You searched for E&O - Page 4 of 6 - Notary Blog - Signing Tips, Marketing Tips, General Notary Advice - 123notary.com
123Notary

Notary Blog – Signing Tips, Marketing Tips, General Notary Advice – 123notary.com Control Panel

January 29, 2018

Journal abbreviation keys

Filed under: Journals,Technical & Legal — admin @ 12:50 am

Many people take the easy way out with their journal. Journal keeping is seen as just an arduous task with no higher meaning. Many people feel that they can do a shoddy job doing their journal since it is not required in their state. However, if you are in front of a judge you need a clearly filled out journal whether your state requires it or not.

Many Notaries use the check box journal. I recommend against this. The check box journal says, “E&O” as one of the names of a document. If the real document says, “Errors and Omissions Compliance Agreement” that is a completely different document. E&O is an abbreviation for the first three words, but what about the last two words? Don’t take liberties.

Then there are other Notaries who just write, “10 Grant Deeds.” If you are ever in court, you need to know which Grant Deed is in question and if you really notarized it. Keeping escrow numbers, names of parties involved and addresses helps to narrow it down.

DOT could be a good abbreviation for Deed of Trust. However, if you are in court years later what will the judge say? What if you have bad handwriting and use abbreviations?

My philosophy is to keep an abbreviation key in the inner cover of each journal you use. I had 70 journals in my career so I could have a lot of keys. You can have a key that says:

DOT = Deed of Trust
AFF = Affidavit
E&O Comp Agree = Errors & Omissions Compliance Agreement.
Corr Agree = Correction Agreement.

This way you have a system that is documented just in case.
Or, just write the entire name of the document out. Or you could only abbreviate Deeds of Trust since they are so common and not abbreviate the others just to keep reading the journal more straight forward.

The worst thing you can do is to write, “Loan Docs.” When you put the names of documents in your journal, each document is legally separate, and the fact they are part of a package does not make them legally all have the title, “Loan Documents.” Each document has a name that must be entered in your journal if you notarize it.

You might also like:

Here’s why you should keep a journal
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22543

Detective seizes a journal and complains about a blurry thumbprint
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22237

Index of posts about journals
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20272

Share
>

May 14, 2017

Million dollar E and O?

Filed under: Carmen Towles,Popular on Facebook (A little) — Tags: , — admin @ 10:10 am

So it seems that their is a signing service sending out emails to all of the notary signing agents in their data base, informing them that for $100 each they can buy into their companies million dollar E and O policy. I have been asked to weigh in on this. My initial reaction was how odd it was and many questions come to mind. For one, I am not sure that it is even possible for a group of notaries to be under one policy. (I put a call in to an E and O provider at the time of writing this blog and I am waiting for my answer. If any of you veteran notaries know, please post it in the comments section below.) Also, all notaries are independent contractors. They have their own business, and we all work and reside in different states. Another question came to mind; would your name be listed among all the others who buy in under the policy? And would all notaries receive an actual policy? Unfortunately, the email that folks received did not answer any of these questions. What I can say, (and i mean no disrespect) is that on the surface it looks like this signing service is trying to get a little help from the notaries paying their E and O policy. I imagine a million dollar policy is very expensive. If the signing service wants to weigh in that would be great. I believe they are a member of 123.

I never understood the demand from these signing services for such high amounts in the first place. E and O for notaries covers errors and omissions (like forgetting to sign, wrong date, incorrect venue, etc) ONLY- nothing more. In this case of a million dollars, I cant imagine that that these types of errors would even come close to this high dollar amount. And typically, errors are caught before they even have a chance to turn into a problem.

I’d love to hear what you have to say about this…

.

You might also like:

Do I need 1 million E&O to get more business?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20183

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

$300 in 13 minutes. How Carmen cleans up in the Notary business
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19284

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

Share
>

April 14, 2017

All About 123notary

Filed under: General Stories — admin @ 12:13 am

All about 123notary — who we are, advertising with us, and how we started.

Many people know that 123notary is the one venue to advertise your Mobile Notary service that systematically gets results. We are the go-to site for notary advertising. Some people rave about the results we get. Others complain about how they don’t like our sometimes strict policies. But, almost all love the zany stories and helpful tips in our blog. So, let’s break it down how 123notary got started, and what we do.

