[LJH365]

Just want to give a shout out and an ringing endorsement to Steve Benjamin aka (on DF) as 'Olderguy'.

I found Steve via his many helpful posts on DF, and after trolling the feeds for a while, rang him up one afternoon to see if he could help me place a difficult deal.

That was about 2 months back, and I have developed a great relationship with him since then. He has been my go-to wingman (or more accurately- I have been his) on several deals for my clients. My company works exclusively with truckers, which is are not the easiest deals to get done (as we all know). A lot of people in the lending industry don't even give truckers the time of day, but Steve works his ass off trying to help these people. Half the time I don't even send deals to my own processor- I just send them over to Steve.

Besides the fact that I don't know when the guy even sleeps (he is seemingly ALWAYS available), he is one of the most honest and caring people I've met in a lonnnggg time.

I know it's easy to be cynical of people's intentions in this industry, and even on this board, so I wanted to take a moment to recognize someone who's doin' it right and doin' it well. For every hundred guys who post 'I can fund this deal send it to me' (without even looking at it) every time a deal hits the Deal Bin, there are one or two who actually try to be helpful to the OP and/or the client. Steve is one of them.

[NoBiggie]

Just want to give a shout out and an ringing endorsement to Steve Benjamin aka (on DF) as 'Olderguy'.

I found Steve via his many helpful posts on DF, and after trolling the feeds for a while, rang him up one afternoon to see if he could help me place a difficult deal.

That was about 2 months back, and I have developed a great relationship with him since then. He has been my go-to wingman (or more accurately- I have been his) on several deals for my clients. My company works exclusively with truckers, which is are not the easiest deals to get done (as we all know). A lot of people in the lending industry don't even give truckers the time of day, but Steve works his ass off trying to help these people. Half the time I don't even send deals to my own processor- I just send them over to Steve.

Besides the fact that I don't know when the guy even sleeps (he is seemingly ALWAYS available), he is one of the most honest and caring people I've met in a lonnnggg time.

I know it's easy to be cynical of people's intentions in this industry, and even on this board, so I wanted to take a moment to recognize someone who's doin' it right and doin' it well. For every hundred guys who post 'I can fund this deal send it to me' (without even looking at it) every time a deal hits the Deal Bin, there are one or two who actually try to be helpful to the OP and/or the client. Steve is one of them.

DF needs more posts like this

[Bcooper]

love this energy as a resident troll, people deserve props when they do good work, and while I think steve needs to get a more professional email I'm glad to see he practices what he preaches.

[Olderguy]

love this energy as a resident troll, people deserve props when they do good work, and while I think steve needs to get a more professional email I'm glad to see he practices what he preaches.

It's marketing bro....everybody easily remembers @gmail.com.....hahaha....

[mistamca]

It's marketing bro....everybody easily remembers @gmail.com.....hahaha....

Using a gmail isn't marketing. You can get a secure, privacy-centric custom domain email for 4 bucks a month.
Gmail doesn't look professional. Branding is marketing too & gmail doesnt help build a brand. It isn't lost on me that most 1-man bands dont really care about a brand because there isnt a company to build a brand around. How do you even do email marketing with a personal email? This seems like an absolute nightmare.

I can't imagine that a gmail builds confidence especially in MCA where merchants receive a ton of communication

[Olderguy]

Using a gmail isn't marketing. You can get a secure, privacy-centric custom domain email for 4 bucks a month.
Gmail doesn't look professional. Branding is marketing too & gmail doesnt help build a brand. It isn't lost on me that most 1-man bands dont really care about a brand because there isnt a company to build a brand around. How do you even do email marketing with a personal email? This seems like an absolute nightmare.

I can't imagine that a gmail builds confidence especially in MCA where merchants receive a ton of communication

That's what you guys don't undertand - I don't do email marketing....I don't "market" anything. All my files come from referrals. Gmail is easy for a broker and client to understand. Like I said @gmail.com is easy to remember and all they need is Steveprobiz. When I do a conference call with the broker and client, they clearly understand.

I am a very experienced professional loan officer. (My background is in professional marketing. I've run two companies, raised venture capital, have a MBA from USC, yadda, yadda, yadda....)

[Bcooper]

That's what you guys don't undertand - I don't do email marketing....I don't "market" anything. All my files come from referrals. Gmail is easy for a broker and client to understand. Like I said @gmail.com is easy to remember and all they need is Steveprobiz. Easy to remember. When I do a conference call with the broker and client, they clearly understand I am a very experienced professional loan officer. (My background is in professional marketing. I've run two companies, raised venture capital, have a MBA from USC, yadda, yadda, yadda....)

that's all great but steve@probiz.com would look far more professional and would be just as easy to remember. were ripping on you because 9/10 if someone posts on here and they use Gmail it's an outright scam you so far have been the only exception.

[Olderguy]

that's all great but steve@probiz.com would look far more professional and would be just as easy to remember. were ripping on you because 9/10 if someone posts on here and they use Gmail it's an outright scam you so far have been the only exception.

Recall is important.

Steveprobiz is easy to recall.

@gmail is easy to recall.

It's the marketing guy in me.

be1be793e30ac59bddff98a55164bc8e.jpg

[Bcooper]

Recall is important.

Steveprobiz is easy to recall.

@gmail is easy to recall.

It's the marketing guy in me.

be1be793e30ac59bddff98a55164bc8e.jpg

I feel like steve@probiz would be easier tbh by making it steveprobiz@gmail you are making it more complicated not less complicated and while gmail is easy to remember I have a feeling you've had more than one merchant send an email to steve@probiz due to it being your website domain.

[Olderguy]

Never had an email fail from a merchant but I don't get them from my website. It's usually from brokers or a reply to a craig's list ad. But at the end of the conference call they repeat it back to me easily.

[Olderguy]

To your point, I did have a lender refuse to sign me up due to gmail account.

And just last week a term loan lender refused to sign me up for the following reasons:

"We will not be moving forward with a partnership at this time.
For your reference, the main criteria we look for in an ISO partner is the following:

1. ISO has been funding for at least 1 year
2. ISO has a strong online presence
3. ISO has overall positive, independently verifiable online reviews

(Hilariously, being I've been in the business 7 years....the rest is pretty self explanatory) Maybe they are looking for consumer visibility.

[Private Lenders]

Go Steve Go -I second this. He's always looking at ways to truly help the client. And nice to have someone on the west coast who can keep EST coast time! ;-)

[Dolphin Funding]

Steve is the man. Really helpful.

[Ehenek]

I have to say. I have been on this forum for a while, and I consider myself "knowledgeable." but Steve has shown me a whole new side of the industry to learn. I can honestly say with full sincerity that he opened my eyes to a whole new perspective on commercial finance and he was willing/is still willing to help at the drop of a hat! It is rare to find someone such as Steve. I appreciate all your hard work and I hope you continue to help more people.

[DonMcGrath]

As much as this is an opening for one of my comments that no one really appreciates, I have to say that Steve is the consummate professional









...for a noisy motorcycle revving, cigar choking, women philandering grandpa.....at least.

[Olderguy]

As much as this is an opening for one of my comments that no one really appreciates, I have to say that Steve is the consummate professional









...for a noisy motorcycle revving, cigar choking, women philandering grandpa.....at least.

no meme?

Don't I deserve at least a meme?

[DonMcGrath]

Oh you’ll get what you deserve all right…..