I’m aware, “You’ve got to spend money to make money” is pertinent in this business, however, everywhere you look is seemingly the place that you ‘should’ put your money. It is especially overwhelming being new. Now the only way to stand out is to cash out more money, after you put out so much time and energy into going above and beyond, come to find out you are eye-level with the rest. Every time you finally reach a new step there are another 10 added on, and each of those have new ways of wasting money. With so much clutter in this space it can be extremely consuming looking for the “key” to making your business work in your area. Which leads me to my questions, are there any successful new NSA’s out there (within a year of starting)? If so, what do you feel was the catalyst to getting you business in your area, and what is your relative location? How did you come to find out that was what was necessary for you and your business? Are there any unwritten rules you learned, that you believe, were the reason you couldn’t get business? I want to get into RON, and I maybe have an opportunity to do HELOC. Every decent company is asking for experience, and the places who don’t require experience never offer work, so it sends us into an infinite loop.
I’m from Texas (DFW), have been officially signing for about a month now.
NNA Certified, Notary Bond, $100,000 e&o, and have completed one signing, I am signed up with roughly 30-40 signing services, hardly any of them bite. When they do bite, I accept within literal seconds, no matter how fast I am the signing is already taken. I am getting flustered and am trying to find if this is worth the wait?
30 or 40 is not enough…. When I first started in December I signed onto over 200 companies. Of all the ones I signed on with I only get regular business from 5 on a monthly basis. I found that it is a numbers game when you get offers that are in line with you price point hit the accept button as quickly as you can. And as you do more for that company after a couple of successful signings reach out to them to ask them what you need to do to be on their tier one list or preferred notary list. This is what I did for the 5 that give me regular business.
In the end you have to prove yourself which will not happen overnight. It took me 6 months to climb that ladder and I’m still climbing. In January my total signings that I completed was 21 for that month but as of today I completed 37 for May. Of that count 25 was from my regular companies.
When you refer to 200 companies are you talking strictly signing services, or does that encircle title companies, Signing services, escrow companies etc.? Did you physically approach each local company or did an email/phone call suffice? Would you say RON/electric signings just as important as being certified? Thank you for your response.
What I did was go to Notary Rotary and made a list of SS and TC with 4 stars or more then I did my research on this site and made a list of the good ones reported by other members.
I went to each site and company and signed up with them directly or sent them an email asking to be added to their list of notaries. Some responded back to my email requests or directed me on where to sign up to be an approved vendor on their site.
Excellent idea, thank you. I find a lot of answers beating around the bush, I understand why, but I do best with facts not nuance. I was hoping I was on the right track but your comment definitely helped with assurance. I have tried this idea roughly but not quite as concise, much appreciated.
Wow, 200? I only signed with about 30, kept 10 total and had to let go the rest. And only get consistent work from 5 and I can’t even handle those 5! Can’t imagine having to work with 200 companies, that would drive me crazy!
@etmnotary The helpful information provided by @donaldsonnp will assist with progress. I’ll add a caveat for your research . . .
When you search the companies with 4 or 5 stars, read the RECENT reviews. There have been many changes in how business entities are being managed over the past few months. As such, you’ll want the most current experiences shared to make your determination if you’re willing to accept the credit risk potential or not.
Also, you’ll benefit greatly by researching here within the Notary Cafe database. It can be directly accessed by selecting the Magnifying Glass and entering a Search keyword/phrase/topic/business entity, etc. Here is an image for assistance in locating the Magnifying Glass (as most say it’s IMPOSSIBLE to find!). You’ll unlock access to the diverse insights & wisdom of the forum sages there.
You nailed the experience. Like I stated in another thread, ole timers think we are lowballing but in reality we are just trying to get our feet in the door. The ones that are not true to the cause will disappear and maybe they are creating a fee problem but we can only hit that reply button so fast and it only takes half a second to lose the assignment. I’ve found that contacting the company if you’re lucky enough to get the job, whether or not there are questions; helps to build the rapport. I’ve heard their horror stories on new notaries and I feel they can’t give us all the benefit of the doubt. Once we “prove” ourselves, maybe we’ll get the chance to get the experience. You know its six of one and half dozen of another. I intend to stay the course!
Texas has an over saturation of Notaries. There are nearly 500,000 notaries for the 30 million residents. California has about 28,000 Notaries for 30 million residents This works out to about 1 notary for every 60 residents. This over saturation, a softening real estate market, rising interest rates…etc., makes it difficult to make it as a Notary. At my peak I was closing the equivalent of 500 Real Estate closings annually and had over 150 SS and TCs on my list. I was very busy until Feb 2022 when the bottom dropped out.
I knew the gravy trains was going to end so I started a new venture in 2020. This is my advice to you; find another income stream until things turn around. Today my Notary business is a value added service to my Tax Practice.
Like you I’m a Texas Notary located in the Hill Country. You can send me a PM if you’d like to chat further.
I’m a lifelong surfer so I will explain it like the sport of surfing.
So you bought a new board, wetsuit and watched all the videos. You paddle out at Malibu and there’s 3 waves every 15 minutes. Your problem is there’s 100 guys waiting for a chance to catch a wave and when you finally do you fall off and go to the back of the line. How long is it going to take to learn? Maybe never.
Or you can go to a spot that isn’t crowded and learn on those waves. So your choice should be to move to a different spot or keep being disappointed with your lack of progress.
You my have to take a job at a mailbox store that hires notaries just to build up your skills.