The History of 123notary

123notary started back in 1999 and was originally designed to be an advertising site just for Jeremy. The other sites weren’t getting him enough business, so it was time to take control of advertising so there would be enough work. As time went on, the site graduated from being a purely Southern California directory covering only five counties to covering all of California. By 2001, we covered the entire United States.

Building up 123notary from scratch

We started this directory knowing almost nothing about the directory business. We just put a bunch of names and numbers on a list. Little did we realize that there is a lot more to running a directory than that. We realized we needed critical mass, so we added more than a thousand names to the list. Along with a bunch of other technical realizations about placement levels for additional counties, zip search results, etc., we realized that people drop out. As people drop out of the Notary business, we need new Notaries dropping in. My huge project adding 1000 Notaries to the list was something that would have to be repeated. So, a few years later, I added more people. Our numbers went up, and then month by month the numbers went down. This arduous process of adding names to the list would have to be repeated once again as our stats kept going down. After a while, it became a realization that we needed an organized way to keep our numbers up. So, I decided to create a monthly plan to add new Notaries to our list every month, and remove defunct listings every month as well. That system worked miracles and from that day forward, 123notary maintained a steady quantity of Notaries around 6200-7400.

Amazing breakthroughs in 2008 & 2009

Additionally, in 2008, the online advertising with Google Adwords started to get a lot more expensive. It was necessary to find a more cost-effective way to get clicks. Learning SEO was something that took a few years, but with a fantastic programmer named Mark, Jeremy was able to learn the art of SEO and get 123notary double the clicks it was getting before. The following year (2009) Mitch got Jeremy started on blogging and social media which again worked wonders for 123notary’s SEO, although that miracle took years to unfold.

What is 123notary now?
123notary is a the premiere Notary directory in the industry. No other directory has as high a quality of Notaries or gets as much traffic. We keep more information on our Notaries than any other directory. We have the general contact info, hours of operation, but also get into Notary specialties such as Reverse Mortgages, Hospital Signings, Immigration Documents, E&O insurance, Foreign Languages, and more. Additionally, 123notary goes through and helps Notaries edit their notes sections to make them easier to read and more informative. 123notary gets about 170,000 visitors per month and has about 6900 Notaries on board as of June, 2016.

Advertising

You can advertise with 123notary as a Mobile Notary for as little as $59 per year. Although we offer FREE listings which appear at the bottom of the search results, you can also elect to get a preferential listing for $99 or be #1 on the search results for a quoted price which might range from $200 on up depending on the area.

eCourses

123notary also sells loan signing certification courses and combos. Our most popular is the LS#3 combo which gives a thorough guide to loan signing, keeping records, marketing your services, examples of loan documents, and more. You can get a physical book or an ecourse. Read the course description!

How do I do well on 123notary?

To do well on 123notary requires more than just paying us an annual fee. You need to maintain your listing a little bit too, but it isn’t rocket science, and you have experienced professionals who are here to help at no extra cost. You need to write an amazing notes section about your experience, what’s unique about you, equipment, memberships, coverage areas, etc. We will help you edit your notes section at no cost to make it better organized and attractive. You also need reviews from your satisfied clients on your listing. All you have to do is ask, and email them a link, and some (but, unfortunately not all) of them will write you a review. A few reviews are like gold and will magically transform your listing as that is what the users want to see.

Help is always there when you advertise with 123notary

Other directories just take your money and leave you on your own. At 123notary, you can email us or call our 888 number for help. We give help with passwords for your listing, or ecourse. We also give free marketing and technical tips if you have a question. We’ll help brush up your listing at no cost as well as help you choose a business name — at at no cost if you have a paid listing with us!

Our Newsletter

In addition to providing advertising and courses, 123notary also has a free newsletter which has more than 5000 followers. Our newsletter is a free source of great industry information and laughs as well. We have articles about new signing companies, signing company gossip, technical signing agent tips, mobile notary marketing tips, and also comedy articles especially written for the Notary industry. No other newsletter provides the same diversity or quality of articles as we do. So, email us at info@123notary.com to sign up today!

.

You might also like:

Attn. Title Companies – what you need to know about 123notary’s 2018 certification standards.
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21065

Studying to be elite certified is worth $533 per minute
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20774

The story of 123notary
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=710

Share
>

March 20, 2017

Are those other things you’re doing worth $1000 per hour?

