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July 1, 2018

SnapDocs wants to sell shares on Shark Tank

Filed under: Humorous Posts — Tags: , — admin @ 12:38 am

Disclaimer – This article is purely for comedic purposes and I very much doubt that SnapDocs wants to sell its shares to Shark Tank.

CONTESTANT: Hello sharks. I would like to sell 50% of my business SnapDocs to you. We are an innovative platform where someone can hire a Notary, pay the notary, download documents, and look up reliability stats all using our convenient platform. We charge a fee that changes over time for using our services and looking up Notary information. We make “x” amount of money per transaction with a yearly profit of “y” dollars. We have been in business several years, so we are not brand new, but we are growing and are going to attempt to take 123notary’s market share as they are the leader of the notary advertising industry — so far…

Mr. WONDERFUL: Can you show us a little about how your features work?

CONTESTANT: Yes, you see you can share snapdocs with friends by using this feature here, We can get hard to get information on title companies which is valuable for attracting notaries using this other feature, and our best feature is the “Beat 123notary” feature.

LORI: How does the beat 123notary feature work, because I’m interested?

CONTESTANT: Umm. Awkward. That feature doesn’t seem to be working now, but programming is on it. We get more clicks than 123notary now, but only from people who don’t pay their notaries that well. 123notary keeps getting the good jobs.

Mr. WONDERUL: Maybe that is because they have better Notaries than you.

BARBARA: What good is having the best technology if you have the worst Notaries?

CONTESTANT: We’re trying to talk the best Notaries into working for the fees offered from those who use our site.

Mr. WONDERFUL: And how low are those fees?

CONTESTANT: (awkward pause) Um… Someone made $125 the other day.

LORI: The other day? How about in general?

CONTESTANT: Hmm. Let’s change the topic of the conversation. I would like to sell 20% for One Million.

MARK: Since you’re making money from this, and it is unclear whether 123notary will take your market share or whether or not you will take theirs, I will offer $100,000 for 20%.

CONTESTANT: $100,000? That is what we pay programming in several months.

LORI: I’m out, because it is too unpredictable, and it is not exciting enough.

BARBARA: I’d rather buy part of 123notary. They really scrutinize their Notaries which results in a better quality site, even though the Notaries are always complaining about being scrutinized.

LORI: 123notary is not for sale. Jeremy says it is his baby and he will never sell unless he is unable to care for it anymore.

Mr. WONDERFUL: Or runs out of baby formula. I’m out.

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You might also like:

Shark Tank – Notarizing in the shower for executives
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20511

A signing company wants to sell shares on Shark Tank
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20817

Shark Tank – Traffic Freezer for Notaries
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20509

A Notary goes on Shark Tank with Shazamdocs!
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=18943

Shark Tank – 123notary wants to sell 10% of its shares
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16021

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May 10, 2018

What has your experience with Snapdocs been like?

Filed under: Signing Company Gossip — Tags: — admin @ 12:25 am

Different Notaries have different experiences. I notice that some Notaries login to Snapdocs every day to gain high placement in the algorithm. Others do nothing but complain of low fees and bad offers. A few Notaries tend to negotiate higher fees and sometimes get away with it. One Notarycomplained that if he doesn’t answer texts right away, he doesn’t get any offers. But, now he says he doesn’t get any offers at all.

Snapdocs has a preference system. If you are the Notary picked, you get a text first and a few minutes to respond. If you don’t get back to them, they auto-text a handful of other nearby Notaries. The system makes sense, but the pay is still low.

So, what has YOUR experience been like with Snapdocs?

Also read:
Comments on our blog and forum about snapdocs
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21299

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April 28, 2018

Snapdocs has a good algorithm, but…

Filed under: Signing Company Gossip — Tags: — admin @ 10:36 am

Snapdocs has a good algorithm that sorts their Notaries well. The better ones are on top based on their reviews and performance and how recently they logged in. But, some of them are no longer in business unfortunately. Snapdocs lets you know if they have logged in during the last 45 days, but beyond that it is a crap shoot. There are many has beens on that site. Hmmm. The other problem is that their best Notaries are not that great and the general overall quality of Notaries on their site is dismal, but their technology is super.

I guess the various sites have different business models.

Snapdocs focuses on great technological platforms.
123notary focuses on having the best Notaries.
NotaryRotary has the closest Notaries and also has many high quality Notaries.
Signingagent.com has the best quantity of Notaries and NNA Certified, but not necessarily experienced or serious.

So, for each need, there is a niche in the market. The problem is that there are so many tens of thousands of mobile notaries, it is hard to keep track of all of them.

The other thing about Snapdocs that is interesting is that they show you Notaries who are really close to the job. Normally within 12 miles. That is great, but in areas where there aren’t so many Notaries you might not get so many good choices, and if you did, the choices would be too far. I guess it is hard to win.

