Time To Pause, Reflect, And Decide How To Move Forward...

By: Matthew Graham •

I know this is the longest post in memory, but whether you want to look at it as an investment in your future or a favor to us (for it is we who are grateful to you for being our readership!), please do us the honor of giving us your feedback so we can all take the next step forward together in the most effective way possible.

As mentioned earlier today, we have big changes planned, and we want to roll them out appropriately. So this is an attempt to poll our audience so we can roll out new material accordingly. That means that if you are reading these words now, we need to hear from you, even if it’s only to say it was you visited the site by accident and have no comments. We’d really appreciate the participation, but more importantly, every additional participant further adds to the quality and decreases the cost of what we can bring you.

In even plainer terms, the blog cannot stay free forever, so we want to deliver just as much as you need, with no unwanted fluff in order to keep the cost as low as possible. Even so, we will offer as many tools as you want, as long as you want them. So with that in mind, please consider the following questions.

You can email your responses to: info@mortgagenewsdaily.com
Subject: MBS FEEDBACK

  1. How often do you visit and/or refresh the blog?


  2. Is the blog your only source for commentary on live MBS pricing? If not, what other services do you use? And what could we offer that would make us a one-stop-shop?


  3. In general, has the blog been of an educational value to you?


  4. What are the best and worst parts of the blog?


  5. In general, has the blog been a financial benefit to you? In other words, have you made more money because of the blog content or been able to save your clients more money? On average, how much have you saved?


  6. Does the informal writing style of the blog add, detract, or do neither for your enjoyment of the data?


  7. We are considering subscription levels in order to devote the time and money to bringing you other resources, but we need to make sure you think they would be valuable, so the following questions will pertain specifically to those ideas.  Assuming the existing content of the blog, plus the addition of an automatic email alert of new posts cost a certain monthly amount. What amount would you expect to pay per month?

The following additional features are being considered. Please indicate for each one, on a scale of 1 to 5, FIVE BEING THE BEST, which potential features seem the most likely to add value to the blog. Keep in mind, we will NOT use these answers to upcharge!, but simply to make something available as an a la carte feature if it seems popular.

  1. Live email Alerts


  2. Live Text Message Alerts


  3. Live phone call alerts


  4. Additional Graphs posted on set schedule


  5. A morning “listen-only” conference call between the author of the blog and several other MBS savvy brokers


  6. That same conference call including the recently unveiled “MBS-Ninja”


  7. The ability to actually participate (within reason) on that conference call (obviously this would be limited to a certain number of people, but would allow you to ask direct questions during the call)


  8. Similar to being able to ask questions on a call, the ability to email or post on a website, certain questions in an “ask the expert” section that would be fielded by blog staff in a specified amount of time


  9. Access to your own table and chart of MBS prices with approximately a 20 minutes delay


  10. Same as above with a 5 minute delay


  11. Same as above with a 1 minute delay


  12. Same as above, but with no delay (that’s right, we’re actually considering taking the necessary steps to offer a truly live MBS price feed. More on that later)


  13. Links to full stories of all relevant news items, including links to live feeds of fed speeches when available


  14. Ability to view historical graphs (if you were curious about price curve movements over a longer period of time)


  15. Pre-Scripted emails specifically designed to relate the complicated subject matter to potential clients, realtors, and other industry partners.


  16. A self-replicating website with unique domain, pre-loaded with MBS blog marketing tools for business partners, a loan application, rate calculator, etc…


  17. A full page RSS for your existing website of blog content for your potential clients and/or industry partners


  18. A secure login to a “crash-course” on MBS, interest rates, the loan process, etc… that you can direct each new client or business partner to.


  19. A custom tailored MBS primer and coaching guide for managers, and/or senior loan officers to train their staff


  20. One on one phone time, coaching, and support from the author and potentially the MBS ninja? (obviously this would be limited to a maximum number, so that quality would not suffer)


  21. An enhanced newswire service that would get you breaking economic news the second its available. For example, this is usually several minutes sooner than sites like Bloomberg and CNBC release theirs.


  22. A “founder’s circle” that would meet via conference call daily or weekly to have more candid conversations about market movements with the author and the Ninja. (obviously, this should be included with the “one on one” option referenced above.


  23. An actual “news cast” with the author “anchoring” the morning’s relevant economic news, delivering blog content, float/lock concerns, and MBS ninja on the phone.

Final questions:

  1. With the exception of the live price feed and the limited enrollment type services, what is a fair price for all of the above referenced material?


  2. What is a good price for the following anticipated “entry level” package


    1. Blog would arrive in your email the second it’s posted


    2. Live email alerts throughout the day


    3. More graphs, tables, and charts


    4. Ability to add premium services as a la carte


  3. What’s a good price for the following anticipated “mid level” package?


    1. All of the above PLUS


    2. Text alerts and phone alerts


    3. Access to listen to the morning conference call


    4. Access to one of the delayed MBS price tables (5 minute delay for instance)


    5. Links to news and fed speeches


  4. What’s a good price for the following anticipated “high level” package?


    1. All of the above PLUS


    2. The ability to interact on the morning conference call


    3. All email, website, and RSS content for marketing to clients, realtors, and business partners. All content would be branded with your name and business info.


  5. Since a true live feed is something that the more serious of you have expressed interest in, yet have shied away from the price of a full service platform, what is a good price for a live feed of MBS prices and charts?


  6. If you were already paying $39 a month (for example only) on many of the above mentioned services, how likely are you to pay an additional $100-$200 / month for your very own live MBS feed? (keep in mind the closest alternatives are many times more expensive)


  7. Would you rather see one simple “set it and forget it” package that includes everything, but goes for a higher price?


  8. Finally, are there any other aspects you would like us to consider as we work towards bringing you the industry’s most comprehensive MBS analysis?

Again, you may email responses to info@mortgagenewsdaily.com. We thank you so very much for taking the time to do this and are convinced it will help make this resource many times better.