Filed under: Certification & Communication Skills — Tags: , — admin @ 7:13 am

Passing the 123notary certification test can reasonably make you an additional $30,000 over the next 10 years. You might need a few hours to study and some wait time if you need to email me for a password to take the test when I’m busy. But, your total hours invested might be 30 hours maximum if you were the most thorough Notary in the history of Notary-Kind. So, you invest 30 hours and get $30,000 in delayed gratification. That is $1000 per hour.

$30,000 extra in a decade — it’s like winning the lottery!
If you get half a job extra per week because of that certification that is $50 extra per week, and $2500 extra per year which is $25,000 in ten years which is close to my figure. So, let’s assume that you get (.6) more jobs per week to round the number up to $30,000. I’m being reasonable, right?

But, I’m so busy?
I get this all the time. I can’t find time to do the certification test because I’m so busy. The problem is not that you are busy, but that you failed at mastering the art of organizing your time. If you have thirty tasks to do, but only have time for ten, you assign a priority to each task from one to thirty, and do the most time sensitive or critical task first, and then do the other critical tasks after, and neglect the tasks that are less critical.

Are those other tasks worth $1000 per hour?
Is doing your laundry worth $1000 per hour like studying for our certification test? Probably not. Is taking that Notary job for $75 with faxbacks going to get you ahead in the long run? That’s three hours out of your day right there. Is going to Kim’s birthday party all that? That all depends on what Kim is wearing! Is cleaning your house a priority? Be a slob until you pass that test. Your test should come first and everything else should come after. If it takes you a month to pass that test, put it on the front burner and make everything and everyone else wait until you pass that test.

Let the laundry stack up
My laundry stacks up when I’m working on a project. I do my laundry in a bucket to save myself the time of going downstairs to the public laundry machines which need to be watched. I focus on the priority at hand when I want to get something done. I find more efficient ways of doing all of the tasks that I do. You need to schedule some time and make sure that you get that certification test done. The minute you don’t make it a priority, you’ll forget about it until I call you months after the fact and you’ll say — oh yeah.

Get it done!
The fact is that many people get many extra jobs per week or per day as a result of passing that test, and many people pass the test with only three or four hours of study. The rewards might be up to $200,000 for a busy Notary in increased jobs over the next ten years. Many of you will be Notaries for twenty years. So, neglecting to pass my test is not only stupid, it’s insane. Buckle down and get it done!

.

You might also like:

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

Studying to be elite certified is worth $533 per minute
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20774

Notary fined $385 for botching a notarization
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19941

Do I need 1 million in E&O to get business?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20183

Share
>

February 27, 2017

What NOT to put at the top of your notes section

Filed under: Popular Overall,Your Notes Section — admin @ 7:20 am

The battle to get our Notaries to fill in their notes section is huge. But, the next hurdle is to get people to put the right stuff. Smart Notaries read our blog articles on how to write a great notes section or see what other Notaries in high places are doing. But, most Notaries write very generic and poorly organized notes. Here are some things you should not put in your notes section, or at least not at the top.

I have been a Real Estate Agent for ten years.
People are hiring you as a Notary, and not a Realtor. If you want to mention low in your notes additional things about yourself as a “by the way” type of thing, then fine. But, don’t put this at the top of your notes or you won’t get clicks.

NNA Certified
Certifications are good, but NNA certification doesn’t help so much on 123notary. Our certification helps on our site. You can mention NNA certification near the bottom of your notes where you talk about your E&O, and other background information.

Background Screened
Once again, this goes in your additional info section lower in your notes section.

I am dependable and responsible
The worst Notaries start their notes section with these meaningless adjectives. All Notaries consider themselves to be responsible, but when people hire them, it’s a different story. Responsible Notaries describe themselves and their skillsets WITHOUT using the word responsible.

I will keep your information confidential
That is as useful as to promise not to kill the borrower’s dog. People take for granted you won’t share their information with others as that could be considered criminal or grossly inconsiderate.

I’m flexible
How flexible? People who are open 9-5 claim to be flexible. The word means nothing. Give hours, not vagueness.

Repeating your name
The top of your notes section shows up on the search results page. People already know your name. They need to know your skills.

I am an experienced Notary Signing Agent
How much experience? Give specifics not wishy-washy statements.

Areas Covered
Put this near the bottom of your notes, not at the top. People want to know what you can do before they know where you can do it.

I understand I am representing you and your reputation
If you want to ramble on and on about wishy-washy understandings, do this low in your notes section in the section where you talk about your personal style.

.

