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August 6, 2018

Why you should consider getting 123notary Elite Certified.

Filed under: Marketing Articles — Tags: , — admin @ 10:06 am

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Notary Certification

“Elite style” from 123notary!
At the time of this article being written there are only about 100 Elite Certified 123notary members. Elite Certified members get a lot more quantity of work, and get paid roughly $14 more per signing than someone who is not 123notary Certified. So, why would someone pass up more work at higher prices, isn’t that what we all want? Actually not. What people really want is to not have to study — and that is where the problem lies.

Standards for passing our Elite Certification have been raised and that is why it is so highly prized by title companies. You have to be good as a notary, signer and have some obscure knowledge about documents and the industry to get Elite Certified. In any case, here is some data about our Elite Certification.

1. Elite Certification is FREE for now.
We used to charge $179 for Elite Certification. Since we have recently changed our educational and testing requirements, we are allowing people to pass our test at no cost. However, you do have to study and very few can pass because the standards are high.

2. Get more $$$
Elite Certified members on 123notary get paid $14 more per signing than uncertified members. If you are complaining about not getting paid enough, your complaint will change to being paid too much. And that is a nice thing to complain about. You won’t know what to do with the additional income you have. But, I can help you with that. You can invest that in more advertising with 123notary!

3. Get a lot more attention from Title & Escrow
Title companies love 123notary because we have better quality control for our Notaries than other sites. They especially like our certified and elite members as well as people who are top on the list in their area as they are the cream of the crop in the Notary industry.

4. Impress others with your knowledge
Knowing more about the industry will impress people, especially when your knowledge is more solid than anyone else which will basically be true if you can pass our test. People pay more for knowledgeable, experienced and dependable people. But, they don’t pay more for people who fallaciously claim to be knowledgeable, experienced and dependable. Self claims of greatness are inexpensively bought credibility, but our Elite Certification is a highly prized mark of credibility that comes from an unbiased judge of ability — me!

5. Be safer as a Notary
Notaries who don’t know anything (97% of Notaries to be exact) are a danger to their clients, society and themselves. Not knowing how to handle notary situations prudently, not keeping your journal correctly and not knowing how to fill out forms correctly in all cases is not only negligent — it is dangerous and can get you sued, or forced to be a witness in a long drawn out court case, fired, investigated, or in some cases fed to the lions. Ignorance doesn’t pay, but knowledge can keep you and everyone else a whole lot safer. It is worth the ten or more hours you will need to study to get this icon.

6. Get more clicks on 123notary
Clicks and more clicks translate into more jobs. You still have to answer your phone, print documents and go to jobs, but there will be more jobs and better jobs if you can get this icon.

7. Feel more confident and less afraid
Many Notaries have a sense of dread, because they don’t know if they will run into a situation they cannot handle. Earning our Elite certification will have taught you how to handle a wide variety of problems common to Notary work. You might not know everything, but you will know pretty close to everything.

8. Get favorable treatment from Jeremy and Carmen
We both have the highest respect for our Elite members. They are smarter and we are very aware of that. We also respect their motivation as motivation is a scarce commodity these days. We are more likely to promote Elite members with discounted upgrades and special deals on additional counties (no guarantees, but this is our practice.)

Summary
Get treated like a king or queen, make more money and get recognition by virtue of your rightfully acquired knowledge. Nothing should be holding you back from being Elite Certified by 123notary for FREE. All we ask is that you take the studying very seriously, and study with the intent of mastery rather than just skimming the materials. Study and review and quiz yourself on every aspect of the information at hand. If you get less than 100% on a self-quiz, you will not do well on our quiz. But, try it and perhaps you will pass, and if not, you still will have learned something of value.

