perspective when you are posting this Yeah.
So I try to always keep in mind that I don't do this job. And when I have my mastermind and I'm talking with loan officers, and I always start that by saying, listen, out of respect for you, I'm not trying to tell anybody what to do. But I study this business in a way that I can try to bring ideas that I've learned from other top producers. Like these are proven things that have worked for someone else. And I just want to share.
And hopefully that'll bring you value and maybe trigger an idea of your own or something that you want to pursue. And I can point you in a direction or maybe help make a connection for you to that person that can help you along that journey.
And for me, that's really what's another benefit to LinkedIn is just getting connected with people to where I can make those connections for folks where it's like, hey, I just heard a great podcast today about annual mortgage reviews and how to leverage those to help partner with your agents more effectively and really bring value to that relationship and also get more referrals from previous customers, right? And is that something you're trying to do these days?
No? Well, listen, let me connect you with so-and-so loan officer so that they can share with you how to walk through that. Because if that's something you're interested in, it will bring you value and they can share, you know, how and the scripting that they've done. So when I bring that to a loan officer, I always want to make sure that I'm not trying to be, you know, the end all be all expert, because I don't implement these strategies for myself,
right? Now, some of them are translatable to what I do. And so I do take some of this and put it into my own business. But it's really about just learning what other people are doing and saying, hey, I've heard that come up a few times. But I want to touch on something you mentioned, Luke, which is just the industry as a whole isn't great at educating their loan officers. I would agree with that. That's why we see the average age be so high in the industry.
I think I saw a stat the other day that it had dropped from somewhere in the 50s to somewhere in the mid 40s, but that was like 2021 numbers. My guess is we're probably close to high 40s, low 50s now, because you got to imagine a lot of young people got into the business to hit that refi boom, and then maybe they got right back. So I'd be curious what the new number is these days.
But from where I sit, I tell the managers that I work with, it's not about the value prop of the company you work for. That supports what you do. But if you're talking with a potential loan officer about joining your team and coming over to work with you, it's all about you and how the company supports your vision for that. But you better come to that conversation with a plan. Yes. You better show that loan officer, this is how we're going to help.
And not just be, we've got good tech and we can close your loans on time. And we've got all these products and good rates. Like that's just price of admission, right? Every Yes. worth a lick can do all those things. So now it's about local leadership. And what does that local leader bring to the table to inspire that loan officer to support them? Some LOs just need a frontline manager. Somebody will be in their pipeline, somebody will help them structure deals, that sort of thing.
They just need that extra layer of support. Others need somebody that can really be their guide and say, hey, these are the plans that we're going to implement to grow. And if you follow me, it'll work and I'll hold you accountable to it. And so that's where I feel like there's a big gap in mortgage recruiting is that there's a little too much reliance on value props and not actual value.
And so I would encourage anybody who's a recruiting leader out there, and this is inspired by Richard Milligan, who's a great recruiting coach out there, but just define your value as a leader and be prepared to lay that out to a recruit. They may not see the value and that's fine. The ones that do will be inspired by you, be attracted to what you do. And, you know, you've got a chance to have a really loyal person join your team and you can't trade that for the world.
I mean, we can go out there and buy all the talent we want, right? And throw out big sign on bonuses and go back to 2020 and say, here's a bunch of money. But we've seen how that's played out, right? We've seen folks come and go and that sort of thing. And so it really does boil down to, hey, how are you going to really set me up for success? And that just boils down to local leadership. I that because I agree. I mean, just to call out some people in the industry.
I mean, there are some of those leaders that attempt to gatekeep the good information as a way to hold value so that, you know, oh, and I don't want them to leave if they have this thing. And it's like, OK, well, that is not leadership. That is being a little I'm not going to say it. That is being badly. That to me is like the biggest slap in the face that you don't really have true value.
And so instead of bringing value, you want to hide the good things because you don't want them to leave and go somewhere else, right? I'm going to hide this thing from them. I'm going to hide this other thing from them. I'm going to show them this, but this is like, oh, I came up with this myself. It's like, no, give them everything. Because guess what? Once they find out that you didn't actually do that thing, they're going to leave, right? I mean, and you talk about paying people.
