From TikTok to $20M: How Theoni Rapo Built a Consumer-Direct Mortgage Brand

Summary

Mortgage Marketing Radio: From TikTok to $20M - How Theoni Rapo Built a Consumer-Direct Mortgage Brand

Host: Geoff Zimfer
Guest: Theoni Rapo (aka Not Your Daddy's Lender)
Release Date: June 13, 2025

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of Mortgage Marketing Radio, host Geoff Zimfer welcomes Theoni Rapo, famously known as "Not Your Daddy's Lender." Theoni shares her remarkable journey from creating "cringe" content to generating over $20 million in annual mortgage transactions, predominantly through TikTok. This episode delves into her innovative content strategies, leveraging social media for lead generation, and the integration of AI to refine her messaging.

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Origin Story and Social Media Beginnings

[00:00 – 04:42]

Theoni Rapo embarked on her mortgage career at 18, balancing her job with college. Recognizing the gap in financial education, she began sharing insights on Instagram, blending personal and professional content. Initially, she posted a mix of personal and business topics, approximately a 50-50 split, to educate her audience about credit and equity—topics not commonly covered in traditional education.

Key Quote:

"Content has always just been one of those things for me that I'm always thinking about. It's so much easier to showcase something to one to many than one to one."
— Theoni Rapo [02:43]

After graduating, Theoni shifted her focus entirely to social media, particularly TikTok, recognizing its potential as a powerful lead generation tool despite having no initial followers. Her approach was experimental, relying on consistency and the belief that social media success is a numbers game similar to sales calls.

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Primary Source of Business: TikTok Dominance

[04:43 – 05:57]

As of 2024, Theoni's primary business driver is TikTok, where she closed approximately $18-20 million in loans. Initially working as a salary-dependent loan partner at a bank, she marketed herself as a nationwide lender, leveraging TikTok's vast reach to attract clients from across all 50 states. Recently, she has been securing the necessary licenses to ensure all her content accurately represents her lending capabilities.

Key Quote:

"My primary source of business is definitely TikTok."
— Theoni Rapo [04:48]

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Content Strategy and Quality Over Quantity

[06:20 – 09:56]

Theoni emphasizes the importance of targeting high-quality leads rather than merely increasing lead volume. Early in her content creation, she attracted a large number of leads (25-70 per week), but many were misaligned with her ideal client profile. By refining her content to appeal to pre-approved buyers and those seeking advisory services, she significantly increased conversion rates.

Key Quote:

"I started switching the narrative a little bit where I would start to talk to people who were already pre-approved or maybe working with an agent or a lender that they didn't like."
— Theoni Rapo [07:15]

She advocates for content that showcases her expertise and advisory role, moving away from being just a "Google" for mortgage information. This shift not only improved lead quality but also fostered stronger relationships with realtors who resonate with her approach.

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Building Strong Partnerships with Realtors

[14:38 – 16:27]

Transitioning from a confrontational stance towards realtors, Theoni began highlighting the symbiotic relationship between lenders and real estate agents. Initially critical, she recognized the value of collaboration, leading to meaningful partnerships with agents both locally and nationally.

Key Quote:

"When I started shifting that to just talking about the strategies behind why an agent is important and why a lender is important and kind of like how you work together, instead of just being like, come to me first and I'll tell you everything you need."
— Theoni Rapo [14:38]

This approach attracted aligned realtors to her direct messages, expanding her network beyond her immediate geographic area. She successfully partnered with agents in states like California, Texas, Florida, and Maryland, utilizing digital communication to maintain these relationships efficiently.

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Leveraging Automation and AI for Efficiency

[23:13 – 37:31]

To manage lead flow, Theoni's husband developed a sophisticated landing page that filters leads based on credit scores and readiness to proceed. Prospects with a credit score below 620 are directed to a nurturing funnel, while qualified leads (620 and above) schedule calls for further engagement. This automated system ensures she focuses her efforts on high-potential clients.

Key Quote:

"I send them the link to actually fill out an application because then I know a little bit about timeline or if they are a good lead."
— Theoni Rapo [23:13]

Additionally, Theoni utilizes ChatGPT to emulate her conversational style for content scripting and idea generation. By feeding her video transcriptions into the AI, she maintains authentic and relatable messaging across her platforms.

Key Quote:

"I've taken transcriptions of my videos and then fed it to ChatGPT. So it knows my style, it knows how I talk. And then I've like asked it when I get stuck on how to deliver, it's how do I make this a FaceTime call to my best friend who has no idea about anything related to real estate."
— Theoni Rapo [37:31]

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Content Creation Techniques: Authenticity and Consistency

[30:03 – 36:10]

Theoni advocates for content sprints—intense periods of creating two videos daily over two weeks—to rapidly grow her audience and hone her communication skills. These sprints are complemented by "bingeable content" reviews, allowing her to analyze performance and iterate effectively.

Key Quote:

"If you want to grow on TikTok, what you should be doing is content sprints. It's two videos a day for two weeks."
— Theoni Rapo [33:33]

She ensures her content stays genuine by recording in various everyday settings, such as her car, kitchen, or even while multitasking as a mother. This raw, unpolished approach resonates with her audience, fostering a deeper connection compared to more scripted content.

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Managing Virality and Conversion

[42:07 – 44:52]

Addressing the common misconception that going viral is the ultimate goal, Theoni emphasizes the importance of having robust systems in place to convert views into actionable leads. She shares her initial experience of going viral without proper lead conversion mechanisms, resulting in numerous unmanageable inquiries.

Key Quote:

"Everybody wants to go viral, but nobody understands that there's like systems behind these things. There are landing pages you need. There's calendar setups."
— Theoni Rapo [43:25]

Theoni advises that while virality can boost visibility, it should not overshadow the necessity for a well-structured conversion strategy. Building a consistent, relatable personal brand ensures sustained growth and effective lead management.

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Conclusion and Takeaways

[45:01 – End]

Geoff Zimfer wraps up the episode by highlighting Theoni Rapo's insights on the significance of authenticity, strategic content creation, and the integration of technology in building a successful mortgage brand. Listeners are encouraged to implement these strategies to enhance their own business growth without succumbing to the pressures of content perfection or virality.

Key Quote:

"Just know that I started somewhere too with the cringy videos and watching my videos have also been cringy when I first started. So everybody starts somewhere. But just like anything that you do, any plan of action takes a little bit of time."
— Theoni Rapo [40:10]

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Theoni Rapo [02:43]:
  "Content has always just been one of those things for me that I'm always thinking about. It's so much easier to showcase something to one to many than one to one."

