Welcome to the mortgage game. I truly, truly believe that building a mortgage business, a successful one, is like playing a game. There's winners, there's losers, there's certain things you try. Some of us are playing checkers, while others are playing chess. I've had the ability to coach and mentor hundreds of mortgage brokers.
I myself built a very nice business, so now I want to distill all that information, all the things I've learned from that, and bring it directly to you in a simple -to -understand way. I hope you enjoy. All right, welcome to the Mortgage Game Podcast. West Coast Wiley in the Dodge Ram studio once again, coming to you live. This podcast is brought to you by Americano. They got an early shout out today. Here we go. Okay, let's get into it. So this is one of those things.
Once again, there's a couple topics I'm going to talk about here. But once again, My kids are in soccer practice. It's an hour thing. And then they've got, and for those of you going, no, you should be watching your kids. Well, they have three soccer things today. So I'm going to get my fill. Okay. So I could go in and sit into the practice and shoot the shit with the parents and do all that. And just so happens these parents are fricking awesome.
But I'm not, I'm going to record this podcast and then I'm going to go in. I'm going to watch the last 23 minutes. I'm going to get them in the truck and then we're going to drive to the next game. Because there's a game literally right after across town. So for those of you who have excuses, where you're like, I can't do social, I can't prospect through DMs, I can't, I don't have time, I don't have time. It is a Saturday morning right now.
It is 730. And I'm sitting in my truck recording this podcast for you. So no excuses. Like, it's just like you find time. You do. If it's something you're passionate about, if it's something you believe is a priority in your business, you just find the time. So someone asked me the other day, hey, Ryan, you've been in the game for a while. When, what era would you rather start as a mortgage broker? You've seen close to 15 years now. What era would you start?
And it's not even, I didn't have to hesitate. I'm like, now. If I, I'd rather be a new mortgage broker now. than a new mortgage broker 15 years ago, 10 years ago, five years ago. Not even close. And the reason being is, man, it's so much easier for you to get in front of people. much easier for you to get in front of people. This isn't what the podcast is about anyways. It was just a question I remember someone asked me on the spot here. It's so easy for you to get in front of people now.
Whereas before it wasn't like with social media, right? You can build your entire business in your pajamas. Like it's just bonkers to me. And so like back in the day, like I, it was the old thing, put a suit on, go out, meet people, knock on doors, put yourself out there. That's not me. I'm not that guy. I did it. I hated every second of it. Didn't like doing it. Go around, join networking events and join, wear the fricking name tag bullshit and walk around and it's awkward as fuck.
And everyone's, no one wants to be there. And let's be honest, a lot of those people at those events, I'll just throw it, put it out there. There's some quirky individuals, right? And it's usually like, it's just like, it's not my jam, but that's the old school way of doing it. And that was the only way because like social media wasn't really a thing. And so now it's insane how quickly you can get business as a new broker. You don't need to know everything.
You need to have someone, a mentor, underwriting coach, team leader. You need someone that knows how to structure files, where to put them, teach you on the fly on deals. You need to learn 30 % of what it is and then get out there and start building a brand. You don't even need to know all that information before you start building a brand. You can just get out there and start talking and just be consistent.
It's just, I'm seeing new agents right now pop up and then I get them on a phone call and I'm like, so how many deals do you? Oh yeah, my first year was not great. I have 13 deals. Now I'm like, that's really good. And then there's agents doing even way more than on their first year. And I'm like, well, where are you getting it from? They're like, yeah, usually social media, people are reaching out and they're like, oh, you're so consistent and I love it.
And I'm like, yeah, that's the world we're in. And so for those of you that think social media doesn't work, I don't know what to tell you. I'm living proof that it works. As an example, the old way of building a mortgage team was going to all the conferences and going to the blah, blah, blah, blah, and then like cold calling people. And how many of you listening here have been hit up from salespeople from different networks and brokerages? Hey, just checking in.