We've seen MSAs, we've seen the signing bonuses. Money brings you short term business. But in my opinion, and we've seen a lot of companies doing the whole get licensed, get your real estate agent license and pay them 50 bips. In my head, I get it. It's a hard market. But those are all short term strategies that are all going to backfire in the future. Because guess what?
When the business gets busy, like, do you really want to be paying your real estate agents 50 bips on every deal and mr loan officer now all of a sudden you're only making 60 bips per deal because now you have to give up 50 of your bips to give it to this real estate agent that didn't really do anything other than give you the deal now all of a sudden how do you market your business i don't know to me it's like a short-term side of things so many guys got into solar
as well cool like now you've taken your eyes off of the price instead of getting better at sales, instead of getting better at your systems, instead of getting better at getting more clients, you're looking at things that are like, oh, I made money today. And I get it. It's a tough market. We've had, you know, two of the toughest years in recent history, if not maybe ever it's hard, but I think thinking from a perspective of a long-term game is always going to lead to better results.
And I honestly didn't expect this conversation to go this And I love that it I mean, way. did. I don't know, maybe I shouldn't be talking about this stuff, but I've seen right? it, I've talked to thousands of loan officers, branch managers, regionals, district owners, like over the last five, six years, like I have seen every model under the sun. I see the value in all of them. You know, you see the brokers, you see the retail, you see the big banks, you see the little banks.
Everyone has their own value and everybody has their flaws and everybody has their upsides. In my head, it's like the people that come out on top are the people that are true leaders that show up and bring value without necessarily looking for gain. Yes, the ulterior motive at the end of the day, you're posting valuable stuff. It's like, hey, I post valuable stuff because I want people to come to me. I want people to be attracted to me and maybe they'll work with me.
But that's not necessarily the entire intention. It's like, I want to bring value to this industry. I'm assuming that's kind of how you see it. I don't Yeah. I mean, I work one very small part of the country, but LinkedIn is a national platform, right? So like I'm not in it just for recruiting loan officers in Texas and Oklahoma. I mean, this is just my way of showing appreciation to the business and really trying to bring value to this industry.
Like I said, I'll never originate a loan, but if I can help someone originate one or give them a good idea to grow, I mean, that's a cool feeling, right? But I would say this, Luke, if somebody's lacking leadership, and I know it may sound like an overly simplified thing to do, but I honestly would encourage somebody to just find two podcasts and listen to them every week. Go follow good people on LinkedIn and just is their posts. I mean, that could be the difference in 10 loans a year for
you, right? Like just finding those ideas that you're not getting. You know, during COVID in 2020, everybody went to work from home and some people haven't even returned, you know? And so they're still working at the house. They're still going about this thing on their own. And for some, that's their preferred way of doing it. They like to have that autonomy. They really want to, you know, just kind of be left alone. They've been doing it long enough.
They feel like they've got, you know, it all under control and some do. And then others, I would say like, if you're lacking that interpersonal opportunity to bounce ideas off of somebody or whatever it is, or there's a gap in leadership and you just don't feel like you're getting it, just find it yourself. Like the resources are out there. There's really no excuse. Right, absolutely, man. And I actually shared this the other day and I said like, I mean, I'm on a mission to give
everything away, right? All the secrets, because it was funny, I saw a post in a group, and someone was asking, it was a real estate group. Because at one point in my career, I worked with real estate agents, we don't anymore. But we did at one point, I'm still in a bunch of real estate groups. And someone said, Hey, like, can you share an ad? And there was a guy was like, Oh, check out my results. And the person was like, Oh, but you didn't share the ad.
And he's like, Oh, well, that won't be for free. And I said, here's some different ad copy variations. The secret is not the ad copy. The secret is on conversion. There's a lot of other things that matter. You just need to execute. I made a post the other day too that talked about like most people don't lack information. They lack execution. But the real truth is you need to take action. And one of my favorite quotes is by Derek Sivers.
If more information was the answer, we'd all be billionaires with six-pack abs. So this is not about information. YouTube is a thing. You can literally learn anything. You can learn AI. You can learn ads. You can learn Google My Business strategies. You can learn how to rank on YouTube. You can learn how to create a YouTube channel. There's no limit to what you can learn on these platforms. You just got to take just truth So this is not about Yeah.
