Notaries complain bitterly if a job assigned to them will use slightly more of their toner or gas than some other job. They are relentlessly thinking about saving pennies or losing pennies. Others complain grievously if their advertising rate goes up even by a few dollars. The only question they ask is, “What did I pay last year?”. I ask, “Do you ask your gas station attendant what you paid for gas last week?” It doesn’t change anything, does it? The question you should ask is, “What is my investment worth, and what does it get me?” Notaries spend so much time whining about small quantities of money, while they are losing tens of thousands by not doing certain things which are critical.

Did you know that notaries with great notes sections get far more clicks and jobs than those with mediocre notes? How long does it take to write a nice notes section and what are the rewards? Most notaries say, “I just don’t have the time”, or “I’ll get around to it”. It takes 20 minutes to write an award winning notes section, and that notes section can win you $20,000 more per year in business. That translates into $1000 per minute.

Is your time worth $1000 per minute? Do you HAVE TIME for that minute? Or, are you too busy doing something more critical with that minute? Could you please inform me of what you are doing with that minute that is worth more than $1000? The notary job you accepted pays you $100 minus costs and takes you 2.5 hours. That translates to about $25 per hour after expenses. That is 40 cents per minute. Why not cancel the signing, and write a great notes section, and then you will have more offers for signings that probably pay even more than what you were offered. If I ask, “Do you want 40 cents or $1000”, most notaries will choose the 40 cents, because they are used to thinking about the moment, and not investing in their career!

What about asking for reviews? Do you not have time? How long does it take to ask for a review? 1 minute. But, having a handful of reviews can double your business. So, you make $60,000 instead of $30,000 per year. What is the cost involved? 30 minutes. But, non-consecutive minutes. Over the course of 30 weeks, you might have 30 clients who love you. You ask each one to write a review, and send them a link in an email. Out of 30 requests, you might get 5 reviews which will probably double your income. Your 30 minutes yielded you $30,000 extra in a year. Is your time worth $1000 per minute? Do you have something better to do in that minute? Early Christmas shopping? Getting that extra laundry detergent? A television show?

What about answering that phone call during an inconvenient time? Do you pick up and tell them that you can’t talk? Or, do you simply not answer? What if that person will give you $10,000 per year in business? That 10 minute call will yield you $10,000. Once again, it is $1000 per minute.

What about giving a courtesy call to all of your clients once a month. Each call might take 2 minutes, but might make the difference between being forgotten about when business is brisk at the end of the. That 2 minutes could yield you 5 extra signings worth $500. That translates to $250 per minute which is not as good as $1000 per minute — but still, not bad!

Spending that extra minute in the right way can change your life — so, spend a minute thinking about what you can do with that special minute!

BTW — the five minutes you spent reading this blog entry could have been used to do business related tasks that could yield you $5000 over the course of one year. On the other hand, if you hadn’t read this article, then you wouldn’t know what those special tasks were that you could get such dramatic results from on a minute by minute basis.

Tweets:
(1) Most notaries dwell heavily on small increases in expenses, but completely ignore opportunities to make big bucks.
(2) Spending a few minutes writing a great notes section could yield you 1000’s in long term income.
(3) 3 ways to supersize your notary business that only take a few minutes per day!

You might also like:

Comprehensive information about writing a great notes section
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=1076

A comprehensive guide to getting great reviews
http://blog.123notary.com/?cat=287

5 things you can do that are worth $1000 per minute
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=20521