When most of us see a website, we see the front end and are absolutely oblivious to what goes on behind the scenes. The fact is that running 123notary involves all types of work that you might not be aware of. Here is a breakdown of what gets done and who does what.
Hosting
123notary is hosted by Connectria and has been for eight years. They keep the site online and help solve technical issues with the servers. You might be surprised to know how much it actually costs to host 123notary. The cost is about $1500 per month and that is before a single hour of programming is billed.
Programming 1999-2010
123notary has had many programmers over the years.
Mark — was our main programmer and he built most of the functions on 123notary.
SzeWan — worked with Mark and did a lot of the phone lists and other functions of 123notary.
Peter — The original programmer for 123notary was actually Jeremy’s dad Peter who is a retired Ada Compiler programmer. Peter worked on much more sophisticated projects during his day and figured out web programming from the ground up. All of Peter’s work had to be rebuilt in newer languages such as ASP, and once again ten years later needs to be rebuilt in a newer version of ASP. When does it end?
Programming 2010-2016
InvitraTech — after Mark quit, which was a huge tragedy for 123notary, we used some programmers in India who we had used on another project. Due to some technical reasons logging into the server, we had to transfer programming to someone in Phoenix.
Phoenix Programmers –Unfortunately the guy in Phoenix had such a temper problem we had to cancel a very critical migration the day it was scheduled. We tried many programmers after that, but found them to be either incompetent, or to be unwilling to work. After that, it many months of trial and error to find another programmer who I liked and who would be loyal to us, and about two years of paying for two servers to finally get the migration to go through since I was so busy (and frustrated.)
Fred — Now, we are laying low on programming and Fred does small fixes for us. Fred was responsible for finally completing the migration and got it done very smoothly I might add.
Brent — In addition to Fred, Brent and his team help us out with fixes from time to time. This is a very long list of programmers. I think my life would have been easier if I could have found one who would stick to the job. Maybe I should have learned programming.
Sales
Carmen — has been with 123notary since 2003 which was the year our business started to really pick up. I remember sitting in the car in March 2003 answering a sales call and my friend (ex-friend) tried to get me to shut the phone off. I explained to him that my business is finally taking off, and why stifle myself? After a few months of the phone ringing off the hook which was a welcomed form of over-work after years of poverty — I came to my senses and realized I needed help. So, in 2003, I pleaded with Carmen to get her on board. She was very resistant at first believe it or not, and then developed a love and loyalty for the job which has lasted until today and hopefully for many years to come. Carmen became full-time with 123notary in 2005.
Jeremy also does outbound sales from time to time.
Adine, Wendy, Sally, and Leah have also done sales, although they all got busy with other things and decided not to work for 123notary anymore.
Writers
123notary’s blog became very popular around 2012. Instead of the world ending like the Mayans claimed, 123notay’s world got filled with interesting articles. 123notary was able to find a few amazing writers to help out. Ken does writing mostly about technical and business advice issues. Since he is an accomplished Notary, it is easy for him to write about the finer points of Notary marketing, pricing, and documents. Jeremy does a little of everything at 123notary and writes the majority of the articles. Andy is a professional TV and screen writer who wrote for Cheers, Seinfeld and more. Andy helps write comedy articles for 123notary and also helps with idea generation. Andy’s blog articles became hits and we have a folder for him in our Guest Bloggers category on our blog.
So, who else?
Mrs. Meao helped 123notary guard its working quarters from unwelcomed intruders (mice.) But, there were no mice, so Mrs. Meao took naps most of the time. In the future, I’d like to see more variety of blog writers. The problem is that the blog writing applicants come up with such lame topics that I never hire them. They are simply not in tune with what people want to read. We tried to create a teaching program, but none of the Notaries who had teaching backgrounds wanted to cooperate. So, we’ll see how 123notary develops. Wish us luck!
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The story of 123notary
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=710
More on Snapdocs, the Uber of the Notary industry!
Snapdocs really impresses me. They are new, successful, popular, yet everybody I know is complaining bitterly about them. It’s like Uber. You either love’em or hate’em. I was reading a Notary Rotary post where two reps from Snapdocs answered questions. Wow! Such good service! So, below are my comments on Snapdocs.
1. Snapdocs does cattle calls.
This is an automated feature that is convenient for the Title company, but a pain for the Notary. If you answer a cattle call after more than a few minutes have gone by, the job will probably have been filled.
2. Offers are generally low
Offers from Snapdocs are usually not very well paying. On the other hand, this makes it a great opportunity for newer Notaries to put some notches on their belt. I always tell newbies to work for cheap until they have proven themselves with a few thousand signings.
3. Are they scaring away seasoned Notaries?
One Notary on Notary Rotary’s form claimed that Snapdocs was scaring away seasoned Notaries. In my opinion, a system that is optimized for price and convenience is not suitable for an experienced and higher priced Notary. I just hope the good Notaries don’t get put out of business with all of the low fees that have become the norm in today’s Notary industry.
4. But, can you negotiate prices?
Yes. You can respond to emails and make a counter offer. If someone offers you $55, you can say, $155 — take it or leave it. Do you want experience and credentials or do you want to take your chances? In my opinion, Notaries do too much self-pitying and not enough negotiating. Give those signing and title companies a run for their money. Ask for what you’re worth. Our veteran Notary Ken always makes counter offers and demands up front payment on Paypal and usually gets it too!
5. Snapdocs eliminates the middle-man (or woman)
Signing Agents have been dreaming for years of a time when signing companies (who they perceive as being worthless) are weeded out of the situation. Well, now they have been weeded out in this playing field — but, prices are still dismally low. So, the Notaries still lose. But, in my opinion, a Notary who gets paid well earns that pay with merit which includes rich experience, multiple certifications, good marketing skills and businesslike communication habits.
6. Does Snapdocs let Title blacklist the Notaries?
Not exactly. But, feedback about the quality of the work done can affect the Notary’s ranking on this site.
7. Is Snapdocs better than the Notary directories?
In my opinion, Notary directories offer a better quality Notary than Snapdocs, and also offer more in depth information about the Notary.
8. Snapdocs will not help the Notary get paid.
Snapdocs operates for the benefit of the signing service,not the Notary. On the other hand, they don’t charge the Notary. If you don’t get paid, that is your problem. If they did guarantee payment, there would be expenses associated with that which would cut your fee down by 5-15% based on how other similiar models work on popular freelancer sites on the internet.
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Has anyone used snapdocs?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=15831
Snapdocs, good for the notary or the signing service?
http://www.123notary.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=6744