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September 12, 2016

What do you lose by not answering a call or being short with someone while answering

Filed under: Marketing Articles — Tags: , , — admin @ 9:41 am

Many Notaries feel that it is rude to answer a call during a signing, so they don’t. They they call the person back after the signing when the person calling them is doing something else and might not want to be bothered.

What if the caller is offering you four jobs a week for the rest of your life. That might be worth $100,000 over the course of five years. But, you lost that job because you didn’t want to be rude. Maybe being rude is worth it. What do you think?

Next, what if you answer the call, but are rude to the caller by telling them that you are at a signing. This makes me feel very uncomfortable and tense. Why should I talk to them at all as they are in a desperate life threatening hurry to get off the phone. I usually say, “Never mind!” They don’t know who I am or what I’m calling about. They might be about to get kicked off 123notary, but they’ll never know because they didn’t offer me a chance. Or I might have been offering them some very valuable free tips, but they’ll never know.

If you answer a call, give the caller half a minute or so before you start to hussle them. Otherwise you might as well just not answer the call. It is rude to put someone under that type of pressure by answering the call only to tell them that you either can’t talk, or can’t talk for more than an ultra-tense five seconds. What is all the tension about. Nobody is going to miss a flight. Nobody is going to die if you talk for half a minute or so. They’ll be just fine. So just relax, because you don’t know how much you stand to lose by hustling a caller. You might lose your career or the better part of it.

So, answer your calls and be nice to those calling you otherwise you will lose — and you’ll lose more than you can imagine. You are in a business which requires answering your phone, otherwise nobody can book the next job with you and nobody can develop long term ties to you. If you don’t like answering the phone, then create a website — then you can answer emails!

You might also like:

Notary etiquette from Atheist to Zombie
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=13718

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September 5, 2016

Experienced signers are being weeded out of the industry

Filed under: Marketing Articles,Popular on Facebook (comments),Popular on Facebook (some) — Tags: , , , — admin @ 9:37 am

In the old days, Notaries would make so much money. People could make $150 per signing if they had experience. $125 was a standard fee for Title companies. Unfortunately, even Title companies have lowered their fees to poverty level and hire beginners who fax back tons of pages so the Title company can quality check them. This is a sad state of affairs. But, honestly there is a shortage of qualified Notaries who can be trusted without all of the fax backs.

The problem is that for the few Notaries that are worth paying extra for, there is not enough business. You also cannot make your business model on hiring top notch Notaries since there are so few of them. A top notch Notary on 123notary merits about $110 to $125 per signing and are getting that in real life. There are about 2000 Notaries who are 123notary certified which demonstrates basic knowledge. There are about 250 who are Elite Certified which proves superior Notary skills and understanding. The elite certified Notaries are making the money, but the volume isn’t there. And as a result, many Notaries have dropped out of the profession. It is sad that some of the best Notaries dropped out and even sadder that they dropped out due to price competition.

So, inexperienced Notaries who work for $40 are being phased in while experts are leaving the field. I hope one day that this will change. Let’s pray!

On the other hand, Notaries with experience are weeding themselves off of the SnapDocs database. More and more Notaries are sick of the low-balling and cattle calls that go on over there. They are relying more on their long-term contacts, and other directories as a source of work.

(Added 1-01-2017)
With interest rates on the rise, business is likely to be slow in 2017. Goldman Sachs predicts a slow and steady rise in interest rates over the next year with a tenth of a percent average rise per quarter. This will be very bad for the Notary industry and I pray that we don’t lose our best members.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/here-are-goldmans-2017-forecasts-for-stocks-oil-and-more-in-one-chart-2016-11-18?link=sfmw_tw

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You might also like:

Organizing the table for efficiency
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22245

Best blog articles for advanced Notaries
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=14736

My interpretation of how the Notary industry went South
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16500

See our string of Snapdocs articles
http://blog.123notary.com/?tag=snapdocs

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August 20, 2016

10 ways to “deal” with SnapDocs

Filed under: Marketing Articles,Popular on Facebook (comments),Popular on Facebook (some),Popular on Linked In — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 10:57 am

A guide to high survival in a low-ball world.

