January 2020 - Notary Blog - Signing Tips, Marketing Tips, General Notary Advice - 123notary.com
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January 31, 2020

Oaths need to be signed?

Filed under: California_Notary — admin @ 11:39 am

I have heard from my sources that Oaths, Affirmations and Depositions all need to be signed by the Notary in California. This is on page 28 in the 2019 handbook near the top of the page.

But, how do you sign an Oath? An Oath is given in thin air? Unless you have a certificate stating that you gave an Oath. Or if the Oath is part of a document that is signed by all parties. Hmm. This is very odd. I wonder if any of our members have ever signed an Oath. Most of our Notaries don’t even know how to give Oaths correctly. Please let me know.

BTW, there is suggested verbiage for Jurat Oaths in the 2019 handbook on page 12. You can improvise upon it as there is no official verbiage.

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January 30, 2020

Do you hire notaries? What do you ask them?

Filed under: Best Practices — admin @ 11:36 am

Are you a title company, mortgage broker, loan officer, escrow officer, Attorney or other entity that hires notaries? You can’t just hire any old Notary. You need to ask them questions. But, what would you ask them?

Should you ask questions about how they would handle particular situations? Or should you ask more cut and dry technical questions about notary procedure? How about asking them to describe certain documents?

Many title companies I talk to judge a notary based on the first twenty seconds of interaction. They can tell right away by a person’s tone, demeanor, and style of communication how the discussion is going to go and how the work is going to go.

For me, I prefer to judge people based on multiple layers. Interaction, competency, motivation in maintaining their profile, etc. Only looking at their initial phone demeanor says a lot, but that is not enough to size someone up in my opinion.

If you are hiring Notaries, think carefully about what is important to ask them. What you ask a Notary reveals a lot about what the notary knows, how they think and how cooperative they are about answering questions.

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January 28, 2020

Facebook’s karma – freedom of speech violations

Filed under: Social Media — admin @ 11:20 am

Facebook was a popular way for 123notary get reach in our marketing and come into contact with a lot more people. But, in the last few years, Facebook got more and more restrictive in what you could post, especially on promoted posts. If anyone complained about a title being even slightly controversial or a photo used then I would get in trouble.

Facebook is a utility of sorts. In the USA, we have freedom of speech and press, and what we say on the phone or other communication utilities is our right. How I interact with my users on Facebook should be up to me. But, Facebook has intervened and told me that my image of a tarot card cannot be used because there is a figure of a naked person. It is so small I didn’t notice and it is a dummy person with no genitals, yet someone still complained.

It is a bit like living in a communist country where people are in a huge hurry to report you to the authorities for doing any tiny thing wrong. Why are Americans in such a hurry to limit another person’s freedom of expression? It baffles me. But, the current consciousness of Americans loves repression of freedom of speech, loves lynchings of people who have been accused of being racist or sexist whether the accusation is true or not, and even approves of torture of alleged terrorists. What is the world coming to? This is not the America I grew up in. It is getting very Marxist.

At any rate. a few years after Facebook became overly constrictive, I noticed that Facebook became a lot less popular in general, especially for 123notary. It is getting to the point where we might lower our involvement with Facebook or stop altogether. I feel that they developed bad karma from being too restrictive and that they lost a huge chunk of their business as a result.

I wonder if they will have a come back or whether they are just a has been who might be popular with an aging population but will never be popular with the millennials who run the country now. Hmmm.

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January 23, 2020

She was my student, but now she is hustling and succeeding

Filed under: General Stories — admin @ 10:40 am

It is always nice to hear stories like this from your former students. As you may or may not know, the mobile notary business is filled with women. Notaries in general are disproportionately women (roughly 84%) and mobile notaries are more like 60% women. I recently had a conversation with a lady who studied from my materials, mastered them scored well on my quiz, and is getting tons of work. For a beginner, she is really hustling and getting a lot more work than other beginners normally work.

But, this woman has a personality that lends itself (sorry for the mortgage related pun) to success in the mobile notary business. She reads and reads and reads. She wants to know what is going on, what the rules are, what proper techniques are, etc. She wants to do everything correctly. Not everything she does is right, so I have to correct her every once in a while. There is a lot to know as a mobile notary, so it is good to correspond regularly with those who know the business.

Carmen also started out as my student back in 2003. She always had questions. I remember the first time I met her. I was handing over a book to her in person near the guard shack in my complex. Carmen had a thirst for knowledge. Now, Carmen is someone I refer to as the queen of the industry because nobody can answer questions better than she does. I guess there is now more realism to the saying, “Grasshopper, you were once the student, but now you are the master. Can catch fly with chopsticks, can do anything.” I guess when you hear that quote, the image comes to mind of Carmen quietly meditating while facing a statue of the Buddha with a samurai sword laid out in front of her wearing either a kimono or a ninja outfit. I have been urging Carmen to meditate for years to deal with the stress of constant whining on the part of Notaries. Maybe this mental image will prove to be useful.