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You might also like:

Elite Certification will benefit you for the rest of your life
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20770

The elite certification study guide
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20118

Unique phrases from the Ninja course
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=14690

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July 18, 2018

I heard that someone lost their Fidelity approved because

Filed under: Marketing Articles — admin @ 9:48 am

I heard that someone lost their Fidelity approval because they forgot to bill a Lender? I guess if you forget a critical step in a transaction, that could be grounds for dismissal. I do not know exactly what happened. I heard some hearsay and decided to write about it to see what the feed back would be like.

What does it mean to be Fidelity approved?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20049

A list of things you probably did not add to your notes section
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22287

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April 29, 2018

Do I need $1 million (E&O) insurance to get more Notary business?

Filed under: Marketing Articles,Other Guest Bloggers — Tags: , , , — admin @ 10:59 pm

Do I need $100,000 or $1 million in Errors & Omission (E&O) insurance to get more Notary business?
It is not uncommon for some companies to require that a Notary have more than the standard amount of E&O Insurance. There is no state mandated minimum for E&O unlike a Notary Bond where the law requires every Notary to file an official bond for $15,000 which is designed to pay limited claims against the Notary Public.

But please make no mistake. All Notaries must carry some form of E&O insurance to protect themselves from unintentional errors and omissions they make. Of course, E&O policies will not cover fraudulent acts or intentional errors. Without E&O Insurance, you will have to pay for the cost of the judgment or settlement and your own legal expenses. The financial impact can force a Notary to renounce his/her Notary commission and possibly even declare bankruptcy depending upon then severity of the error.

The high coverage of an E&O policy is based on the false perception that the companies would get a better class of Notary or that they are protected from any and all errors made by the Notary. This is farthest from the truth. I have more than 20 years of experience being a Notary and have never increased my E&O Insurance above the standard amount of $15,000/- primarily for 2 reasons. First, the number of companies requiring $100,000 or even $1 million in E&O Insurance are few and far between and the number of jobs that a Notary gets does not make up for the increased premium for the additional coverage. Second, the E&O policy only covers clerical errors and does not cover any fraudulent acts committed by the Notary. As a matter of practice, I double and sometimes triple check my work and am always cautious of the people who appear before me for a notarization. More importantly, I never do anything that even has the appearance of a scam or fraud. I have no intention of being someone’s boyfriend with no escape clause!!

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You might also like:

The 30 point course – beneficial interest and E&O Insurance
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=14532

Posts about E&O Insurance
http://blog.123notary.com/?tag=eo-insurance

Help, I’m being sued, and E&O insurance won’t help!
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=3570

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December 25, 2017

123notary’s certifications will get you more business than before

Filed under: Marketing Articles,Popular on Linked In — Tags: — admin @ 11:01 am

A certification is only as valuable as the knowledge it represents. In the past, I thought our certified members were great and did not need to be tested. Then, things changed and I found I was wrong. I had to remove certifications from many people’s listings. So, now there are fewer 123notary certified members. However, the ones that have the icon have a higher level of knowledge than before. Therefore, having our certification icon will get you a bigger advantage now than ever before.

All you have to do is actually know how to be a Notary, know your loan documents, and know how to handle situations. Being 123notary certified is pathetically easy. I am shocked how many people cannot pass our test. It is easy. Most people would rather fail in their career than study a few hours. Studying is not that hard, and this is much easier than studying for a real license. So, what is the problem.

In the old days, 123notary certificaiton would get you roughly 2.5x more business. Now, that I am cleaned up my cert icon and where I put it, it will logically get more than that. I would estimate it would get people 4x more business. However, I need to wait a few months before I get formal readings. In any case this is huge. You would be a fool not to have our icon. The studying involved is only a few hours. It won’t kill you.

Additionally, the Elite icon is being scrutinized. It is not so easy to get, but you can do it if you put your mind to it. Ask us how to get the elite icon. And if you don’t believe me then ask Santa (if he’s real.)

Also read – Compilation of certification posts

The ADD culture and notary marketing
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22309

He took Jeremy’s advice and got new title companies
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22277

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December 12, 2017

The Notary Profession is a Profession — act like it is!