These days, so many Notaries are complaining more and more about SnapDocs. In fact, the drama is so intense, that posts about SnapDocs are the most popular articles on our blog these days. SnapDocs is not bad, they just have a system which you haven’t mastered yet, Grasshopper! SnapDocs caters to companies who care about price, but don’t care about experience. Those who want top-notch seasoned Notaries come to 123notary as we focus on having the highest caliber of Notaries at the top of the list. So, read this and you’ll learn the secrets of high survival in a low-ball world.

(1) CALCULATE TIME
Calculate how many minutes you’ll need to fulfill the request.
Some Notaries complain if the fee is too low without looking at the time involved. $40 is not bad if the job is within ten minutes and there are no fax backs and very few pages. For a ten page signing ten minutes away, you might be there and back again in less than an hour. How many people do you know who complain about making $40 per hour? Read the text and see where the address is and how many pages are involved.

Regardless of the specifications, calculate how much time you need to:
Print, Drive, Call, Sign, Fax, and Fedex.

(2) BACKGROUND CHECK
Background Check the reliability of the company making the assignment
Tired of screwball signing companies? Low-balling is not the worst thing. Not getting paid, or being held hostage for three hours waiting for edocuments while your other clients are waiting is. You can background check companies on www.123notary.com/s using your iphone. I just updated the “votes” on all of the signing companies on our list in May 2016.

(3) MAKE COUNTER OFFERS
If you get a job from SnapDocs that comes as a text, you’ll be alerted to the location, number of fax backs and other basics about the job. You can use that information to calculate the amount of time needed to fulfill the order. Based on the time involved, you can decide how much to charge. If you have a base rate for your time (make it more expensive during the last week of the month) then you’ll know exactly what to charge. You might discount your fees a little for SnapDocs clients as they clearly don’t want to pay much.

If you get an offer for $50 to do a Refinance for two signers with twenty pages of fax backs, you can make a counter offer of $85. Some Notaries bid $125 and never get called back. You have to price your bid within the market otherwise you might as well just not use SnapDocs at all.

If you bill your time at $30 per hour and a job will require 54 minutes, ask for $27. Or if you’ll need two hours, then ask for $60. This is a very reasonable way of quoting rates that is fair to you as well as the client.

(4) NEWBIES — GAIN EXPERIENCE!!!
If you are new in the Notary business, I advise not being too picky about what people pay, providing they pay within 45 days. You need to get at least 1500 loans under your belt to be taken seriously by the big guys such as prominent title companies. You should pass the 123notary & NNA certification test if you want to be taken seriously as well. If you want to get experience in a hurry, SnapDocs is one way to do it. You’ll get tons of jobs, and all you have to do is drive, fax, and sign. You might not get paid that much, but experience is worth its weight in gold, so consider that your payoff.

Our list of signing companies that hire new signers is another way for newbies to get started.
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=7059

(5) FILL IN YOUR EMPTY TIME
If your other customers book in advance, and your daily schedule has some holes, SnapDocs might be the perfect way to fill in those unused hours. Although you might not get paid that much, at least you will have something to do so you (and your printer) won’t get bored. If you make $200 a day average doing signings for your regulars and you can pick up another $60 from SnapDocs, that is not a bad daily average.

(6) WIN OVER NEW CLIENTS
What a new client will pay you is different from someone who knows and trusts you. Once you build up trust with a client over the course of a few jobs, or a few months, you might be able to charge more. If they have a written track record about your service and know that you won’t screw up, they might pay you $20 more than they would pay another guy even though they are low-balling. So, you can use SnapDocs to meet new clients, and then once you have them hooked, jack your rates up a bit — but, not too much of a bit as you are still dealing with low-ballers.

(7) THE FIRST 3 WEEKS OF THE MONTH
Business is normally sluggish during the 3rd to the 22nd. So, that might be a great time to augment your business by using SnapDocs! You might need to save time during the end of the month for your regulars, but when things are slow, you should be willing to work at a somewhat lower rate.