How you doing? We should grab lunch. There's sales forces within brokerages. There's networks. We've all, they're just crushing LinkedIn, getting all your information, doing cold outreach. And then they switch to a text or call game. And then they just pummel you there. And then they want to take you for lunch. And then they tell you how awesome all their shit is. And then you get in and it's really not what you thought. But that's another story. So that's the old way of building it.
So I'm building a team. I'm not going to things. I went to one. Last year, I'll probably go to one or two, but it's not to build the team. It's just, it'll be to see the people on the team, on my own team. That's really what it's for. It's not to go get other people because I'm not out talking sales. I'm just not that guy. And so I'm doing all this from my office and through social media in five months with 34 agents on the team. And so across BC, Alberta, Ontario, and soon to be prairies.
Just saying. That's in five months. No sales. People come to us because we're just showing them what we do. And then we jump on a call. So why can't you do that for your business? Okay. Anyway, so we're going to switch gears here because we can beat that horse forever. But this podcast is brought to you by Americana. Just the answer to my question is now. I don't care about it's harder to put deals together. Especially if you're starting out now, you don't know any different. Right.
So people who were fattened up on all the commissions before and the deals and they spend three hours and they get paid five, six, seven, eight K. And then now they're like, oh, deals are hard. Yeah, it is. So can we just stop talking about it and just do it? It's not changing. This isn't going away. It's the new thing. And lenders behind the scenes, they're going through some stuff. You don't see it. I see it. I know what they're going through.
They're going through some back end pressure on a lot of things and they're trying to figure out and they're getting the lay of the land of the brokered. side, the broker community is changing on the fly for these lenders and they're trying to adapt to it. I'm not going to get into what that is, but everyone's going through a shit storm right now trying to figure stuff out. But if you're new, you're coming in, you're like, I don't know any better. This is awesome.
If social media, I can look bigger than I am and get people talking to me. You couldn't do that before. Absolutely. It's way harder, way, way, way, way harder. Now it's the easiest time ever to start a business. There are teenagers. turning into millionaires off of a platform. But you're a 30, 40, 50 -year -old, and you can't do that? It's crazy. So let's shift gears. Okay, so this question was asked to me in a different form, I don't know, maybe 10 years ago.
And it was like, whoa, punch in the gut. And then I saw this question on social somewhere in the last, I can't remember. And I was like, Yeah, that's the question. That's the question. And the question was this. This was like, just stayed with me for many, many, many years. And it's what got me to do the things I knew I needed to do. And the question was along the lines of this. How many of you know what to do to go get the business? How many of you know what to do, but are not doing it? Right.
So I was in a room with, I don't know, probably seven or eight brokers. And this top dog broker came in and he was talking to us. And he looked around the room and he was like, he was there to sort of like get us going. Because we weren't, you know, he was just like, hey, why the fuck are you doing business type thing? And he asked, how many here know what to do but aren't doing it? Put your hand up. Right? Only two people put their hand up.
And then he went to the other people and started interrogating them onto... What are your volumes? And like, is that the business you wanted? No, no. Put your hand up then. It was one of those situations. And it was a punch to the gut because it was like sitting there. If you just ask me, what do I need to do? If I ask you right now, what do you need to do to grow your business or to solve whatever the problem is in your business? What do you need to do? You'll list out a laundry list of things.
Okay. So you're not doing it though. Yeah. So keep your hand up, right? Your hand should be up to answer that question. So it's just an interesting thing, a way to... I always need these frameworks on stuff, things I can go back to in the moment to help quickly correct my mindset on things. And how do I build a coaching business? How do I build a mortgage team? How do I do? I know the answers. So go do it. Right. So it brings me to my next point.
That's just a real question you should be asking yourself. How many of you know, but aren't doing or choosing not to do it? I can tell you probably 90 % of you are just choosing not to, you know what to do. Okay. A lot of people looking for shortcuts out there. There are no shortcuts. There are zero shortcuts, right? Take seven to 12 months to get that good referral partner to work with you.