Filed under: Marketing Articles,Popular on Twitter — Tags: — admin @ 3:52 am

Carmen and I are tired of Notaries treating the Notary profession as if it is a quick way to make some cash on the side — Make a few extra bucks — five bucks here, ten bucks there. This is a very bad way to look at the profession. First of all, there is liability in this profession. You can get sued even if you don’t do anything wrong. People are doing big deals that are being Notarized. If something goes wrong, they can sue you for a few thousand dollars. If the Lender did something fraudulent, you might get wrongfully sued too. If you put your package in a drop box that doesn’t get picked up and the borrower loses their lock — guess what could happen? You get the idea.

The root of the problem lies with the states who mostly have low requirements or no requirements for being a Notary. If you are 18 or over, not a felon and are breathing, you can be a Notary. Being a notary is a profession that safeguards the transactions of multi-million dollar estates. Any lack of integrity or caution on the part of the Notary can lead to disaster.

Imagine that you Notarize John Hancock only to find out he was a different John Hancock and siphoned a million dollars of equity from someone’s estate. You might end up in court as a witness, accomplice, or get sued for negligence. You have no idea what you are playing with in this profession. You have to be careful what you put your stamp on. You might step on a mine.

Many Notaries also think that because their state has minimal requirements, that it is not necessary to go above and beyond your state minimum Notarial behavior — this is wrong. If you don’t keep a journal, don’t use an embosser and don’t thumbprint, you can get in huge trouble.

Think of state requirements like you think of speed limits. If the law says you can go 100 on the highway as was the case in Montana in the past and perhaps present, that doesn’t mean you are safe doing so. There could be deadly accidents. Just because you slow down to 95, you think you are being prudent, but are you really? You are still going faster than is safe. You can blame the state, but you are responsible for your own behavior.

Most professions have licensing tests that you have to take every year or two. Some professions make you take a test of 200 questions to make sure you understand all of the regulations and standards in your industry. The Notary profession has NNA tests that are taken every year or two. California has an exam you take every four years. But, people complain when I want to ask a few questions. People try to convince me that they know it all and don’t need to be tested because of all of the years they have been in business. These are the same people who score 20% on my quizzes.

Once again, the Notary profession is a profession — treat it like one. You should be quizzed every year on all the sites you are on. Since the states do not test your competency, I am forced to. It is a huge waste of my time and really frustrating dealing with all these resistant and incompetent people who think they are so smart.

If you really are so smart, just answer the questions, get an A, and then get on with your day. It would take two minutes to test people if they just knew the answers. The problem is that they resist, and then have to think about everything I ask, and then want to argue, and I need to teach them things and a simple quiz can take fifteen minutes that should take two minutes if I were dealing with professionals. How upsetting and what a waste ot my time.

To be a professional you need to do more than study. You need to master the art of being a Notary. You need to know everything and skip the snow job of trying to convince others you know everything when you don’t. The con jobs are getting very old. I have heard it all too many times. I really don’t even want to list such people. 123notary is a directory for professionals, not posers. At least that is the word young people use these days. When I was growing up we didn’t use that king of language, we said fakers.

You might also like:

Would you accept a signing without a confirmation?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22588

A list of things you probably didn’t add to your notes section
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22287

I’m a high end notary in a low-ball world
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22263

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May 8, 2017

Is Trump to blame for a Notary slowdown?

Filed under: Marketing Articles,Popular on Facebook (very) — admin @ 8:29 am

If you ask Carmen, Trump is to blame for just about everything. But, my broker has a very interesting opinion. The public has faith that Trump will cause a rise in the economy and business. Businesses will be borrowing more, doing more, and banks will have more freedom. Already rates have risen a little bit. And when interest rates rise, the economy does better (or vice versa), but Notaries get less Refinances. Hmmm. So, do we win or do we lose with higher rates.

Conversely, since I’ve been in this industry for a while, I’m not intimidated by higher interest rates. This is because I know that what goes up must come down, and when it comes down, 123notary will get a flood of new business and revenues!

