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June 9, 2020

How often do you not get paid on Snapdocs?

Filed under: Signing Company Gossip — Tags: — admin @ 10:13 pm

I am hearing all different stories from Notaries who use Snapdocs. Of course, it is not Snapdocs themselves who pay you but the companies who work through them. On the other hand, they are a portal and they have the power to have standards for payment terms if they want to.

One Notary said they got paid on average in 40 days.

Another says 30-45 days

Another says 50-60 days

Another says 14 days or less

One Notary got 700 jobs and then all of a sudden the phone stopped ringing, or beeping… whatever noise it makes when you get a text.

Snapdocs reportedly does not get involved in payment unless all parties involved want to use Vendorpay. Interesting.

But, how often do you just not get paid on Snapdocs? Is this regular? Is it a bad problem or just a once in a while phenomenon?

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May 23, 2020

Which signing companies are good to work for?

Filed under: Signing Company Gossip — admin @ 9:55 pm

If you are a new signing agent and want to learn who to work for, or more important who NOT to work for, there are various forums out there with information.

Notary Rotary has the most information about signing companies and ratings for signing companies with one to five stars as the rating system.

123notary has a list of signing companies with reviews that are positive, negative and neutral and then links to forum posts with commentary about those particular companies.

If you work for new companies, it is imperative that you check them out one by one BEFORE committing to a job otherwise you will get ripped off. Extending credit to people who don’t pay is a losing proposition.

Title companies are a little harder to check up on as there are so many of them and their volume of work tends to be low enough that there is little published material on more than a few dozen of them. The other problem is they are branches of bigger companies and some branches are more reputable than others.

So, basically do your homework and good luck!

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May 21, 2020

Are you frustrated with Snapdocs?

Filed under: Signing Company Gossip — Tags: , , — admin @ 9:53 pm

After reading more and more comments from Notaries about Snapdocs, I realize that your ability to get jobs from them is very unstable.

Instability
First of all, many Notaries have indicated that they got many jobs at one period of time and then the texts abruptly stopped. What probably happened is that someone gave them a thumbs down, or that their average response time was too long and they got bumped down on the pecking order to the point where nobody would text them or use them. It might make sense to be more equitable in the way business is distributed, but that does not seem to be the way Snapdocs functions — it’s winner takes all. Or if you think people being low-balled are losers, then loser takes all.

Distance
Many Notaries complain that they are only offered jobs far away at low-ball prices. This is a common complaint and I don’t know how to answer it other than — negotiate your fees and ask for more.

Pricing
Low-ball fees are a pain. People offer low-ball fees because there are plenty of other Notaries who will take them. If you can prove you are substantially higher quality as a Notary than the rest, there is a chance people will pay more. But, in this highly refined technology driven marketplace, if you are not better, then you can only get a low-ball offer. (Sorry)

Ranking
You can only get better rankings by accepting more jobs and getting a good review. And your reviews and rankings are hidden from your eyes for better or worse. If you are too picky about jobs, you won’t get any, and your ranking might go down. Sometimes you have to do a few low paying jobs to get the ball moving. But, in the long run, I suggest renegotiating prices if you use Snapdocs in the long run.

Summary
I am uncomfortable with a portal that will phase you out on a whim, and that refuses to take phone calls. But, then I have not been a Notary since 2005 so my opinion doesn’t matter. Also, my generation is more personable and more sensitive to being phased out. It seems that the Snapdocs algorithm keeps Notaries in the dark. At 123notary, we will tell you how you do on our algorithm although we don’t publish the actual results. We can also offer tips to help you do better. Snapdocs is good for those who like them, but I am not comfortable with their business model. On the other hand they seem to continue to grow despite all of the complaining so I guess they have something!

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April 13, 2020

Loan Signing Systems G/B/U?

Filed under: Popular on Facebook (A little),Signing Company Gossip — admin @ 9:14 am

Recently, I have seen that there are a lot more people getting certified by LSS or Loan Signing Systems run by Mark Wills. In the last few months, there seem to be many more graduates than ever before. In the old days, NNA used to be the only popular game for certification. Then the serious people came to 123notary from around 2005 to 2010. After that, Carol Ray at Notary2Pro became the most popular teacher / program for the serious students. Now, it seems that although National Notary Association sells the most courses, the more serious people seem to be following Mark.

