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Posted by Bobby Mims on December 29, 2005, 11:12 pm
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Franklin,
thanks again for your excellent comments. I think we will use the
mortgage site to refer prospective clients to when they cannot personally
appear at our office. Our idea is to let them be informed and maybe start
the application process before visiting with the loan officers. It may have
some efficiency factor for our operations.
this is an informative listserve although it is a little moribund.
However, there are some excellent postings that I have found informative.
regards,
bobby mims
>I went back to both websites and thought they both were interesting and
>informative. The one created by the techs at your son's company was
>particularly good. It was clear, straightforward, and easy to navigate. I
>just realized that when I looked at the websites before, it was on a
>Windows 98SE computer. Today I viewed them on a Windows XP computer. Both
>computers have cable internet. The intro on the website about your
>practice went very quickly on the XP computer and wasn't a problem. Maybe
>it just went slower on my other computer and made me feel like I was being
>trapped into a long intro. One note is that on my XP computer, I had to
>expand the intro window to see the part where it says "skip intro" in the
>lower right corner.
>
> Even though I'm sure people are not likely to hire you directly through
> the website, I think it would be useful to both prospective and existing
> clients. It fills in a lot of information about your practice, who you
> and your staff are, etc. If I were searching for a criminal defense
> attorney (knock on wood, I won't ever need one), I would find it helpful
> to see your website and get a feel for who you are and how your practice
> and office works. The sense I get is that I wouldn't get lost in the
> shuffle the way I'm sure I could with some huge law firm with a zillion
> attorneys and a stuffy website. So I think the website is an asset, and I
> think it is a good site for your son's company to use to impress clients.
>
> The other website regarding the mortgage business also seems fairly good.
> It does have a slight feel of being a template website with a lot of
> generic text, but it seems very thorough and gave a lot of options for
> topics that may be of interest to clients (ARM's, 100% loans, cleaning up
> credit reports, etc). And it also gives a sense of the size and type of
> mortgage business it is, and who I would be dealing with when I contacted
> your company. It is MUCH better without the music, although I thought
> after my last post that if there was a button saying "Click here for
> background music", it would give people an option of opting-in for the
> music. Who knows, some people may find that cool as long as it didn't
> just automatically play without being selected. One thing I noticed is
> that when doing a mouse-over on the various links, my computer makes some
> kind of clicking sound. It's not annoying, but it seemed unusual. It
> might be that in place of whatever sound that is supposed to be played, I
> have my computer set for a different clicking sound than the default
> Windows sound. Or, maybe it's just a glitch. But, the bottom line is
> that I like that website too.
>
> To me, both websites are definitely assets and are worth keeping.
>
>> Franklin,
>>
>> those are excellent comments and I agree with you on most of them. the
>> lawyer website is merely a demo website that was done by the techs at my
>> son's company to try to impress clients. my practice does not depend
>> upon
>> it and frankly i don't recall ever being hired.
>>
>> the aequitas website is merely a template website that i purchased for
>> the mortgage company. you are exactly right on the music and i will tell
>> them to take it off.
>>
>> finally i do not think you are rude at all and i appreciate you taking
>> the time to look and give me your opinion.
>>
>> regards,
>>
>> bobby mims
>>
>>>I am not in the mortgage business, but whenever I am looking to choose a
>>> mortgage broker, a lawyer, an accountant, an electrician, or whatever, I
>>> always look for those who have websites. I am always amazed at how few
>>> people who pay for advertising in the Yellow Pages actually include a
>>> website link in the ad where I can get more information. And, for those
>>> with a web link in their ad, I am always amazed at how many of the links
>>> don't work. In the latter case, my first thought is: These people can't
>>> even get their advertised website link straight, so how can I expect
>>> them to
>>> be competent at the rest of what they do?
>>>
>>> My theory is that while a website may not directly bring in new
>>> customers,
>>> when consumers have to choose among tons of providers in the same field,
>>> those with good websites that provide additional information about their
>>> services are more likely to be selected by the consumer. And, as you
>>> know,
>>> the cost of having an existing website up and running is extremely low
>>> compared to the cost of advertising in the Yellow Pages, a newspaper, or
>>> elsewhere. But I think you can get a much bigger bang for the buck by
>>> including a website address in any ad you place and, of course, on
>>> business
>>> cards, etc.