Seven to 12 months, not of you message them and then the seven, 12 months to send you a deal every week or every second week, you're sending them something, staying in touch, adding value. And then they send you a lead.
right that's the expectation so um brings me my next one this is a big one this is so we use an acronym tnt i haven't really talked about this a lot um there this was a story that was told to me and i my memory is not super awesome on certain things way back when some things stick with me some things don't so this story i know the the framework of the story was how the little guy just keeps on getting on how the That player makes the team that doesn't have all the talent.
And so it comes down to this. I'm not framing this right, but I'm going to bring it back to you here. There are things I'm going to list out things, just basic things, following up with people, being consistent on social, being following up to your referral partners, following up, like just following up. I've done a podcast on it. It's just like that alone. You can have a massive shift in your business. All these things all around us, this is why I say it's the best time to be a mortgage broker.
A new mortgage broker, and I just think a mortgage broker in general, is right now. I think this is a phenomenal time because you can build a $50 million business. You can go make a half million dollars in your pajamas, and you can build it all on this. TNT takes no talent. There are things you can do in your business. If I write TNT in a whiteboard, imagine that, and then I just start branching off. all the things. You don't need talent to make phone calls.
You don't need talent to be a good individual, a good human and check in on people. You don't need talent to follow up on emails, to do the things you said you were going to do. Do the obvious, I call it. You don't need talent to introduce yourself to BDMs, to ask people if they have anyone in their circle that could use your services. Doesn't take any talent. To remind people what you do for a living. Doesn't take any talent to click record. Record something and send it out to the universe.
Something you learned that day. Doesn't take any talent to be vulnerable. Just be yourself. Does it take talent to be yourself? Like, really? I see a lot of posers out there. Just be yourself, man. People will find you. They will. Doesn't take any talent to... Reach out to referral partners that you think could benefit your business and you could benefit theirs. It doesn't take any talent to go for coffee with someone, to connect belly to belly, eye to eye.
It doesn't take any talent to pick the phone up and ask someone for help. I'm not talking a lead source. I'm talking a colleague, a BDM, a mentor. Like that takes no talent. So there's all these things all around you every single second of the day that take zero talent and have nothing to do with how long you've been a broker. Nothing to do. I wish I could do a challenge where, you know, those where they take a millionaire and they drop them in a city with nothing and they go, go.
I wish I could do that on mortgage brokering. I'm like, go, drop me somewhere. And go and I'd build a $50 million business in the first 12 months. Without a doubt. I wouldn't go learn stuff. I wouldn't be doing that. I would do all the TNT. Just think that. TNT. Takes no talent. Takes no talent to do all those. And there's many, many more things I didn't even mention there. So the purpose of this is a lot of you are just in your own way. This podcast is brought to you by Americana. Right.
I've said this many times. It's not the lenders. It's not the interest rates, not the banks. It's not. It's harder to get a deal done. Oh, muffin. It's so hard. So hard. So what do we do, man? Come to me with solutions. What do we do? Do we sit and bitch and whine about it? Like if your kid came to you, what would you say to them? It's our job. It's not our job to be our kid's best friend. This is my own philosophy. It's not yours. It's my job to prepare them for the fucking world that's coming.
Be a provider, give them a safe place, make them feel love, and get them ready for the real fucking world. So when they come to me and they start complaining about shit, do I be like, yeah, you're right. It's okay. It's like, hell no. I'm like, yeah. Now what? Cool. Now what? What are we going to do? Jagger, Holt, those are my kids. What are we going to do? Are we going to sit and whine and be a bystander and sit over here and follow other people? Or are we going to stand up, own it?
We made a mistake. Yeah, it's hard. Okay, now let's just stop saying that and let's carry, there's a brick wall in front of us. What are we going to do? Are we going to punch through it? Are we going to step around it and then keep going? I don't give a shit. But we're not just going to stand still. And a lot of you are just standing still. And a lot of you are actually walking backwards. I can see it. So I don't know. I don't know what the message is, what it needs to be.