(8) LOOK FOR CLOSE JOBS
Working for cheap is not that bad if you can find close jobs. If you get twenty texts per day from SnapDocs, and one or two is really close, you can try to nab those close ones and make some fast money. The key is having something to do during the other seven hours of your work day. If you make $60 for a signing ten minutes away, you might be making $50 per hour when all is said, done, and faxed.

(9) GET PAID UP FRONT
Ken is on our forum all the time offering some old school common sense to our Notaries. The message is — you are not a bank, why do you offer credit to strangers with no collateral? You don’t know if or when those signing companies will pay you. So, why not get $85 up front via Paypal? If they really need you they will pay you!

(10) THE CARMEN METHOD — ABSTINENCE
Carmen thinks that Notaries just shouldn’t use SnapDocs as the fees offered are too low. You can use abstinance as a way of dealing with this situation. Seasoned signers will never get paid what they are worth on SnapDocs, your experience is just not valued enough. With all of the faxing back, they can double check a newbies work and get accurate work at half the price by micromanaging. So, if you are “all that,” then get Elite Certified by 123notary and stick with us as you’ll get paid more from leads from our site — and forget about the cattle callers!

A final note from Jeremy — “Why am I promoting my competitor?”

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You might also like:

May best signing company gossip
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=15417

My interpretation of how the Notary industry went South
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16500

List of New Signing Companies Feed
http://blog.123notary.com/?cat=419

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July 25, 2016

You want to get paid well as a Notary, but do you merit a good rate?

Filed under: Marketing Articles,Popular on Facebook (A little),Popular on Facebook (comments),Popular on Facebook (shares) — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 5:47 am

Most Notaries are complaining about how poorly they get paid and all of the headaches like fax backs, micromanagement, and hassles they have to put up with. The reason for the micromanaging and fax backs is that someone could lose their loan and their lock if there is a mistake. Notaries make mistakes more than they care to admit, especially the new ones. So, signing companies are forced to check up on Notaries. But, you’re not like those other Notaries, right? Prove it!

Most Notaries do not want to pass the 123notary certification test. They passed the NNA certification test or some other tests, but don’t want to take the trouble to pass ours. When I ask them questions over the phone, they typically try to pass themselves off as knowing it all and then fail my test miserably. For such a large group of people to be anti-knowledge is really bad. You are a professional, it behooves you to study up and know your technical data inside out. Know your Notary procedures inside out. Know your signing agent knowledge inside out. Not just some of it — all of it.

If you have signed a few thousand loans, have good connections, and are certified by several agencies, you are beginning to merit good pay. Those who are 123notary elite certified average $116 per signing which is a lot more than those who are not. Many beginners average $80 per signing, or at least that is my guestimate.

You can learn more about being a good Notary by reading the technical articles in our blog and in NNA’s blog. You can study up on your state’s handbook. There is a lot you can do to become a better Notary. Getting reviews on your listing and polishing up your notes section help your image as well. If you want to get paid well — merit the good pay and it will come.

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You might also like:

What are mobile notary fees
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21383

Why are the fees offered so low you ask?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22293

Compilation of certification posts
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16264

How to write a notes section if you are a beginner
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16698

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May 29, 2016

You lose $37.50 each signing you don’t answer the phone.

Filed under: Marketing Articles,Popular on Facebook (comments),Popular on Facebook (shares),Popular on Facebook (some),Popular on Linked In — Tags: , — admin @ 10:38 pm

If someone is shopping around for Notaries and you either don’t answer your phone — or worse, you answer only to tell the caller that you can’t talk because you are at a signing, you will not be at the top of many people’s list unless your work compensates for your poor phone etiquette.

Signing companies don’t have time to waste. They might have to call twenty people to fill a job. The faster you answer your phone, the more headache you are saving them. If you are at a signing, that is not the only signing you will do for the rest of your life. To keep in business, you will need other signings. By not answering your phone, you might be losing out on a new clients who will give you five jobs a week for the rest of your life, but you blow it by not picking up. Or, it might be someone who used you once before who will become a regular, but not if you say, “Sorry I can’t talk, I’m at a signing.”