• Theoni Rapo [07:15]:
  "I started switching the narrative a little bit where I would start to talk to people who were already pre-approved or maybe working with an agent or a lender that they didn't like."

• Theoni Rapo [14:38]:
  "When I started shifting that to just talking about the strategies behind why an agent is important and why a lender is important and kind of like how you work together..."

• Theoni Rapo [23:13]:
  "I send them the link to actually fill out an application because then I know a little bit about timeline or if they are a good lead."

• Theoni Rapo [37:31]:
  "I've taken transcriptions of my videos and then fed it to ChatGPT. So it knows my style, it knows how I talk..."

• Theoni Rapo [33:33]:
  "If you want to grow on TikTok, what you should be doing is content sprints. It's two videos a day for two weeks."

• Theoni Rapo [43:25]:
  "Everybody wants to go viral, but nobody understands that there's like systems behind these things. There are landing pages you need..."

• Theoni Rapo [40:10]:
  "Just know that I started somewhere too with the cringy videos and watching my videos have also been cringy when I first started..."

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Key Insights and Strategies

1. Authentic Content Creation:

   • Share real-life moments to build genuine connections.
   • Avoid over-polishing content to maintain relatability.

2. Content Sprints:

   • Implement intensive content creation periods to boost engagement and refine communication skills.
   • Analyze and iterate based on performance metrics.

3. Qualifying Leads Effectively:

   • Use automated systems to filter and prioritize high-quality leads.
   • Focus on pre-approved clients and those seeking advisory services.

4. Strategic Partnerships:

   • Foster collaborative relationships with realtors across various states.
   • Utilize social media to maintain and grow these partnerships.

5. Leveraging AI Tools:

   • Employ AI like ChatGPT to generate content ideas and maintain a consistent voice.
   • Use AI for scripting and idea generation to streamline content production.

6. Systems Over Virality:

   • Ensure robust lead conversion systems are in place before aiming for viral content.
   • Focus on long-term audience building rather than short-term view spikes.

7. Diversification and Sustainability:

   • Expand business across multiple states to mitigate local market fluctuations.
   • Maintain a strong personal brand to support business growth across different regions.

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Conclusion

Theoni Rapo's journey underscores the power of authentic, strategically planned content in building a successful mortgage business. By leveraging platforms like TikTok, utilizing automation and AI, and fostering meaningful partnerships, she has transformed her brand into a multi-million-dollar enterprise. Her insights provide a valuable blueprint for mortgage professionals aiming to modernize their approach, enhance lead quality, and achieve sustained business growth without traditional cold calling or chasing leads.

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Connect with Theoni Rapo:

• TikTok: @theonithelender
• Instagram: @theonithelender

Transcript

[Jeff Zimfer]

Are you feeling overwhelmed by content creation? Hey, you're not alone. For so many loan officers, the biggest roadblock isn't motivation. It's the mystery of what do I post, how do I make time? And why does it always feel like my polished content falls flat? Now imagine if creating impactful lead generation content didn't require a studio, a strategy team, or even a schedule. Imagine showing up as you are kids in the background, makeup half done mid salad chop and building a powerful brand that converts well. That's exactly what today's guest has done. You're listening to the Mortgage Marketing Radio podcast where we help mortgage professionals become modern originators and close more loans without cold calling, chasing or paying for leads. My name is Jeff Zimfer. I'm your host and marketing coach. Today on the show, we're diving into a crucial question. How do you create content that not only connects, but converts without a full production team or getting burnt out? And to help us answer that, we're joined by Theoni Rappo, AKA not yout Daddy's Lender. And she went from cringe content to closing over 18 million a year, driven almost entirely by TikTok. So in this episode, you're going to learn three key things. How to use content sprints to rapidly grow your audience and sharpen your voice, why your phone is your best production tool and the perfect place to capture real resonance stories, and how AI can become your right hand assistant in refining your message while still sounding like you. Plus, we'll uncover what she thinks about how to turn views into leads, and why your personal brand needs to be ready before you go viral. So if you're ready to stop planning and start posting with purpose, then stick around for this episode of Mortgage Marketing Radio. Theoni, not your Daddy's Lender. Welcome to the show.

[Theoni Rappo]

Thank you. I am so, so excited for our chat today.

[Jeff Zimfer]

So am I. It's been a long time coming and you are just showing up on my feed with incredible amount of content and sassiness. And that's why I wanted to talk to you about, like, you know, because a lot of people see people do different things online with content. People, of course, struggle with producing content and creating a personal brand. But I want to just start give me your origin story. So if I'm looking at, I'm going to set the stage for people watching and listening right now. So on Instagram, you got. And by the way, we're not talking vanity metrics. I just want to give you the context so you can know the work that she's put into this. So Instagram 27,000 followers. TikTok is the, is the big daddy here. 238,000 followers. 2.8 million likes. What the hell's the backstory? Give us the origin story on how you, you know, got on this bandwagon.

[Theoni Rappo]

Yeah, so I got into the industry when I was 18. So as you can imagine, social media was just like a part of what I did as just a kid. Anyway, that's like what we all used it for. Once I got college, I realized that I actually had this job and I went to college at the same time. So I realized I would. I was like kind of feeding into people, almost borderline making fun of me for the fact that I was learning so much about credit and building equity and like what all this stuff meant that school wasn't teaching us. So I started posting about it on Instagram. And so content has always just been one of those things for me that I'm always thinking about. It's so much easier to showcase something to one to many than one to one. And so that was how I started was like I almost got annoyed that we were all in school not learning all these things that I was learning at work. And so I started posting heavily. Probably I would say like 50, 50 was like personal and business when I was in college. Once I graduated college, I learned that it was so much easier for me to do that than cold call or sit with realtors that like I have nothing in common with. And I was 20 years old at the time. I didn't know what a 54 year old top producing agent like, liked or what they would talk about. So I saw social my outlet. But I knew it was a long term play because no one was in the like in that space yet, especially not on TikTok. So TikTok I used for a year before anything popped off. But it was just me like having fun and learning as I went. And I knew it would because it's a numbers game, just like sales, just like calls, just like anything else we're taught. But that is kind of how I started getting into it. And just like the last two years have I now organized systems and have analyzed my content to a point where I have it down to a T. But for at least three years I was just, I really was just winging it.

[Jeff Zimfer]

So you got into the industry in what year?

[Theoni Rappo]

2016.

[Jeff Zimfer]

2016. And you started implementing in a real way social media. What year?

[Theoni Rappo]

2019.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Is that correct? So today what is your primary source of business?

