Landing New Clients
Surprise, you have a lot of competition. Some of them are willing to accept lowball offers that actually cost money to process – what are they thinking (possibly unable to do math?). So, to “break thru” you need to be noticed. Many of the most basic items are covered already; your business name, a well written profile (with an “eye catcher” first line), BBB accreditation, and some positive reviews from past clients. But, there is so much more that you can do to stand out.

Do you stand on the shore and mumble “here fish, fish, fish; come to me”? Of course not, to catch a fish you have to go where they are and have proper gear and great bait. Well, your prospective clients are not fish, nor to you plan to “bait & catch” them. But, you certainly want those soon to be clients to call. Go to them; give them a look see of you, and a business card. Of course you cannot visit the world, so Advertise. Being high up on directories is a great start, with some well written bio information (not self praise). Write as if you were talking to a friend, not to a want to be employer. It doesn’t hurt to add as “bait” an uncommon offer. “I process a duplicate copy of your document at no additional charge because that gives you backup in case the one you ship never arrives”. Or, “On my first visit you will receive a 25% off coupon valid for my next two visits”. Feeling brave? “If I am over 15 minutes late the fee is half of agreement”.

Your Interaction with Prospective and Prior Clients
Read the articles on proper phone answering! Stop saying “Hello”. Better is “Good Morning, your name, how can I help you? Then, listen, really listen. If you know something relevant, that the caller is unlikely to know – offer that information – even if it causes you, on this call; to lose the assignment. It’s (in the long run) a better strategy to be helpful rather than deceitful. They will remember you for honesty and being a source of accurate and relevant information. Be sure to get the what, when and where information prior to any fee discussion. Don’t waste much time if a minnow is calling offering a low ball.

You have a great chance to make a positive impression with the written word. Do you include a .vcf file so they can add you to their electronic database? One of my “secrets” is to often include an appropriate image with emails. Not something extolling me – rather something with a bit of humor or informative. I have a large collection of graphics. A few lawyer cartoons, a rose, an elaborate thank you graphic; build up a collection. Humor is always an appreciated break from the routine. Many are the replies: “Thank You, I need a laugh”. Unsaid: “I will remember you”.

Keep the Clients you have Happy
Be real. Don’t be afraid to actually ask a favor. Perhaps 2PM would be a tight schedule; “can we make that 3PM – so I can be sure to be on time”? Giving someone a dollar on departure, as a gift would certainly be insulting. However, a little research will find many useful items that, in bulk, cost about a dollar. Buy some, and “on your way out” present a “thank you” item. I present tiny, add to keychain flashlights; some admit to calling me back just to get an additional one!

Background
In my youth, quite some time ago; I met with Ben Franklin at Fraunces Tavern in lower Manhattan in the colony of New York. He told me that the phrase ‘A Penny Saved is a Penny Earned’ means that it is as useful to save money that you already have as it is to earn more. I found this inspirational, and was causative to this blog entry.

Pennies Saved
Saving money is a double edged situation. Of course you get to keep the cash by not spending it and add to your personal wealth. Naturally this assumes those who you trusted to make a payment to you actually do. Personally, I follow mom’s advice to not trust strangers and most often require PayPal in advance. But I digress. It’s nice to accumulate wealth for needs unanticipated; as well as the anticipation of becoming “elderly”, sick or disabled. Thus Ben was quite correct, simply put: it’s nice to keep those pennies.

However there is the other edge: wise spending. We enjoy choices, many choices vie for our pennies. A quality smart phone that can run wayz (a cell phone based GPS navigation aid) will save fuel and often travel time. Hoarding all income is impractical, if not impossible. The pennies not saved; in effect invested, can yield many more pennies. Mobile Notaries with quality equipment; and, of course the skills to deploy them often prosper. Misers rarely flourish.

Pennies Earned
Pardon the repetition; earning money is also double edged. Multiple dichotomies exist. One can do ten jobs for twenty five dollars each, or five jobs for fifty dollars each. Sure that is an over simplification of the lowballer. However the concept is a valid one. Similarly, the complex and lengthy to process tasks are generally the most lucrative. To get them you need a lot of skill, advanced education; and a reputation of excellence. Notaries compete rather than cooperate. There are many chasing the same few assignments. What to do? The simplest, albeit harshest solution; would be for the near failing, to seek other employment.

