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Most people attempt to compete with competitors. Attempting to highlight minor details between debt or mortgage products and fees is a guaranteed losing strategy. Compete with a leadership strategy. Be the authority. Be a consumer educator.

Using Your Own Site or Blog

You own website or blog can be the best way to establish yourself as a leader in your market. Establishing an editorial calendar that tracks the fundamental questions a consumer might have is a great way to help prospects become customers.

Here are some great examples:

• What is the difference between a fixed-rate and an adjustable rate mortgage?
• When should you pay points on your mortgage?
• Which is better debt settlement or debt consolidation?
• How do you get a loan modification?

Be ready with the answers on your website or blog. The beauty of search engines means that you will also be luring them in by simply publishing common questions and answers.

Using Other Sites

Maybe you think building your own website or blog is too technical. No reason to be discouraged. There are a lot of great sites where consumers are already going for answers to their questions.

Leveraging these sites in your marketing campaign is as easy as participating and sharing your knowledge. Here are some great examples:

Yahoo! Answers

Yahoo! Answers is one of the most popular and longest standing question and answer sites. It is full of questions and answers covering every topic from mortgages to how to get out wine stains in your carpet.

Simply register, or us your existing Yahoo! account and start searching for people needing help with debt or mortgage related areas.

Just to show you how effective and powerful this channel can be for customer acquisition-take a look at how much effort QuickenLoans has put into their efforts here: QuickenLoans Yahoo!Answers Profile

Linkedin

Linkedin is another great social networking site that has a questions and answers section. Again you can simply search for people asking questions about mortgage and debt topics and show off your expertise.

The really cool thing about Linkedin is the demographics. You are talking to very high net worth professionals. Recent statistics show that over 80 percent of their network in making over $100,000 a year. This is a great pool of prospective high quality mortgage borrowers or even “over their heads” debt clients.

SmartHippo

My recent favorite is SmartHippo. One of the biggest reasons is that it is new. That means big opportunity to be on the leader board and seize a solid position front and center of all their mortgage and debt consumers.

The interface is simple and you can create a profile that tells borrowers why they would want to work with you (beyond all the great answers you are giving them). Even better you can link back to your website or profile to get a free lead or two.

Zillow Mortgage Marketplace

ZIllow is another new entry and has a great marketplace to not only answer questions, but also qualify to get some free leads. Their website is more a rate quoting set-up, but many consumers are just looking for rates.

You can demonstrate your expertise by how competently you can meet the needs of borrowers with innovative quotes and loan structures.

Regardless of which of these services you may use the winning strategy is to get in front of as many prospective mortgage or debt clients as possible with your expertise, not your cheesy sales pitch.

Related posts:

1. Increasing Your Lead ROI with Referrals
2. Why You Should Share Lead Performance Data, Even with Aged Lead Providers
3. Next Wave Marketing Strategies and Aged Lead Strategy on Twitter
4. Aged Mortgage Leads, Opportunity in a Tough Mortgage and Debt Market
5. What is More Important Lead Age or Filter?