[Theoni Rappo]

Definitely TikTok TikTok.

[Jeff Zimfer]

So I'm just pulling up redder here. So in 2024, it looks like you did about 40 loans for roughly 15 mil. Does that sound accurate?

[Theoni Rappo]

Yeah. So here, this is like the fun part of this side of things. I used to say I love it because no one will ever know my real numbers. But that was before I was like doing the numbers and now that I am, it's hard. So I started at a bank and I was a loan partner essentially. So there were some that would go into my name, some that wouldn't, and then I do. Because I started at a bank, I made myself out to be the lender that does lending in all 50 states because a lot of my content was revolving around that because I could for a long time. So now I get loans in every state, but they don't all go into my name. So working on getting the licenses, finally, the last like year and a half, I've been working on getting all of the licenses so that my production that is on these apps is actually accurate.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Right. That's why I was kind of unpack this. And I don't want people to just focus on the numbers. But did you want to correct me then for 2024, if you factor in all those other additional loans that weren't necessarily, you know, attached to you was. Was the volume something different?

[Theoni Rappo]

I probably did around 18 to 20 million in 2024 total.

[Jeff Zimfer]

And your number one source is TikTok. Okay, let's unpack this. How do you get business from TikTok? Let's just say I'm a loan officer. You know, as you know, the average age of a loan officer is probably 50 something. But we have some obviously younger folks like yourself who've come in the industry. But I would say most aren't getting business from social media, let alone TikTok. Would you agree?

[Theoni Rappo]

Yeah, definitely.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Okay, so let's start with what. What do you want to pass on to them that you might think might be, you know, directional or instructional for them? Of was there a. A process you went through and you crossed the bridge and like lights go on and that. You know what I mean?

[Theoni Rappo]

Yeah. I think that when I started to make content, I try to remove the realtor too much. And so I was so focused on building my content that it almost was like hatred towards realtors instead of like, it sounds fun, it sounds funny. But like, I obviously I love realtors and I do. Like I work with, I work with a few that I found actually on TikTok that have referred me now and we work closely together. But I think that would be the biggest change is that TikTok and social media is an and to your business. It's not the only thing. I was very lucky in the position that I was in when I started and I'll be transparent, I was a salaried employee because I was a loan partner. So I had the ability and the advantage to still like finesse and kind of build my platform as I was still getting paid. Whereas I know a lot of loan officers maybe don't have that right now. It's, it's either do or die. And so I think that they think of content as oh, I need to sprint through this so that I can see the results but it should be an and when I started switching over to thinking about how can I be a better advisor to agents and to people who direct to consumer, that's when I started seeing stickier clients. Right. Because I was at one point getting anywhere between 25 to 70 leads a week. And that sounds great, but if those leads were down payment assistance or people I didn't align with or just straight rate shoppers that thought I was, you know, the cheapest, lowest rate or whatever it was and it didn't matter. So I started switching the narrative a little bit where I would start to talk to people who were already pre approved or maybe working with an agent or a lender that they didn't like or just somebody who wanted the service behind. And so I think that that's what a lot of people are missing out on. They want to be the Google instead of the advisor. And I think with being the advisor and the most smartest, you know, person, I always say I'm the best lender I know and that's just how I show up on my content. But once I started switch like switching that in my content, I started seeing a much bigger conversion in these leads that I was bringing in and also where I was getting my business from.

[Jeff Zimfer]

That's an interesting point you make. I've. I've actually been doing some studying lately on some of my content strategy and preparing to put some stuff out on YouTube specifically. And one of the things that I've come across is, and you can swipe this if you want, but I call it the buyer readiness ladder or the mortgage readiness ladder. And to your point, yeah. Who is your content attracting? And if your content is attracting all those DPA bad credit types of people, what I'm hearing from you is you shifted your content to be more aligned with the People who've already gone through the process and know that they can buy a house and now they're just looking for the right person to work with.

[Theoni Rappo]

Correct? Okay, yes, that's correct.

[Jeff Zimfer]

So. So maybe it may be less leads, but better quality.

[Theoni Rappo]

Correct. And I think that it's hard because we're so used to being, yes. Women and men in the industry. So then when, you know, you remove that, you're like, well, you know, it's not that I won't help those people, and I get that. But if it's between me or a different loan officer, and it's a dpa, I'm not the best loan officer for that because I don't do them. And I don't. I definitely don't do them enough, you know, to actually help somebody through that process. And so there's always going to be a lender that is better equipped for those things. And I think it's giving yourself permission to, like, that's okay. There's other lenders that. That's all they do. But more people need the advisory that, you know, comes with being a little bit more niche as well.

[Jeff Zimfer]

So is that a conscious decision? Let's say you get some DPA people and you're like. Because, you know, some LLs will take them and they'll put them into the nurturing funnel for a year or whatever until they become ready. You're just like, no, I don't do that. But here I can refer you to somebody.

[Theoni Rappo]

So I think the way that now I have my content, I don't get the leads at all.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Good.

[Theoni Rappo]

Yeah, I've made content before where I just call DPAs a scam because I personally just think they are. I, you know, I just, I just think that they are. I had, when I first got in the industry, I felt like I had to do them. So I've had a good, good amount of experience with them. It was very interesting, though, because it was right in 2019 when I started getting my own friends and leads and things like that. Then 2020 and 21 happened, and none of those people could refinance their rate because of the dpa. So I kind of just have a bad taste in my mouth for the DPAs because of that.

[Jeff Zimfer]

So you used to post some content about that, about why DPAs are bad, so to speak.

[Theoni Rappo]

Yeah, I mean, I straight up call him a scam on my TikTok. So you kind of have to like.

[Jeff Zimfer]

By the way, that's another lesson in content, as you, I'm sure, well know it's like, you gotta take a stand. Right. You've gotta become known for something. And sometimes just having that, that polarizing opinion is what attracts people to you.

[Theoni Rappo]

Yeah, I mean, I'm actually have a community called not yout Daddy's Creator Community. And one of the presentations I'm working on now are hooks and getting really good at your hook. And so usually what you just said, my hooks are very polarizing because that is, I first take a stand in whether or not you want to agree or disagree. You usually listen for the whole video. And so I've made another one on how, you know, the American dream is dying and that people aren't owed. Like, everybody deserves a home, but not everybody deserves a mortgage. And those have been my hooks that have been popping off recently.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Well, that's an interesting one. Not everybody deserves a mortgage, and that's because, I mean, obviously have to qualify. Right. Number one, what's your. What's your position on that? I'm curious.