There are other examples of people I have instructed who became wildly successful. It is fun to think about them when people call me whining about some petty concern. It is nice to know your work paid off in a meaningful way to someone.

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January 19, 2020

How to be a cool Notary and why it is so important

Filed under: Business Tips — admin @ 10:37 am

Are you a cool Notary? Have you ever wanted to be? We have a Notary in San Francisco whose clients describe him (in reviews) as being young and hip. I think he is the only successful notary on our site who is both young and hip, not to mention articulate. But, what about the rest of us. What makes a Notary cool, and how can you become cool. Or is this a zen paradox and you become cool by not trying to be? Hmmm.

1. Knowledge
I think a cool Notary would be one who either knows his stuff so fluently that he can spout out information in a calm tone of voice without breaking a sweat. Most Notaries get flustered with easy questions like, “How many loans have you signed?” To most that is a trick question.

2. Coolness
A cool Notary would be too cool to care, but would also never miss deadlines for Fedex. It would be kind of a James Bond type cool where you are responsible and cunning in your coolness.

3. Savoir Faire (That’s French for being able to handle tough
situations gracefully) The “cool” Notary should know martial arts and swordsmanship (speaking of James Bond) and be able to go to a signing, fight off intruders using num-chucks, wipe the sweat off his brow after a stunning victory and then say, “now where were we?”

4. Dress
A cool Notary should dress the part. Smart Italian shoes, slacks that fit impeccably, and a leather jacket that says bad boy all over it. For women, a snazzy outfit, not sure what type because I’m not a woman, but definitely flashy and with high heels with an accompanying noticeable hair style.

5. The Car
You cannot be a cool Notary without a cool and hip car. New is usually hip. But, a classic car would work even better. Just tell them you’re a Leno fan and everyone will understand.

6. Poise and Posture.
The proper gentleman stands up straight. But, the cool Notary casually leans on things and holds his head at an angle to show style and perhaps a little bit of attitude too. But, not too much attitude, because too much attitude is edgy which is just as cool as cool, but not the same thing as cool — I guess. How would I know anyway, I’m neither. Just kidding — I’m both, baby!

7. Smoothness
If you are able to work your way smoothly through the package anticipating and answering their every question before they even ask, that is cool. Dealing with all the snags and changes of plans in your signing schedule without even blinking? Yes, once again, that spells cool.

Being a cool notary may sound like it is merely cool. But, think about it from the borrower’s point of view or title. Do you want to deal with a Notary who is awkward and doesn’t know how to handle things or would you prefer someone like Carmen who is the most graceful Notary alive who can handle anything seamlessly without even trying? There is a reason why Carmen gets paid triple what the rest of you get paid. That is because she is a flamboyant, and polished Notary who is cool in her own way — and yes, she has a cool sporty car to match as well. Being cool attracts good clients, so if you think being cool doesn’t matter — turn down the heat because it does!

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January 18, 2020

Jeremy’s tips helped a Notary with title

Filed under: Business Tips — admin @ 9:32 am

I just talked to a Notary in San Diego about an upgrade. She was the star of the show and I gave her a huge discount as a result. She said that she used to think I am mean, but now realizes that all of the tips I gave her personally and gave via my courses really helped her with title companies and helped her to be a better Notary (and a better person.)

1. Using clean acknowledgements instead of doing cross-outs helped her be a lot more popular with her title clients. Not all companies appreciate clean work, but her clients did. Cross-outs are messy and can lead to complications when financial companies sell loans, and can also cause confusion if a loan ever goes to court which is rare, but happens.

2. I reminded her many times to get reviews, and she followed that piece of advice and all of my other advice and has the highest points in my points algorithm of almost any notary on the site. The reviews got her a lot of business and she keeps getting new ones too which is key.

3. My tips in general made her a better Notary because she is never sloppy about anything, understands the intricacies of all Notary and signing procedures, and always asks for clarification when necessary. Being meticulous as a result of her education with me made her more popular with her title clients.

So, if you are in doubt about what to do with your Notary situations, listen to what Jeremy and Carmen say as a general rule because we are experienced and know how to handle most situations cleanly and effectively.

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January 17, 2020

Notarization for a guy who pulls a gun

Filed under: Drama & Tragedy — admin @ 9:30 am

A client of mine in New Jersey tells this harrowing tale about doing a cash-out job in Patterson.

The Notary enters the house. The borrower calls his wife a crack ho. They go to the car to do the signing. The borrower pulls a gun, points it at the Notary and says, “You aren’t going to mess with me man!” The Notary said, “I’m just here to sign papers.” Then the Notary got a job signing for a paraplegic. The Notary asked how the signer was going to sign. The signer asked the notary to put the pen in his mouth.