If you answer your phone (and please do,) give the person calling you some respect. Give them ninety seconds before you cut them off by telling them you are at a signing. If you start the conversation by saying, “I’m at a signing.” They will feel pressured, uncomfortable, rushed, and not like talking to you. People do this to me all the time. I just say, “Never mind, I’ll talk to someone else.” What I have to tell them might really help their career, but they’ll never know because they didn’t give me a chance.

How much business do you lose each average hour you don’t pick up? If you do $200 in signings per day and the calls come in little by little, you are losing $25 each hour you can’t pick up. So, if the signing company instructs you not to answer your phone, tack on an additional $25 to the total cost, or don’t agree to those terms. If a signing is 90 minutes, you lost $37.50. My numbers are based on my experience back in the day and might not be representative of today’s world or your world. But, they make a point. The point is that your time is valuable and so is your ability to communicate with the rest of your species. Think about it!

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May 23, 2016

My interpretation of how the Notary industry went South

Filed under: Marketing Articles,Popular on Facebook (comments),Popular on Facebook (shares),Popular on Facebook (very),Popular on Linked In — Tags: , — admin @ 9:57 pm

It is sad to see what has happened in the Notary industry. Notaries who were getting paid a comfortable living are now working for peanuts or have left the field altogether. Some people blame signing companies for lowering fees. Others attribute the problem to SnapDocs. A few claim that the lack of volume of jobs in the Notary industry combined with too many signers has caused a drastic lowering in fees.

Why are fees so low?
If you ask me, there are several things going on here. Yes, SnapDocs created an automated way to get Notaries for cheap which involves very little work for the signing or Title company. Additionally, in the old days, Title companies used to pay a lot more than signing companies. These days, many Title companies are paying low fees as well. Yes, there are too few jobs and too many Notaries. And yes, the interest rates haven’t changed much in seven years since the Mortgage crash. The bigger fact is that due to the Mortgage crash in 2008, banks cannot lend money unless you have good credit. Since our government is eating up so much money by borrowing it to fund its insatiable hunger for cash — that might be the reason there is very little left over to lend to homeowners.

Low interest rates caused by artificial market conditions
I feel that low interest rates are artificially maintained because the government will go out of business if interest rates rise even one percent. That means there won’t be any more America, no more USA flag, no more hamburgers — okay, there will still be hamburgers, but nobody will be able to afford them. By preventing people with average credit from borrowing, that leaves more money available for the banks to lend the government. The government refuses to lower its spending on wars, military, jails, interest payments, education, infrastructure, etc. If we would cut military spending and put the people in jail in a penal colony where they could work for a living, we could pay off our debt, and not go out of business as a nation.

Reasons for lowered fees:
(1) Banks aren’t lending much >> too few jobs
(2) Too many Notaries
(3) SnapDocs facilitates low-balling
(4) Low skill of most Notaries

Low skilled Notaries
I spent four months in 2015 testing Notaries over the phone. We got our total count of Notaries from 1600 to 2000 which was a huge victory for 123notary and for those who passed our test. However, I noticed that most Notaries had no clue what they are doing and didn’t understand Notary law, signing agent knowledge, and couldn’t even follow directions properly not to mention not having much common sense. For signing companies hiring Notaries, if you limit yourself to hiring good Notaries, your selection will be really small. So signing companies got smart and started planning for incompetence. This is why they prefer to hire unskilled Notaries, and then have them fax everything back to double check their work. Instead of hiring a pro like Carmen for $175 per signing, they can hire a complete novice for $40, double check the faxes themselves, and make a huge profit. I don’t like what the signing companies did, but this is the fault of Notaries not knowing what they are doing. Had Notaries educated themselves, this fax back system probably never would have evolved. It evolved through dealing with incompetent Notaries who in my opinion should not even be Notaries. The state Notary divisions are run by fools who don’t test or double check their Notaries’ work for the most part outside of CA, NY and LA. And the Notaries in the states with testing are not that proficient either. In my opinion a skilled Notary is worth $100+ per signing. But, an unskilled one (unskilled by my standards not yours or NNA’s) is worth $40 per signing and don’t even deserve to work. So, there you have it, that is my point of view which you might not like!

