In this episode of the Network Connections podcast, Mark Petterwood from Australian Mortgage Brokers tells us about his BNI circle of friends, how they get involved in his business and the referrals that could best benefit from his mortgage broking services. Mark is confident that he's surrounded by relevant contacts within BNI who are great influencers for business expansion. Watch the Video Show Highlights Some of the highlights of this episode include:Mark's change of career from the police force to property and project management then managing the property investment division of an accounting firm.He bought a mortgage broking business and operated it initially together with his real estate business before concentrating solely on mortgage broking.Mark's advice on one that wants to grow their business and get more word of mouth referrals is to join BNI.He strongly feels that anyone who watches this podcast who's never been to BNI should come along as a visitor and just have a look.. Referral Round Answers Here are Mark's answers to the questions in our Referral round. Watch the interview to get the full scoop.Bread and Butter Referralssomeone who's already got the loan - just to make sure that they are getting the best product possible and the other one is someone who wants to buy a property - whether it's to live in or as investment. Cream Referralsproperty investors who already got a home and they want to buy an investment property. Dream Referralsaccounting or financial planning group because they deal with a lot of people. Reach Out You can reach out and thank Mark at the BNI Melbourne West and Geelong website, and of course meet him in person at some of our Thursday meetings at 10 am at the Wool Exchange Entertainment Complex in Geelong. Links Australian Mortgage Brokers, Geelong and Surfcoast area Books: Finance and Real Estate Books   Full Transcript Click to Read Jürgen: Hi my name is Jürgen Strauss from InnovaBuzz and welcome to this episode of the Network Connections Podcast. Today I have with me one of the our members Mark Petterwood from Australian Mortgage Brokers who is a member of our chapter. Thank you Mark for joining us on the Network Connections Podcast and welcome.Mark: Yeah, thanks Jürgen, we finally got there with Skype.Jürgen: Yeah, that's right yeah. Challenges of technology. I'd like to make sure that everybody knows that both of us are members of the Geelong BNI Network Connections Chapter that meets every Thursday at 10:00 am at The Wool Exchange Complex in Corio Street Geelong and we always welcome visitors to come and join us and meet a bunch of dedicated highly professional, passionate business owners that are not only dedicated to their own success and to each other’s success but also to building their profile and the professionalism of the professions that they are in.Welcome to our meetings. You’re welcome to come and join us and of course you can meet Mark and you’re going to meet myself there. Mark, I was going to ask you a few questions so that our audience can learn a little bit more about you and of course they can see you there on the screen and hear your voice. Let's learn a little bit more about your business and your background. Before we talk about mortgage broking and getting people into debt, let's find out about your background when ... let's go right back to when you were a child. What ambitions did you have when you grow up?Mark: When I was growing up I grew up in Tasmania in Launceston. It was a pretty small high school and really the ambition I had then was to be a really good athlete but now it’s hard looking at me but now but I was actually a pretty descent middle distance runner in my youth. I was really committed to athletics and I represented Tasmania in many Australian championships and I did quite well. When I turned 17 I decided to join the Army primarily because I really wanted to do University and my parents weren't very wealthy.