Ep #37: How One Simple Video Ignited This Loan Officers Business

Jeff Chisum shares how a 1-minute 42-second smartphone video on 'The 3 Most Common Barriers That Keep People from Buying a Home' generated nearly 2,000 organic views, 5,000+ with paid promotion, ~20 leads, and unsolicited agent shares — all from his very first mortgage video. This episode is a practical walk-through of how he chose the topic, structured the call-to-action, and amplified it with Facebook ads targeting specific zip codes. LOs who keep talking themselves out of starting video will find this episode hard to argue with.

Takeaways you can run this week

• Record a 60–90 second video titled 'The 3 Most Common Barriers That Keep People from Buying a Home' — cover down payment myths (20% belief), credit misconceptions, and lack of a plan. Use your phone. Do multiple takes until one feels natural.
• Post the video to your personal Facebook page with this exact CTA at the end: 'If you know someone this would help, please share it — and if you have questions, leave a comment below.' Then DM every commenter asking for the best time and number to reach them.
• Run a Facebook ad (not just a boost) targeting 2–3 specific zip codes where you want purchase business. Use the ad manager for audience control and analytics. Jeff's campaign pushed the same video to 5,000 views in those zip codes.
• After filming the first video, immediately plan the next two as a series: go deeper on credit in video 2 (Jeff called it 'the big mystery'), then cover down payment options in video 3. Each video becomes a standalone asset you can run separately as an ad.
• When agents share your video organically (Jeff got ~30 shares including from agents), follow up with those agents directly and offer to let them post the video on their own Facebook page as a tool for their buyers. Use it as a warm opener instead of a cold pitch.
• Pitch a live or virtual class to agents on 'How to Use Short Videos to Attract Buyers' — use your own video results as the case study. Jeff planned this as his 2017 agent-relationship play, turning his video success into a reason for agents to meet with him.

The playbook

1. 1. Pick one FAQ borrowers consistently get wrong (e.g., '20% down required') and frame it as 'The 3 Most Common Barriers' — list-style titles outperform generic ones.
2. 2. Record 60–90 seconds on your smartphone. Do multiple takes. Keep it educational and encouraging in tone — reduce fear, don't sell.
3. 3. Post to your personal Facebook page. End the video with a share request and 'leave a comment if you have questions' CTA. No landing page required at this stage.
4. 4. Run a Facebook ad (not a boost) targeting 2–3 zip codes you want purchase business in. Monitor comments daily.
5. 5. DM every commenter: 'Hey [name], thanks for the comment — what's the best number and time to reach you?'
6. 6. Track shares. When agents share it, reach out and offer to let them repurpose it for their audience — that's your warm agent intro.
7. 7. Repeat with the next video in the series, going deeper on one of the original three barriers.

Worth quoting

“You don't need a plumber until your pipes are leaking — be there when people need you.”

“If you're not growing forward, you're falling back.”

Best for

LOs who know they should be doing video but keep stalling — this episode proves a single unpolished smartphone video with the right topic can generate real leads and agent conversations within weeks.