Turn Visibility and Email Marketing Into Hundreds of Thousands in Revenue with Kristina Crosbie

In this episode of The Visibility Impact Show, Crissy sits down with mortgage broker and entrepreneur Kristina Crosbie to talk about visibility as an income producing asset.

If you have ever wondered how to stay top of mind in an industry people do not buy from daily, this episode breaks down how consistent content and email marketing can generate hundreds of thousands in additional revenue.

This conversation is for women entrepreneurs, service providers, and coaches who want to build authority, automate their systems, and grow without burnout.

More about Kristina | Connect with Kristina https://brokerlifesocials.com/register/broker-growth-collective/

Kristina Crosbie is a Mortgage Agent and entrepreneur who has been in the mortgage industry since 2005. She started in underwriting and built her own mortgage business in 2010.

She helps families refinance and reduce debt, and she teaches mortgage brokers and entrepreneurs how to grow through visibility, email marketing, and simple systems.

Kristina believes visibility builds trust, confidence, and authority. She is passionate about helping business owners show up online, own their message, and create a business that supports their life.

The OMNI Method is a diversified visibility strategy built across social media, search and AI - designed for female entrepreneurs who want to be known, found and unforgettable without living online around the clock. If you are ready to build visibility that works harder than you do, learn more at https://thevisibleceo.com/omni 