You might also like:

Notary Marketing 102’s comprehensive guide to your notes section
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19788

The debate as to what goes at the top of your notes section
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19268

The 24 hour icon and what it means
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19455

Share
>

February 19, 2017

Need an NNA Alternative?

Filed under: Business Tips,Popular on Twitter,Popular Overall — Tags: , , , , — admin @ 9:53 pm

NNA is a very reliable and quality organization that has been helping Notaries with education, supplies, background checking, and a world-class technical hotline for years. We at 123notary recommend them highly. However, their fees can be a bit high for some budgets, and you are probably thinking of alternatives for your Notary needs. Some claim that NNA has gotten too big, and is no longer the optimal source for Notaries to rely on. I refrain from having a personal opinion on this matter, although I would say that you should analyze your various Notary needs, and find the ideal source for each need rather than relying on one-stop shopping unless you feel that one-stop shopping makes more sense. So, here are the alternatives.

Signing Agent Education
(1) 123notary offers good loan signing combos with solid marketing advice and the convenience of take home course in printable, online, or take home book.
(2) We recommend Notary2Pro if you want thorough training and hand holding. they train their Notaries better than anyone else. Their courses are not as affordable as 123notary’s and do not have the marketing expertise that 123notary does, but they excel at nuts and bolts technical training.

Background Checks
NNA and Sterling are the two acceptable names for background checks. So, if you want an alternative to NNA, try Sterling.

Directories
SigningAgent.com used to deliver more jobs to Notaries than it does now. Over the last six years it has gone down hill from what I’ve heard.
(1) 123notary is a good source for high paying notary work
(2) SnapDocs is a good source for low-ball signing work for beginners
(3) NotaryRotary is the runner up for a mix of signing agent work ranging from top-notch to low-ball.

E&O Insurance
Notary Rotary and other organizations also sell Notary E&O insurance. Not sure who has better prices, but you can shop around.

Supplies
There are various companies around the nation that offer supplies, Notary Rotary being one of them. Personally, I always relied on NNA as my sole destination for thumbprinters, acknowledgment pads, carry-all bags, and anything else I needed.

Summary
NNA seems to be the best destination for one-stop Notary shopping. However, the alternatives might offer better prices and in some cases better quality especially for signing agent education, background screening, and directory marketing. However, for E&O and supplies they would be my first choice. I am not here to make your decision for where you should go for what. But, compare the competition for each type of items or services that you need, perhaps try each option out, and then optimize your decision making skills!

.

You might also like:

For Background Checks, NNA & Sterling come highly recommended
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=18835

A comprehensive guide to Notary organizations
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=17088

Notary Marketing 102 – a free course
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19774

Index of information about documents
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20258

Share
>

October 6, 2016

The History of 123notary.com

Filed under: Advertising — Tags: , , — admin @ 10:22 pm

Many people know that 123notary is the one venue to advertise your Mobile Notary service that systematically gets results. We are the go-to site for notary advertising. Some people rave about the results we get. Others complain about how they don’t like our sometimes strict policies. But, almost all love the zany stories and helpful tips in our blog. So, let’s break it down how 123notary got started, and what we do.

The History of 123notary

123notary started back in 1999 and was originally designed to be an advertising site just for Jeremy. The other sites weren’t getting him enough business, so it was time to take control of advertising so there would be enough work. As time went on, the site graduated from being a purely Southern California directory covering only five counties to covering all of California. By 2001, we covered the entire United States.

Building up 123notary from scratch

We started this directory knowing almost nothing about the directory business. We just put a bunch of names and numbers on a list. Little did we realize that there is a lot more to running a directory than that. We realized we needed critical mass, so we added more than a thousand names to the list. Along with a bunch of other technical realizations about placement levels for additional counties, zip search results, etc., we realized that people drop out. As people drop out of the Notary business, we need new Notaries dropping in. My huge project adding 1000 Notaries to the list was something that would have to be repeated. So, a few years later, I added more people. Our numbers went up, and then month by month the numbers went down. This arduous process of adding names to the list would have to be repeated once again as our stats kept going down. After a while, it became a realization that we needed an organized way to keep our numbers up. So, I decided to create a monthly plan to add new Notaries to our list every month, and remove defunct listings every month as well. That system worked miracles and from that day forward, 123notary maintained a steady quantity of Notaries around 6200-7400.

