Unchaining a Bloodhound Pup

by Scott Schang

Mortgage Systems Samurai

Author website

It’s funny, I am almost never at a loss for words. I have an opinion on just about any topic and am usually a passionate conversationalist….but put me in the yard with the Big Dogs and I’m feeling a little puppyish (you’ll find that I like to make up words).

To introduce myself I want to tell you about the path that led me here.  I found BHB right as things started to really get hairy in the third and fourth quarter of 2007.

I have to admit I had trouble understanding much of what I read here about technology, SEO and Greg’s passionate dissertations that seemed like they were written in Greek (come to think of it, maybe it was Latin).

I could not resist being drawn to this incredible community of creative, innovative and free thinking professionals sharing openly their trials and their triumphs as they searched for answers when we really didn’t know exactly what the questions were, or what they would be.  It was a true mastermind of master minds.

When I found out about Bloodhound Unchained in 2008 I spent every cent that I had to buy a plane ticket and book a seedy hotel to be there.  I still remember, the cheapest hotel I could find was about a mile and a half from the Heard Museum.  I grew up on a farm in Michigan and figured “a mile and a half, no problem – i can do that in my sleep!”…and I don’t recall any mention on the announcement for Unchained about Arizona heat.  Even in April it was about 109 degrees!

So I showed up every day, lugging my $300 Fry’s laptop that someone lent me the money for, soaking wet, looking like I swam to the event like that dumb Michael Phelps Subway commercial they keep playing during the football playoff games.

I had already read about, and implemented fully without completely understanding,  long tail SEO strategies posted by Greg on the blog.  I was almost blinded by the innovation in the conference and found solace at a time when everything seems like an uphill battle….we’re talking Everest uphill.

I remember the last day of the conference, people were standing up and talking about what they took away from the gathering.  At that time, public speaking and even being in crowds was very uncomfortable for me, but I had something I had to share.

While people were sharing their take aways and what they learned, I got an email notification from another application that came in from my long tail, bloodhound inspired homeownership education blog – it was really working, I stood up and shared the Win.  Little did I know, it was all about to go off!

I spent the next year working on my blogs and my social media systems.  I created specific and measurable mechanisms within the system for identifying metrics for tracking the monetization of my efforts.

I continued to learn and share what I learned and practiced implementing crazy ideas that I thought there was no way I can ever learn all this stuff.  If these guys can do it, so can I.

Fast forward to 2009.  I was still struggling to ramp things up, still reinventing, modifying and manipulating my systems in an effort to automate and simplify my marketing processes and continue to grow, getting closer to thriving in a down market.

Then it happened again.  Unchained 2009.  After 3 straight 12 to 15 hour days of sharing, learning, teaching and challenging – I reinvented myself and my systems again.

2009 ended with our company providing loans for 191 families that bought new homes.  Our 100% online, social media based marketing systems generated all of our leads organically, resulting in the 13 employees in our company making a respectable living for themselves and their families.

Moving into 2010 I feel a tipping point where we are operating, for the first time in over 2 years, with a completely offensive strategy making our business happen as opposed to having things happen…turns out it’s really just a mindset.

I owe a debt of gratitude to the Hounds.  I have made and maintained some incredibly rich and rewarding friendships IRL (in real life) with many I have met over the past couple of years through Bloodhound.

It is an honor and a privilege to be invited to share here.  I can only hope that I can offer as much value to the readers of this blog as I have myself received from reading it.