Dear Notaries,
If you are listed on 123notary, please consider the following. To do well with your listing you need:

1. Login and confirm your listing every 120 days or sooner. We sometimes temporarily remove listings who show signs of being dormant.

2. Respond to emails from 123notary. Sometimes we ask about information that was omitted from your listing. Other times we send quiz emails which are fast and quick so we can assess your skill level. We take that very seriously and hope you do too.

3. Keep your notes section constantly evolving. It is hard for beginners to write a good notes section. But, as you get more experience, little by little you can add to it. Also, please read our content about writing a good notes section. Nobody in the industry has written more on this topic than myself.

4. Consider studying to be certified by 123notary. Many newbies are NNA and LSS certified with a few certified by Notary2Pro. The latter two have good testing standards. However, to do well on 123notary, it pays to be certified by us. So, if you plan on sticking around on our directory, please think about passing our test.

5. You might consider getting a business name. Think it over carefully and read our articles on the topic.

6. Keep refreshed on what is going on on forums, and refresh yourself on your local state notary laws too. Stay informed.

That’s all for today’s reminders. Staying on top of things takes time, but makes you a far superior force to be reckoned with in the market place.

Many people got into this profession for the same reason I did many moons back. They love driving, meeting new people, and putting things in FedEx boxes. Yes, there is something very therapeutic about those FedEx boxes — You gotta admit.

Others love the freedom. If you hate being cooped up in some annoying office with phones going off all the time, annoying secretaries, and stale air in those cubicles you are imprisoned in — you might love the open road.

Retired people don’t want to work full-time and like being able to choose their hours and choose their jobs – what did you say sonny?

And then there are the anal folks who like looking at everyone’s ID and wondering which person is a fraud and then thumbprinting them just to be safe. I think I am definitely that type although I love driving too. But, I don’t like driving in Beverly Hills because every other block you have to wait two minutes for the light to turn — how annoying.

And then there are those who love explaining loan documents. Some explain every single document in the package with a canned introduction.

Why did you decide to be a mobile notary and what do you love about it?

A parting thought
Join the Notary Forces — meet new people and notarize them!

We had a Notary on our blog commentaries that wrote that it takes her four hours from start to finish with a signing. There is the phone call, confirming the signing, driving, signing, driving, dropping the package, invoicing, more invoicing if they don’t pay you, etc. How long does it take the rest of you? Do you track your time?

For me I was able to do 11 signings on my best day in the business. It was back in 2002 I think. I’m not sure of the year. I started at 10am and ended at 3am. That was a long day. 15 hours to do 11 signings. So, if you drive from one job to the next, that averages slightly more than one drive per job. Some of the companies were not happy that I didn’t drop the packages until late at night and missed the deadline.

If you look at the average age of people who are Notaries on 123notary, they are not spring chickens sonny. No they’re not. They are generally 50-75. Many are retired. Many have health problems including cancer, diabetes, and more. None to my knowledge have died of Covid19, yet the only thing we worry about is Covid19 because we let TV brainwash us.

We give television verbal consent to brainwash us, tell us what to think, tell us what our priorities are, what to worry about, and what to ignore. Television tells us that segregationists are anti-racist, and that those who provided more jobs to black people than ever before in America history ARE racists. TV has really gained “credibility” with me with all of this reliable information, what about you? But, I digress.

Some of our older Notaries are Real Estate brokers, or used to be, were in insurance, mortgage or some other related professions. People love the freedom of the job. I’m sure that elderly people with breathing problems love wearing an N-95 mask which makes it impossible to breathe. But, once again, I digress.

So, let’s look at some reasons why the 60+ segment of society love being notaries so much.

1. Meet new people and ID them
2. Make your own schedule so you don’t have to over do it. You take a day off work if you are having a day when you are fatigued or having a senior moment.
3. You get to drive around and get paid for that! Great if there is good scenery or foliage.
4. Make extra money to supplement social security
5. Not have a boss unless you consider yourself to be your own boss. And some self-employed people are mean bosses to themselves.
6. Talk about the good old days with the borrowers and signing companies.
7. Save up for that RV
8. Some people enjoy documents, FedEx, and the notarization process.
9. Some borrowers have cats, and many elderly people love cats. In fact, many elderly people have a dozen cats at home that like jumping on things.
10. Have something to talk about at the hair salon.
11. It makes them feel 20 years younger.
12. If they live beyond their “expiration date” they feel they won a moral victory.

Please comment if you have any other reasons why seniors would like becoming a Notary.

There are many reasons why someone would become a mobile notary. There are also other reasons why a person might continue to be a mobile notary. Here are a few.

1. Work your own hours
Are you tired of the 9-5 hussle and hassle? Working your own hours is great. You can also do other gigs between notary jobs, or take other gigs when there normally aren’t any notary jobs. You can also work a part time or full time job and keep doing signings.

2. Drive
Some people were born to be on the road (again). If you love to drive, being a mobile notary will keep you busy. You can work on the road, eat on the road, and just remember not to sleep on the road as that might be dangerous.