But that's also not my fight to fight. I'm just giving you my perspective on things from what I see it. And yeah, it's hard to get deals done. Okay. I don't want to hear it anymore. Whatever. Let's carry on. Like, what are we going to do? That's it. I shift like solution. Don't come to me with problems. Come to me with solutions. Tell me the problem. Tell me a solution. It doesn't have to be the right one. But come to me with solutions. That's what I tell my kids. Right? Great. Awesome.
So now we just wasted three minutes of my time by telling me all this. And we're no further off. My principal, which drove me nuts in grade five and six, four, five and six, drove me nuts. I was like, no, that's not the way. It has to be different than that. I remember, I told you memory's good on something. He's like, Ryan, you're either part of the problem or you're part of the solution. I'm like, that's such bullshit.
Can I be in the middle? Like even when I was in grade four, five, six, I was like, no, man, there's situations where I can be because I was always trying to like work things. And it's like, so in this, you're part of the problem or the solution. That's where I go. So TNT takes no talent. I want to be, I want those people on my team. I want those people that make their bed every day and gets them into a routine. I want those people that when they're on a sports team, they pick their jersey up.
They, they put it up, they hang where it's supposed to go. I want, takes no talent. I want the people that in practice drills don't cut lines. They don't. Like miss out on the exercise. I see kids in my soccer practice all the time. I'll get on my kid for that. Like more than other stuff. You're rough in a game. Don't care. You didn't do, you were supposed to do 10 pushups and you did eight and three of them suck. We got a problem because how you practice is how you play.
It's cliche, but it's true. What the things you do when no one's looking, that's what defines you. That will end up being your thing. How you practice is how you play. And a lot of you aren't really practicing that well. You're out tricking people into thinking you're practicing, tricking yourself into thinking you're doing things good. And I don't know what you're doing on the computer. And I don't know who you're talking to. I don't know what you're saying.
But all of a sudden, poof, six hours of your day are gone. And what did mommy or daddy or what did you do? Fuck, sweet fuck all. Oh, man, it's getting spicy in here again. I got to tone this down. So we covered a couple of things. What I thought was the best time to be a broker, I think it's now, right? That's my opinion. You can't convince me otherwise with how quickly, like I said, I just go back to, I see teenagers turning into millionaires from a social platform.
And you're telling me a grown -ass adult can't go build a brand about being a mortgage broker. on Instagram or build YouTube and get people to build trust. You're telling me you can't do that, but a fucking 12 -year -old over here can do that and sell backpacks. Like, come on. Really? Come on. So now that becomes, if you're a mortgage broker in today's world, and I have people on my team that don't want to do social, and that's super cool. I don't care. I'm not going to sit there.
Say, you got to do it. You do what you do. We provide certain things for you and then you choose to use them or not. Whatever. It doesn't matter to me. There's certain people that have other business models. I totally get it. Totally get it. But if I'm a broker in today's day and age, the skill set, this is more important. Understanding how to be consistent and comfortable on camera and being a storyteller and building a brand. That's more important than structuring a file. 1 ,000%.
And it's not because I can get help on that. I can get help how to structure a file. I can send an email, make a phone call, send a text. I can get help on that. I can't get help on my face being out there on Instagram talking about mortgages to get people to like and trust me to book a discovery call with me. I can't get help with that. I can hire people to put up these postcard things that don't do anything, but I need to be on video on social or just don't be on it. Just wasting your time.
So that's what I'm saying. This is more important than you structuring files. So this, as a business owner, 2025 and moving forward, and even the past couple of years, this has to be a big thing, learning social media. It always comes back to this, doesn't it? The social thing. I talked to a broker yesterday and you know who you are. I won't mention you by name, but you know who you are. I talked to you and he's a new broker. He's been about a year. He reached out.
