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February 1, 2017

How does the 123notary points system work & why should you care?

Filed under: Marketing Articles,Popular Overall — admin @ 7:01 am

123notary has an algorithm to assign a point value to each Notary listed with us. Why do we do this? Isn’t the fact that you paid us whatever subscription fee enough? No. First of all, the majority of our listings are free listings which appear at the bottom of the list.

Free Listings
We assign various placement levels via p#’s to free listings. The best free listings get a p#6 in their home area while the worst get a p#2. For free listings, your point score determines your placement and the score results are evaluated every month or so. If a free listing gets below a particular point score, they might be taken offline for good. Additionally, if a free listing doesn’t get enough clicks per month, we might remove them as well even if their points are good just because it looks like they are out of business or not doing much business if they are not getting many clicks.

Paid Listings
Paid listings are guaranteed a particular level on 123notary.com. If you have low points, you are still listed. However, many paid members want to upgrade. Your price for upgrading is determined based on the pricing in your area as well as your points score. If you have low points, you have to pay more for an upgrade as we want to encourage only our best members to elevate themselves to the top of the list.

Points Change
Please keep in mind that your points score is based on fourteen different factors and your point score can change. If you act grossly unprofessional, and get marked as such, that can stay on your record forever. But, your phone answering rate changes every time we call you. If you never answered your phone in 2013, but always answer in 2016, your old phone stats would get phased out and replaced by newer numbers. If you got a lot of reviews recently, your points would go up. If you pass our certification test, your points go far up. So, if your points are low, there are many things you can do about it. You can start by adding more to your notes section as keep track of the last time you fixed up your notes.

If you don’t login regularly
If you have really low stats and don’t login for 120 days, we reserve the right to remove your listing form 123notary until we hear from you. If you have high stats, we also have the right to remove you, but normally would give you a handful of courtesy calls first. If you give us the courtesy of maintaining a top notch listing, we will grace you with the courtesy of a few courtesy calls. If someone with high stats cannot be reached with courtesy calls, we normally still keep them online as they are valuable to our site to keep.

What can you do?
It pays to have good stats on 123notary. You can keep a free listing longer, get cheap upgrades, and not get removed for failing to upgrade. Update your notes, get reviews, pass our certification test, answer your phone, and announce your name when you answer your phone. Those are some of the best ways to get good points with us — and it’s so simple too. So, get lots of points and benefit us both — today!

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January 19, 2017

Geographic Notary Business Names

Filed under: Advertising — admin @ 7:23 am

The classiest business names I have seen Notaries do involve some referencing to geographic icons. Here are some ideas I had, or existing business names. I’ll mix them together. If you choose a business name, make sure to check with your county clerk to make sure the name is not already in use!

Golden Gate Mobile Notary
Bay Area Mobile Notary
Golden Coast Mobile Notary
Hollywood Sign Mobile Notary
Sunset Strip Mobile Notary
Gaslamp District Mobile Notary
Puget Sound Mobile Notary
Columbia River Mobile Notary
Rocky Mountain Notary
Yellowstone Mobile Notary
Grizzly Bear Mobile Notary
American Eagle Mobile Notary
Lakota Notary Services — you might get in trouble with the tribe for jacking their name!
Everglades Mobile Notary
The Alamo Mobile Notary
Saguaro Mobile Notary
Grand Canyon Mobile Notary
Hoover Dam Mobile Notary
Salt Lake Mobile Notary
Windy City Mobile Notary
Iroquois Mobile Notary
Vacation State Mobile Notary
White Mountains Mobile Notary
Blue Hills Mobile Notary
Smokey Mountains Mobile Notary
Beacon Hill Mobile Notary
Harvard Square Mobile Notary – Geographically limiting
Sequoia Mobile Notary
Minuteman Mobile Notary — Good in Massachusetts
Plymouth Rock Mobile Notary

I’m having a brain freeze, so I’ll end the list here. Not all of these would make good business names, but it gets you thinking at least.

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You might also like:

Compilation of posts about notary business names
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21760

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January 18, 2017

Snapdocs grew tremendously in 2016, but NotaryRotary shrank!

