Mohnish Pabrai built one of the great fortunes of modern value investing on a single principle, borrowed in plain English from the Patel motel owners he spent his career studying: “Heads I win, tails I don’t lose much.”
He calls it Dhandho, a Gujarati word for “endeavor,” and the idea is simple. The investor only makes the investment when the financial downside is minimal, and the earning potential is exponential. Examples of famous Dhando bets include Pabrai’s purchase of a funeral services company at near-liquidation value. Another instance includes the purchase of a tanker operator trading below the scrap value of its ships. By purchasing companies below their market value, return of capital is ensured even in the face of bankruptcy and liquidation.
A similar investment opportunity is presenting itself to mortgage executives.
Content Creation Is A Dhando Investment For Mortgage Executives
The recruiting conversations that a chief executive once had individually — over the phone, in airport lounges, and over lunch — are now happening at scale on LinkedIn.
A CEO who writes online is articulating his company’s unique value proposition to producers in a public forum. By avoiding the common tropes of “better tech, better comp, better rates,” thoughtfully crafted content communicates these values through storytelling. Consistent messaging convinces loan officers that switching companies will lead to increased earnings, better work-life balance, and faster closings.
Producers receive dozens of recruiting messages every day. It has become increasingly difficult to stand out in a crowded inbox. In response, executives are turning the tables on traditional recruiting by positioning themselves as modern day mortgage influencers. By providing value to loan originators at scale through their content, these executives are able to sit back and wait for originators to contact them.
Some of their audience are loan officers that are ready to make a move now. They reach out this quarter. Most of those loan officers are not ready yet — but they will be in the next 12 to 36 months. The executive that has spent a year writing online has earned the trust of those originators.
Heads, The Recruiting Happens. Tails, The Bet Pays Anyway.
A Pabrai-style investment only requires the downside to be limited. The same is true here. Flip a coin.
Heads, the chief executive ends up with a recruiting pipeline that is mostly inbound, pre-qualified, and faster to close. The candidates initiate the conversation. The CEO takes an easy call.
Tails, the executive ends up with a personal brand that pays dividends. Earned media. Speaking invitations. Podcast appearances. Easier capital raises. Smoother conversations with potential acquirers. The CEO’s name is spoken in rooms he has not yet walked into.
There is no version of the bet where nothing comes back. The upside of consistent public writing, paired with credible business acumen, is not limited by any sensible measure.
Two Recent Results From Inside The Inkpress Roster
We write LinkedIn content for 17 mortgage executives across the country. All of our clients are at different stages of scaling their IMBs, but here are some recent examples of wins.
One client, an IMB chief executive officer, grew from $580 million to $800 million in annual production over nine months, generated entirely through inbound interest from his writing. He did not run a single outbound recruiting campaign in that window. The producers came to him.
A flat-fee wholesale mortgage brokerage we work with is now recruiting 10 loan officers a month. The recruiting conversations that used to take six calls now only take three, loan officers show up to the call pre-educated on your platform, your value-add, and your vision of the future. Recruiting spending is reduced while generating better results.
The Window Of Relevance For Any One Loan Officer Is 12 To 36 Months
A producer who is happy at her current company today may not be ready for a “job change” conversation this quarter, but might be ready 18 months from now. The chief executive who has been writing online for those 18 months has done the work of being known.
Recruiting against a competing offer with a $60,000 signing bonus is difficult. That same conversation with someone who has read your content for 15 months is easier. They’re pre-sold on the idea that you can help them win.
The executive who starts writing today is not betting that producers will pick up the phone tomorrow. He is betting that between now and 2029, hundreds of producers will see his content and reach out with the hopes of increasing their earning potential. Despite the absence of a formal conversation, parasocial relationships are built at scale through consistent content creation.
What To Write
The task of embarking on the content creation journey can feel overwhelming. Where should you begin? Here are a couple of directions we encourage our clients to go in:
- Loan Officer Value: This category of content provides immediate value to the loan officer reading it. Examples of this are: Frameworks for generating more referral partnerships, sales techniques to close leads faster, or playbooks centered around leveraging AI in their business. The core idea here is “how do I provide tangible value to a loan officer reading this post?”
- Loan Officer Pain Points: This category of content identifies how you have reduced friction in the origination process for your team. Have you figured out how to clear-to-close a loan in record time? Stamped out “feel-good” underwriting conditions? Built an automated follow-up system so your originators can spend more time prospecting? The core idea here is “how do I provide evidence that originating here is easier than anywhere else?”
- Loan Officer Success Stories: This category of content is what would be referred to as “social proof.” If you’ve been able to help originators on your team measurably increase their income, write about it. It is very easy to state that your systems help originators make more money, but backing that up with proof is significantly more impactful. The core idea here is “how do I show the audience that we are helping originators achieve their goals?”
The Downside Is Limited
LinkedIn is one of the fastest growing platforms on the internet and less than 1% of its users ever hit publish. The upside of a serious writing program is a healthy flow of recruiting leads, earned media opportunities, and a clarity around your unique value proposition. The cost is a fixed price and a few hours of the executive’s time every month.
The downside is limited. The upside is not.
