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June 6, 2021

Widening your net — an advertising strategy

Filed under: Advertising — admin @ 11:26 am

Are you a mobile notary? If you are reading this, the answer is most likely yes. Most people want more business, but can’t figure out how to get it. I have written many articles on this topic. But, let’s look at it from a new point of view.

COUNTIES
Most Notaries advertise in a handful of counties. From time to time we get someone who only does their home county, and might begrudgingly go to a close neighboring county, but only if you pay enough. This is not the attitude of growth and success. Then there are those who go everywhere.

Number crunching has proven to me that those who have lots of counties get far more clicks. If you have one county, you might get half a click per day. But, each extra county you have your clicks go up by (.1) or more clicks per day. If you have twenty counties, you will get a lot of clicks.

You might be thinking that you will have to drive too far and it is not worth it. But, by driving far, you get new clients, more work, and more experience under your belt (assuming you wear a belt, some wear suspenders.)

If you agree to go farther, you need to charge more. But, if you are new, you can work for cheap in order to widen your net. I got many new clients by going where others refused to go. Or if Star Trek wrote this — those Notaries went where no Notary had gone before…

ASK FOR MORE REVIEWS
If you ask everyone who likes your work for a review, you get more reviews. Normally you have to ask ten people for a review, and email each of them a link, and then get an average of one review. By widening the net of who you ask, you can get more reviews. It is a similar concept as my strategy about counties.

WIDEN YOUR NOTES
Most Notaries don’t write enough in their notes. Those who do write don’t always strike a chord with what they write. Writing fluffy content that doesn’t grab your attention, or using baseless adjectives about how great you are will alienate readers. Cold hard facts organized well with a warm fuzzy description about what you are like is my winning philosophy. But, the attitude of writing more notes and then having me review it (free as a courtesy of course) you are widening your net. This costs nothing, but few really put in the effort. It’s a lot easier than driving three more hours per day.

BE ON MORE DIRECTORIES
More directories = more calls. Some are worth paying, most are not. But, if you never try them you will never know. We recommend particular directories. Read our other blogs in the advertising section and find out.

GET MORE CERTIFICATIONS
Why only get LSS or NNA certifications. Get more. If you advertise with 123notary, get ours too. If you want more knowledge, try the Notary2Pro certification — that is what we recommend the most although it is not that popular these days. More certifications = more 3rd party credibility from reliable sources. If you say how great you are you come across as cheesy, but if your reviews from title companies say you are great and you have four or five certifications, then nobody will argue whether you are great or not.

EXPAND YOUR KNOWLEDGE
Some people will only study if it is “assigned.” These are what I call sheeple or beta-people. They never think for themselves but only follow others. Knowledge is power. If you are rock solid on your notary knowledge and industry knowledge and practice communicating well without rambling or giving indirect answers, this is a marketing strategy. It is not widening your net per se, but strengthening your chance of turning a call into a job. People are impressed by solid knowledge, not snow jobs! So, keep getting knowledge. A little every day adds up, especially if you master what you know.

HIGHER PLACEMENT
Many people like higher placement on 123notary and it is a potent advertising strategy, but that is different from widening your net. That is more like deepening your net, or heightening it… or something.

SUMMARY
There are many ways to widen or expand your advertising net, and this strategy pays off big time. I used it myself and I became full-time as a mobile notary which most Notaries cannot do. There are other ways to expand your reach as well like social media and networking. I strongly suggest the widening strategy! It works!

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April 28, 2021

Tips for getting more assignments as a new Notary

Filed under: Advertising — admin @ 9:50 am

Here are a few tips for the new folks to get more business.

1. Take jobs that others won’t.
Most Notaries are picky. They want the best jobs for the highest price from the nicest companies. If you are trying to develop a reputation and get signings under your belt, do the opposite! Take signings that are far away, pay little, involve a lot of fax backs, or sound difficult. You have to get your foot in the door.

2. Advertise on all the major portals and directories
Snapdocs, 123notary, Notary Rotary, Notary Cafe, and others

3. Advertise in more counties on 123notary
We don’t even charge for this. Once you are listed you can have up to 12 counties, and sometimes we can accommodate for more. If the database cannot accommodate them on one listing, we can create additional listings which generally is not free, but for an affordable cost if you want a larger net.

4. Call all signing companies in the nation that are doing a lot of business. Talk to all title companies within 90 minutes of you as well. If they need pick up and delivery, you might be their person.