[Theoni Rappo]

Well, I think that what I'm seeing is so many people get angry at the economy and the way of the world, and I just think it's like a victim mindset. And it's. Nobody talks about the victim mindset when it comes to mortgages, because, again, we all want it to feel achievable and we. We want to deliver good news all the time. Of course. But then there are also some people that, you know, right now are like, barely qualifying, maxing out their debt to income ratio. You know, you've been working them for six months, and they're like, buying other cars or they're doing other things with their credit cards. And so I'm like, maybe you just. Maybe, like, it's not the smart move. Like, you deserve a home. You deserve somewhere to be.

[Jeff Zimfer]

You deserve shelter.

[Theoni Rappo]

Yeah, right, exactly. You deserve the shelter. But I don't know. And so when you kind. I've been delivering that kind of news because, again, I really think of myself as an advisor first. And so I have probably more access to people's finances than their financial advisor does. Right. They can't pull credit. They can't see what's on there. They just have to trust that what they're saying is actually accurate. So I kind of have been having a lot of those conversations recently where I tell people I don't know if taking out a mortgage makes sense for you, because it's. You're already tight and now you're getting tighter. If I. If I actually help you follow through.

[Jeff Zimfer]

With this, it's a responsibility. Right? And I'm not sure you're at that stage where you might be ready for that responsibility.

[Theoni Rappo]

Right, exactly. Yeah. I mean, everybody wants to buy a house at like 520 credit with $10. And I'm like, that's, that's immature.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Yeah, well, it just shows a lack of understanding for how things actually work. To what degree have they self educated themselves about how things actually work? So I think that's an interesting position. Yeah, I like it. I want to go back for a second to when you said earlier about how some of your content early on was kind of beating down the agents. Can you explain a little bit more what you mean about that and then what was the actual shift?

[Theoni Rappo]

Yeah, so I used to make content about how it made no sense to go to realtors first. And I still kind of believe this. I'm not like, totally not, but I think we're the only country in the world that that's usually how it works. Because I used to have people from Canada comment and be like, what do you mean? Like here you go to your lender first and they refer the agent. And so everywhere else it seems like instead of the lenders chasing the realtors, it's the realtors that are chasing the lenders because people will just go to the lender first to get their finances in order. And that's. I like, would make a lot of content on that because I tried to go direct to consumer and still am going direct to consumer. But when I started shifting that to just talking about the strategies behind why an agent is important and why a lender is important and kind of like how you work together, instead of just being like, come to me first and I'll tell you everything you need. I just like, no gate. I just didn't gatekeep any of that information. So when I started posting about that, I would see that more realtors that were aligned with how I work also ended up in my DMs smart play.

[Jeff Zimfer]

And I think that speaks to, you know, this thing that we've been wishing or hoping was different for a long, long time, which is I want them to come to me first. Well, I mean, I haven't seen that happen. And I've been this, in this since 2003 and who knows if it's ever going to happen. Let's just face it, people, they want the house first. That's the first top of the funnel thing they go through. Let me, let's search. Let's get on Zillow. Let's do this. Let's Go to open house, like all that stuff. And then eventually, yeah, honey, we're ready. Let's get serious. And then we look at our financing.

[Theoni Rappo]

Right, Correct. Right, exactly. And that. And that's fine, too. I think that I just. I was just young and, like, angry because I had also been told that to be successful in this industry, you have to go on coffee dates and you have to spend lunches and time. And I'm not saying those things don't work, but when I did them, I just didn't find anything in common with a lot of the top producers in my area. I just didn't really. I didn't vibe.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Okay, no. Fair enough. Okay. So how many agents do you work with roughly right now?

[Theoni Rappo]

Probably like 8 to 12. Consistently.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Consistently. Right, right, right. I was going to clarify because it's an open need to clarify that a little bit more because you could have 20 or 30 agents, but they're not sending you any business. Right, right. Are you actively prospecting agents in any way or are they just being attracted to you through your content?

[Theoni Rappo]

Just attraction? Yeah, that's pretty much it.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Are you getting agents outside of your market as well?

[Theoni Rappo]

Definitely. So it's kind of hard. I actually probably do more outside of my market. I just live on the beaches of Delaware, but I don't do as much on the beaches of Delaware than when I did when I was with a bank. At that point, it was more like second homes, like I just did around here. But once I started getting on TikTok, I basically do everywhere. So my top three biggest states are probably Cali, Texas, Florida, and then Maryland.

[Jeff Zimfer]

And you have agent partners that you work with in those states outside of your state? Yeah. And how do you find that it goes? I want to. I want to address the. The perception that, you know, I think there's value to building your base in your backyard first. But I also want to address this little. This little issue of, like, can you grow your business? Referral business, Asian referral business. Look at your 3,000 mil miles away from Maryland to California. Like, how does that work?

[Theoni Rappo]

I mean, I think it's just staying on top of them. I don't know. I don't know of an era maybe, because I entered just all digitally first. I don't know how to really work when you're constantly meeting people in person. Now I'm a mom, too. I don't even have the time, so I think it's just staying in front of them and checking in. Like, my check ins are constant, and a lot of times I work with people and real estate agents that are also on social. So our check ins are because they're posting about their daily lives and now I have something to slide into their DMs about and I'm talking to them about it. And every single week I have Mondays are my pipeline updates. So I call them. Sometimes I don't even have to call them because I'm already in their dm. So I'm just kind of piggybacking. It feels so fun to do it that way that I don't really have to like fit the time to do, you know, to stay ahead of them because I feel like I'm already in front of them on social media. It's like my online business card.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Well, I really wanted to just expand on that for a moment because I know there's some people listening right now that are thinking, how can I expand outside of my, my, my backyard, my footprint? And this is why we're seeing more LOS get licensed in different states. Because in today's world you can grow. Your case in point, proof of that, the difference is, is though you've got this personal brand, this place online where they, because if you didn't have your presence on TikTok or wherever else, like none of these, California, Texas, they wouldn't know you exist, right?

[Theoni Rappo]

No.

[Jeff Zimfer]

So you'd have to be reaching out to them. Which again goes back to the point of why you should have a personal brand, why you should be putting content out there, is because you can attract, you can do exactly what the owner.

