For this week’s special episode of the Lending Leaders Podcast, Alayna Gardner chats with LodeStar’s Marketing Content Manager Tim Austen about his original webcomic, “A Tale of Two Mortgages,” the cost of content marketing, and the importance of trying new things.

An Original Idea

Many of our listeners already know the story of how we created “A Tale of Two Mortgages.” If you haven’t heard it already, we wrote about it here. The spirit of the idea was a commitment to innovation—and not just where mortgage tech is concerned. Content marketing is an often-overlooked opportunity to forge connections, tell amazing stories, and keep things light and fun. With so much long-form content already available through LodeStar, we wanted something that was snappy and silly, which readers could experience in under a minute.

And that’s how the nation’s leading provider of closing cost data became the producer of the industry’s first original webcomic.

100 Comics Later

We’ve been doing “A Tale of Two Mortgages” for a while now, and the original idea has taken on a life of its own. As of this week, Horace and Octavia have logged one hundred adventures (or rather, in Horace’s case, misadventures…). The fine folks over at PROGRESS in Lending now syndicate the comic, where you can read it every day in their morning newsletter (Sign up! Their content is great!).

Moreover, the strip has been a great opportunity for Tim especially to hear the stories of people whose livelihoods are staked on closing deals and getting buyers into homes. We can’t wait to see where the idea takes us next!

To learn more about Tim’s process, the cost of content marketing, and how to invest in creative content, listen to the whole episode!

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