After that, the Notary got a call to go to Karen Johnson’s house. He gets to the house and the woman loudly says, “What the hell is going on?” It was Whoopi Goldberg using her real name.

So, I guess that Notary had fun notarizing celebrities, but not as much fun as I had notarizing an arsonist and his jurors — not that I am trying to be one-up on him!

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January 15, 2020

Your experience matters, but you need to document it clearly

Filed under: Advertising — admin @ 9:29 am

Notaries brag all day long about how experienced they are. Nobody wants to hear your bragging. These same Notaries who verbally boost themselves up are the same Notaries who don’t always login to their listing to document their experience.

Remember – when you tell a caller how experienced you are, only one person hears you; When you indicate in your listing how many loans you have signed (in the # of loans signed box please) and indicate in your notes what types of loans and documents you’ve signed, thousands can read that information and hence hear you.

I have found that many Notaries, particularly the free listings do not login to their listing much. I remove many who don’t login and we hear from them years after the fact. When I put them back online, they rarely update their # of loans signed. Often when I confirm the information with them I inform them that their profile states they signed 50 loans. I get this loud reaction such as, “Oh, no it’s WAYYYYY more than that.” My attitude is – don’t tell me, tell your listing. Thousands read it, so why not maintain it?

A well maintained listing gets over 1000 views per year.

Many notaries are vague about the type of experience they have and spend more time discussing their Real Estate or teaching career in their notes section. Be specific about what types of loans you know how to sign. Go through them one by one. Discuss your professional background clearly too. Don’t just say that you were in the mortgage industry. Tell us what role you played in that industry. Specifics sell.

SUMMARY
When you brag to a caller – one person hears your information; When you fill in your # of loans signed & notes – 1000 people hear your information;

It takes a minute to fill in your # of loans signed and you should update that several times per year. Many people let it slide for many years. If 123notary feels that your # of loans signed indicates that you are doing almost nothing, not maintaining your listing, or making outrageous claims of having signed more loans that humanly possible – we notice. Try to just publish helpful and truthful information and keep it updated. Thanks!

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January 14, 2020

Where do you get your Notary information from?

Filed under: Best Practices — admin @ 9:29 am

Carmen tells me regularly how Notaries get information from random sources on the internet or from other Notaries who don’t know what they are doing. This is dangerous. You are legally responsible for the notary work you do. If you do your work wrong, you can get in trouble with your notary division or in trouble with the law. Therefore, it makes sense that you get your information from reliable sources.

NNA and 123notary publish a lot of notary information online. We are generally well informed and well intentioned. But, there are instances when our information is out of date, unclear, misinterpreted, or just plain wrong.

Getting information from Facebook groups, or other Notaries is a horrible idea because I test Notaries, and most of them score about 30% on Notary knowledge. If you are getting your information from others who would probably score 30%, how reliable do you believe their information would be?

Get your information from your State Notary Division. They are legally responsible for publishing information regarding your state’s notary laws, procedures, forms, etc. Even getting information by phone from the notary division is risky, because they could tell you anything. Look for what is in writing for the safest results.

And remember, even the best Notary teachers out there are wrong about one or two things. I know this because I test them and they are not always right on certain hard to understand or nit-picky things (such as credible witnesses for example.) I am sometimes wrong about notary issues as well, although my track record is quite good overall.

So, get your information from the source itself because you could get yourself and others in trouble if you don’t. Additionally, many states have horrible handbooks with very incomplete information about certain topics. In that case, you can refer to other more reliable sources like well established notary organizations which might do a good job explaining some of the less understood notary acts such as Oaths!

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January 10, 2020

Some Facebook groups are speaking favorably about 123notary

Filed under: Social Media — admin @ 9:27 am

I remember back in 2017 I was testing Notaries by phone. Many were complaining very loudly. There were Facebook groups that would bash us daily just because I wanted to have quality standards. Most Notaries claim to be great, but without testing them it does not make sense to take their word for it.

In any case, I heard that recently (in 2019) Notaries are saying nice things about 123notary on a few Facebook groups. It’s about time! All I do is work hard to maintain quality on my site! I stopped testing people by phone in early 2018, so hopefully people will forget about how unpleasant it is.

The real problem with the testing is that people did not want to be tested, and furthermore, they mostly did not know the answers. We test now by email and most people just don’t respond. But, those who do respond have time to think about the questions and answer them at a time that is favorable to them. Many people learn something answering my questions too.

Notary Public 101 is a free course I created that is on the blog. It is free and you do not need a password. Learn all about notary procedure, confirming appointments, handling tough situations, and more. You need to know this information anyway, so try to set apart some time and master it.

123notary strives hard to benefit Notaries even if we are tough sometimes. If we are demanding it is for a good reason — so we can please the users by offering them the best quality notaries possible. Thanks to those who say nice things about us on social media.

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