[Theoni Rappo]

Exactly. Yeah. And I, I also think that it's a, it's a nice reminder that people just want to work with confident people. And when you're not confident, like when I'm confidently calling listing agents in California and saying, you know, I have this and this and this, very few ask like, oh, where's your office? Are you local? Like there are a couple, of course there are people who care about that. But once you give them the assurance that you're confident, you know what you're doing, you've done this before, you've worked in these areas before, then like, that's all they really need. And I know that that's a hesitation for a lot of lenders that I have talked to is, you know, how do you, how do you say that, you know, like what you're talking about in those areas? And I'm like, I think the realtor can focus on being the expert of like the local, and then I can focus on being the expert and the Advisor when it comes to your finances.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Yeah. I mean, let's just face it, on our side, it's. It's math, you know what I mean? Does it work out and does the appraisal come in right?

[Theoni Rappo]

Yeah.

[Jeff Zimfer]

All right, well, that's, that's good. And I, I just want to, once again, for everybody listening, this is again, why, if you're like, oh, you know, personal content and, you know, get over it, because this is how you're going to expand and grow your business outside of. And by the way, I remember, I interviewed, I don't know if it was Jennifer Beast in a long time ago. You know her? She's Crush.

[Theoni Rappo]

I've heard that name.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Yeah. So she's the number one VA lender in the country. She's got a massive YouTube channel. She gets over 150 applications per month from YouTube. Several years ago, interviewed her. But one of the points, I think it was her that said this was the advantage of diversifying your sources of business. Because if one state falls off the map, look, California fires, like, let's just say you were. Your, Your market was la. Well, you know, what are you going to do when the fires hit la? Or your market was Florida or this or that. Like, that's the cool thing about diversifying across multiple states is you're not subject to all those local economic. Right. Shifts.

[Theoni Rappo]

Right, Exactly. That's smart.

[Jeff Zimfer]

So let's unpack your content. Now, I gotta ask, not your daddy's lender. Like, why? Where'd that come from?

[Theoni Rappo]

So a couple years ago, I was talking to Ginger Bell, if you know who that is. Yep. So me and her were talking about something. I was with Annie Mac, a different company at the time. We were talking about something, and she was like, man, your team really does things, like, kind of crazy, like, in a different way. And I was like, yeah. And she goes kind of like, you know, it's not your grandfather's way of thinking of this problem. Or she said something like that. And I was like, not your grandfather's. And then I just kind of changed that word a little bit. And I was like, I guess we kind of are like, not your daddies. And so I filter that down to, you know, people love that word. And it's, it's so funny and so uncomfortable for some, like, grown men to. To say it. Even sometimes, like in my DMs, they'll be like, because I use it as key points to get PDFs or different, you know, resources. But I think it's so true that I Personally feel like I'm not the lender that your dad told you to go to. And I thought that was my avatar for a long time. And it was like the 26 year old corporate girl when you know, I just thought that she had everything that I could do to help until they came with their dad and their dad was like, wait, I'm giving you all the money for your gift or the down payment or whatever. And then they would leave me last minute. So then I became even more invested in that brand because I was like, I'm really not your daddy's lender.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Oh, I see what you mean. They left you last minute after they got all the information and they want somebody daddy preferred.

[Theoni Rappo]

Correct? Yeah.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Interesting, interesting. So who is your avatar right now? Your ideal client profile?

[Theoni Rappo]

So I have a little bit of a different stance on avatars. I think after that I decided it wasn't a person, it was a pain point. And that pain point is kind of what I said in the beginning. Somebody who's already pre approved, they, you know, they are ready to go in terms of like buying a house, but they're not getting the advisory that they need. They don't feel like they're getting the service that they need. So you can be a 26 year old corporate girly to do that, or you could be a 40 year old selling your, you know, your second home to buy another second home or whatever the case is. And so when I showed up talking to the pain point, I envisioned these people scrolling anxiously on their couch at night and I'm trying to meet them exactly where they are at that point.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Do you know what the kind of the age range is for your target client? Does it tend to skew younger?

[Theoni Rappo]

Probably yeah, like 30 to 40, probably, maybe even younger. I feel like, yeah, probably like 25 to 40.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Mostly first timers.

[Theoni Rappo]

Mostly first timers. But recently I found a lot of like buying a house to buy their or selling their house to buy another. So a lot of move up, move down buyers too. But yeah, I guess I would probably say like now it's a mix, probably 50, 50 of first time home buyers and move up buyers.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Okay, all right, let's switch into the actual leads you mentioned a moment ago. 25 to 70 leads per week. How do you quantify or qualify what is a lead? Is there some type of opt in process you have? What does that look like?

[Theoni Rappo]

Yeah, so my husband owns a real estate marketing company and so two years ago he created a landing page for me because I was getting so many emails Or I was just getting so many applications, but then these people wouldn't qualify or they were just looking to see if they could get approved for anything. But their timeline was for a while. And so I now I have a landing page that asks them. I dialed it back to like eight or nine questions, but it used to be like 18 questions and people would actually fill it out, which is crazy. And now by the time that they get into my system, if their credit score is below 620, there's a different button that they fill out and that goes into a nurture. But I'll talk to anybody whose credit score is 620 and above, and then they schedule a call with me. After the call, then I send them the link to actually fill out an application because then I know a little bit about timeline or if they are a good lead.

[Jeff Zimfer]

So for the call booking, it's just automated through Calendly or something?

[Theoni Rappo]

It's through the system that he created. But yeah, it shoots them a text to let them know and then it drips them every day until they do book a calendar time.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Got it. Okay. So using automation there, which scales great. They pick a time on your calendar that you've made available. Okay, cool. Yeah, I'm looking. We'll link this up in the show notes, by the way, so you can kind of follow the. The trail there. I'm looking at the link off of your TikTok and it clearly it goes to a bunch of different options. What is not your daddy's community? Is that for loan officers?

[Theoni Rappo]

You said loan officers and realtors. Yep.

[Jeff Zimfer]

And so what you're teaching them there about content, social media, all that?

[Theoni Rappo]

Yeah, just kind of like take. So I have a creator division at Summer House Mortgage Group. We just joined Cross Country Mortgage and I just launched it in November. And so I think every week I do a call with the creator, loan officers that are on the team. I just started it. Right. So there's only three of us now, but eventually my idea is if I'm already doing the work to like teach people how to get on social, how to do all this, then I might as well pull back the curtain. And those weekly calls are just open to anybody else who wants to join.

[Jeff Zimfer]

All right, very cool. Okay, let me get into some of the content. And here I am looking at your TikTok page and I'm looking at some of your. Your pinned posts. Did you pin those for a specific reason?

[Theoni Rappo]

Yes. So here I'm going to open up with you.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Sure. I can tell you what they are, if you want.

[Theoni Rappo]

That first one, I believe, has what.

[Jeff Zimfer]

4.2.4, 4.9 million on the first one.