So, what do they like about Mark? People say he is high energy, very helpful, and fast on the draw responding to questions. That is always good. At 123notary, we do not have a hotline as part of our program, but Carmen seems to do a lot of mentoring to our students. It seems to be that 1% of our customers monopolize Carmen’s time while the others don’t seek her help at all. Such a disbalance! 123notary is also there to help even though it isn’t formally part of any of our programs.

But, I wanted to see how an LSS certification affects your click average on 123notary. Would it help, hurt, or do nothing at all? I did a quick survey on several dozen listings of the same placement level and newness. Basically I found that based on my quick math, LSS graduates get about 3 or 4% more clicks from their 123notary than those in similar placements and experience without it. 123notary certification gets people more like 30% more clicks on our site at least. NNA certification neither helps nor hurts if you mention it in your notes.

So, we welcome LSS graduates to study from Notary Public 101 on our blog. It is free. Study hard and try to pass my over the phone test. I would like to see how you do.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

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May 18, 2019

Don’t hate the portal — hate the game

Filed under: Signing Company Gossip — Tags: — admin @ 11:06 am

A notary on our blog posted a comment calling SnapDocs, “SnapCrap” because the job offers were not worth taking. But, SnapDocs is not responsible for the bad offers, they just provide a super-efficient portal. Don’t hate the portal — hate the game. If the staff at SnapDocs could talk to that Notary, they would call her a “Portal-hater.” And just because you got played, doesn’t make the portal bad.

There are other Notaries on SnapDocs that always get their desired fee. I’m not sure how that is humanly, logistically, or mathematically possible, but I have heard this before. Maybe they live in an area where the buyers are hard up. So, the bottom line is, just because one medium of advertising doesn’t work for you, doesn’t make it inherently bad.

You might also like:

Compilation of posts about SnapDocs
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21531

Snapdocs – are the jobs just too far away?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21003

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May 6, 2019

123notary vs. Snapdocs; AT&T vs. Verizon

Filed under: Signing Company Gossip — Tags: — admin @ 11:27 am

Snapdocs is a force to be reckoned with. Even though their notaries are bad, and Snapdocs charges a hand and a wrist to use, they still are getting a huge market share. Perhaps we need to compete with them the same way AT&T and Verizon compete.

Maybe I have to talk to the signing companies and offer them anytime minutes if they use our site more. Or maybe I need to offer them new features. Of perhaps I need to offer an easier way to find Notaries on our site.

Most hiring parties I interviewed don’t care if Notaries know anything, they just want people with around two years experience. But, people lie about their experience, so what do the numbers really mean. How many signings do you think these companies really want? If you have signed 200 loans will they try you if they like you?

Maybe I should find a way to pay signing companies to use my site. Every time you use a Notary from 123notary, you can get a chance to win a Starbucks card.

I cannot afford to create the technology necessary to rival Snapdocs, so I have to compete in other ways. Using my femininity is not one of those ways, mainly because I don’t have any.

Perhaps I should try to appeal to generation Z. I don’t even know what they like. I think I know more about foreign cultures in central Asia than I do about generation Z, the post millennials. I do understand generation Y. After you talk to them for more than two minutes, the only question that enters your head is… why?

I think that what will win the battle is finding out exactly what signing companies want and having new search features to give it to them easily. Wish me luck. In the mean time — keep stamping.

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You might also like:

Compilation of posts about SnapDocs
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21531

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

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May 1, 2019

What Notaries don’t like about Snapdocs

Filed under: Signing Company Gossip — Tags: — admin @ 10:49 am

With so many people complaining about Snapdocs, how is it that they survive. Or perhaps with their heavy bills for programming and engineering services, they are not surviving. I heard a rumor that they wanted to sell out to the NNA. I also heard their offer was rejected by the NNA. Their sister site in Germany called DerSchnappenDokument seems to be a little more financially sound though. Here are some things people don’t like about Snapdocs.

