At 123notary.com we come into contact with a lot of newer notaries. Unfortunately, few of them ask for advice, and few of them do the right things. Most are just either confused or not that interested in really making their notary career work. So, what should new signing agents do?
Get on board! But, with whom?
(1) Advertise…
First of all, you need to be seen. Advertise on the major notary directories like 123notary, Notary Rotary, Notary Cafe, and Signingagent.com
If people can’t find you, they can’t use you
(2) Pass at least three certification tests.
We lecture people all the time about this, but few budge an inch. Get certified by ALL companies who you intend to advertise with in the long run. Notary2Pro also offers notary training although they do not have a notary directory as far as I know, and their training is one of the best. Don’t be afraid to get certified three or four times. You learn more each time you study and test. You also prove yourself more. If you want people to respect your knowledge, stop fighting it and just pass everyone’s test. For a professional notary, this shouldn’t be a big deal and it doesn’t cost that much either.
(3) Get on board with signing companies.
Most beginner notaries want to make big bucks working for high paying Title companies. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like this. Title companies like to hire seasoned pros. You are an unseasoned non-pro unless you are from Southern Louisiana in which case you might be seasoned (Cajun perhaps.) But, that’s the wrong kind of seasoned in the Notary business. Work for low-ball signing companies. Work for the companies that everyone is complaining about on the boards. Make sure they pay their notaries, but work for the annoying ones. We compiled a list of signing companies who will hire beginners. I strongly recommend getting on board with them as they can jump start your career and get your phone ringing.
You can also look at our list of signing companies and start contacting them one by one. Not all of them specialize in hiring beginners, but you can talk to them. Most of them will have some sort of a contract you will have to sign. They might want you to fill out forms, submit your E&O, Bond, and some other information too. Don’t send this to us. Notaries mistake us for a signign company daily, and we throw out all of the useless information they send us. We don’t want your E&O, we just want your money… (and your address, hours of operation, county, additional counties, two or more paragraphs of notes about your service, # of loans signed, # of RAM of your laserprinter, etc.)
As a new notary, if you follow these three easy steps, your business will get jump started. You will go from zero jobs per month to dozens overnight. Yes, it might take four months to get on a 50-100 signing company databases, and it might take some bugging them to get your first job. But, do it. People who listen to 123notary tend to do a lot better than those who are either too lazy, or too argumentative to listen. Follow our proven path to success and reap the benefits! You won’t get rich, but at least you’ll be making a huge supplement to your income!
You might also like
Signing Companies That Hire Beginners
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=7059
Low Ball Signing Companies
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=745
Minimum wage for Notaries
I was thinking about this yesterday. Notaries would be much more happy if there was some sort of a minimum wage. I remember Ben Carson claimed that there should be a separate minimum wage for people fresh out of high school or college otherwise they might never get hired. Personally, I think the government should stay out of wage setting as it creates artificial market situations which might make it too expensive to do business. If someone is sluggish, minimum wage might be more than they merit. And when you combine minimum wage with taxes, insurance, unemployment, and the rest, it might lead many to outsource their work overseas!
Our average Notary averages $105 per signing.
But, you can’t outsource Notary work overseas — at least not yet. Notaries would feel like they were being treated better if they were paid a fair wage. On the other hand, Notaries surveyed half a year ago were averaging about $105 per signing which is not bad at all. Just because you get bad offers doesn’t mean that you actually do signings for $60. It is sort of like looking at the asking prices for houses on the market. The asking price and the sale price are often very different and will give you a distorted view of the market.
Do beginners have merit?
In any case, I feel that beginner Notaries with no experience and no 123notary certification do not merit a minimum wage. Most of the Notaries I test by phone do not know their documents, signing terminology and additionally do even worse when I ask them simple Notary questions. The fact is that we have a lot of unqualified people out there who feel they are worth a lot. In addition to minimum wage for Notaries, I feel there should be minimum standards as well. I feel that our new 30 point test should be the standard, and a particular test result such as a 14 or 15 should be the minimum to be hired at all.
What should qualified Notaries make?
A Notary who has signed 400 loans (and an prove it with journals) and who has passed the 30 point test with an adequate score in my opinion is entitled to some sort of standardized minimum wage. I feel that
$60 per signing of 5-99 pages
$65 per signing of 100-125 pages
$70 per signing of 126-150 pages
$80 per signing of 150+ pages
10 cents per page for printing
50 cents per page for fax backs
I feel that a Notary with good test scores who has signed 4000 or more loans deserves a lot more than this, but the market can determine their value. Just because you test well, doesn’t mean you show up on time, well dressed and with a good attitude.
What do you think a fair minimum wage for qualified Notaries should be? What about for not so qualified Notaries?
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You might also like:
$40 for a signing 72 miles away?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=14959
Is $75 enough to print 2 sets of docs, notarize & do faxbacks?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=10369
The “Met my fee” list of signing companies
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=16979
A Notary Union? How would that work?
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=18878