[Theoni Rappo]

Yep. So that one is about a living. A living trust. And I didn't even know about a living trust until probably like a year and a half or so ago. Once I, like, learned about it, I was like, why am I not telling more people about this? This is so important. And then it was funny because then I had probate issues on some of my loans, and I was like, wow, this is crazy. So that one, I think, is just very important for anybody and everybody to know. I partnered with a company called Get Dynasty that gives them out for a dollar, so you can create one for a dollar, which is pretty cool and very.

[Jeff Zimfer]

A living trust.

[Theoni Rappo]

Yeah.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Really? A dollar.

[Theoni Rappo]

Yep. Get Dynasty is the. It's actually linked in my bio. So instead of me doing, like, a brand partnership collab with them, they could just, like, cut the cost if I have that link. And I'd ra. That's not really. I'm not trying to be an influencer with collab deals and brand deals. I just want the information to go out to as many people as I can. So I think that that one's important. And obviously, by the views, I think people understand it or are starting to understand it. Everybody knows what a will is, but not everybody knows what a living trust is. So that one's purposeful to just get that information out there. The next one, the Biden stepping down, is just a good. I think, like, so that one, I posted two, three days after I came home from the hospital with my daughter. She's in my lap in that video. I hadn't showered in a couple days like that. That news had just broken out, and I was postpartum, tired as crap, hadn't showered, and I was like, I need to tell people, like, what this means for rates. And especially around the time that the feds had said that they were going to cut in September. And so there was, like, all these different things floating around. So I just showed up and I posted that video. And so I have it pinned because I want other loan officers and other agents or whoever to know that I was like, I looked like crap. It was like my messaging and the fact that I gave assurance to people who were clearly googling and searching for these terms of what that meant if they were looking to buy a house during that time in one of my, like, most vulnerable states. Like, I. I was. I just had a baby. So I have that pinned because obviously it resonated With a lot of people and they understood what happens when things like that happen in politics to the rate. But also at the same time it showed that like you don't have to be prim and proper and the app actually works in your favor if you don't.

[Jeff Zimfer]

100%. Yeah. Love that. And congratulations by the way on the courage to just post.

[Theoni Rappo]

Thank you. It was a fun time. And then the next one is my reviewing the loan estimate and I still probably get like anywhere between 20 to 30 leads, I'd say a month on people who want me to review their loan estimate sheets. So I have that pinned up there. So if they come to my profile from another video and they're under contract, they know that I have that ability to review.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Really? So do they also schedule a time with you to review that?

[Theoni Rappo]

No. So that one usually obviously because they're under contract, so they get a text message to ask them what time works best for them today and tomorrow or tomorrow. So they respond with a couple times and then I squeeze those in after I review them if I can help them.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Sorry, go ahead. Did you hear my audio?

[Theoni Rappo]

No.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Okay. I was playing your video.

[Theoni Rappo]

Oh, I didn't hear it.

[Jeff Zimfer]

That's just such a brilliant idea right there. That is a swipeable because you know, we've seen people use those occasionally but. But I'm gonna go back to your actual main feed here. So that's an idea. And by the way, this is why you want to go check your profile out on TikTok. Because this is a clinic or a case study in topics of what to post now. Not everything, right? Like your big sister advice on buying a home. Like of course if you're a guy you're not gonna do that, right? But you could do your big brother advice. But more importantly, just the two ideas we talked about right now about living trust. Cause we have a lot of financial knowledge that a lot of people don't. And we can parlay that. But secondly, the loan estimate thing is just like wow, banger. Most people don't even friggin understand what a loan estimate means. And then there's just a couple other here that jumped out at me waving your fingers.

[Theoni Rappo]

I actually just remembered this too. On that Biden one I talked about being on my refinance list to get alerts if the rates drop. And so I actually do get people who sign up still for my refinance list. I was wondering, I was like why did I else had that pin? Like there was a third reason. So that one has my Refinance list list. Sign up to love it.

[Jeff Zimfer]

And I can see a couple others real quick here you have a strike rate. Everyone who owns a house should. Let me just go back to the headline. Everyone who owns a house or wants to buy needs a strike rate right now. Brilliant. And then the next one I love. This is a really good positioning Rates don't care that you're waiting for them to go down to buy. Smart, smart. So let's talk about that. How do you come up with your content ideas? Is there structure? Are you winging it and shooting from the hip and let's just grab the phone and go or what does like that look, look like?

[Theoni Rappo]

Yeah. So as you can probably imagine, we as loan officers have a lot of conversations in a day and we usually get like wound up when we are very passionate about something that happens, whether it's good or bad. On the phone call. I take all of that and I just create the content. Like I don't wait for my next content day. I don't like try to schedule it. I just, I get off the phone with somebody and I'm like, why don't more people know that? Like, what do you mean you don't know what an escrow is? Like, you don't know what an appraisal gap. You haven't figured out how that works and it comes from. Of course they don't know because there's not enough information. So then you become that person that has the piece of information on the Internet.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Hey, are you tired of cold calling realtors and feeling like you're getting nowhere? With my agent classes, you don't have to chase agents anymore. We hand you a done for you system of ready to teach presentations, plug and play marketing and even 200 producing agents to invite. So you can double your agent referrals in 90 days or less. Plus you'll get weekly coaching and a community of loan officers sharing exactly what's working right now. Here's a quick win from one of our members.

[C]

Been part of my agent classes for a little over a year year and totally changed my business. I grew at least 25% and that was during a pretty down market and have only grown every single month that I've kept doing it. Community is great job to the Friday calls. It's awesome. Have fun with it. Teach as many classes as you can. Just do more. Do better.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Are you ready to stop chasing and start attracting agent referrals on demand? Book a call at MortgageMarketing Pro or hit the link in the show notes now. Back to our show. So let's talk about your content strategy. Right. How do you go from idea to product post, to, like, walk us? Because, you know, that's the biggest challenge for a lot of people is what do I post? How do I get it out there, My production process, all that. How do you do it?