Additionally, if Trump taxes imports from China and other countries, that means that the dollar will gain value. Additionally, if the result of taxing imports causes recessions in other countries, foreigners will invest more in the dollar causing another gain in the dollar. This means lower oil costs, a decrease in the price of gold, and other economical changes.

In the long run, we might have a bull market for a few years. But, Trump or no Trump, the world is headed towards an economic collapse as too many governments have maxed out their credit cards. When the crash comes, we might have negative interest rates or really low rates. People will finally be able to refinance, but God only knows if there will be jobs then. Hmmm.

In the mean time, my advice doesn’t change. Be at the top of your game and don’t worry about the market. It goes up and down and nothing stays the same. Just do your job and make American Notaries great again!

You might also like:

Will the next election help the notary industry?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22267

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February 1, 2017

How does the 123notary points system work & why should you care?

Filed under: Marketing Articles,Popular Overall — admin @ 7:01 am

123notary has an algorithm to assign a point value to each Notary listed with us. Why do we do this? Isn’t the fact that you paid us whatever subscription fee enough? No. First of all, the majority of our listings are free listings which appear at the bottom of the list.

Free Listings
We assign various placement levels via p#’s to free listings. The best free listings get a p#6 in their home area while the worst get a p#2. For free listings, your point score determines your placement and the score results are evaluated every month or so. If a free listing gets below a particular point score, they might be taken offline for good. Additionally, if a free listing doesn’t get enough clicks per month, we might remove them as well even if their points are good just because it looks like they are out of business or not doing much business if they are not getting many clicks.

Paid Listings
Paid listings are guaranteed a particular level on 123notary.com. If you have low points, you are still listed. However, many paid members want to upgrade. Your price for upgrading is determined based on the pricing in your area as well as your points score. If you have low points, you have to pay more for an upgrade as we want to encourage only our best members to elevate themselves to the top of the list.

Points Change
Please keep in mind that your points score is based on fourteen different factors and your point score can change. If you act grossly unprofessional, and get marked as such, that can stay on your record forever. But, your phone answering rate changes every time we call you. If you never answered your phone in 2013, but always answer in 2016, your old phone stats would get phased out and replaced by newer numbers. If you got a lot of reviews recently, your points would go up. If you pass our certification test, your points go far up. So, if your points are low, there are many things you can do about it. You can start by adding more to your notes section as keep track of the last time you fixed up your notes.

If you don’t login regularly
If you have really low stats and don’t login for 120 days, we reserve the right to remove your listing form 123notary until we hear from you. If you have high stats, we also have the right to remove you, but normally would give you a handful of courtesy calls first. If you give us the courtesy of maintaining a top notch listing, we will grace you with the courtesy of a few courtesy calls. If someone with high stats cannot be reached with courtesy calls, we normally still keep them online as they are valuable to our site to keep.

What can you do?
It pays to have good stats on 123notary. You can keep a free listing longer, get cheap upgrades, and not get removed for failing to upgrade. Update your notes, get reviews, pass our certification test, answer your phone, and announce your name when you answer your phone. Those are some of the best ways to get good points with us — and it’s so simple too. So, get lots of points and benefit us both — today!

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November 6, 2016

For Background Checks, NNA & Sterling come highly recommended

Filed under: Marketing Articles,Popular on Facebook (A little) — Tags: , , — admin @ 11:03 pm

The more seasoned Notaries know that they will lose a certain percentage of their business if they are not a background checked notary. Newer Notaries either are oblivious to this fact, or just get it without questioning the entire concept. While the ultra-seasoned Notaries with ten or more years of experience sometimes do not get background checked since their clientele trusts them and depends on them so much, that they can get away with no having it.

If you are a Mobile Notary Public and are not fully booked to capacity with great clients who deliver eDocuments on time, pay on time, and pay well, I strongly suggest getting a background check so that you won’t get weeded out by companies who have standards (which is a lot of them.)