Unfortunately, many of the high skilled Notaries have had to lower their fees or leave the industry altogether (which was horrible for 123notary) because of the lowered fees and fax back system. Many are still around, but they have to charge $85 to $100 instead of $125 to $150 which is probably what they are worth.

The future of America
As I mentioned before, the government seems to have manipulated the banking industry to make huge amounts of cash available to borrow at low rates. This is actually not a bad thing, because it prolongs the amount of time that America can be a nation. The bad thing is the stupidity that led up to this huge 19 trillion dollar debt is the thing that should borrow you (or bother you.) In real life you cannot keep borrowing and borrowing and borrowing. It has to end sometime and when it ends, you could lose some, most or everything you have. As an individual you can recover, but how can a country recover? Are we going to click the reset button? It is not China and Japan that lent us most of the money — they lent only 15% of the money. The majority is from banks and some local investors. If America can’t pay its debt, the banks will be insolvent. That means not only no more America, but no more financial system like we know it today. Sure, we will still be here, and hopefully won’t starve, but it is not predictable what will happen.

My spiritual guru predicted that America would experience some devastating natural disasters, go broke, and fail to be a nation. We would be fifty states. These fifty states will not have much of an ability to borrow money to function after the big crash, so expect massive poverty. Whatever problems you have now are nothing compared to what is going to happen.

The future of Notary work
It looks like Notary work will continue on being slow for the next few years since there is not much money lying around to lend to house buyers. Sure, there might be blips and temporary fast times, but for the most part slow. This will continue until our country goes off the waterfall, or has a huge war or financial restructuring. After the crash, it is completely unpredictable how the world’s financial system will be. I’ll have to meditate on that one. In the mean time, just do your best, and try to be more of an expert at what you’re doing.

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You might also like:

Best Marketing Resources for Notaries
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16322

Nice things people said about 123notary in blog comments
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22401

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May 9, 2016

Best Marketing Resources for Notaries

Filed under: Marketing Articles,Popular on Facebook (shares),Popular on Facebook (some) — Tags: , , , , , , , — admin @ 3:19 am

Are you a mobile Notary? Do you want to expand your business? It’s hard to get a lot of Notary business, especially in this economy. However, if you play your cards right, you can do amazingly well. Here are some of our best marketing articles for the new or veteran Notary to get ahead.

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ACTIVE MARKETING
Please consider that you need ACTIVE marketing as well as PASSIVE marketing. Active marketing involves contacting signing and title companies one by one in addition to Attorneys, hospitals, and anyone else you wish to work for. Active marketing will be more labor intensive in the beginning of your career as you do not start out by being on any organization’s list. However, once you are on the lists of at least 200 companies, then you will most likely be spending more of your time working and less of your time looking for work.

Also Read: How to start a successful mobile notary business from scratch
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=13340

Getting on board with Title & Signing Companies
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=14851

Dormant Contacts
Even after you are on the list of a company, you still need to contact them from time to time to just let them know you exist and want to work. We suggest that when Notary business is slow in the beginning of the month you schedule time to call your contacts who are dormant in hopes that they might actually use you one day.

Requirements for work
* Certain big title companies like Chicago Title require 500,000 E&O Insurance
* Other title companies want 100,000 E&O
* Some Notaries show off by having a million in E&O which is expensive and makes you a target for lawsuits.
* Others want a current background check from a reputable vendor such as the NNA or Sterling, but not necessarily from the other vendors.
* Some want vast experience as a Notary while others prefer beginners who will work for cheap. If you work for companies that hire beginners they will micromanage you. If you are tired of being micromanaged, try to work directly for companies that hire experienced and reliable Notaries.