[Theoni Rappo]

Yeah, so I'm very. There's a word, and it'll come to me at one point, I think, like, I just. I go with the moment. So when I. When I talk to people all the time, I mean, we're constantly on our phone, so we all have conversations. People can feel when you make a certain type of content and they know if it's done during a content like content day that's been planned or if it's true where you just got off the phone with somebody and you cannot believe that they didn't know the IRS tax payments is, you know, something we add to our debt or that, you know, something like that. And so I take the momentum that I get and I gain from the calls that I'm on, and then I just go and create the content. So a lot of my TikTok content, as you can see, is me just showing up wherever I am. Sometimes I'm in the car, Sometimes I'm a mom of two. So sometimes it's in the bathroom getting ready, sometimes it's me cutting a salad, sometimes it's eating ice cream after I get the kids down. And wherever I am, that's just where I post the content because people can feel that. So I just allow my daily talks to be part of my content. Now I do have a notes section in my phone that if for some reason I cannot make a piece of content at the time, I will write it down and then I just go back to it that same day, if not the next day. Because I want that same feeling to be in my content when I create it.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Yeah, that's very smart. You know, I'll have to say that I'm not good at that. I'm not good at the in the moment, grab the phone and record. Even though the few times that I've done it, it's probably gotten more views than the kind of polished and prepared stuff. Not to say you can't get views with the other kind of, you know, structured stuff. But the point being is what you're trying to, I think highlight is people really love the authenticness. Right. The connection. Like, this is just really. This is theony in the moment. Like, like you said it wasn't over published, correct? But how many? What does your content posting schedule look like, how frequent?

[Theoni Rappo]

So I'll do these things called content sprints. And that's when I'm trying to really bring in the leads and also like in the flow of it myself. So that'll be on TikTok. If you want to grow on TikTok, what you should be doing is content sprints. It's two videos a day for two weeks. It sounds like a lot, but when you do that, your account will grow and you just get better at being a communicator. You get better at seeing yourself, hearing yourself. You get better at telling stories. And it's a two week sprint. And then you have what I call like bingeable content, where you can go back and study on your own content and see like what worked and what didn't. Instagram, I always have a story up and I'll probably post one to two reels a week.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Okay, and are you posting different content as your reels or repurposing the same video from TikTok to Instagram?

[Theoni Rappo]

Yeah, I think of Instagram and Tick Tock a little bit differently. So I don't really repurpose a whole lot. Tick Tock likes to see you kind of like looking like you do every day. They don't like the prim and proper. They don't like, you know, they just, they add as close to a FaceTime call as it can be on TikTok is what they like. So when I've tried to repurpose, it just doesn't perform very well. On TikTok you have to earn every single view. So just because I have 200 some thousand followers doesn't mean that that many people are always going to be seeing it. It's a little bit different than Instagram. On Instagram they do like you to be a little bit more like professional looking and prim and proper and I think a little bit less every year, but it still is kind of the baseline there. So I see TikTok as my lead generation. It's where I get most of my leads. And then I see Instagram as my nurture. It's where I nurture the community that I have, which is why I have so fewer than TikTok. But the people who follow me on Instagram are much stickier because they know more about my life. I do not post about my kids or really my life on TikTok as much, but I will on Instagram and then.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Okay, that's cool. All right, so then most of your content then Is you'll do the sprints and things like that. But you're not necessarily having a batch film day, right?

[Theoni Rappo]

No, yeah, we used to, as a, as a branch, we might get back into it. We kind of took a little relapse after I had my daughter and then I couldn't really get back into it. Um, but it was a great way to get the team together. They were fun. But that shouldn't be your only source of content. So even though we would do that as well, the like talking head style, it wouldn't be the only thing that we post. Because if you only have talking head style, no one's going to resonate with that. You kind of look like a bottom, you look like not a real person.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Because there's no kind of like day in the life. Oh, this is like her in her average day. Everything's like polished and prepped yet all that.

[Theoni Rappo]

Right.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Do you use any AI tools in regards to content scripting, idea generation? Let's take that before we get into editing. But just.

[Theoni Rappo]

Yeah, that the only thing I probably will use is ChatGPT knows my voice when it comes to how I speak on my TikTok videos. So if there's ever a topic, like I'm actually working on one right now about inspectors. And it was an inspector who I talked about, who I talked to, and he said something like, of course inspection reports are going to have something on them, but people get spooked so easily. But if we give you a report that has nothing on them, then, you know, you would feel like you just got ripped off because you just paid for an inspection report, nothing showed it and all the things. And I was like, how do I turn that into, you know, relevant to what I teach and what I know? And so I fed that to Chat gbt and I've done a lot of work where I've taken transcriptions of my videos and then fed it to ChatGPT. So it knows my style, it knows how I talk. And then I've like asked it when I get stuck on how to deliver and when I ask it how to deliver, it's how do you. How can I make this a FaceTime call to my best friend who has no idea about anything related to real estate? And so that's been really cool. I use it all the time for pretty much everything. So it's really cool that it knows when to plug in other pieces of my life as well, which is. Has been nice. So the more I use it, the more I feel like it just knows me. It's my, like, little assistant.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Do you ever. I'm curious. I've been experimenting with this myself lately is I will take videos from other creators, not necessarily in the industry either from outside. And there's a, you know, kind of a framework you can prompt GPT for taking this idea, which. Which, you know, got a lot of engagement and repurposing that. Have you ever experimented with that?

[Theoni Rappo]

No. That's interesting.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Yeah, it's pretty cool.

[Theoni Rappo]

I feel like. I feel like it would probably spit out some pretty interesting things because there's. I mean, there's a framework for any video to perform if you want it to perform.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Right, Exactly. All right. Don't want to go off the rails there. That'd be a separate podcast. I do. Okay, real quick then. The difference in terms of posting your. You're doing mostly shorts, right?

[Theoni Rappo]

My videos are probably like on average two to four minutes long.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Okay. All right.

[Theoni Rappo]

So they're pretty long.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Yeah, for sure. A quick tip on. Let me just go to your reels here on Instagram. What? I've always been curious about this and it looks like this is just a straight up in the moment question. You know, this whole premise that your thumbnails for your short videos should have a headline on it. Right. Or kind of selling the short. You know what I mean?

[Theoni Rappo]

Mm.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Do you have any take on that? Because I'm looking at some do, some don't. So is this just. You're just like, nope, I'm just posting and it's work working.

[Theoni Rappo]

You mean the pin post?

[Jeff Zimfer]

No. Any posts? Like some of your posts have like, you know, the caption on the. On the video frame. I'm not your daddy's lender or what is another one here? Closing, closing costs explained.

[Theoni Rappo]

You know, on Instagram, I probably could be better about doing it on TikTok. I'm very religious about it because I have so much content that I like to think when somebody finds me, they binge my content. And so I try to make it as easy as possible for them to. It's almost like a Netflix series. You want to know what that's going to be about out.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Yes.