123notary has the opposite problem. We list people who serve particular areas regardless of how far away they are, within reason. If they are more than 60 miles away, I generally do not list people that far unless it is a very remote area.

So, who provides the best search? I guess that depends on your search needs!

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You might also like:

Compilation of posts about Snapdocs
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=21531

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

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March 15, 2018

Notary Marketing 102 — Notary Advertising

Filed under: Loan Signing 101 — Tags: , , , , , — admin @ 7:36 am

Return to Notary Marketing 102 Contents

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The state of Notary advertising is always changing. Sites go up and down in popularity, and change their policies and business models. 2018 is no exception to this rule. The most popular several sites have changed a little bit in the last few years. Here is my current analysis of the various popular sites.

Also Read:
The State of Notary Advertising in 2016

How much should a Notary spend on advertising?

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123notary.com – for the best quality notaries!
123notary leads the pack in terms of attracting the highest quantity of work from higher paying Title & Escrow companies. The reason for this is that 123notary has higher quality standards than any other site. 123notary offers many sophisticated and practical search filters as well. Search by city, county, zip or state and filter for hospital jobs, languages, certified notaries, and more options as well.

Self-praising Notaries who think they know everything are rudely awakened by Jeremy’s quizzes to the fact that their knowledge doesn’t cut it in the industry and that they need to study more. Quality control involves making people regularly log in to their listing, keep their notes updated, study and prove their knowledge. The result of this constant attention to quality is a far higher quality and consistency of search results on 123notary. Notaries who like the idea of constantly improving their knowledge will most likely love 123notary. Those who are anti-knowledge and anti-responsibility might not.

123notary requires all Notaries to log in to their listing every 120 days and also to maintain a good notes section and get a 70% on a Notary Quiz administered by phone or a higher grade if administered by email. 123notary realizes that nobody is perfect and we have to be flexible with our requirements, but we want to deliver the best possible search to the users, and this is why we stress quality control.

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Snapdocs.com — an upcoming star
Snapdocs attracts the greatest volume of signings of any directory, but the pay is normally very very low. They have great technology and great search algorithms. The downside is that their Notaries are mostly of a very poor quality. Notaries on Snapdocs normally get paid lower than any other site. However, there are a few who are able to negotiate good fees. I know some of those Notaries personally, and they merit better fees. If you want to get paid well, please consider adapting your knowledge and professionalism to merit good fees. Please also consider that certain directories attract a higher volume of jobs with high fees.

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NotaryRotary.com — a good directory that is slowly losing steam
I would estimate that Notary Rotary is getting roughly 10% of the market share of signings and signings from that site are in all price ranges based on what I have heard. Notary Rotary used to be a big contender in the Notary industry. More recently, according to what I have heard, people are getting less and less work from them in 2018. Notary Rotary has a higher quality of Notaries than most sites and caters to finding Notaries in order of proximity which is helpful. Their fees for sign up are reasonable and they have great Notary supplies, insurance and a popular forum.

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NotaryCafe.com
Notary Cafe has been around for decades and has always attracted some business. The format of their site has changed over the years. I would estimate they get about 5% of the market share for signings. Notary Cafe has a search algorithm which seems to integrate proximity, and how recently you logged into your listing. It is well organized. However, the quality of the Notaries is not as good as 123notary or Notary Rotary.

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SigningAgent.com
The NNA runs SigningAgent.com and this site has the highest quantity of Notaries of any other directory. However, the overall quality of the Notaries on their site is inconsistent. This site is maintained well and has great search features, filters for edocuments, certification, and a flexible radius. Many Notaries like to advertise on this site, but the volume of business it attracts is limited.

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Google Local
In addition to marketing on purely Notary sites, many notaries do well advertising on Google Local. Google Local will get you nearby customers for all types of Notary work.

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Other Online Advertising
Yelp, and online Yellow Pages. If you want to do paid listings on online yellow pages, start with a small investment and see what rate of return you get before investing a lot; otherwise you might not get any return on a larger investment. I am unaware of how successful Yelp is, but some Notaries do get work from them, and the reviews really attract business to your listing.

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Manual Promotion
It is wise to call Title companies and give them your information. You can also contact hospitals, convalescent homes, Real Estate offices, law offices, jails, people who visit jails, and anyone else who might need a Notary. Handing out cards to strangers, customers, and office-mates of customers is a very effective marketing technique. Some Notaries have price sheets which is fine, but the most important is a business card.

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Summary
So, whom should you advertise with? Start with 123notary and Snapdocs. But, maintaining your listings is as important as who you advertise with. So, read the other sections of this course to learn how to optimize your listings and say the right things to attract the best clients.