1. Cattle Calls (moo)
Notaries complain relentlessly about cattle calls. If so many Notaries don’t like it, then why do they list on SnapDocs? But, it’s worse. Since few Notaries want to work for free, and few Notaries (other than how Kim Kardashian would be if she were a Notary checking her Twitter followers every two minutes) check their texts every minute, it is hard to get responses to cattle calls. After twenty minutes the calls are going out to people an hour away who definitely are not going to work for peanuts. So, a lot of Notaries are annoyed that most of their texts are for jobs that are too far away. What a poorly thought out system! Then, when you finally do answer a text, you find out that someone else cheaper already answered or that they don’t want you. I personally think that Notaries should wear a bell around their neck and have a diet consisting mainly of grass if they want to continue this nonsense.

2. Thin Margins
Snapdocs charges companies to use their platform. Prices change over time and change based on your arrangement with them. Last I heard it was between $5 to $14 per job depending on which features you used. If you used the billing and downloading software, you might pay more while sourcing a notary alone might be cheaper. I don’t know the details but this is what I have heard. The problem is that companies who use Snapdocs feel that they should deduct the SnapDocs fees from what they pay the Notary. So instead of $80, they might only pay $66 to cover their costs. What companies need to know is that SnapDocs offers technology, convenience, and time saving and that the company using it should pay for that as labor saving technology. You should pay the Notary what they are worth instead of trying to bargain them down to rock bottom.

3. Discrimination
SnapDocs is an impartial search and information platform. But, due to the prominent photos of Notaries on their site, those who use the site are more likely to discriminate. Other sites have photos too, but on signingagent.com, the photos are a lot smaller and not as clear, and on NotaryRotary you don’t see the photo until after you have clicked. Users would be tempted to select Notaries based on how they looked physically or racially more than what their skill level was or how they wrote about themselves. At 123notary, it is more about notes, reviews, and certifications — things of substance.

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You might also like:

Compilation of posts about Snapdocs
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21531

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

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November 22, 2018

Snapdocs — are the jobs just too far away?

Filed under: Popular on Twitter,Signing Company Gossip — Tags: — admin @ 10:28 am

I talk to a lot of Notaries. I hear a lot of stories. The jobs that many people get offered from Snapdocs are often an hour, or two hours away. Considering how low jobs pay, how can someone who isn’t absolutely local take them? On the other hand, since pay is so low, the close people reject the jobs and people more far away keep getting offered these jobs.

That does not seem to be a realistic business model. Perhaps there should be minimum fees. Perhaps the Notaries would take more interest in responding if they could at least make a little bit of money.

The other thing that is deceiving about Snapdocs is that they are getting almost triple the clicks that 123notary gets. However, when we ask people where they get actual work, the high paying work is mostly from 123notary. Notary Rotary gets some work, but not as much as people get through our medium. And then people often say they get a little from Snapdocs, Notary Cafe, and perhaps signingagent.com or perhaps even Yelp which is my new and fierce competition.

Yelp has horrible Notaries, but they are masters of the art of the review, and that is what keeps them floating on Google along with us.

The bottom line is that there are very few active or serious notaries these days. Most people do a few jobs here and there, but do not specialize in it. In the old days there were a lot of very serious Notaries. That reality will not happen again unless interest rates keep coming down little by little. Right now we have the opposite effect. I wonder how long this will last. Hmmm.

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You might also like:

Compilation of posts about SnapDocs
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21531

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

Snapdocs – racially disproportionate?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21226

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September 5, 2018

Snapdocs – do they cater to the fastest or the best(est)?

Filed under: Signing Company Gossip — Tags: — admin @ 12:42 am

I got an email from a loyal Notary. He had gotten a questionaire from Snapdocs. One of the questions was, “Do you refer Snapdocs or other notaries?” He answered “No” because he did not know how many other dozens of Notaries got job texts when jobs were dispatched and was not always able to be the fastest to answer the texts.

This Notary said that if he was not the fastest to respond to a text, that he did not get the job. Because of his response, he thinks that Snapdocs took him off their postings.

The thing I admire about Snapdocs is that they have a market niche and definite advantages. They might not have the best Notaries. Even the Notaries who look good online with their Fidelity Approvals and impressive repetoire of signings under their belt of all descriptions – when I look at their test scores in my system, the results are almost always horrifying. However, Snapdocs offers fast comprehensive technology and fast Notaries who do not dilly dally. You have to give them credit for this. 123notary has a completely different business model and we have a combination of fast and slow Notaries.