5. Having mobile equipment helps
Mobile printing, scanning, faxing really helps. But, if your equipment is at home, make sure to have a dual tray printer, a reliable scanner, fax, and whatever else your clients say they need.

6. Network
Get listed with your local chamber of commerce, let local hospitals, Attorneys, nursing homes, airports, jails, bail bonds people and Real Estate brokers know you are in business. Often they have their own Notaries, but people get sick, quit, or won’t notarize due to conflict of interest.

7. 25K E&O Insurance
This is the minimum, but some people get up to a million to let people know they are serious. An absolute beginner should probably stick to 25 or 100K. But, you an upgrade if you start getting title work because the title companies want more.

8. Let everyone know you are a Notary
People often need a Notary and it is handy if one lives nearby who people know. Mention you are a Notary on your Facebook page, Twitter, at networking events, to your neighbors, the local stores, and anyone else you can think of.

9. One certification is good, but…
It is good to be “certified”, but having three or four certifications lets people know you are three or four times as serious as the others.

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April 6, 2021

What should we write about on our blog?

Filed under: Social Media — admin @ 5:40 am

Friends, Notaries, and Countrymen, lend me your ears, and stamps. Cancel the stamps – that would be illegal. I need ideas of what you guys want me to write about. I have been writing for this blog for twelve years with some significant help from Andy, Ken and Carmen who passed on in 2020. Perhaps she can help from the brighter world, I’ll ask.

Basically, I am having less things to say about the industry. Anything I wanted to talk about I either already discussed in detail, or don’t know enough about such as the whole RON phenomenon (which rhymes.)

I can try to judge what sparks your interest by virtue of what you comment on or what is talked about on Notary Rotary or Facebook. But, honestly things have changed.

Our forum and Facebook used to be full of commentary. Mostly polite, some rude, but people had lots of things to say. That was because in those days most Notaries in the business had been around the block for some time. Now, we have mostly new people on 123notary. The old people quit, died, or stopped their commentary because they slowed down. The newer people are more serious about getting multiple certifications which is excellent, but have less to say.

If you would like to comment on this post, please keep in mind that I read the comments based on when they were submitted and not which blog they are in reference to, so please format your comment as follows.

“I would like it if you would write about XYZ”
Then I will know what article it is in reference to and how to interpret the comment.

I read all of the blog comments. I put the spam ones in spam, the rude or irrelevant ones in the trash, and keep the good ones. I even write more blog articles based on interesting comments of which there are a few per month. Your comments are appreciated — please consider writing one to this post.

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April 4, 2021

Hiring blog writers for 123notary and how it rarely works

Filed under: Social Media — admin @ 5:39 am

Bloggers contact me daily with generic sounding emails about how they could help me with “content creation.” They always use the cutting edge industry terms for social media, but fail to realize that they know nothing about cutting edge topics that catch the attention of Notaries.

When these people submit sample articles to us, those articles have nothing that would be interesting or relevant to Notaries who read our materials.

On a brighter note, my comedy writer Andy knows how to come up with ideas that the people like. Ken Edelstein has now retired. I’m not sure if he will be writing any more for us, but he at least has a good track record of catching the attention of Notaries with riveting posts.

I was referred to a lady named Natalie who had excellent creative talent and a great personality. She came up with two posts. But, she got sidetracked by silly things like having a career and became too busy to do anything for me.

So, it seems futile at best to try to find new writers. I’m sure they are out there, but is it worth my time to try people out unless they show evidence of being very tuned into what I need?

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March 24, 2021

What’s the difference between a listing that gets reviews?

Filed under: Reviews — admin @ 4:57 am

What’s the difference between a listing that gets positive reviews and one that gets negative reviews or no reviews at all?

I took it upon myself to see what the most critical analytic or metric on listings is. Reviews were one of the most critical while test scores also mattered. But, try getting even the best of notaries to study for a test. But, what types of listings are likely to get a review, especially if they are just starting out and haven’t had time to get a review?

1. Test scores
Listings with good test scores on certification tests, and my little email quizzes tend to be more likely to do well with positive reviews. Those with positive reviews that had been tested had a 40% likelihood of doing well on one or more of our tests, while those with no reviews or negative reviews had a 20% chance.