Website: thevisibilityimpactshow.com

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Transcript

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Welcome back to the Visibility Impact Show. I am super excited about our guest today. She is a mortgage agent and entrepreneur who has been in the mortgage industry since 2005. She started in underwriting and built her own mortgage business in 2010. She helps families refinance and reduce their debt. And she teaches mortgage brokers and entrepreneurs how to grow through visibility, email marketing, and simple systems. This guest believes visibility builds trust, confidence and authority. She is passionate about helping business owners show up online own their message and create a business that supports their life. Welcome to the show Christina Crosby. Hi Chrissy, how are you? I'm so excited to have you on today, because I know this is going to be so much value to my audience. I'm excited to get going. So you've obviously been in the mortgage industry. Is that 20 years over 20 years? Right, exactly, yeah. And you've recently, Three, four years that you started helping mortgage agents increase their visibility through social media and email marketing. April 2026 will be four years. It's gone by so fast. It hasn't been easy, but yes, four years now. Okay, so what led you from just doing mortgages for customers and clients to actually supporting and helping other people in the same industry as you with their visibility? I started getting consistent and posting on socials and really emailing my client list at that point every single month. I now do it weekly, but I really took charge and became visible in my local market and the ripple effect that that has had on my mortgage business. I knew that it would be possible if I found the right team to bring this to more mortgage brokers and agents to help them get more visible, get more DMs, and really overall help more clients. What do you know is the difference between how you support mortgage agents versus just like a social media agency that's out there that's doing content for them? Our space is so unique and I think it's really hard to, for someone else to come in that doesn't have the industry knowledge to position yourself through your content as the expert that you are in the mortgage space. And I outsourced my socials for years with a really hefty price tag every single month. And honestly, I would go in more times than not and delete the post because it made no sense. And it wasn't providing value. to my followers, potential clients, it wasn't showing my true voice. So I believe, and I know that with what we do at Broker Life Socials, we know the industry and that comes through in your content, which helps overall with your visibility and your confidence and your potential clients or existing clients that you have on socials, they see that and it helps once again, just reinforce that you are the expert in your space. So when it comes to helping mortgage agents, how much resistance do you get when you bring up the word, I'm going to help you get visible? A lot, a lot more than I would like to admit. I feel sometimes there's hesitation with confidence. It's a, it can be a commitment at the time commitment. So even when we help, we really want you involved because it is your socials. You're not going to send, you know, someone to a networking meeting for you. Right. So like your voice really does need to come through in the content. So there is a lot of hesitation. And we really try to work with our members to hold their hand, to help them feel comfortable and kind of peel back those layers because the longer it takes you to start posting on socials and emailing your clients consistently, it's costing you money. And in turn, with that delay, there's so many families that you're missing out on helping in return as well. So. worked years ago when I would do social media. I never worked with mortgage agents, but I did work with real estate agents. And I think there's this misconception is that people don't need, people aren't buying a house unless you're like an investor, right? You're not buying houses all the time. Like once... probably every 10, 15 years maybe on average. I don't even know what the stats are, but I'm sure it's the same thing because we didn't mention this, but Christina is in Canada. So people don't need to refinance all the time. Like people don't need you every day. Like they would a grocery store item or a product, right? Or something they're gonna refill. So how do you stay top of mind in an industry that doesn't need what you offer every single day on an individual basis per person. I think it all comes back to visibility because the more you are visible, that follower, that friend of a follower, when you are visible consistently, that visibility compounds and they are going to, that's going to help you stay top of mind. So when they do need a mortgage or their child is purchasing their first home or a friend is in trouble and needs to refinance, you are going to stay top of mind. So We need to be visible. We're not a coffee shop where you go every day and get your coffee. That visibility compounds and adds that trust. And the more trust you can build, the more you're gonna stay top of mind. Because we have to remember too, if our audience doesn't know what we do, they don't know how to refer us. They don't know how to work with us. So it is so important to be repetitive because that is how you build authority. with the clients you want to work with. in your industry and maybe this cuts across many industries, when does visibility actually become an income producing asset instead of just like, oh, I'm throwing up a piece of content today. Let's cross our fingers and hope it works. it will happen sooner than we think. I always tell our members to both do social and email. And I say, email, you're going to have a quicker return. Some of my members are proving me wrong with that because they are being so consistent with their posting. know, it typically I say like three to six months for our socials. um So when you are consistently visible with your content, you really, you don't want to just post a post because you want to really make sure that this post is going to resonate with someone. For instance, I do a lot of refinance business. I want my refinance post to really pull at the heartstrings of that person reading it. I was listening to a call earlier of Chrissy's today and it doesn't matter about going viral. I