Filed under: Advertising — Tags: — admin @ 7:21 am

I took a look at the stats of Snapdocs, NotaryRotary, and 123notary over the last few months. Here is what I noticed.

1. Snapdocs got increasing amounts of traffic during 2016 while 123notary & NotaryRotary lost traffic. My stats indicate that this December I got about 17% less visits to 123notary than last December for example. Alexa.com showed a huge increase in site rank in Snapdocs while showing a small decline in 123notary’s and NotaryRotary’s site rank which is based on overall traffic.

2. In September 2016, based on similarweb.com 123notary experienced a huge surge in traffic while Snapdocs & NotaryRotary experienced a huge decline. My Google Analytics showed a surge in traffic on 123notary, but in August, not September. So, perhaps similarweb.com is a little bit off (or completely off) in its reporting.

My personal stats show that 123notary lost 8% of traffic in 2016 as a whole compared to 2015 as a whole. Part of that is due to Snapdocs. But, Snapdocs traffic grew a lot over 2016 which means that we lost more during the last few months of the year. According to one stats site, Snapdocs traffic was double what 123notary’s was. However, their traffic is low-ball where 123notary gets a lot more high quality traffic.

On the other hand, Alexa.com shows that 123notary’s rank is roughly equal to Snapdocs. So, which source of information is the most reliable? In my experience Google Analytics is the most reliable and detailed source of web stats information. Unfofortunately, I do not have Google analytics on my competitors’ stats.

New Profiles
I’m trying to make sense of what is happening, but it is so complicated. 123notary added several hundred new profiles in August which could have lead to a rise in stats for us in September. But, our stats show that our spike was in August, not September which leads me to feel that there is a lag in the reporting on the other stats site

Social Media
Our social media took a huge dive in clicks starting around August and our Facebook performance affects our general web traffic.

What to do?
I am looking at this information completely baffled. I work hard every day to ensure the best quality search experience on 123notary. We get traffic that pays notaries well on 123notary. But, the total clicks matter to me as well, and clicks are far down. Do I add more profiles? Do I do more on social media? Do I create a better mobile site experience? Should we try to get more reviews? Or should I emphasize different information than I do now? I think the answer is all of the above!

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You might also like:

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

Which directories get the high paying signings?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19201

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January 16, 2017

Notary Notes Makeover…

Filed under: Popular on Twitter,Your Notes Section — Tags: , — admin @ 12:10 am

BEFORE
With over thirteen years of experience as a certified notary signing agent, exceptional customer service, attention to detail, reliability and professionalism are what you can expect. With thousands of loans signed, I guarantee a flawless mortgage loan closing from start to finish. Conveniently based in Long Beach, I cover both Los Angeles and Orange Counties. I have extensive experience with both commercial and residential loans in the areas of e-documents, purchases, refinances, helocs, second mortgages, piggybacks, and reverse mortgages. All notarizations for living trusts, apostilles, medical records, title transfers, foreign adoptions, prenuptial agreements, and power of attorney documents will be completed promptly and efficiently. I am fully GLBA compliant and background screened. For premier mobile notary services, give me a call to get started!

AFTER
13 years signing agent experience; 1000+ loans signed;

I have extensive experience with both commercial and residential loans in the areas of e-documents, purchases, refinances, helocs, second mortgages, piggybacks, and reverse mortgages.

All notarizations for living trusts, apostilles, medical records, title transfers, foreign adoptions, prenuptial agreements, and power of attorney documents will be completed promptly and efficiently.

I guarantee a flawless mortgage loan closing from start to finish. Excellent customer service, attention to detail, reliability and profesionalism are what you can expect. For premier mobile notary services, give me a call to get started!

NNA Certified
NNA Background Screened
High Speed 3-Tray Printer (65 pages / minute)

I cover Los Angeles & Orange Counties with an emphasis on the Long Beach area.
Thanks for visiting my listing on 123notary!

NOTE
The way I normally try to organize notes has a particular structure. First of all, information is separated into paragraphs. The top has punch points which are quick points that have a strong selling feature. An unusual service like Weddings, or a high amount of loans signed, jail or hospital signings might go on top. Last minute signings or a wide radius are also good and quick pieces of information to put on top.