He's like, Hey, I want to join team Wiley. I'm like, you're not ready, man. X, Y, Z. You're not ready. You need to go learn a bunch of stuff still. And then come back to me in six months. He's like, got it. But we checked out his social stuff. He's doing deals. He's doing, I think this year he's got three or 4 million done. And he's, I think if I believe in his 10th month. Something like that. First six months is really just learning a bunch of stuff. But he went out and built a brand on social.
on social. I went and looked. I looked at it. I'm like, man, this is great. This is freaking awesome. He's like, yeah, people know me now. And people are reaching out for him. And he's like, I don't know why people don't. I'm like, yeah, don't tell anyone. Let them suffer in silence, as they say. And he's like, yeah. And so he's out hustling at a second job, working in a mall at a Freedom Mobile. working 20, 30 hours a week. And then he gets leads from there.
And they puts them into his email list. He's listening to the podcast. He's like, right, I listen to the podcast. I'm just doing what you're saying. And then I put them on my email list and I market to him there. And then I do my social. And he's like, that's where my deals are coming from. And I'm like, ah, go figure, eh? Interesting. But he's a newer agent. So phenomenal. I know agents who have been in the game for 10 years who haven't closed 4 million already. Right?
It's one of those interesting things. So that's it, kids. TNT, TNT, Dynamite. It's ACDC song for those of you who don't know. For those of you who do, how about that, eh? A little pop culture reference. Takes no talent. You should be writing that somewhere on a board in front of you. If you ever need to get centered, you get off. Like how many of you know what to do in your business but are not doing it? Put your hand up. And then TNT. That should set you right. It did me for many years.
I was like, takes no talent. Just do the things that take no talent, Ryan. I don't need to go learn anymore. I don't. If I'm going to learn, I'm going to go learn how to build a brand on social. So last thing, because I think this is very important. First, podcast brought to you by Americana. This came up in conversation this week. And it was, hey, Ryan, should I go build social right now? I'm a newer, I've been a year and I haven't really done much.
Should I go build my brand there? The answer is yes, but not now. Yes, but now you're like, Ryan, I'm really confused because you're saying, go do this, go do that. No, he has another plan. I gave him a four -step plan to go execute. Go do that before you go do this. But in the meantime, in the meantime, you should become a student of the game.
If you believe social media can make you millions of dollars and it will, if you believe or whatever it is you think can do that, go become a student of the game. So instead of TV, at nighttime instead of whatever the hell you're doing, scrolling, doom scrolling, they call it, whatever you're doing, that's just like you're checking out and you're just like chilling out. Go and learn about that. Go and watch you. This is what I do. I'm like, I geek out.
And during the week, I watch no TV unless it's an Oilers game. I watch no TV and I just start learning. And it's like, hey, I'm going to go learn this. And yesterday, I'll give an example. Yesterday, I spent an hour and a half. Of time I did not want to. Learning how to use the remix feature to do reaction videos on Instagram. I can't believe those words just left my mouth. I can't believe it. In that row, I can't believe it. But I did.
And did I learn? Yes. Something that maybe should have taken me 15 minutes took me an hour and a half. But I locked myself in a room and I figured it out. So guess what? I'm smarter on social today than I was yesterday. I have a new skill set. Now I have a new way to record content that will resonate with people and just show a different angle, which will help build my brand. See where I'm going? So instead of you watching the Netflix stuff and all this, which is cool, but you're no better off.
Just think about that for a moment. It's not like you shut off. You're an entrepreneur. There are no nine to five hours. You just don't go. Because your brain's always going, especially if you want to up your game, turn it into a hobby. All the hobbies you have, I got rid of and I replaced with stuff for my business. I got rid of fantasy football, which was, I loved it. It was awesome.
But I was like, how can I be struggling as a business owner over here and then go and spend an hour on my fantasy football when I should be learning an hour on a skill set that's going to go help make money for my family? That's my mentality. That should be yours. Anyways, that's it, kids. This is The Mortgage Game. Thanks for listening. Peace out till next week.