have no intention of going viral because if that did happen, I wouldn't know what to do with it. And I have such a small market of people that I want to help. So it's really about being so clear with your messaging and content and speaking to that ideal person and really getting in their head. And when you do that consistently with your social and email, That is when it's going to start to monetize and turn into files and you're going to start to get DMs and messages like, and every single day I get three to four messages, whether I can help them or not. but with my content, I am authentic and I let them know that I can relate to their, situation because I can, and it's pulling down, you know, the facade and being real and being authentic and When you make that connection with your audience and you start to have that relationship where they can know, and trust you and be yourself, that's when it starts to turn into DMs, which will turn into files or email addresses that later on you can help them. So it's really when you get really clear with your messaging, focus on who you're trying to help and just peel back your layers and be confident in your story. and really trying to use that to serve potential clients. Okay, so one of the things that I know you are so passionate about is really helping people, especially in your industry, take advantage of their email list that they probably haven't talked to in months. Like, let's talk about why do you believe that building this email list and emailing them consistently is a really great long-term marketing strategy for every single mortgage agent. This goes for so many industries, mortgages especially. I view my CRM, my email list as my retirement plan. And the minute you start taking that seriously and putting effort and just owning that monthly costs or annual costs that goes along with that and continue to pour into it and update it and visit it every single day, email is not going anywhere. There's so much chatter about how email marketing is done, how it's all about text marketing. I think with the mortgage space, yes, texting is great, but it is all about email. And email is still having its moment. There's so many great CRMs that, for instance, can tell you how many times your client opened the email. And if I send out a refinance email, two days later, I'm checking the stats because if someone's opened that email 50, 60, 70 times, they need help. So that gives me a chance to send a more direct message to them that says, you know, hey, Chrissy wanted to make sure you got my email last week. Can I help with anything? And it breaks down that wall, that embarrassment, that shame, that guilt that they're feeling, and it helps them get that conversation started. So many agents and brokers and entrepreneurs that I speak with do not want to email their list regularly. If you're not, someone else is going to email your list. So you better start emailing your clients every single week. Don't look at the unsubscribes. They don't matter. Maybe they're not your ideal client. Maybe this is just not something for them at this time. But even if you email your list every single week, they see your name in your inbox, even if they delete it, I don't care because my client saw my name in their inbox and they remembered, yeah, Christina is still doing mortgages. I'll remember that. there's so much, I don't know if it's insecurity or there's so much. hesitation about email marketing. And again, the longer you delay it, the longer you are delaying serving your clients and delaying commission on your end type of thing. you can't email your list too much. You need to stay top of mind today more than ever. And email marketing is just another way of being visible. What is the difference between rented platforms or borrowed platforms and owned platforms? And how do you get people on board to do either one? Like I'm sure there's resistance. Everybody has a resistance against something. And how do you explain to them the importance of having both? When a social platform goes down, it's a really great chance. But on the rented space, like we're in the mortgage space. We believe in ownership. So if you're not combining both, social's on the rented space, email marketing on your own, like an own CRM. you're only doing 50 % of what you should be doing because Facebook goes down. You've spent so much time building your list or building your followers, posting, you put all that time into it. But if you don't have up-to-date emails for your clients, when socials go down and they do happen and we don't have control over that, how are you going to contact all those people that you've just put years and years of building your socials into? So it's really not a choice. You do need to have both. That's why I made Broker Life Socials so that you can post on socials and email your clients with, you know, under 20, 30 minutes a day type of thing so that the hard part is done for you because As entrepreneurs, we're so busy trying to do the money-making tasks, which this is one of those, social and email. But oftentimes our focus gets turned to files or other projects, right? So it's so important that you have your own space where you can contact your clients. But it is so important to be showing up consistently as well on socials. I love that. I love that. It's like, we have so many people who are like in any industry, right? Like I'll just, I'm just going to post on Instagram every single day. And I think a lot of times there's that, the thing that you talked about, the confidence, right? But also people are paying attention to their unsubscribes or the other thing that I see, and you may run across this too, is, well, I only have 20 people on my email list. And I'm just like, they don't know that. They don't know. Right. And so, yeah, that's, that's so fascinating. And you have 20 people on your list that want to hear from you that gave you your email I don't care if it's your mother your bestie whoever because they can forward those emails so show up for those 20 because if you're not showing up for those 20 people You all this all of sudden think that when you have 10,000 people on your email list that you're gonna start showing up for them So treat that you know 20 people as if it's you know hundred thousand people right like treat them And that is how, once you serve and you build that know, like, and trust, that is how everything will grow. So I have a question for you. How, and this is a guess, because I don't know