Amazing breakthroughs in 2008 & 2009

Additionally, in 2008, the online advertising with Google Adwords started to get a lot more expensive. It was necessary to find a more cost-effective way to get clicks. Learning SEO was something that took a few years, but with a fantastic programmer named Mark, Jeremy was able to learn the art of SEO and get 123notary double the clicks it was getting before. The following year (2009) Mitch got Jeremy started on blogging and social media which again worked wonders for 123notary’s SEO, although that miracle took years to unfold.

What is 123notary now?
123notary is a the premiere Notary directory in the industry. No other directory has as high a quality of Notaries or gets as much traffic. We keep more information on our Notaries than any other directory. We have the general contact info, hours of operation, but also get into Notary specialties such as Reverse Mortgages, Hospital Signings, Immigration Documents, E&O insurance, Foreign Languages, and more. Additionally, 123notary goes through and helps Notaries edit their notes sections to make them easier to read and more informative. 123notary gets about 170,000 visitors per month and has about 6900 Notaries on board as of June, 2016.

Advertising

You can advertise with 123notary as a Mobile Notary for as little as $59 per year. Although we offer FREE listings which appear at the bottom of the search results, you can also elect to get a preferential listing for $99 or be #1 on the search results for a quoted price which might range from $200 on up depending on the area.

eCourses

123notary also sells loan signing certification courses and combos. Our most popular is the LS#3 combo which gives a thorough guide to loan signing, keeping records, marketing your services, examples of loan documents, and more. You can get a physical book or an ecourse. Read the course description!

How do I do well on 123notary?

To do well on 123notary requires more than just paying us an annual fee. You need to maintain your listing a little bit too, but it isn’t rocket science, and you have experienced professionals who are here to help at no extra cost. You need to write an amazing notes section about your experience, what’s unique about you, equipment, memberships, coverage areas, etc. We will help you edit your notes section at no cost to make it better organized and attractive. You also need reviews from your satisfied clients on your listing. All you have to do is ask, and email them a link, and some (but, unfortunately not all) of them will write you a review. A few reviews are like gold and will magically transform your listing as that is what the users want to see.

Help is always there when you advertise with 123notary

Other directories just take your money and leave you on your own. At 123notary, you can email us or call our 888 number for help. We give help with passwords for your listing, or ecourse. We also give free marketing and technical tips if you have a question. We’ll help brush up your listing at no cost as well as help you choose a business name — at at no cost if you have a paid listing with us!

Our Notary Newsletter

In addition to providing advertising and courses, 123notary also has a free newsletter which has more than 5000 followers. Our newsletter is a free source of great industry information and laughs as well. We have articles about new signing companies, signing company gossip, technical signing agent tips, mobile notary marketing tips, and also comedy articles especially written for the Notary industry. No other newsletter provides the same diversity or quality of articles as we do. So, email us at info@123notary.com to sign up today!

.

You might also like:

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

The story of 123notary.com
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=710

Share
>

July 11, 2016

How to write a notes section if you are a beginner

Filed under: Comprehensive Guides,Ninja Theme Articles,Popular on Facebook (shares),Popular on Facebook (some),Popular on Linked In,Your Notes Section — Tags: , , , , , , , — admin @ 6:03 am

We wrote a similar article on this aspect of Notary advertising a few years ago. I think it was very helpful. But, let me structure this article as a quick tips article with itemized things to add to your notes section. The basic idea is that if you have no experience, you cannot talk about what you’ve already done. So, talk about what you are willing to do, where you go, or what training you have had.

Don’t write three paragraphs telling us how many years of experience your mentor has otherwise we’ll stop looking at your profile and start looking at your mentor’s profile. Remember, you are selling yourself, not your mentor.

Don’t write six paragraphs telling us about your Real Estate career as nobody is hiring you as a Realtor on 123notary.com. That is something to write a single line about LOWER in your notes.

Don’t waste space telling us how you respect the integrity of the transaction and how confidentiality of the transaction is of utmost importance. That tells us nothing except that you are claiming not to be a conman.

Don’t tell us how important it is to hire a Notary who is experienced and knowledgable. You think the browsers don’t already know this? They have hired tens of thousands of Notaries and are hiring Notaries daily. They know what is important, the question is, are you the kind of Notary they want?

Don’t write two paragraphs about how you are a new mom. People will assume that when they call you they’ll hear screaming in the background. Focus on Notary work.