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July 3, 2017

Snapdocs’ Business Model Doesn’t Add Up

Filed under: Advertising,Popular on Facebook (very),Popular on Linked In — Tags: , — admin @ 9:15 am

SNAPDOCS’ BUSINESS MODEL DOESN’T ADD UP

It was the best of times, and the worst of times. SnapDocs has the best technology but the worst notaries. Their business model should last as long as the careers of the accountants who gave Warren Beatty the wrong envelope. A chain of Notaries is as good as its weakest link. Just ask the crummiest McDonalds about that. So in the long run, how good can SnapDocs’ service be?

Two out of three notaries interviewed can’t stand them. And these weren’t SNAP decisions! Will SnapDocs’ ship come in, or did it never leave the docks? Hold on – I’m getting a text. Let’s see… thirty dollars for a signing a hundred miles away, with two hundred pages and 120 fax backs… no thanks! Four out of five notaries surveyed agree that one out of five notaries… is an idiot! And recommend sugarless gum for the borrowers who step in it on their way to a signing.

On the other hand (apologies to the amputees) one out of three notaries (and I was never great at fractions) really like the convenience and quantity of work they get from SnapDocs. And the signing companies love the technology and the convenience. But the love won’t last any longer than the rescission period if they don’t maintain critical mass. The question is… with such a small number of notaries who like them, can this business model last over the long haul? Another factor to consider is that out of SnapDocs’ roughly 6000 notaries, only about 800 of them have logged in in the last thirty days. SnapDocs’ technology can text dozens of nearby notaries, but if each area averages only 7 notaries that actually log in, how effective can this technology be if a critical mass of notaries aren’t cooperating with it?

We also notice SnapDocs’ web stats were down 70% in December, while 123notary was only down 25%.How long before their business model SNAPS?

Whoops, I’m getting another text. Can’t you see I’m driving??

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You might also like:

If everyone complains about Snapdocs, why do they continue to grow?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19034

The Uber principle at Snapdocs — new blood
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=18868

When did Notary Cafe become decaffeinated?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20770

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May 6, 2017

Snap Docs, who and what is it?

Filed under: Carmen Towles,Popular on Facebook (very),Popular on Linked In,Popular Overall — Tags: — admin @ 10:08 am

Frequently, I get questions about Snap Doc’s. Many ask, who are they? What do they do? How much do they pay? How do I sign up? How did I get into their data base, I never signed up? and so on.

For the most part quite a few notaries think they are a signing service and that they hire notaries. This is not the case. SnapDocs is a platform. It is a website designed for ‘signing services’ to use to streamline the notary hiring process. Snap Docs relies on signing services to signup and pay to use their database of notaries. Word is that fees for the signing companies range between 8 and 15 dollars. If you are a notary you can signup for free and upload your credentials which are verified by Snap Docs for authenticity. Once this process is complete your profile is viewable by hiring parties when they have a signing in your area. Sounds good, but in my opinion, there is several problems with this platform. Many of the signing services that use the site have some of the worst reputations in the industry regarding fees being offered for signings and receipt of payment takes a very long time (if they even pay you and Snap Doc’s will not help you collect if they don’t). It also seems the signing services are passing the cost off to the notaries because the fees offered are at an all time low. There is another concern. When a job is offered, it is offered to several folks via text usually all at one time and the text has very little detail regarding the signing. So you may not know what you are getting yourself into. Also, most notaries don’t like job request via text because if they are driving it is inconvenient and dangerous. I personally consider these ‘cattle calls’. Most of these companies are looking for the cheapest notaries and because they text many notaries at one time, whomever accepts the low fee first gets the job. It may be convenient for them but it is really inconvenient for us notaries in so many ways. Gone are the days when folks want experience. Its about how low can you go.

Another concern voiced by many notaries is that they never signed up but don’t know how they got on the sites database. Some have suggested that Snap Doc’s has gone onto sites like 123notary.com, notary rotary, and others and added notaries without their knowledge or permission. Another complaint (and a serious one in my opinion) is that they have a secret review system for the signing companies to be able to rate notaries without the notaries ability to view the comments or rating about them. In other words it is ‘for signing services eyes only’. I’ve been told that its uses a ‘thumbs up or thumbs down’ rating system for notaries that translates into a percentage. The worst part is, you don’t have any way to defend yourself from any negative feedback; truthful or not. I guess we weren’t even supposed to know that the review system even existed. I guess they didn’t realize that the signing services, many being notaries themselves would let the ‘cat out of the bag’ and let us know that the services had this ability to rate us. Many notaries have expressed anger and disbelief that this was not disclosed. And several have been asked to be removed. I personally think that this may be illegal. Some of you that are attorneys or have legal aid might want to weigh in on this.