if you know this stat, I think you probably have a good idea, but if you were not emailing your list, how much less percentage of a revenue would you make per year? Or not make per year? So... uh Emailing your list is Well, first of all, we talk a lot about this, but it's 68 % easier to work with clients that already know, like, and trust you. And that is clients on your email list. So every time you close a file, you should be adding that email list, that email to your email list. And you need to not forget about those clients after the mortgage closes, after the file closes, after the purchase, the transaction, whatever field you're in. After that closes, you cannot forget about that client because we try so hard to get new clients in the door and we forget about the clients that already know, and trust us. We all have difficult clients that we don't want to work with again. So yes, we'll take those off, off the list. But let that client be on your list. Let them determine if they want to work with you or not. And rather than putting so much energy trying to get new clients in the door, new buyers for your product. really focus on your email list because those are the people that are, you know, 68 % ready to work with you again. As for like income wise, just comparing it from my business, it's hundreds of thousands of dollars less. If I'm not consistently emailing my list, my revenue that year is hundreds of thousands of dollars less. I can look at my years when I look at my stats. I can tell you what years I was not pouring into my email list because the numbers are substantially smaller. That's good. That's good to know. That's good to know for anybody listening, any industry, like we don't want to miss out on revenue. So as a mom, okay, first of all, let's explain this to my audience. Christina is obviously a mom, a wife. She runs a mortgage agency and also helps mortgage agents. And she also coaches entrepreneurs. So she has a lot going on. How do systems... Keep you sane. So I like to say that chaos is expensive and I've lived those years of being all over the place. And really once I became a mom almost 11 years ago, I could not work 24 seven and that's how I built my business. And I feel like when we all start out, that is the norm, but it just got to a point where, um, I needed systems to create freedom. like I said, chaos, is expensive and when you are organized and you build systems that build self-trust and it reduces the emotional reactions out of the business, if that makes sense. And when you automate it, it really protects your energy. For me, this past year, this September, I decided I'm only working to uh 930 a.m. until 3 p.m. So if you go to my Google page, those are my hours. I can drop my kids off at school and be back for pickup. So as a mom, I have built two businesses this past year alone, just from nine to three, like six hours. And I don't work 12 hours a day because I value ownership and systems and conviction. And I know long term. this is what is going to continue to help me be visible and grow my business because my clients, I love them, yes, but my kids come first, my family comes first. And it took a toll on me doing it the other way around. And I don't want that for my life, but it is possible. And it's all about like, you know, the CEO state versus like an operation mind or, you know, operational mind. It's not about being busy, it's like being intentional with your time. So I have those six hours every single Monday to Friday and I time block and I really utilize those. But it's just excuses if you're saying you can't do it and we can't have excuses at this level. It's about ownership and accountability and this is what I have to do today and just time blocking and getting it done because there is more than enough time in those six hours. Absolutely, absolutely. One of the things that I believe, I'm sure you believe this too, but I believe boundaries is part, a boundary is a system. And so do you feel like, obviously you added those boundaries around the time that you work. Do you feel that creating boundaries like that as a system or maybe another system actually increases your revenue? Absolutely. to add onto that, like if your business is only working when you're working, then you really don't have a business because you really want it to get to the point where it can be automated without you. But your boundaries are so important. And I know I struggled with it and it didn't just happen overnight. That Tuesday when the kids went back to school after Labor Day, it wasn't like 3 p.m. Everything was great. It took time to get used to that. but you can't work when you're burnt out at the level that you want to. And putting in those boundaries are honestly life-changing and you'll actually be more productive in that shorter amount of time and your revenue will definitely increase because you are so intentional. And it's hard saying yes to everyone. And I've really learned that recently. When I know that I don't have capacity for something, I'm finally in a place where I can just say no. because in the long run, it's not going to benefit everyone and it's just going to slowly erupt type of thing. So it's just about knowing what your values are, figuring out what your boundaries you want are. Like what does your ideal day look like? How do you want your business to run? Figuring that out and then putting in those boundaries, time blocking to make sure that all comes together. Yeah, so if somebody was like, has no boundaries or no systems, we're gonna talk about moms specifically. What would be the first one they should add this year? Like hands down, like this is the thing that you should do differently starting today. Definitely stop saying yes to everybody. And if you don't want to do it, say no. Life changing. I'll scream it from the mountaintops. I'm trying to be a recovering people pleaser. But if it's not going to serve you, it's okay to be selfish. oh It's okay. Really look at where you want your business to grow. How long is it going to take that? What can you do to take it there? And then if something comes up and it's... not going to take you there in a peaceful way, in a way that you want and that serves you, it is okay to say no and no excuses. You don't need to know I can't because it's just no. And the minute you do that, it's, you know, I said earlier, the longer you take to get visible, it's just going to, you know, delay you growing financially and you serving clients. It's the same