Don’t use adjectives. people who claim to be reliable, responsible, experienced, professional, accurate, etc., are people who have nothing good to say about themselves who compensate by using a bunch of unverifiable claims about themselves which are usually not true. Experts who hire Notaries see through the nonsense faster than you can say, “skip my listing.” So, don’t use adjectives unless you can back them up with real information. So, what should you write about?

.

BASICS

Basic information should go at the top of your notes section. If you bury the most critical information where nobody can find it, they won’t hire you. Pertinent knowledge, radius, and special services are what people need to know about first. Don’t bury this in a long paragraph about how wonderful you are!

Last Minute Signings — It is sometimes hard to find someone who accepts signings at the last minute. If you do, that really helps.

Hours — Letting the world know how early you start and how late you finish can really help.

Languages — Fluent in Thai? Let them know. There is more demand for Spanish and Vietnamese though based on word on the street. Also let us know if you are fluent, or only conversational. If you cannot get through a signing with your language, save us the trouble and don’t mention it.

Hospitals & Jails — Most Notaries aren’t experienced with these types of signings which are more demanding. Let people know if you do.

100 mile Radius — Most Notaries are wishy-washy about how far they go. They have three paragraphs of information about exceptions to the rule like if their coffee wasn’t good that morning, they won’t go too far into Morgan County, but if you pay extra they might consider Strantom County. Just list your radius and your counties without all of the hype please. Nobody has time for this.

Counties Covered — List as many counties as you can if you want to get lots of jobs. If you cover counties that nobody else does, even if it is a long drive, you might get a lot of new clients as a result.

Loans & Documents — List all types of documents or loans you know how to sign including types of loans. Most Notaries say they are familiar with most legal documents. This is vague. It is better to list the top several legal documents you see a lot of.

Catchy Phrase — Sometimes a catchy phrase about yourself, your business or service can win the game. Often it is a one-liner that is artfully phrased and catches people’s attention. Don’t bore them with fluff, dazzle them with class!

About You — What is unique about your service or about you that the reader might want to hear?

.

EXPERIENCE

All of us have some type of experience. Mortgage and Escrow are the most valuable. Real Estate experience doesn’t translate into being a better Notary, and doesn’t make you that familiar with the documents despite what you may think or claim. However, you can mention it in a one liner. Mention other experience, but don’t write paragraphs on it. Keep it short. Military and Police experience are actually very helpful if you are a signer. That way you can keep the peace and use real bullet points in your notes sections!

Mortgage Experience — List any pertinent past experience, particularly if it is in Mortgage, Escrow, or Legal. Don’t be vague about the experience either. If you say you have experience in the legal industry we’ll assume you were a janitor or secretary. If you were a legal assistant, then say so.

Unrelated Experience — You can mention what you used to do for a living. It might be impressive if you were a bank president or dictator of a small country.

Military — If you were in the military, say so. That might prove that you are careful or on time.

Police — If you were in the police, that proves you know how to deal with difficult situations and crazy people. Mention it.

.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The bottom of your notes section should list all of your “other” information in an easy to read format. Some people use bullet points, and others just list it clearly so it is easy to read. Do NOT put this information in a long jumbled paragraph please.

Certifications — Are you NNA certified, Notary2Pro Certified? Say so

Memberships — Are you an NNA or AAN member? What about PAN or NotaryCafe? List all memberships.

E&O Insurance — Tell us how much you have. Some people only have $15,000 while some have a million.

Equipment— Is your printer a specific brand? Is it dual or triple tray? Does it print 200 pages per minute? Say so.

Closing Phrase — Thanks for visiting my profile on 123notary. I hope to hear from you soon. But, put it in your own words so it sounds a little more unique.

Uniqueness — Uniquess really counts. People who hire Notaries have read through thousands of profiles. If yours is unique and factual, you will stand out in a very positive way as most other people’s notes are jumbled, disorganized, and have no interesting information. Additionally, many of the others ramble on and on about how they value integrity which is a useless and unverifiable claim that is a waste of the readers time. If you waste the readers time, they are statistically less likely to use you. Give them unique and factual information and win the game. Many beginners do quite well on 123notary, especially those who express themselves well.

.

You might also like:

How to write a notes section if you have no experience
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=4173

What goes where in your notes?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=1076

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

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

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

2011 Excerpts from great notes sections
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=1043

.

Share
>

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.

.

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.

.

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.

.

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

.

Share
>

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

Share
>
« Newer Posts — Older Posts »