3. Meet new people and then notarize them
It is like being in the armed forces. Go to foreign countries, meet new people and then kill them. Instead of killing them, you notarize them — it’s the next best thing — trust me. You will meet people from all walks of life. You will know every end of the spectrum of middle class (boring) as well. Just like a snobby British upper class lady once said, “A marriage made in middle-class — how pedantic.” And then the sarcastic New Yorker said, “She could have done worse.” So take your pick. You can also meet criminals, kidnappers, arsonists, frauds, strippers, porn actresses and more. But, for the most part you will meet very “pedestrian” middle-class Americans who are so boring that you should have a cup of Joe before the signing to ensure you don’t fall asleep. On the other hand if boring is your thing — you will meet the right demographic. On a brighter note, if you live near a fun town like Santa Monica or Hollywood, you might meet more fun people.

4. Deter fraud
It brings meaning to my life to be part of reducing the amount of fraud in this world. Fraud creates uncertainty and suffering and the angels would prefer that we keep our world clean and orderly and that is why I believe they chose me to run this directory as I try to keep things ship shape. Notaries who are thorough make it very hard for frauds to get away with anything. Using that raised seal embosser on every page of every document you notarize, checking ID’s carefully and thumb printing makes it hard to do anything suspicious.

5. Reading our blog
Some Notaries like being a notary just so they have a legitimate excuse to read our zany blog. Yes, the comedy articles on the blog make the whole nightmare of being a mobile notary all worth it in the end. Laugh your way to success.

6. Money
Believe it or not, some people make good money in this profession, or at least used to. And others make a good supplement to their income too. If you are efficient allocating your time, you can make good money at least on an hourly basis. You should see what Carmen rakes in for very quick jobs taking less than an hour from door to door.

7. Retirement
Being a mobile notary is a great way to spend your retirement. It is hard to work full-time as an elderly person, but as a notary you can work as much as you feel up to it.

8. A good job after you have been in Mortgage
If you were in Mortgage for years, being a mobile notary is a natural continuation as your knowledge will carry over to a particular extent as a notary.

9. Stamping
Some people find it theraputic to stamp things, and as a notary, that is what you do every day. It might make you feel official.

10. Reading up on legal aspects
Being a Notary means you have to read up on the legal aspect of being a Notary Public. You need to know all of the identification procedures and all of the various notary acts. There is a lot to know and many people enjoy learning the legal distinctions. And then there are others who are so afraid to commit UPL that they fail to learn Notary law themselves and end up committing crimes out of ignorance on a daily basis. You might like giving Oaths too — I swear! Hmmm.

So that concludes my little article on why you might like being a mobile notary. I hope that you all now see the positives in your career and don’t regret being in this profession.

You might also like:

Certain things you don’t learn from experience
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22572

Is prioritizing a skill a notary should have?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22291

13 ways to get sued as a notary
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19614

I have a little quiz which I send by email to some of our newer notaries to get a reading on how smart they are at handling situations. This Covid19 panic has turned many people’s brains to mush including many Notaries. This is a problem. You need to be able to think, read, and reason. If you lack this ability, anyone can control you and make a virtual slave out of you.

Americans are like a sleeping tiger. It takes us a while to wake up and fight back. It took 33 days for Americans to protest shut downs and now it is a force to be reckoned with.

But, those not fighting are afraid. I ask a question where I ask what the Notary should ask the signer before driving to the signing.

The types of answers I am looking for involve asking for how the name reads on the ID to compare that with the documents. Also going over if funds are due, other signers need to be there, witnesses, tables, 90 minutes available, etc. The types of answers I have been getting in the last two months have been mostly about Covid19 and NOT about Notary related questions.

Sure, you can go over your N95 mask and gloves, but that doesn’t solve the problem of whether their ID says John W Smith. If their ID says Sam Smith and the documents say Samuel T Smith, you can’t do the signing even if you talk for two hours about socially distancing and sitting in the lawn during the signing. The priority is to think about Notary issues first and THEN talk about Covid19. But, there is little to talk about.

As a Notary, you should know the drill for Covid19. You either stay outside the house while they sign, do the signing outside, or sit far apart.

If you are not in bad health and don’t live with someone in bad health, Covid19 is not likely to get you sick or kill you. You might get infected, but 96% of infected people don’t realize they are infected according to new data. The flu is much more dangerous for healthy people, yet we don’t make much of a big deal out of it. Why? Because nobody brainwashed us into fearing the flu AND because it is familiar. People fear what is not familiar.

I am so used to Covid19 now, that it is familiar to me. I am no longer scared. I hope the rest of America comes to its senses before we are all living in refugee camps waiting in long lines for bread and soup.

Things are not busy like they were in 2004. But, it is fun to think about the old days. I think I once signed 11 in a day and that was a record. I started in the late morning and got home at 3am. I had to reschedule a lot of signings and had a few readers who messed my timeline for those down the line that evening. I don’t think I had time to eat either that day.

But, how many signings can you actually do in a day? How many have you actually done? Do any of you have a world record you would like to share? Leave your comments, we would all like to hear.