John Houseman for Smith Barney, said, “They make money the old fashioned way… they earn it,” Do you really do everything in your power to, in every case; do all that you can to earn your fee? Some do, but many do not. Most of us have probably received a “clean up” assignment. That is one where our employer stresses the need for accuracy and that they probably would “lose their client” if the job was re-botched.

A Closing saved is a Closing earned
A perfect error free package is a joy to receive. All the right boxes were checked and the fill in information was properly entered. Of course the signatures, initials and notarizations were a joy to behold. No need to call anyone, it was done, and done completely right the first time. They are not going to call Ghost Busters Notary for the next job – they call the provider of perfection.

Not really, but in the “second time” redo of failed to fund packages; affiants have more than once told me a squirrel could have done a better job. Why is this? It’s not that the notaries don’t know how to notarize; they have problems with related responsibilities. By analogy, becoming a parent involves a relatively simple procedure. Being a good parent is much more complicated.

[She] / He who has imagination without learning, has wings and no feet. — Joseph Joubert
Substitute “Notary Commission” for “imagination” – that describes the situation for many. It’s not difficult to deliver perfection. It does take dedication and an intense desire for the “self gratification” that comes from delivering personal best. When you complete that assignment does it make you feel really good? It should. Knowing that no one, yes, no one could have done a better job should give the Notary a feeling of Pride, and “inner glow” of self satisfaction.

Learning can’t replace experience; but the reverse is also true. In addition to the basic Notary functions (ID check, Jurat/Acknowledgement, Oath, Stamp, Emboss) there is much knowledge to be acquired. Many simply don’t know how to communicate efficiently; neither giving nor receiving accurate and appropriate information succinctly. If you answer the phone with an all too often “hello”; the caller needs to ask “who is this”. Better would be “Good Afternoon, my name is Sally; how may I help you”. Do you need to send 3 emails because you did not ask all the questions in your first? Rest assured the “other side” is forming the “klutz” image of you.

You should have business cards, they are cheap enough. It’s a good practice to “sign your work” by placing your card at the top of the pile. Affix it with a binder clip, never just shove loose pages into a shipping envelope. Then, if someone has a question it’s easy for them to reach you. And, they have your “advertisement” so they know how to reach you for the next assignment. Try to always use stiff cardboard shipping envelopes, not the floppy ones.

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. My assignment tomorrow is for a loan package with both husband and wife signing. She is bedridden – they will make the process very slow. I will bring a clipboard for husband to bring pages; one at a time, to wife for her signatures and initials. Not knowing for sure the ailment; I will keep away, but be sure to actually witness the fact that she did indeed sign where necessary. It will probably take quite some time as she is a co-borrower and signs almost all pages. Some are easy, some are hard. Last week I had a 9 page job for my standard fee; it took 5 minutes. It averages out. Don’t develop an attitude when things go slowly – like the classic sign in the coffee shop: Don’t complain about the coffee, someday you too will be old and weak. With an eye to self preservation by avoiding sickness – we can and should do everything possible to accommodate those “less fit” than ourselves.

Lastly, be of good cheer. Nobody likes to work with a sourpuss. A smile and a few kind words will help the process go smoothly, for all concerned. Most people will “reflect” the way you act in their behavior to you, so be pleasant in the face of difficult situations. When you handle that “tough” one – detail what you did when asking for a review; you will often receiving a glowing one!

As notaries we often do poorly on assignments that we accept without getting the full specifications prior to quoting s fee. Sometimes things are slow and we accept a job that is just barely worth doing. Especially when factoring in expenses and putting a reasonable valuation to our time. But, this job was different; it was structured for me to actually lose money.

Hi Ken, old pal; I need all of your expertise for this job. Hmmm, the name was unfamiliar as was the company “whatever document services”. My BS antenna goes up. I just knew that this one would be going nowhere. When strangers start with “old pal” it never works out.