But, whom do you get certified by? People in the industry told me that there are two companies whose background checks are highly prized. Keep in mind that not all background checks are created equal and the process of background checking and “What they are checking” in each check is not equivalent. Some checks are more thorough than others and some checks are honored more than others.

NNA & Sterling’s Background Checks are highly recommended
National Notary Association is a great place for one-stop Notary shopping. They sell Notary training materials, great supplies including Acknowledgment pads, The best journals in town, and more. Their Background Checks are recommended as well as they are highly recognized in the industry. Sterling is another quality source of background checks. A background check won’t do you any good unless it is recognized. So pick from the best. Background Checked Notaries get a lot more business, so it is definitely worth the cost.

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You might also like:

Should 123notary sell background screening?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20043

Notary notes – the date of your background screening
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=15985

Is having NNA Background screening really necessary to get work?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=10385

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October 31, 2016

Safety Deposit Box Openings

Filed under: Marketing Articles,Popular on Facebook (A little),Popular on Twitter — Tags: , , — admin @ 10:46 pm

Believe it or not, a Notary in New York is authorized to perform Safety Deposit Box Openings. Yes, if you are a New York Notary, you can get paid to witness a Safety Deposit Box Opening. You would be required to take an inventory of the contents of the box. Sometimes a bank has to terminate a safety deposit box because someone died, etc. In such a case, a Notary is necessary to make sure everything id documented correctly. It sounds like a fun task if you like going to banks.

I don’t know what they can charge for such an act though. It involves driving, parking, waiting, and performing a simple clerical task. In my opinion, a job like this should be billed at $40 for travel, a dollar a minute waiting time paid up front in 20 minute increments, as well as $10 for the actual paperwork for performing the safety deposit box opening.

You might also like

Index of posts about Notary acts
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20280

Notary Public 101 – basic notary acts
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19500

New York Notary income is the highest
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=1959

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September 19, 2016

Do you negotiate fees correctly over the phone?

Filed under: Marketing Articles,Popular on Facebook (A little),Popular on Linked In — Tags: , , — admin @ 8:54 pm

Most Notaries study from loan signing classes, but never study the art of negotiation. Negotiating is not hard, but it is an art. Turks, Persians and Indians seem to excel at this while Americans haven’t a clue. In negotiating Notary fees, the secret is to make sure the other person makes an offer first. If you offer first, it might be too low in which case you’ll lose money. Or it might be too high in which case they’ll think you are too expensive and might not want to bargain. If they offer first, you can raise the price by $15 or $20 and still be in their ballpark or just agree if they are being reasonable.

On the other hand, if you want a reputation of charging fair fees for solid work, you can have a pricing formula based on time spent or even have fixed fees, or mileage fees. If you charge $110 per signing, that seems reasonable. They can always bargain you down to $85, and if it’s not too far, you might say yes and make some fast money.

I remember talking to a sub teacher who made $90 per day. Making $85 in two hours including driving and printing is better than $90 in a day. So, you are making more than teachers who are supposed to be the pillars of education in society today.

The other thing to remember is that you have to get your facts and terms straight before you quote a realistic price. If you don’t know how many pages, fax backs, signers, and notarizations there are, you might not give a true price. If you don’t know if the company is fibbing about the # of pages you’re in trouble too. If you don’t know if you get paid if the loan doesn’t fund, you’re in trouble too. Terms are as important as price or anything else. You can negotiate a $500 price, but if the loan doesn’t fund, you might get zilch.

So, put all the cards on the table before you quote your rate. You can quote first, or wait for them to make an offer. Additionally, most Notaries prefer phone offers to emails or texts because they can bargain more easily. You can bargain in any medium. Just state your rate and state your terms by text, email or phone. It is the same — just more delays in feedback.

You might also like:

A comprehensive guide to Notary pricing
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16504

Can you negotiate prices with SnapDocs?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16236

Negotiating with aggressive callers
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16278

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