I had personally signed myself up awhile back to see if it generated any decent work but the annoying texts with the low ball fees drove me crazy. For example; 60.00 for edocs docs and faxbacks, seemed to be the norm. These fees are insulting to say the least. So I asked Sap Doc’s to delete my account immediately and they did. I made the decision to stop working with anybody that doesn’t value my level of experience. I primarily only accept jobs from reputable companies, especially title and escrow. And just so you know, they STILL do call and use notary signing agents. I am living proof!

I’d love to here your experience with Snap Doc’s. Leave them in the comments section!

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April 24, 2017

If everyone complains about Snapdocs, why do they continue to grow?

Filed under: Advertising,Popular on Facebook (A little),Popular on Linked In — Tags: — admin @ 7:07 am

Despite constant bickering on the part of Notaries, Snapdocs continues to grow. Perhaps it is the convenience. You can send a message to twenty people simultaneously. But, it’s not convenient for the Notaries, and they don’t get paid well either.

Should Notaries continue to be signed up on Snapdocs? If they are desperate! It just seems like a huge headache. But, if you thrive on quantity of low paying and annoying jobs, it sounds like low-ball heaven.

The fact is that Snapdocs grew all year. They had a slow month in August or September according to some webstats I saw. I have no idea why. Perhaps some technical issues? Or perhaps their competitors (me) did something good!

How long will Notaries put up with cattle calls, low fees, fax backs and micromanaging? And how much will Snapdocs continue to grow?

123notary is going to have to compete a little harder and add some new high-tech features to regain some of the market share lost to Snapdocs. But, what type of features will we use? Find out!

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You might also like:

Snapdocs is a bigger operation than what I thought
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=19192

I felt like I was being used (Snapdocs assignment)
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=18852

The Uber principle at Snapdocs — new blood
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=18868

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March 4, 2017

SnapDocs is a bigger operation than I thought

Filed under: Popular Overall,Uncategorized — Tags: , — admin @ 10:34 pm

123notary is a small, but high quality organization that has a database of Notaries that is nationwide. We offer refined information that we check regularly for accuracy. We never experienced any serious competition until SnapDocs appeared in 2012. SnapDocs didn’t get too much serious traffic until 2015 when we started to really feel their presence.

But, they are not a mom & pop organization like we are. They are a huge technology company that processes 40,000 loans per month. They automate a lot of the back office processes that go into preparing a loan for the closing process as well as parts of the loan signing process such as finding a Notary.

SnapDocs charges $8 per loan signing according to what I have heard. If they have 40,000 loans per month, their income is $320,000 per month or about 4 million per year. They also have a team of programmers and engineers to keep their operation afloat.

They are located in San Francisco, CA with another venue in San Jose, CA which is the tech capitol of the world as far as I’m concerned.

I’m beginning to be concerned that we will lose a lot of market share due to them, especially if they get smarter about taking market share.

You might also like:

See our STRING about Snapdocs
http://blog.123notary.com/?tag=snapdocs

The Uber principle at Snapdocs — new blood
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=18868

The History of 123notary
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=18868

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February 11, 2017

SnapDocs — thumbs up or thumbs down?

Filed under: Popular on Linked In,Popular on Twitter,Signing Company Gossip — Tags: — admin @ 10:29 pm

Notaries who use SnapDocs not only get a ton of ratings from people who used them, but the ratings are anonymous. You wonder if the ratings are even based on reality — because they can say anything! One lady on NR was furious that she only got a 77%. I have no idea, is that good?

Your entire reputation is controlled by God knows who and with information that is not even necessarily even correct or given using integrity. Additionally, you don’t know WHY you got a thumbs down. Was it because your fee was too high? Was it because you didn’t answer your phone or email fast enough or because of a scheduling issue? You’ll never find out!

But, what about the Notaries? If something goes wrong it is automatically the Notary’s fault. The Notary is penalized on SnapDocs, but not the client.

The fact is that SnapDocs clients pay them big bucks to use this convenient and automated system that performs all sorts of automated functions for them. That is excellent and I commend them for that. However, they do not seem to care about the common Notary!

Maybe I should learn from all this and design some functions into 123notary to be for the benefit of the Notary! Notaries need someone to defend them, and the forum is great, but not enough! Maybe there’s another way.

In the meantime, SnapDocs gets a thumbs up for quantity of work. However due to the quantity of endless complaints from Notaries about their service, I wonder why Notaries who have any experience at all are willing to put up with this kind of headache…

You might also like:

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

SnapDocs — I felt like I was being used!
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=18852

A comprehensive guide to Notary organizations
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=17088

Who is involved with 123notary behind the scenes?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=18888

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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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