with this. It's just another road bump. your destination. just really do what you want to do. Be kind and just any other distraction just say no and that's okay. Yeah, absolutely. I always say if it's not a heck yes, it is a heck no. So that's how you can decide. you're on the fence, say no, like 100%. So let's talk about hard seasons because as a mom, we deal with sicknesses and things ourselves, right? We also deal with our kids being sick. So there's like always things going on. It's more than just us that we have to deal with. So how do you show up consistently when life feels heavy or it feels like there's so much going on in your life, it's impossible. One reason why we really need systems, no matter what our business is in, the sooner we adapt systems and you don't need to have a team. I've, you know, mortgage volume wise, my biggest year was about, I funded about 45 million in volume. I had two assistants, someone doing a lot of backend stuff. Sure, that helped if my kid was sick that day, cause I had people to look after things, but so much of what I earned just went out in payroll. So when you really think about it, what I'm trying to say is leadership is not seasonal. And there are so many ways that we can automate our businesses to the point where now I'm hopefully going to do 35 million in 2026 and I don't have an assistant. Years ago, that would have been like what? Like, no, you need someone. You hit that 20 million in volume, you need an assistant. But there's a lot of stress keeping up with that payroll and getting new files in the door, right? So there are so many ways you can automate your business. I send my clients a link to fill out an application. They upload their documents to my secure portal. It's far more secure than email. So I position it that way. There's so many tools right now that even if my kid has a sick day, yes, it's gonna throw a situation into my day. But for the most part now, I have systems. that it's okay if a hiccup comes up, you know, because I have all of this in place. What would you say to a woman who's listening that may be in a hard season right now and feels completely invisible? take a breath, take a minute, figure out where you want to go and just reverse engineer it and break it down step by step with what do I need to do? What do I, not what do I need to get? What do I get the opportunity to do and break it down that way. And I want you to show up even when it's heavy. I want you to show up before you're ready because that's how you do get ready. Okay. And oftentimes what I've learned over the past seven years specifically is, know, resilience is built publicly. So get out of your comfort zone. Don't wait to feel ready. And your confidence will build by showing up. And again, we have to stop delaying things. We have to stop comparing ourselves to other people. you build that confidence by showing up before you're ready. So really reverse engineer where you want to go and break it down step by step. I love that. So much good advice, so good advice. Okay, let's talk about your business and who you help. So obviously we've talked about mortgage agents. We know that you have Broker Life socials, you provide email and social media services for them, but you also have a coaching side to your business. So who is the right fit to work with you in that capacity? So with mentoring, I really love to work with, you know, parent, mom, entrepreneurs, mortgage brokers, because I can relate to your life. And I have built out systems and, you know, I'm so organized because when we have systems, it helps take out that emotional... load and Very few, like only moms know what our day is like. You know, my husband has no idea what my day is like, even though he's a great father. And it's really about how do I want to show up for my kids? How do I want to show up for my clients? And we really build your way, your, your days around that. So for me, it's, you know, almost March. Summer's coming up. I'm really starting to think about how I'm going to focus my summer. And that's exactly what we do in our mentoring. It's what do you want out of life? Because life isn't working for your business. You need to enjoy the fruits of your labor. So it's really about what is it that you want out of your life? How much do you want to work? What kind of income do you want to make? And how can we step by step, layer by layer, build that in, build that into your daily life? no matter what happens when you wake up that morning. And it's just about. not being seasonal, like we have to show up even when it's heavy. And that's what's going to make everything worth it. And, you know, being visible and being uncomfortable because that is what is going to build the depths of our business and help us keep going and show through to who our audience is that we're speaking to. So don't wait until you're ready and really figure out how you want your life to be. And then how do we structure that? When you work with clients, what kind of transformations are they seeing? So definitely a lot more email responses. So that results in more files. The biggest transformation that we see in our mentoring is less stress, less chaos, systems that are put into place, and that unknown of day-to-day chaos is gone. And I had a client say to me this morning in a message, She said, I feel I'm panicking because it feels so calm in my business. But I almost cried because we have everything running so smoothly and she's used to it being just fires everywhere with files and clients. But now that we have a system and we have so much stuff automated, you know, she's like, I started freaking out. I don't know if I have files for the next month or the next two months. And then she's like, I sat down and thought about it and I do. And I have a lot of my pipeline. but everything is going so smooth because of the systems that we have implemented. And that was just huge because that's exactly what I wanted the transformation to be because our business can be so stressful and entrepreneurship can be so stressful. But once you have these systems in place, you have more time for your family, for your kids, for you. And it's not a constant level of... stress and chaos. Yeah, absolutely. And I think sometimes, even in any industry, right, as an entrepreneur, we get so used and conditioned to the chaos that we actually don't know what to do when we don't have it. And so it's like, this is where I tell you to go live your life, right and enjoy life that you are what