Well, and so the way I came up with a solo tag, the solution oriented loan officer, you know, I've been having conversations with folks that were really kind of depressing because everybody was just so ultra focused on rates and inventory and things like that. And I remember even talking with one person who said, you know, like, I've been through the grind, Connor, like, I've been doing this for 20 years. I'm just not going to go do it again.
And so I was getting kind of frustrated, you know, just with how down everybody was, you know. And then I had another conversation that was completely different. Somebody who was a lot more, you know, focused on, they were telling me how they were getting business out of their database. How in the world are you getting business out of your database full of people at 2%, 3%, 4% and rates and rates are seven or eight, right?
Well, they're making the calls, like they're actually taking the action and they're having those conversations. And so I'm walking my dog and I'm thinking, you know, I love acronyms and I'm just trying to think, how can I make this relatable to people? Like this kind of loan officer, just that conversation stuck with me. And I'm thinking, LO, okay, well, what's a word that ends with And And so I'm like, okay, solo, solution-oriented. Okay, so just connect the dots.
Sure. And then, you know, I remember seeing an old Instagram reel of a guy at a campfire with a red Solo cup. And, you know, he's like, check it out. You know, when it's full, it doesn't melt. And it doesn't. You know, you put it in the fire, it won't melt. I've tested it. It I'm sure if you keep it in there long it But if it's works. I it's it doesn't And it enough, will. You put it in the empty, it won't mean, full, I've tested It melt. works. doesn't. fire, melt. I'm it.
sure if you keep it in there long enough, it will. But if it's empty, I mean, it's instant. It melts right away. And so the concept is the solution-oriented loan operating. They're constantly getting more knowledge about products or prospecting. Or they're looking at data. They're adding value. They're learning how to teach a class. They're learning how to call broker owners and say, hey, can I
get in front of your next meeting? They're learning how to do these things while everyone else is a polo and they're problem obsessed loan officers. And they're just talking about rates and inventory. Oh, boy. And so I really wanted to try and find the solos of the world and build some kind of community with them. And so I put together these small mastermind groups where we're getting together over zoom and just talking about loan officer
stuff, right? Like customer experience, database, reviews, things like that. I just show up, man. Like I just show up and ask a couple of questions and let the loan officers talk because I want them to, you get the most know, value out of officers talk because I want them to get the most value out of it. But I keep it to five, six, 10, and most people per Zoom. But it's just about the collaboration. But you're absolutely right.
This is where I was they're just the comment that it's about execution and taking action, and it's not about information. And that's totally true. The top producers will tell you their entire playbook. The best producers in this business have no problem sharing with you what they did or how they got there because they know how hard it was and how few people will ever actually do it. And so you can learn a lot, but it's all about applying what you learn.
I try to get this group of people together to collaborate because I know they'll actually apply what they do. And it'll be cool to see what comes of it. But yeah, the solo loan officer for me is just that solution-oriented one. And I've enjoyed really talking to them because those are exciting conversations. You can pick it up on somebody almost immediately if they're in that kind of mindset or category. Those are so energizing. Yeah, man. And it's true, man.
Being a facilitator or a connector is value man i mean that's another way that you're bringing value is by being a connector and being a facilitator so that's freaking amazing man the things we talked about man we see that a lot especially in the last two years right i mean we see a lot of people that i mean again i talk to loan officers every day one of the biggest things of coaching that we do is you know get your mindset right right and you know i was even having a coaching call with
someone a while back you know i said what's your morning right? you And, I was even know, having a coaching call with someone a while you know, back, I said, what's your morning routine look like? They're like, well, I need some more loans. I need strategy. I'm like, bro, like, I'm not going to give you any tactics because the truth is like any amount of tactics, you're not going to implement any of the tactics or strategies until you have your mind right.
So what's your morning routine look like? What time are you getting up in the morning? Are you going to the gym? Are you listening to positive things first thing in the morning? What does that look like? getting up Oh, at You 7.30. I'm going know, straight to the office and getting into the Are you listening gym. to positive things first thing in the morning? What does that look like? getting up Oh, at 7.30. You're not going straight to the office and getting into the grind.