Is an NNA background check really necessary to get work?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=10385

Certifications
Many companies like it when Notaries are certified. But, there are many vendors offering certification and which one is the best? NNA certification is the most widespread and widely recognized in the industry. But, on 123notary, people looking to hire Notaries pick 123notary certified members more then twice as often as they pick Notaries who aren’t. My suggestion is to be certified by three or more agencies — that way you’ve covered all of the bases and will make quite an impression.

Printers
As a Notary, you should have a fast and reliable printer and perhaps a backup printer. Dual tray laser printers are the standard tool of seasoned Notaries. Single tray printers might be okay if you have software to figure out what size paper is for which document. Some Notaries print everything on legal although some Lenders might not appreciate that.

Professional Dress
Business casual is the official dress code for Notaries. No shorts, flip flops, tank tops, jeans or torn clothing please.

Low-Ball Offers
As a Notary, you will receive a lot of low-ball offers. Notaries complain endlessly about this. If you are not an experienced Notary, low-ball offers might be your ticket to getting experience. Personally, I feel that new Notaries do not merit high paying Notary jobs and should work for low fees. However, once you have educated yourself in the “art of the signing” and have paid your dues by accumulating an experience of more than 2000 loans, you should get paid at least an average of $110 per signing otherwise something is very wrong. The economy does change over time and wages change too, so be flexible and work for whatever people will pay you.

Related Content: Low-Ball Signing Companies? How to get biz directly from Title
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=14950

Cattle Call Notary Offers
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=9841

Setting Prices
Notaries need to be flexible and realistic about what they charge. Some Notaries are too snobby to take low paying jobs and end up starving. Other Notaries take too many low paying jobs and miss out on the good jobs because they are too busy working for peanuts and then spending their profits on gas, toner, paper, and other expenses. You need a sophisticated model for pricing that incorporates the time of the month (month-end is busier and should be more expensive) distance, timing, traffic, and how many pages the job will be.

* Base your prices on how long you estimate a job to take including traffic.
* Lower your prices at the beginning of the month when business is slow
* Expect to be paid poorly until you have at least 1000 loans signed
* To get paid well, you need a constant supply of regular clients who pay well which you accumulate over time
* You need to advertise heavily to get a constant supply of new clients in hopes that some will become regulars.
* You need to be on time, be nice, not make mistakes and get docs back on time to get rehired.
* Base job time on the name lf the Lender as packages from particular banks are normally a particular (+/-) number of pages and then factor in traffic on the route you’ll take at that particular time of the day, night or weekend.

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PASSIVE MARKETING
Passive marketing involves advertising on directories. Once your ad is out there, companies can find you. However, not all advertisements attract the same amount of business, and not all Notary directories are equal. Online yellow pages are yet another way to advertise as well as Google local, however we do not know much about the results of such advertising. Passive marketing is very powerful as you get motivated buyers calling you when they really need something done. However, most Notaries are neglectful in the creation and maintenance of their advertisements and do not get the full potential of their investment. A good Notary profile has reviews from satisfied clients, certifications, and a powerful and well organized notes section. You need to do everything right to maximize your results.

Where to advertise
123notary, Notary Rotary, Notary Cafe, and Signingagent.com are the four most powerful players in the Notary advertising business — in that order. You should advertise on all four with a paid listing. 123notary offers high placed listings. We suggest that you pass our certification before investing in a high placed listing. High placed listings get you more business as well as better quality (and better paying) Title company jobs — and it means that you will be seen first before people start scrolling deep and shopping around.

How to create an amazing notes section
We have written many articles on this overlooked topic which you should read and study. If you want to get ahead, become an expert at the art of the notes section. Companies read what you have to say about yourself, and if you have very little to say, or just a bunch of fluff, you are not likely to get hired. Notaries who do well have thorough and factual information about themselves that is neatly organized into paragraphs. They cover their areas of expertise, certifications, professional memberships, equipment, notes about what is unique about how they handle business, segments on their professional history before they were a Notary particularly if it has some sort of business or Mortgage related relevance, and more.

