Write an article based on this "Market your business. Hire additional staff. Implement a quality control program. Open a new branch. Expand your niche."
This is a very personal business that thrives on interaction. Because most of your income will come from commissions, you will need to constantly find and add new customers. Referrals, first from friends and family, then other customers, are vitally important to bringing in new business. There are a number of ways to promote your business beyond basic networking. Make sure you have a strong online presence on sites like LinkedIn and Google Plus, as well as service review sites like Angie's List. You should also develop your own website, and look for ways to get your name into the community through newspaper articles and public forums. There will always be a market for people who want information on buying a home. As your company grows, you may want to hire additional brokers, loan officers or loan processors. With a bigger staff, you may need to hire human resource and payroll services. As you expand, make sure you keep track of your business' and employees' tax information. Make sure your workers fill out both the I-9 Form (for employment eligibility) and W-4 Form (for taxation). Keep all your employees' tax forms filed for easy reference. Granting mortgages is a complicated and expensive process, one you will want to get right. As your company grows it is important that you make sure your processes are covering all the necessary requirements for yourself, the bank, and your clients. This is something that is good to do regularly to ensure a quality process, rather than waiting until issues begin to arise. Take a random sampling of your mortgage applications, and check to make sure that they have been filled out appropriately, that the information in them can be properly verified, and that they fulfill requirements for federal and state regulations as well as your business' best practices. This needs to be a traceable and repeatable process, so you should have clearly defined steps for carrying out quality control. These steps should include written steps that detail what was reviewed and what the reviewer found. If your business is going well, and you want to reach new clients in another part of town, or in a different town, you can open up a new office. Find a location near where you expect to get business, and start advertising locally. States may have different requirements for opening new offices. New York, for example, requires a separate fee and license for each branch office, while Georgia only requires the new branch to register without needing an additional license. If your company can develop a strong reputation for the quality of your work, you may consider expanding the kinds of mortgages you offer. This reputation is important because of the personal nature of the mortgage business. If people trust you to steer them in the right direction, they will be more willing to consider different products or services.