The processing of this edoc will be a bit unusual. That was an understatement. What we need you to do is to print and deliver a set of documents but you do not need to notarize them. However, we require you to sign a form that you did deliver the documents. I’m starting to think they want me as a process server; often a punch on the nose is incurred. But, that was not the end of the assignment. After you deliver the documents we need you to “arrange” for a notary to go to the same location to do the notarizations. After that, pick them up and ship to us. For this assignment we are willing to pay fifty dollars. It was to be about 30 pages and in midtown Manhattan where parking is always illegal / expensive. After the documents have been notarized you can return them to us using the prepaid airbill which we will supply. Let me see if I understand you. You want me to print, deliver, sign a process server form, arrange for a notary to visit, pick up the notarized documents and ship them to you, right?

Exactly, I just knew you were the right person for the job; and you don’t have to notarize a thing! Well, I can print and deliver; that would not be a problem. I would charge you double what you are offering and would be unable to sign any form or arrange a notary or return to pickup and ship. It sounds to me that you want a process server. Why did you ask me if I was a notary when the tasks you describe don’t require me to notarize?

Well, some notaries resent being “called” process servers; so we just describe the work. Also, notaries are familiar with printing letter and legal paper. Don’t worry about the little form that you sign – it is truthful – you did deliver the documents to the right person; notaries always check ID. And, there is a spot on the form for you to record what ID you were presented; that makes what you do documented and “legal”.

Do you pay my fee in advance, or do I have to pay the notary that I find, (must be same day); out of my own pocket? And, you are probably aware that a rush notary would probably charge over what you are offering. All that we can pay you is $50, we suggest you find a 20$ notary so you can keep “most” of what we pay to you. Thoughts of profanity, but resisted; it was not easy!

Well, the way I see it the job is: printing, delivering, a hostile or violent reception, frantic calls to find a cheepo notary, return trip to pick up (was it notarized properly), a trip to drop off – and lastly a few weeks wait while you inspect the documents and possibly send me a check during the next solar eclipse. Thank you but NO, please put me on your “do not call” list. Good Bye.

A Virus in your email Inbox
What to look for

We hear the sound of incoming email and hope it’s an assignment that will produce some revenue. Before you click a link – take a look. There are some very obvious signs that the click might result in real trouble. Ransomware asks for payment to unlock your newly encrypted hard drive. Many other virus types take your personal information and sell to eager identity thieves. And there are the ones that just delete everything – perhaps sent by a competitor?

I have strong defenses, but why test them? So, I look for some of the tell tale signs that the email is one that should not be clicked on. Some bad signs are: Lack of any phone number to ask a question in the email. Any use of a shortened link, typically a bit.ly/dh345 – there are several others. You do not know where that will go – shortened links are translated to ultimate web addresses after you click them. There is no valid reason for an edoc package to be accessed via a shortened link. One other sign is the total lack of any information about what, when or where (so the same shell can be sent to many). Often a high dollar fee is mentioned, but nothing else. Also, rather than a link, sometimes just a PDF is attached.

What not to do, and what to do
Don’t click any link in a suspect email, no matter what the text says. The destination of the link is often not what you see. I usually respond (not being sure if it’s real) with two words. Call me. Nothing more. If there is someone who really wants you they will call. Today I had 2 of this type of email and neither responded. I waited half an hour then deleted them. As the shortened links are formulated as URL addresses; you can carefully copy the address – and enter it into the URL area on virustotal.com – they can virus scan the file. You can also submit the PDF to virus total and it will be checked, by many anti-virus engines for contamination.

Sometimes the PDF or link will yield yet another display with yet another click bait. Playing with suspect emails at this level is very dangerous. But if you are truly determined to follow the path to see what it goes to – don’t use your own PC, Access your email from a rented PC. When you rent a PC you have a very low security clearance – and that machine is probably protected in many other ways.

You can unscramble the link
There are many services that reverse the scramble to show you where the compressed link will go. Google – shortened URL decoder – there are many. But are they safe? Perhaps, but I choose to simply reply “call me” and wait half an hour to simply delete the suspicious ones.

Shields UP
Keep your anti-virus up to date. Check it. Does it update frequently? I use F-protect as my antivirus program (among many other barriers). It often updates several times a day. Sure, I know it’s up to date – but I would be a fool to process a ringer as if it came from a known source.