Everything you need to know about writing a good notes section
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16074

2014 excerpts from great notes sections
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=13613

Being 24 hours helps a lot
If you want to get more business, offer service to more counties, and during more hours. It is just common sense — do the math. Some Notaries only want to service their home county during their “flexible” hours of 9-5 while others are 24 hours and cover eighteen counties. If you need to sleep, then limit your hours from 6am to midnight, but the more flexible you are, the more business you can accumulate.

Reviews are essential
We have written many blog entries on reviews and are publishing a comprehensive guide to reviews as well around the same time I publish this article. The important concepts to remember are:

* Six reviews will double your new business from our site
* After you have six reviews you will get a small marginal benefit from each additional review
* Well written reviews count more
* Don’t get multiple reviews the same day or it looks like you wrote them yourself
* Reviews that are three or more years old do not benefit you much, so always get new reviews.
* You might need to ask ten people to get a single review, but it’s worth it.
* Signing & Title companies are horrible about writing reviews since everybody bugs them to do it
* Individuals are easier to get reviews from, so do some jobs for individuals
* Ask for a review when someone compliments you on your work otherwise don’t ask.
* Email requests for reviews in addition to asking in person. Email them a LINK to your review page. That will take the work out of trying to find the page which I assure you people don’t have the time or patience to do.

Related Reading: A comprehensive guide to reviews
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16290

Company Names
It will help you to have a company name in the long run. But, think long and hard about what you name your Notary business. Names with geographical significance are recommended. Names with notorial or Mortgage significance might be good. General business names that are not relevant to this industry might not be ideal.

Choosing a name for your business license
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=7103

Keep your information up to date
Many Notaries create a listing and forget about it. Your listing is like a plant — it needs to be watered and trimmed from time to time otherwise it will wither. Login to your listing every few months, we require it, and it is good for the popularity of your listing. Browsers can see the date you last logged in. If you login more regularly you’ll attract browsers that care about how well you maintain your listing. After all, if you neglect your listing, you might neglect their loan! Update your # of signings and touch up your notes section regularly with anything new that you learned or any new way you have of expressing yourself. You can also email us for free help with your notes section — and yes, we do free notary notes makeovers.

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ADDITIONAL READING

General Marketing

Long term marketing plans
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=15793

I signed up with 200 companies only to get work twice
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=15445

Notary Advertising

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

7 ways to use Facebook to market your notary services
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=5396

Pricing & Income

$40 for a signing 72 miles away?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=14959

What is the difference between getting 16 clicks per day & 100+?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=13185

How much more does a 123notary certified signer make?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=15392

Here is another way to make $4000 more per year
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=14162

Is $75 enough to print 2 sets of docs & do faxbacks?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=10369

He made $35,000 a month his first year in business
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=3894

Other

Which tasks can you do which are worth $1000 per minute?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=4113

123notary behind the scenes
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=2499

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May 2, 2016

Not being 123notary certified = only getting 47% of the work you would have gotten.

Filed under: Certification & Communication Skills,Marketing Articles — Tags: , , — admin @ 3:02 am

Most Notaries claim they don’t “need” to be 123notary certified. They are already NNA certified or already know it all. Our certification is not to teach you anything. Our purpose is to verify that you are up to a particular level of knowledge. The people who use our site take our certification very seriously and they skip over people who don’t have it. In fact, those who are not 123notary.com certified only get 47% of the jobs they would have gotten if they were certified according to my number crunching.

If you are paying $100 for a listing, but only getting $47 of the value, that’s terrible, right? But, most Notaries on our site are in exactly this position. They pay every year, but some other Notary who pays the same that they do is getting more than double the jobs they pay. So, you’d think that the uncertified Notaries would wake up and just study and take a test. But, they rarely do. Most of them took it before and failed and just gave up. If you give up on our test, you’re giving up on getting work from good companies.

So, what is the solution? Study! If you study hard, you can do better the next time you take the test. A little studying won’t kill you. Plus, this is your career and you should take it seriously. Not knowing what you are doing not only doesn’t make sense, but is dangerous!