After that, I like to talk about experience. Many Notaries bury their valuable experience under inexpensive claims of how “reliable” and “professional” they are. The least professional Notaries stress how professional they are, so why cheapen yourself by emphasizing what makes you look like a chump? A list of loan types, document types, or who you are on the white glove list with really helps a lot. That way people know what you are capable of.

Next, a note about your personal style or what is unique to you is good. This is where you talk about how you put the customers at ease and triple check your work.

Bullet points come next with certifications, equipment, the fact you have an MBA, etc. Bullet points should be two to six words long otherwise they won’t look good as bullet points.

Coverage area comes near the bottom and try to make it easy to read without too much rambling. Try to avoid a long list of zip codes. A final note can come at the bottom .

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January 9, 2017

You lose $333 each time you don’t ask for a review

What? How did you come up with this figure? Who does your math, or rather, where did you learn how to do math? Many Notaries claim that they just never “get around to it” when I ask them about asking for reviews. Most Notaries treat asking for a review as some chore like cleaning the attic once every four years. Asking for reviews is more like brushing your teeth. It takes only two minutes, but if you don’t do it, you’ll lose some of your business — or perhaps need a root canal.

Ask for reviews and floss after each signing
Think of 123notary as a Notary dentist. Most people visit the dentist once every six months for a cleaning and check up. But, how often do you go for a check up for your Notary business? We can give you a check up and tell you what you are doing right and wrong anytime — for free, and without the novacaine. We can also do a “cleaning” on your notes section to remove the plaque. The first thing we’ll tell you is to ask for reviews and floss after each signing. Also, get a check up with 123notary every six months, or whenever you feel you need help.

Don’t for a review ask unless complimented
Asking the wrong people for reviews doesn’t help, and asking unappreciative people is also a waste of time. Most Notaries make a list of all the signing companies they’ve ever worked for, ask them all for a review the same day and get nothing. Ask INDIVIDUALS for reviews and ask them the minute they say, “Gee, I love your work — you’re the best Notary I’ve ever had.” If you don’t get this type of compliments, try showing up exactly on time, dress impeccably, answer all of their questions with a smile, and offer a little extra at no charge. Be helpful, but not too helpful like the breakfast lady at the hotel last week who wouldn’t stop offering me yogurt to take to my room. Individuals could be signers for a single document who hired you directly, or perhaps borrowers.

5 or 6 reviews doubles your business.
Reviews are potent in the minds of readers for three years. If you have five or six that doubles your new business from 123notary statistically. But, getting those six reviews is not so easy. Most Notaries think they need to ask six people and they’ll get six reviews. Then there are the people you asked who said they would write a review, but didn’t. You might have to ask ten people who claim they love your work just to get one review. But, if you ask sixty people, you’ll get the six reviews (yes, six is the magic number) that will transform your business. The question is, how long does it take in minutes to ask sixty people?

Ask sixty people in the course of a year or two.
It takes a minute or two to ask for a review. There is some chit-chat, some gossip, and some technical how to regarding the review. You will need to take their EMAIL ADDRESS, so you can email them a link. Without a link to your review page, few if any people will go to the trouble to find it on their own. 123notary is not so easy to navigate even for our staff, so how will a stranger be able to find your page. Sending a link to the “write a review” part of your review page takes a minute. In total, you might spend about four minutes each time you ask for a review and send the necessary email. Asking sixty people will take 240 minutes total. If the average Notary on 123notary (no such thing) makes $20,000 in signings in a three year period, doubling that will be an extra $20,000 as a result of having spent 240 minutes asking for reviews.

Doing the Math
You need to ask roughly 60 people for reviews to get 6 reviews which is the magic number
6 reviews statistically doubles your incoming calls from 123notary (results vary)
It takes 4 minutes to ask for a review and send the email with a link to your review page
4 minutes * 60 people you asked is 240 minutes
You might make $20,000 extra over the next (3) years if you had six or more reviews.
$20,000 divided by 240 = $83 per minute you spend asking for a review
$83 * 4 minutes = $333 each time you ask for a review.