do you what else are you working this hard for? So so I love that you said that and what a gift. What a gift like, have less chaos in your life. So One of the things that I love about what you've built and I say this all the time. So I want to bring this up is that we have to be known for something. It does not put us in a box. I believe it actually magnetizes us to other people. And obviously you're going, you're starting to go outside of the mortgage industry, but that's where you started. How do you feel like being known for something? And being so specific in your industry, how do you believe that that's helped you actually grow into the business that you have today? I feel like it has to do with just again, the accountability and ownership. And I've showed up for so long before I was ready, before it was perfect, because we know it's never going to be perfect. And I really used our Canadian mortgage space as my test waters. It was a very familiar area to me. I felt safe in it. I've been in it for so long. I have so many contacts. The support and the confidence that growing in that space has given me has really allowed me to branch out. And I know this space really well. And when we have someone reach out to us in a completely different field, at first it was a little terrifying, but we have a really good copywriter and content manager at Broker Life Socials and how we are able to, and especially him, really understand that industry has really given us the confidence to branch out. And we've been doing that so much in the last year. But I really started where I was comfortable with and where I knew I could grow. Not I didn't know I could grow, but where I felt safe. And before I was ready, like I said, and just really I guess, perfecting our systems and our onboarding and all of the behind the scenes stuff once that was ready and we could handle more than it was about branching out. And it was only, was like the natural next step because it's really relating to that ideal client in that space and getting in their head and whether it be fitness, whether it be parenting. whether it be any other industry, we all have that sort of struggle in some degree in our life for the most part. So we can all relate no matter what the field is, more or less, to really help that person's ideal client and get in their mind and really help them grow and flourish. uh Yeah, and you've grown two successful businesses. you, yeah, you have the expertise on the mortgage agent side, but you also like know what it's like to grow a business. It's still kind of in the mortgage industry, but it's also its own thing, right? And you've grown and evolved that with, you know, the membership, obviously, where they can get their email and social media done and the mentorship where you actually have a mastermind type. group and then also you guys are now doing even done for you and it's more specialized. So there are so many areas where you can take people and I love that it doesn't necessarily have to be in the mortgage industry anymore. You still do that and that's still a specialization you offer but you still offer, you also offer things outside of that because you can relate to having a chaotic business and finding a way to, you know, make that feel more calm, but still successful. So I absolutely love that about what you do and who you serve. When it comes to your business and we're talking specifically about broker life socials and your mentorship. Like how can people work with you? Right now we have a new launch of, we have a new coaching container, like a new mentoring container starting April 1st. And in that, we really just dive into your business and help you get systems in place so things are automated, so you are showing up, so you can enjoy your summer. That's our focus on the April launch. And it's like group mentorship. We have a call every single week, three weeks a month, and uh we help you with your social content and your email content. And it's really just, we handhold you and get you the content that you need so that you can feel confidence in your business again. that's our biggest thing that we're doing right now. And then of course we have our email marketing that we do, which is probably what I'm most proud of. other than our group mentoring because it's all about the subject line and getting to your ideal client and our copywriter has really nailed that. I love that. I love that. And so if someone was interested in that, how can they connect with you? So on Facebook, it's my name's just Christina Crosby, Christina with a K, K-R-I-S-T-I-N-A, and Crosby C-R-O-S-B-I-E, or on Instagram at Broker Life Socials. So either of those are really well, can Google Broker Life Socials and our website will come up with all our information as well. And I always love to ask my guests this, but a lot of times we don't cover everything or there's something that you want to reiterate. So what was the last thing you would like to leave my audience with today? that you can do it, that, you know, like I said earlier, chaos is expensive, delaying just starts, stops, delaying what you want to do just delays helping your ideal client, it delays you financially. And there are ways to build very successful businesses by not working 12 hours a day and getting those systems in place and just believing in yourself starting before you're ready and just really accountability and ownership and just start to show up and get visible because and keep going because at some point it's just going to all click. You're going to start getting DMs and it's going to make all the hard work that you've done worth it. And just don't give up. Just keep going even through the hard seasons because that's only going to build more character and help build the know, interest. This is like the best advice. I'm so glad that we had you as a guest on the show today, Christina, and we will drop all of Christina's links in the show notes so you can connect with her, follow her, reach out to her and ask her any questions. And again, whether you're a mortgage agent, a mom, or you have a chaotic business and you're looking for support, make sure you reach out to Christina and her team and... find out how you guys can work together because I know how supportive they are to their clients. So again, thank you, Christina, for being on the show today. And I cannot wait to see how many people reach out to you because of this because it's been so value packed. Thank you, I really appreciate it, Chrissy.