I'm like, okay, well, you're not taking care of yourself. And until you take care of yourself and your mind, no amount of tactics and strategies and listening to podcasts and watching YouTube videos, you're just not going to take action. Or if you do, you're not going to take action for enough consistency over time where you get results. And so it all starts with getting your mind right, getting in tune with what you need as a human being.
And not like, again, a lot of times we're trying to pour out of an empty cup. We need to fill our cup first. I think as a parent, as a business owner, as a loan officer, there's all the different buckets that you have to sort of pour out of. And it's like, okay, well, sometimes we pour everything into work and sort of neglect our family. And then sometimes we neglect ourselves, which then means we neglect everything.
And so again, like, I think the big thing too, just to take from this conversation is yes, there's action that needs to be taken. But at the same time, you are required to take care of yourself first, because you cannot give from an empty cup. I don't know what your thoughts are on I mean, my thoughts on that would be, I think you can fill your cup by filling the cup of others. You know, I mean, that's where it starts for me.
I really enjoy bringing awareness to people that are doing good things, you know, and that helps me feel good. It gives me energy to do the other things for me. And I think there is a lot of focus in our culture on, you know, me first, me first. But I think you are putting yourself first when you put others first. You know what I mean? It sounds counterintuitive, but at the same time, like, that does bring joy. Like, that's what, you know, my faith teaches me, and that's what I subscribe to.
And so I really do want to bring others, you know, lift them up, fill them up, and that helps me stay energized. And then, I mean, just good things happen from that. But I do agree with your point that if you don't have the disciplines there, then it is hard to trust that they're going to put the work in with what you give them. Right. So, you know, somebody does really need to make the decision that I am willing to do this work. I see how important it is. I understand it's going to be hard.
And just embrace that. The problem that I think a lot of people run into, Luke, is they think if they just get that one tip, that one strategy, it's going to change everything, right? Yeah. And it'll be magic and it'll be the hack, exactly. What they don't embrace is how much it's going to suck along the way.
Yeah. And that it's going to be hard and that you've got to be prepared for those challenges and look forward to the challenge and say, hey, I'm looking forward to this hard thing that I'm about to do because I'm future. And along the way, I know it's going to be difficult. But, you know, fear is failure to know that everything is all right, right? Something like that, like failing to know everything is all right. That's the acronym. And so everything is all right.
Like, I know finances may be tight. I know things may be difficult. But things typically have a way of working out if you just do the work and you've got to take action with the expectation of results. You can't just expect to make 50 calls and magically something's going to happen. Like you need to be able to measure what you're doing and know whether or not you're doing good actions or bad actions. Right. if you have that expectation and you're taking action, you've got your mind right.
I totally agree with you, man. Like it's all about mindset in the beginning. And then it's just getting started and taking that journey. For me, it's about, you know, helping others first and then seeing where that takes me because that's a fun ride. So I like to just sort of sit back and see where it goes. Love man. it, Yeah, that's important. And I agree, man, with everything you said. I do think that giving back to people is great.
But I think there is sort of a balance of like, okay, well, at some point, you do have to, you know, refill yourself up. And maybe for you, it is a big energizer. It's not always a big energizer for everyone either. Right. So sometimes like, you know, it's like, what is the energizer for you? I play disc golf twice a week, I go to the gym, I do these things. And you know, the gym doesn't really fill me up. It helps my mind.
But it doesn't really like, give me that release where I was like playing a little bit of disc golf, just being out in God's nature. And you know, breathing fresh air is always good, man. So for fun, man. So how long have you been doing disc Well, I played in college, not in college, but I played while I was in college. I used to go disc golfing. And then I stopped for like 10 years, had kids, all that fun stuff. And so I started playing 21 in 2021.