[Theoni Rappo]

So I would. I would imagine if you're doing my method on TikTok on Instagram, you should be doing that, but it's a little different. My. My content is not the same as it is on both platforms.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Right. And I could just say, so the way the Netflix thing, 100. Like, I'm here on my desktop and I'm scrolling your tick tock and it allows Me to look at the titles, which is basically like browsing Netflix. Oh, does this look good? Right? So that's a key point, by the way, for a lot of people. I need to get better. Better at that as well is like, yeah, yeah, you gotta, you gotta understand where, where's the consumer coming in if there's no like caption square headline thing on your video frame for that, you know, scroll. Probably gonna scroll right by it.

[Theoni Rappo]

Yeah, exactly.

[Jeff Zimfer]

This video is gonna want. What is this? Oh, it's a cool face. Let me click for three seconds. Right, Exactly. That's all good stuff. Oh, so you don't just to hammer this home, you're not, you're not putting content creation in a calendar, right?

[Theoni Rappo]

No.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Yeah. Wow. Okay. So a lot of people's minds are, they're just like, wait, what?

[Theoni Rappo]

How do you do that?

[Jeff Zimfer]

And how do you close loans? And like, how do you do it?

[Theoni Rappo]

All right, I have an amazing team. I will shout out to my team who we've built this thing the last three years and it's been a lot of leads and no conversion and then some conversion, little leads. So it's really cool to get to a point where now I. It's almost like a faucet that you can turn on how much comes in and how much doesn't. I know I'm very thankful for that, but that's also something that I've been building for a long time. And finally, I, like the last year have been seeing some true results and fruits of my labor after tweaking so much. So, you know, just as easy as it probably looks because I'm so established now. Just know that I started somewhere too with the cringy videos and watching my videos have, have also been cringy when I first started. So everybody starts somewhere. But just like anything that you do, any plan of action takes a little bit of time. And so I'm just thankful that finally, you know, three, four years later of creating, I'm seeing some serious results in my business.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Yeah, I want to tap on that real quick for a second. So to set that frame for people because I think that's what they're not prepared for or they want to try it. Like, oh, I'm going to try social media. I'm going to try posting seven videos and see what happens. Like what would you, how would you coach them on what to expect for timeline?

[Theoni Rappo]

So I always say that if you can't integrate social media into your day to day life, at least like getting good with stories or you know, Picking something, then it's never going to work for you because of the energy that's behind it. If your energy behind it is a. It's a to do list item. Well, it's just like laundry, right? Like, nobody gets excited about laundry. So no one's going to get excited about the video that you post if it's just a to do thing on your, you know, on your list. And so I think that I hear that a lot too, and I think it's just a choice. Like some people choose to call real estate agents. Nobody chooses to call real estate agents for one week and then never again. So I don't know why we're doing the same thing with social media. You're either going to choose to do it and you're in it for the long haul, or you choose not to and then you find something else to do.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Wow, there's. There's my highlight clip right there. Okay, let me close out on this. I've been having conversations with people about this premise where there seems to be an emphasis and focus on, quote unquote going viral. And the conversations I've been having with some people are where there seems to be a focus on views versus conversion. And I'm wondering, like, how would you respond to. I know I didn't give you much specifics around that, but I know you're wise enough in this to know where I'm going and what is. What is your hot take on that?

[Theoni Rappo]

Yeah, I love this question so much because I, for a long time when people ask me, like, why I started creating content, no one will tell you the truth, but I just wanted to go viral. Like, I just wanted to be as famous as I could be. And that sounds awful now because obviously that has changed. But when I first started, that was the push that got me through creating so much after no results. No results, no results. So, like, just to say that if that's your push is going viral right now, that's great. But if you go viral right now, I always ask people, is your, is your page set up for that? Because mine wasn't. I posted a whole year and I went viral and I didn't have a link in bio, I didn't have a contact form. I converted nothing. I got like 250 emails of people being like, help me. Can you help me here? I have this situation and I couldn't do anything with that.

[Jeff Zimfer]

That.

[Theoni Rappo]

So everybody wants to go viral, but nobody understands that there's like, systems behind these things. There are landing pages you need. There's calendar setups. Like, your page has to have enough content that when or if something goes viral, they can go to your page and they see that you are an expert in what you're saying and what you're doing. So that is the part that people don't think about, because they think, if I go viral, like, it's easy for Theoni to say all these things because she goes viral all the time, she gets all these leads, but I also have systems in place that, that allow me to convert. So going viral shouldn't be the thing you really focus on, even though it's probably the thing that gets you through creating, because you're like, oh, maybe it's this one, because you don't know which one it's going to be, right? You don't. You have no idea which one takes off. But then also at the same time, if you are just creating content, you'll start to build an audience that is so aligned with your messaging and what you're. What you're creating. And you've probably seen this. A room of a thousand people is a lot of people. So a thousand followers, you're talking to those people. And on Instagram, it's a little different because it really is that many people that you're talking to and that many people that see your content. TikTok's different. Like I said, you earn every single view, so you're talking to new people. So if you're starting out and you're thinking, oh, I need to go viral, maybe start with your Instagram community first, because that's a lot of people that most, most people have that many followers. So it's always about going deep. It's not going wide. But if you're trying to go wide, make sure your accounts are primed to be able to convert and actually benefit from all of the content you're putting out there.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Love that. Great lesson, great lesson. Well, on that note, let's just put a cap on that and just say, Theoni, thank you so much for taking time for your busy day. A lot of wisdom here. Thanks for sharing it with our community.

[Theoni Rappo]

Thank you so much for having me.

[Jeff Zimfer]

We're going to put the links to your TikTok and your Instagram in the show notes. But if you want to go there right now, it's theonithelender on both TikTok and Instagram. But check, check the link in the show notes. And by the way, if you DM her and just let her know, share one takeaway you got from this episode let her know that you heard it here and you know what impact she made for you today.

[Theoni Rappo]

Yeah, I'd Love that. My DMs are always open.

[Jeff Zimfer]

Awesome everybody. Thanks for tuning in. You know what to do if you like this episode. Hey, share it with somebody or leave us a review. We'll see you on the next one. Bye for now. Okay, that's it for today's episode. Before we wrap up, I just wanted to remind you about my aging classes, your proven system to double your agent referrals in just 90 days. Imagine never having to cold call again, instead building real lasting relationships with top producing agents who want to send you business with done for you presentations, marketing automation, weekly coaching. It's all designed to make growing your business easier and fun. So if you're ready to take control of your agent referrals and grow your income, visit MortgageMarketing Pro or check the link in the show Notes Notes. And while you're there, don't forget to check out the success stories from other mortgage pros who've already seen incredible results. Thanks for listening and I'll see you on the next episode.