Are you a highbrow Notary in a low-brow world, or a high-end Notary in a low-ball world? join the club. There are lots of Notaries out there with tons of experience who have a lot of trouble getting paid well or getting work at all. On the other hand, there is what I call the double bell curve effect in the Notary world. There are lots of new Notaries, lots of mega-experience Notaries, but not so many people in the middle.
The problem as I see it is that there are many Notaries who perceive themselves as being high-end simply because they have experience. They hide behind their years of experience to compensate for the fact that they cannot explain a single Notary act and don’t have a clue how to deal with many common Notary situations. Another problem is that in today’s economy there are too many Notaries and too few jobs. With Snapdocs, if you are not fast to respond to texts you will be put lower on the text order algorithm and might stop getting offers altogether. So, how can you win during these desperate times? The answer is that there are no guarantees. However, being high end in virtue instead of high end in claim will help you a whole lot more. What do I mean?
I recently emailed about 150 notaries regarding their certification. I wanted them to study and quiz again at no cost. Half of them emailed me back and the other half did not. The ones that emailed me back did not read the email carefully. They omitted to read the part that said they had to study a lot. So, I responded to people one by one reminding them (the same way you remind children) that you have to study. I only got four requests from people who had studied sufficiently, and most of those four passed. What about the other 150? Why are people so stubborn, lazy, ignorant and uncooperative? If you can’t pass our certification test (which is really hard these days) then you are NOT a high end Notary. You are only a poser and a chump.
Additionally, getting more reviews on your profile will attract browsers, and so will having a well written notes section. To sum it up, a lot of expertise goes into being a Notary, but less than 1% of the people on our site have that knowledge or have any interest in acquiring that knowledge. This whole industry has turned low-end on me and I’m getting really sick of it. Even if it gets you nowhere, there is a certain dignity and professionalism in knowing your stuff. So please do so.
You might also like:
Experienced signers are being weeded out of the industry
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16747
Travel fees if nothing gets signed
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22578
Why are the fees offered to us so low you ask?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=22293
10 rules for negotiating notary fees
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19620
So, how can you win during these desperate times?
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Knowledge is power. A Notary is authorized to do many things – do you know them all? Do you offer your services to ALL your potential clients? Probably not.
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LEARN to EARN.
Comment by Kenneth Alan Edelstein — July 31, 2019 @ 5:09 pm
It will get Busy now with the Fed lowering interest rates
Comment by Robert Mahon — July 31, 2019 @ 10:35 pm
Educating yourself will pay off, even if you cannot see it today. BUT, it is vital that you do NOT contribute to the vendors who offer jobs at rates where you cannot make money for the drive, the gas, or the time. Don’t even get me Started on how many of them want to pay next to nothing and make you wait on documents until the 11th hour. YES, you get good at a rush job, but it takes longer to check your work on a rush job, than it does to prepare for the job with the documents in front of you the day before the signing, where you can ask questions and fill out parts of the notorial documents such as: 1) YOUR certification expiration date, tricky when the signing occurs close to that date; 2) Signers names–why, when SEARCH & REPLACE have been in software for 25 years do we have to print this in?!?!?; 3) Date of signing. I much prefer to have my notary journal prepared with the notarized documents AND date AND signer’s first name (where ID information goes) ahead of time. I use Snapdocs to fill in my high end rates, and last week they met them for a signing. I play, “What is it $worth for me to drive to witness this signing”? I have been playing cat and mouse with one vendor whose staff is very nice, but love to lowball me on every job. Can’t understand why they don’t realize that every loan nets the Mortgage Company/Title Company, whoEVER it is handing that loan, thousands of dollars, when THIS company wants me to do a local signing for $85.00 Economy is MUCH better than when I started as an NSA in 2013, and I have just as many things to do on my 5 aceres at home to waste my time on a job where my net is $25.00
Comment by betty — August 5, 2019 @ 1:54 pm