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You might also like:

Compilation of certification posts
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16264

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March 15, 2016

Do you know how to sign Applications? Is it even legal?

Filed under: Marketing Articles,Popular on Linked In — Tags: , — admin @ 6:28 am

In the old days, Notaries did a lot of Refinance signings. Then after the financial crisis of 2008, there were many changes in the Notary world. There was less work at first, and then new types of work sprouted up in the ashes of the lending crash. The new types of work for Notaries included:

Types of financial products
Purchases, Sales, Construction Loans, Annuities, Structured Settlements, Loan Modifications, Debt Consolidations, Reverse Mortgages, and also Applications. Additionally, there have been more VA, FHA, Jumbo, Conventional, Non-Conventional and other types of financial products.

Ignorance can cost you
The problem is that not all Notaries are familiar with all of these financial products, and ignorance can really cost you. The first problem with inexperience is that you might not know how to price particular Notary jobs. If you are doing signings for the elderly, that can take a lot longer. Reverse Mortgages are normally for older folks and it can take up to two or three hours to get in and out. FHA’s involve much longer packages than good old fashioned Refinances. Then there are loan products that I never saw such as Annuities, Structured Settlements, etc.

Loan Modifications
Loan Modifications were a source of legal concern as many of these packages involved suspected fraud. Many states required Attorneys to be present at the signing of Modifications as well. Perhaps the borrowers were getting scammed, but many Notaires were paid on time by Modification companies.

Construction Loans
I remember signing a few construction loans back in the day. There were more packages, but the signer was a saavy business person who had signed these types of packages many times before. He signed so fast I couldn’t believe it. We were done in twenty minutes! Then, there was a signing for a literary type which was a deconstruction loan — just kidding. In Vegas they have demolition loans — anyone seen one of those?

Applications
I cannot comment on whether a Notary can legally assist with applications. That is up to you to research, but many Notaries get large amounts of work in this department and it is good business sense to know how to get this type of package signed!

Your Notes Section
At 123notary, we recommend that you impress the world by telling them not only how many signings you have done, but what types of signings. The longer your list of types of financial products you know how to handle is, the more you will get paid.

You might also like:

Augmenting your skill set to make more money as an NSA!
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=14150

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February 15, 2016

If you contact Title companies directly, what do they want?

Filed under: Marketing Articles,Popular on Facebook (A little),Popular on Linked In,Popular on Twitter — Tags: , , — admin @ 6:29 am

Notaries don’t always know what to furnish a company with. They approach us by emailing their E&O, and all sorts of stuff we don’t want. I used to contact Title companies and here is what they most commonly want.

A Rate Sheet
If you have a quick flyer with your rates, areas you cover, and quick notes on your experience, types of loans you know how to sign, and your contact info, that will go over well.

Speak with Confidence
Don’t be afraid of Title companies. They aren’t monsters. They are just monstrously busy and they escape from their busy prison like bats out of hell at the end of the day. It is difficult to get the same rep twice as they are always busy and will only treat you like a priority if they actually need you or if they are really bored.

Have at least 1000 Signings
I would recommend getting your basic experience working for the signing companies who you dislike the most. Yes, the low-ballers with the fax backs and annoying micromanaging techniques. At 123notary, we quiz Notaries over the phone and the ones with less than 5000 signings normally are not so informed about basic loan signing techniques and facts. I would recommend waiting until you have at least one or two thousand signings and two or three official certifications from different agencies before calling the Title companies directly.

Notaries Bearing Gifts
Old school Notaries often bring donuts, bagels, and small gifts. To stick positively in someone’s mind, small gifts help. If you want to get exotic and give Chinese moon cakes, Arabic baklava, or Indian kulfi, that is good too assuming your gifts are appreciated.

What do they Really Want?
Girls just want to have fun
Title company reps just want to go home.
I’m going to sleep now.
Good night!

You might also like:

Everything you need to know about writing a great notes section
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16074

I just got two jobs & they found me on 123notary. What now?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=15857

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

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