2. Notes sections
Those with no reviews or negative reviews behaved similarly in their notes section. The majority had a poorly written notes section with very little compelling information. Those with good reviews had an 80% chance of having a passable notes section based on my criteria. If you have at least four critical pieces of information that make you stand out from the crowd, that was my minimum standard of passing. Although I prefer unique and classy notes sections — but, try to find even one!

3. Answering calls
Those who are more likely to answer the phone and do jobs are more likely to get reviews. If you don’t get any jobs, it would be difficult for someone to write a review about you unless they did so by accident.

4. Logging in
Those who login to their listing more often are more likely to do well in general.

5. Manners
I looked at the manners records of those notaries who got complaints. I did not see a pattern of bad manners with me. I figured that if people were rude to me, they would be rude to clients, but apparently it doesn’t work like that.

6. Answering emails
Those who have positive reviews almost always answer emails. Those with negative reviews almost always ignore emails from me. It seems that email response times and rates are the most reliable indicators of how much trouble a Notary is likely to be in real life.

What confused me is that there seems to be very little difference between listings with negative reviews, and no reviews at all. I wanted to find some telltale sign that someone was at prime risk of getting a bad review, but couldn’t find anything. Some of those with bad reviews had a good track record with us and good test scores. Their bad review was not because of incompetency but because they left someone high and dry or got belligerent. I guess it is not predictable who will flake on someone unless they make a habit of it.

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March 18, 2021

Don’t repeat your name in your notes

Filed under: Your Notes Section — admin @ 4:44 am

When people look at the search results, they see your name, city, phone, cell, and the top of your notes. If you repeat your name in your notes or that you are a commissioned notary in the state of Delaware, you are wasting space.

The reader ALREADY knows you are a notary in Delaware, otherwise why would you advertise on 123notary in the Delaware section? — Unless you were insane… They already know your name is Rhonda as it says two lines above that you are Rhonda. Do you need to tell them twice? That space at the top of your notes could be used to tell them what makes you different from the other notaries. Perhaps you visit jails, hospitals, do debt consolidations, or are good with pets.

The bottom line, or in this case the top 200 characters are that you should not tell people something they either already know or do not need to know. Tell them salient features about your notary service, experience, or designations.

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March 14, 2021

A review from a client that the Notary thought was low-brow

Filed under: Reviews — admin @ 4:42 am

A very educated Notary got a review from a client that said, “Patty rocks.” She wanted the review removed. I told her that the review was good. It was written in the language of a real person. Not all of us are university professors who use the queen’s English. Some of us use high-brow English, and others are more informal. The point is that the review was enthusiastic and real. And in real life, some of our clients might have an education not in excess of a Harvard Professor — or perhaps more than some.

So, accept the language they use, even a few spelling mistakes. The point is that the public needs to know that people like you and trust you. A Notary with no reviews has very little credibility.

In my opinion, your certifications mean more than reviews, but for the clients, the reviews mean more than the certifications. Certifications are given by impartial agencies who judge you based on your knowledge. Clients judge you based on if they like you and had a good experience. They are both important. But, some people fake reviews. It is not so easy to fake a certification. But, in any case, popularity trumps — so show the world that you have some!

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March 12, 2021

I took a social media and news break to lift my mood

Filed under: Social Media — admin @ 4:36 am

During this turbulent time, chaos abounds, Notaries are making bank, and many are depressed.

I am very depressed these days. This article was written in late 2020, a few months before it was published by the way. I have never been that happy, but it is much worse now due to the external environment taking a turn for the worse with chaos, stores closed, and so much clash between people.

I read somewhere that it is good to take a media break. I thought this would help. I decided to listen to more music online and history documentaries. I saw great stuff on youtube about ancient Egypt and got to know Johann Sebastian Bach in a new way during my media break. I’m on a first name basis with him, except he prefers his middle name since his brothers were also named Johann. Germans — what do you expect?

This media break was not absolute. I just cut it down by 70%. The problem is that when I leave the house, I see the same closures, masks, and all people talk about is how the leftists and the conservatives are insane, unreasonable and polarized. We argue about whether Covid-19 restrictions are too much or not enough. And we wonder if the economy will ever come back. The fact is that news or no news, we are still part of society unless we go live in the tundra in Alaska — and if society is sick, we are affected by that sickness no matter what type of media we tune into. The harpsichord suites by Jean-Phillipe Rameau were a real treat though.

