098: How Daniel Niederberger grew his income and freedom by moving from self-employed to employing people
The Successful Adviser by James McCracken
Release Date: 04/11/2017
From corporate banking to a commercial broking with Charles Zerafa
The Successful Adviser by James McCracken
When you’ve assessed and approved over a billion dollars in lending within the banks, it is more than just a good apprenticeship to set you up for a life in broking, it’s the foundations to a rewarding career. In this interview with Charles Zerafa, he takes up through a career assessing commercial transactions before making the switch to broking and becoming the trusted advisor to a portfolio of high quality clients who lean on his expertise to help them fund their and facilitate their business growth objectives. Charles outlines how the benefits of being a broker enable him to offer a...
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Lessons From a Trusted Property & Finance Professional
The Successful Adviser by James McCracken
It’s seldom you come across a person who has started a movement, though that’s exactly what Philip Robison has done. As the the founder of Saving Brothers and a property professional, Philip is driven by the desire to impact people for the better. Not just in their hip pocket, but equally if not more so to look after one’s health and wellbeing - and with the scars and war stories he’s gathered, Philip is empathetic, compassionate and insightful. In our interview, we talk about the highs and lows of his journey, his love for regional property and how people can live their best life. If...
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Mandy Love Shares How She Is Helping To Solve A Key Broker Problem
The Successful Adviser by James McCracken
As we all know, time is arguably the most precious commodity for every mortgage broker. In this podcast with gun loan administrator turned business owner, Mandy Love, we look at the importance of having the right people in the right seats to help deliver an efficient, referable and repeatable service to grow a broking practice. Having personally seen Mandy make a significant contribution to the growth of one of our broking clients, she is all too familiar with how to help brokers ensure their focus is on income producing activities that contribute to their financial and quality of life goals...
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Growing to $100M+ through systems, structure and staff
The Successful Adviser by James McCracken
From police officer to high performing mortgage broker mortgage, Travis Carruthers is on a mission to impact more brokers, consumers and staff for the better. Most brokers who settle in excess of $100M per annum are usually looking to grow either their back end to pump through more volumes, or build out the broking team so they can grow with and through others. For Travis, it’s a combination of both, in addition to running a sub aggregation group and providing a consulting service where he implements a version of his own processes into other broking practices. With...
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The Key to Retaining More Clients on Your Book (And Building A Prosperous Mortgage Broking Practice)
The Successful Adviser by James McCracken
To do more deals, you need to have more clients in your practice. Improving client retention is the easiest and most cost-efficient way to make this happen. Many brokers spend a lot of energy and money on new client acquisition. The idea behind this mentality is simple: You can grow your mortgage broking practice faster if you have more clients. However, some brokers deprioritise how to retain their current clients. Why? Partly because ‘new money’ is more appealing than existing money. A new client expects a quick response. An existing client might patiently wait for...
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The Most Important Podcast I’ve Ever Done
The Successful Adviser by James McCracken
Having interviewed over 160 podcast guests and had extraordinary conversations with many incredible people, it’s a big call to say this is the most important podcast I’ve done, particularly since it has nothing to do with broking. It does however have everything to do with how and why we perform and function in the world the way we do through our unconscious biases. It was spurred on by some friends of mine, females, who have had vastly different experiences of people whom I’d refer to as ‘good blokes’. And knowing my friends were having these experiences, the more important I felt...
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Why Keith Caine bought a billion dollar loan book
The Successful Adviser by James McCracken
Operating a broking practice can be challenging, especially if you’re just starting out. It’s even more so if you used to work as an employee in one. Transitioning from employee to owner can be tricky… but not impossible. Keith Caine joins me for this episode of The Successful Adviser. He moved from England after the 2008 recession to build a life in Australia. He joined Mortgage Choice and worked his way up. But today, he runs the firm. Keith shares his story of how he started from scratch and went on to become one of the top brokers in Australia. It’s an inspiring journey...
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How Marissa Schulze Built A Team of 30+ staff
The Successful Adviser by James McCracken
The sole operator mentality can only take mortgage brokers so far. At some point, brokers will need to delegate key responsibilities to their team members. This will allow them to focus on the strategic and operational decisions and actions that keep their broking practices moving forward. Marissa Schulze, the director of Rise High Financial Solutions, joins me for this episode of The Successful Adviser. She and I discuss common growing pains and how she grew from a practice of one to a thriving practice of more than 30 team members. Tune in to discover how to maintain a cohesive...
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The Big Shift in the Mortgage Broking Industry (And How Brokers Are Emulating Financial Advisors)
The Successful Adviser by James McCracken
There’s been a subtle paradigm shift in the mortgage broking industry in recent years. More and more brokers are embracing the idea of being a broker AND a business owner. It’s no longer about being a one-man-band. Instead, it’s all about structure and substance – building a team and growing a business. Anthony Landahl of Equilibria Finance sat down with me for this episode of The Successful Adviser. We discussed how brokers can best equip themselves and their businesses for this ongoing transition. Brand-building, hiring, systemising… There are many practical insights...
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Earning 90% Commission as an Independent Broker vs. Earning 40% as an Employed Broker
The Successful Adviser by James McCracken
Should you earn 90% commission as an independent broker or base salary + 40% as a PAYG broker? The numbers might suggest that the answer is obvious. However, just like loans, there are different scenarios and different wants and needs that might influence what is the right structure for each person. Being an employed broker can be a fantastic opportunity to build a long-term career, build confidence, and be well paid by doing the technical aspects of the role that most brokers seem to enjoy. Craig Vaughan, the co-founder of BrokerEngine, joins me for this episode...
info_outlineBuilding out a broking business through people, where the delivery of the service isn’t contingent upon you writing loans provides the opportunity for greater scale and leverage by using other people’s time, effort and resources (and resourcefulness). It can also create more freedom.