Endure and Thrive! Finish 2024 Strong

Dustin Owen joins Geoff to talk about what it takes to finish 2024 strong, drawing on his experience leading 100+ LOs at Waterstone and running his own coaching community. He lays out a concrete daily/weekly activity blueprint built around 10 meaningful conversations, theme days, and a 30-minute online networking block. Best for LOs who feel stuck in a holding pattern and need a no-excuses activity framework to follow.

Takeaways you can run this week

• Hit 10 meaningful conversations per day — defined as: building a relationship with a consistent referral source, following up with a lead, or connecting with someone who can introduce you to referral sources. Track it daily.
• Assign theme days to your prospecting so you always know who to call without decision fatigue — model it like a weight-training split (e.g., Monday = past clients, Tuesday = agents, Wednesday = financial partners).
• Use the 30-10-5-5-3-1 formula: spend exactly 30 minutes per day intentionally networking and marketing your business online — Dustin's framework keeps it from eating your whole day.
• Leave every agent meeting with at least 2 referrals — even bad meetings. Script: 'Out of curiosity, who's the rising star in your office?' or 'Who do you think would be a good fit for me?' Then open your next call with: 'I was just meeting with [name] and they spoke highly of you.'
• Run Dustin's 12-week challenge: send 12 outreach messages per day (email, DM, or text) and make 12 outbound calls daily with the goal of booking 1 meeting per day. Over 60 working days you'll sit across from 60 agents — expect 15 to become real referral partners.
• Do a mid-year identity audit: write down what you did before mortgage, your best income year in that field, and the ceiling you would have hit. Use it as a reset whenever the 'should I stay' question creeps in.

The playbook

1. Step 1 — Set your daily target: 10 meaningful conversations (referral source, lead follow-up, or new introduction).
2. Step 2 — Assign theme days so each day has a defined call list; no guesswork on who to contact.
3. Step 3 — Execute the 30-minute online networking block using the 30-10-5-5-3-1 formula each day.
4. Step 4 — Track weekly face-to-face meetings and monthly networking events attended.
5. Step 5 — At every agent meeting, leave with 2 referral names using the rising-star or good-fit scripts above.
6. Step 6 — Layer in non-negotiables: minutes of exercise and pages of non-fiction reading per day, tracked on the same sheet.

Worth quoting

“You earned every bit of that money. You just earned it in '22, '23, '24.”

“There's no such thing as a bad realtor meeting — it gives you opportunities to practice and another at bat.”

Best for

LOs who know what they should be doing but lack a daily activity structure to execute it consistently in a slow market.

Links from the show notes

• TLOP MLO
• The Loan Officer Podcast
• Dustin Owen on LinkedIn
• TAP HERE
• Schedule Your Call With Geoff