Maybe 123notary should learn from Snapdocs about screening Notaries to see how fast they are. We are emailing our certified Notaries to see if they get back to us, but we allow three days. Snapdocs would probably weed them out if it took them more than three minutes.

Putting quality and pay grade aside, Snapdocs gets a huge market share of clicks that is currently as big as 123notary and NotaryRotary combined. I cannot vouch for the quality of the clicks or the quality of the jobs. Many of the clicks are just Notaries logging into the system and Notaries on 123notary do not login that often unless I bug them.

The moral of the story is that when SnapDocs says jump, you jump. Their docs are not the only thing that is snappy, but also their Notaries assuming those Notaries want to actually get hired.

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You might also like:

Opinions about Snapdocs in the blog and forum comments
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21299

Snapdocs profiles are getting more impressive but…
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20819

Snapdocs wants to sell shares on Shark Tank
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20815

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September 3, 2018

Opinions about Snapdocs in the forum & blog comments

Filed under: Signing Company Gossip — Tags: — admin @ 12:03 am

Here are some comments we got about Snapdocs in the blog and forum. I organized them in to positive and negative.

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POSITIVE

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1. Good information is kept in the database

Pam likes the fact that Snapdocs keeps quality information in their database about mileage, year to date payments, and a lot more. There is no doubt that Snapdocs has the most comprehensive computer database system for Notaries ever created.

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2. This Notary sets her fees and has no trouble.

A.C. Dye has never had a problem with Snapdocs other than a quick login issue.

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3. Some Notaries happily get good service & jobs from this platform

Craig is happy with Snapdocs. He gets 33% of his work from them and would not trade them.

Bruce claims he has had only good service from Snapdocs and that Snapdocs does not set your fee. You can just hold out for jobs that meet your fee or specifications.

Cindy loves Snapdocs and has had no trouble. She counters bad offers with her fee and I’ll guess that she often gets it.

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NEGATIVE

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1. You have to answer every text request or be penalized.

Debra is upset that she has to answer to all jobs otherwise she will be penalized by the algorithm. You lose points if you ignore requests and then you perhaps go down and down on the pecking order. It sounds like being handcuffed to the back of a train which is how my life has been running 123notary for the last few years.

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2. You have to respond within seconds.

Linda claims that she responded to a text within one minute on at least 15 requests, however, never got a single job. Hmm. I never would have guessed. Glad I am writing this article. I am learning as much as you guys are.

Bob also is complaining that Snapdocs is a speed contest. You have to answer fast or you don’t get the job.

Dennis claims that the text blast demeans the profession and resembles a “feeding frenzy.”

Pam also says that you have to respond to texts within 20 seconds if you want to get hired. When they say jump, you say, “It’s more like diving for the phone, and how high?”

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3. Low-Ball Fees

Alfred feels that Notaries who have not calculated their after-expenses hourly rate might like to work for Snapdocs, but that he does not.

Lyle on the other hand says that initial offers are low-ball, but that he holds out and usually gets his fee.

Jeanne feels that Snapdocs offers insulting fees. She tries to negotiate, but it is hard when initial job specifications are not stated in their entirety.

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4. It’s hard or impossible for some Notaries to actually get work from them.

Sandy claims that she never got a signing from this platform. That is surprising.

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5. Data Entry Requirements

Lee says that there is a lot of information you have to input, and it seems to be far more than he enjoys inputting or downloading.

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6. Demeaning animal type treatment

I will refer again to Dennis’ comment above about how the Snapdocs job dispatch seems like a feeding frenzy that resembles the way animals are fed in a barn and the animals all swarm around the food troth. He is right. This is demeaning. But, high paying title companies are doing the same thing sending out emails to a dozen people for a job and seeing who answers first. I am also tired of sluggish Notaries, but requiring responses within seconds turns Notaries into the slaves of their mobile phones.

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7. Block Call List

Ken doesn’t work for cheap, and he blocked calls from SnapDocs. I’m surprised he was on their list to begin with.

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You might also like:

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

10 rules for negotiating notary fees
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19620

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