I was burnt out, man, the business had grown for three, four years in a row, like just massively. And, you know, externally, everything felt great. But internally, I was burnt out, miserable, I hated the business, I hated everything about it. So disc golf, really, I think I want to say it saved me, but it saved me, right? Like it was something that took my mind off, it allowed me to do something fun. And so I think for everybody, you
know, find what that is, right? Maybe for Connor, it is having these masterminds that does fill them up, right? But for you, it might be the gym or golfing or whatever, right? Jiu-Jitsu. I mean, whatever it is that makes you turn your brain off and have a little bit of time in your own sort of realm where you can just chill. I think it's super important. You know, what is a strategy or
tactic? One of the things maybe you've learned from the podcast or from the masterminds, if there is one thing that you would recommend right now for them to go out and get business, what is one thing that you've learned over the last six, 12 months that they could the last six, 12 months that they
could implement? So maybe this is a personal favorite of mine because I enjoy like public speaking and being in front of crowds, which I know is rare for a lot of people, but I love Jeff Zempers, you know, approach to teaching classes. I think that's so smart. You know, I've listened to a couple of iterations of this.
We've got Denise Donahue, the mortgage nerd, who talked about, you know, calling the broker owner, getting, you know, added on to the last 10 or 15 minutes there, existing meetings so that you're not having to go through rigmarole and hosting and doing all that. And then like learning one, two, three, maybe five topics that you could teach a class on. I was talking to a guy the other day, yesterday. He's a former police officer and he's teaching classes.
And I said, man, you're a former police officer. Have you ever thought about just teaching a class about self-defense? think Yeah. And just being aware, you know, for these agents that are going into houses all by themselves. And he was like, man, that is a great idea. So like those are just ways to help you increase your value and get in front of a large group of people all at once and be the authority in front of that group.
You know, I think for me, that is an awesome way to build your network and just continue to build relationships that should hopefully pay dividends in the future for in it, man. If someone wanted to connect with you online, what is the best way that they can connect you? Yeah, just find me on LinkedIn, Connor Bartley. He's the best way to get Yeah, man. The LinkedIn influencer, Connor, I'm going to have to add you on Facebook. So you can see that I don't always have my post. I'm not there.
Oh, well, nevermind then I guess. Sorry. Yeah, it's not good for you, man. That's a time suck. So you just spend your time on LinkedIn. That's good. Awesome, man. Thank you so much for your time today. It's been huge, huge value. And again, my biggest takeaways from what you've talked about, especially from a LinkedIn perspective is, I mean, let's go back to what you said. Sometimes you're taking the wrong action. But what's most important about what you did is you took action,
right? Maybe at the beginning you were like, hey, you know what? I'm just going to throw stuff up there. I'm going to take action. You're like, you know what? Let me revisit this strategy. I think LinkedIn still can work, but let's try it this way. And clearly it's working. So to me, that's a huge aha for anybody who is listening to this. It's like, it may not be the platform that's the problem. It may just be your content sucks.
Let's be honest, right? It may just be that you're not engaging with people. It may be those things, right? Well, people say that all the time. Oh, leads suck. Or, you know, I can't get business from Facebook. I can't get business from LinkedIn. LinkedIn sucks. I mean, I've been one that says LinkedIn sucks, right? Like, you know, it's so hard to get engagement, but it's not. I just wasn't spending time that is appropriate on that platform. We're not engaging with people.
people and you know, it shows. And so, you know, thinking about from that perspective, like maybe you've tried something for six months and it's not working. Maybe you should abandon it. Sure. Or maybe you should reevaluate your strategy. Maybe you're calling 50 people a week and you're not getting anywhere. Maybe you should reevaluate your strategy. Maybe there's a better way to do it. Maybe your sales process sucks, right? I don't know. I don't know what you're doing.
But again, start thinking about that from that perspective, and really start to improve on that. In addition to that, if you're using LinkedIn, my other takeaway was consistency in posting, but more importantly, consistently in engaging with other people. Building that network is really going to come from consistently engaging with other people, right? And so man, thank you so much for everything you did today. Any last words before we close out?
so much for No, man, I just appreciate the opportunity to join you on this. And, you know, I hope everyone else out there stays encouraged. And, you know, we've got a lot of hard work to do ahead of us. So good luck to everyone out there. Awesome. Thank you so much for your time today, Connor. And for anybody who is interested in learning more about how you can help flip the status quo on real estate go agents, to flipthestatusquo.com. Thank you so much for listening time today, And Connor.
for anybody who is interested in learning more about how you can help flip the status quo on real estate go agents, to flip the status quo.com. Thank you so much for listening and have a great day. Thank you for tuning into the loans on demand podcast on loans on demand podcast.com.