If you are “too busy” to ask for a review, ask yourself, is whatever I’m busy with worth $83 per minute? Even if you are a brain surgeon, the answer is probably no — unless you include the overhead for the operating room and salaries for assistants, clerical work, and costs of the plastic gloves.

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You might also like:

123notary’s comprehensive guide to getting reviews
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16290

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

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January 2, 2017

The link is the missing link to getting reviews on 123notary

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: , — admin @ 12:07 am

Many people just don’t bother asking for reviews. They don’t know what to do, or who to ask. Most want to ask their loyal signing companies who hire them all the time. Many claim that they only people they work for regularly are signing companies. If you ask a signing company for a review, you have a 3% chance of actually getting a review while a regular individual who verbally claims they like your work has a 12% chance of giving you a review. Ask everyone, but be realistic about what your odds are. You don’t need more than one review every six months, so a 12% chance of getting a review from individuals you ask is not bad. You just ask eight people who like you every six months and you’ll have enough reviews.

Send a link to your review page
Notaries often like to verbally tell their clients how to go and write a review about them. Nobody has the patience to navigate 123notary and find the review page. Most Notaries who ask for reviews don’t get any simply because they don’t send a link. People are busy and don’t want to bother wandering around 123notary for someone else’s benefit. Send them a link to your review page.

Finding the link
When I ask people to send a link to their review page, the first thing they say is, “I’ll login.” I say, “NO….. Don’t login. Your clients don’t know your password, so if you have to login to get to your review page, how will they get in?” Your review page is accessible to the public, so no logging in is necessary. You just find your page on 123notary.com and click on the “write a review” link above your name on your page.

Finding your page the way a customer would
If you visit the advanced seach page on 123notary.com, you can look up by n#. That will take you to your public page that clients see. The write a review link is above your name. Just click on that link, and then copy and paste the URL of that page into an email. Or use the zip search to find yourself and then click on your name in the search results to get to your page. Either method is fast and works.

Putting a link at the bottom of all emails (bad results)
I have spoken to a bunch of clients who claim they put links to their Yelp, Google, and 123notary review pages at the bottom of their emails. This works well for Google and Yelp, but not for 123notary reviews. Send customized review requests to individuals who mentioned how much they love your work. Keep it personal, and send requests within hours of when a person compliments you. Yes, that means you need to ask for their email address and write it down somewhere.

How long does it take for the review to be live?
I manually check all reviews on 123notary.com. Reviews are normally posted within 24 hours unless I’m on vacation in which case more like 96 hours. I check my email, reviews, and everything else while on vacation, but I can’t check daily as I might be in the middle of Yosemite where I don’t have access to a computer for a few days. So, be patient. Another reason why reviews don’t show up is because the person who claimed to have submitted them never did — and then I get blamed. I can’t publish what never got submitted. My site benefits every time a review is published from an SEO standpoint, so I have a lot to lose by not publishing reviews, so please do not assume that I am intentionally not publishing a review. With negative reviews (which we don’t get many of) I scrutinize them before publishing them and ask for the Notary’s rebuttal so that the public can see both sides of the story.

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You might also like:

Documenting your experience and personal style in your notes
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19052

You lose $333 each time you don’t ask for a review
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=18893

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December 19, 2016

It’s like having a magnet on your listing

Filed under: Reviews — Tags: — admin @ 9:36 pm

Are you listed on 123notary.com? Do you not know why you are not getting as much traffic? Is it bad luck? Is it 123notary’s fault? Or is it just the industry?

Listings on 123notary.com that typically do well have certain components.
Some of the components are visible while others while others are harder to discern. Some people with relatively modest looking listings on 123notary do very well simply because they gravitate business by having experience and skills. Those people are also likely to answer their phone and be helpful. You can’t know all of this just by looking at a listing. But, for the rest of us, what is important is what you can see.

Having a great notes section is very important for gravitating clients.
People want to read about you before they call you. If there is nothing to read, they will not want to call. If there is something to read, but that something is dull, disorganized or generic sounding, they will also be less likely to call. You need a unique and informative well organized notes section to attract business.