Taking longs walks in Joshua Tree and other hiking destinations is helpful. That gets me separated from society. And so does meditation. But, I cannot divorce myself from the world I live in. It affects me no matter what I do.

I tried to cut myself off from the more toxic elements of life. Whole Foods used to be a nice place to shop daily, but they became a nagging gulag with endless stupid and annoying rules. I get in a bad mood every time I go there so I am boycotting them for a second time. Ralphs supermarket is almost identical to how it was pre-Covid other than reduced people and facemasks. No nagging or lines or anything. I am just trying to develop new routines to keep myself sane and happy. It is not working, but at least I am trying. What I really need is a massage. Hopefully soon I will be able to.

My media break helped a little, but it doesn’t change the fact that I live in a toxic world. For Hindus who say that you can’t change the world, you can only change yourself — it is hard to change yourself to deal with a toxic world. The toxicity doesn’t end and it doesn’t stop effecting you no matter how hard you meditate.

So, for now, hang in there. I hope I can hang in there too.

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March 10, 2021

A Notary in Lake Tahoe is cleaning up

Filed under: Marketing Articles — admin @ 4:35 am

The Notary business has been picking up. But, the hot new destination is Lake Tahoe. People are fleeing from lawless San Francisco headed by London Breed and flocking towards Tahoe. I guess this is what happens when San Francisco is run by London — It’s like colonization all over again.

People are selling homes and getting multiple offers within hours of posting their MLS online. It is a seller’s market and houses are selling for much more than normal. Perhaps if San Francisco ever goes back to normal people will stop evacuating.

Meanwhile in Florida, business is booming with the New Yorkers seeking refuge. It seems that most New Yorkers with salaries above $100K have left the city — perhaps for good. Some have 2nd homes in Connecticut, Jersey, Vermont, but Florida is one of the most popular destinations.

Cuomo was on TV saying, “Come back come back come back — we’ll have drinks, it’s on me… come back.” But, in NY they are having plain clothed policemen at the train stations taking people’s information coming into the city to enforce unconstitutional quarantines. If you want people to come back, why do you make it like a prison sentence to do so? I will never visit New York again, at least not for the next ten years. What a nightmare.

So, if you are a Notary in a destination city, you can make bank right now. It is nice to see Notaries doing well finally.

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March 8, 2021

How does Jeremy rearrange Notes?

Filed under: Your Notes Section — admin @ 4:33 am

From time to time I will go through the entire site and go through people’s notes sections. A lot of people put their best information and hide it at the bottom of their notes and then repeat their name at the top. What they need to realize is that the top of your notes section shows up on our search results and can attract or repulse prospective clickers.

I scan the entire notes section and look for interesting, unique, or factual information about experience. That is what I like to put at top.

What I don’t like to see on the top is, “Hi, my name is Julie.” or “I am a Notary and Signing Agent.” This is tantamount to saying, “Hi, I am Julie and I have two legs and one nose… I use it to smell, and take that is justification that you should hire me for your next notary job.”

Some people say something catchy, or have a language skill, or do Apostilles, weddings, or something else noteworthy. This is what I typically rise to the top. Then others put their coverage area at the top — I typically move that to the bottom. It is good information, but is not what the readers look for first.

Then, if I see “turn-off words” such as reliable and responsible, I inform the notaries that nobody wants to hear you claim to be responsible. They want to hear your clients write a review stating how responsible you are. You claiming it about yourself is not only worthless, it is cheesy, (and not the fancy imported kind) and a waste of the readers time. Stick to the facts, and make your descriptions of yourself have more flowing sentences and less cliche adjectives.

Sometimes I will see information that is hard to read and simply it. “I do refinances and often do conventional. I have also done many VA and modifications. My specialty is Reverse mortgages.” I simplify this to read: “I do Refinances, Conventional, VA, Modifications, and Reverse Mortgages which are my specialty.” It flows nicely because it is a pure list with no interruptions, and is a lot easier for the reader to process the information.

Then, I make bullet points out of quick pieces of information about your certifications, background screening, and insurance as a general rule.

I do other things too. But, the point of reorganizing your text is to make you more attractive to buyers so you get more work and so my site gets more regular users. 123notary has the best notaries in the business and is also a very organized site. We don’t have the gadgets of Snapdocs, but we specialize in quality in a way that nobody else does. That is why we attract more high paying jobs than any other directory.

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