>>>
>>> Now, about your two websites -- sorry, hated them, but here's why:
>>>
>>> I assume your ut-texas.com website has a lot of information, but I
>>> immediately bailed out of it when I saw that I am stuck having to endure
>>> an
>>> "intro". People who go to websites don't want to get stuck waiting for
>>> that
>>> nonsense to play out. Sure, it may seem artistic and creative, but
>>> that's
>>> not why people go to websites. If I am not mistaken, I think yours may
>>> not
>>> even have a "Skip Intro" button, but I can't say for sure because I did
>>> quick look for that and then decided bail out. Even sites that have the
>>> "Skip Intro" link tend to annoy me and give me a bad impression about
>>> the
>>> website owner's business sense, but at least it's a way to skip
>>> something I
>>> didn't ask for and do not want.
>>>
>>> About your aequitasmortgage.com website, I also bailed out of that one
>>> ASAP,
>>> although I admit that I at least tried to click on something else (the
>>> "Contact Us" link) just to get away from that annoying music. But, lo
>>> and
>>> behold, the music must be everywhere because it started again when I was
>>> on
>>> the "Contact Us" web page. I resent when I am sitting here quietly in
>>> my
>>> office and go to a website that decides to play music for me and expects
>>> me
>>> to figure out how to shut that crap off. Same thing happens when I am
>>> working quietly at night in my bedroom and am looking for something on
>>> the
>>> internet. Do you honestly think that soothing music is somehow going to
>>> make me more likely to want to stay at your website or use your company
>>> for
>>> a mortgage?
>>>
>>> I don't mean to sound harsh, but I resent going to a website and having
>>> to
>>> endure wonderful moving intros, or glorious music, that somehow the
>>> website
>>> designer thought would make me want to spend more time at the website.
>>> It
>>> makes me want to move on ASAP, and that's exactly what I always do.
>>> There
>>> are too many other websites I can easily go to and not have to be hooked
>>> into that nonsense. And the other websites are just a click away. The
>>> last
>>> thing you want is people to have a reason to click away from your
>>> website
>>> ASAP.
>>>
>>> One final thought -- from the extremely brief look I did at your
>>> mortgage
>>> website, it looked like it probably contained a lot of good information
>>> that
>>> I would want to see if I were shopping for a mortgage. But I would
>>> never
>>> stay there and endure the mandatory music while I was trying to navigate
>>> the
>>> website for more information. And, I guess there is a way for me to
>>> shut
>>> that crap off, such as through my speaker link, but why should I have to
>>> do
>>> that just to view your website?
>>>
>>> Again, I am not trying to be rude, but I thought you might want some
>>> honest,
>>> independent feedback.
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> I am a licensed Mortgage Broker in Texas. I have a woman who
>>>> works
>>>> for me who is also a licensed Mortgage Broker who is very sharp and has
>>> run
>>>> my company for 8 years. I, on the other hand, have had a strictly
>>>> managerial role and do not know how to originate, underwrite or
>>>> process.
>>>> She has been very successful and wants me to take on more
>>>> responsibility
>>> or
>>>> hire more staff.
>>>>
>>>> I am considering taking a more active role in this company and
>>>> take
>>>> some of the responsibility off her. I am fairly technically oriented
>>>> and
>>>> somewhat internet savvy. Recently, I have purchased a website from "A
>>>> La
>>>> Mode" and it seems to be a reasonably good product. Here is the link:
>>>> http://www.aequitasmortgage.com/
>>>>
>>>> My question to you is: "How effective is a website in generating
>>>> new
>>>> business?" I do not necessarily want to get into the practice of
>>>> "buying
>>>> leads" because I do not think that there is much out there that is not
>>>> already "picked over." However, I do not know.
>>>>
>>>> My second question is: "Is it effective to purchase "on'line" loan
>>>> processing services and where do I find on-line loan processors?"
>>>>
>>>> Our market area is just in the Dallas/Forth Worth metro plex and
>>>> the
>>>> East Texas lake area where our "retirement" home market is excellent.
>>>>
>>>> Any suggestions and maybe most importantly any caveats would be
>>> greatly
>>>> appreciated.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks in advance.
>>>>
>>>> Bobby D. Mims
>>>> Aequitas Financial Group, Inc
>>>> President
>>>> 216 W. Erwin Street, Suite 300A
>>>> Tyler, Texas 75702
>>>> 903.595.2169.
>>>> www.ut-texas.com
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
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