Having 123notary certifications means everything on 123notary.com.
Your NNA certification won’t gain you any points on our site as everybody else also has it. However, only 25% of Notaries on 123notary.com can pass the 123notary certification test and only 3% can get through the Elite test. So, if you want to stand out on our site, I think you know what you need to do.

Reviews are the most important magnet on your listing.
People want to read 3rd party information about you more than they even care about our tough certification test. So, if you are too busy to ask for reviews, or just don’t want to bother people — think again. Five or six reviews doubles your business. So, try to get some reviews today! And don’t forget to send them a link to your review page after you ask them.

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You might also like:

You lose $333 each time you don’t ask for a review
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=18893

123notary’s comprehensive guide to getting reviews
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16290

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December 17, 2016

Who is involved with 123notary behind the scenes?

Filed under: Advertising,Popular on Facebook (shares) — Tags: — admin @ 12:05 am

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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You might also like:

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

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December 14, 2016

Do you compare yourself to others on the 123notary search results?

Filed under: Advertising — Tags: , — admin @ 12:00 am

We want to remind all Notaries that you are in a constant state of competition. It behooves you to look regularly at what the others are doing in your area wherever you do notary advertising. If you in Timbuktu, IL, see how the others are doing. Otherwise, the phone will stop ringing and you won’t know why. Perhaps Tom in your area will have twenty new reviews while your last review is collecting cyber dust. Or perhaps Mary will have passed our Elite test while you failed our regular certification test two years ago and never tried again.

If you compare yourself to others on the list you will quickly notice certain things.

1. Some Notaries offer late night service. Our icons for Owl hours and 24 hours attract a lot of callers.

2. Some Notaries have many reviews and recent reviews. Others have three reviews the same day back in 2009 which looks fake by the way.

3. Some Notaries have a very evolved looking notes section while others have a one liner or leave their notes blank.

4. Some Notaries have a company name that sounds good while others just use their personal name.

5. Those using our site regularly are painfully aware of how much less knowledgeable signers are who are not 123notary.com certified. Those uncertified folks tend not to get picked much despite their claims that — “But, I’m NNA certified, so why should I have to pass another test? I already know it all.” Those who use our site think that you do not know it all if you can’t pass our test which is timed!

It boils down to — do you want jobs or not? Are you willing to do several quick things to make sure you get jobs or do you want to do the minimum and hope to get by? This is not Junior High folks, this is real life, and the minimum doesn’t cut it. You have to make sure you have all of your bells and whistles. You need notes, certifications, reviews, company names, good skills, you need to answer your phone regularly, and do good work. If you goof in any one area, your business will suffer. So, why not do everything right, and prosper?

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You might also like:

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

How does pricing work for top placements on 123notary?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19355

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

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December 1, 2016

I eat, breathe and sleep 123notary

Filed under: Social Media — Tags: , — admin @ 11:50 pm

For those of you who wonder what it is like running 123notary, it is non-stop work. I eat, breathe and sleep 123notary.com. I even have dreams about 123notary.com when I’m asleep. I also dreamt that my housemate was listening to loud salsa music, but that’s a different story.

When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I do is to roll out of bed, visit the bathroom, and then sit down at my computer for a few hours. There are emails to answer, orders to process, phone calls to call, tweets to tweet, and other things to do as well. I normally take a walk every afternoon and I think about 123notary during the entire walk. Experts claim that taking long walks calms you down and makes you smarter. Some of the greatest artists, composers and thinkers of all time took long walks daily. I include myself in this category of people as I compose great music in my head during walks, but never write it down such as a concerto for orchestra and unaccompanied jazz saxophone (not sure if that would sound so good in real life, but worth a try.)

When I go out with friends, we always discuss 123notary, among other things. I went to the symphony today, not to hear music, but to sit in the lobby and absorb their “qi” energy to benefit 123notary. Yes, feng-shui really does work if you know how to do it right. Basically, everything I do, I do for 123.

As Carmen once put it (sounds like an MTV commercial)

I want my 123

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