New notary, can get signings

Looking For Advice
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So I am new to the notary life. I have invested a lot of time and money into this and can’t seem to find any one willing to give me an opportunity. I signed up with snap docs and have had multiple signings come to be, I accept them the minute that they come in and then it’s always filled by another notary. I have also set up profiles with multiple companies , Like Solidifi and Sensible signings. I spoke with Solidifi multiple times since April and finally today they tell me that they will not on board me due to 2 concerns. 1. To many notaries in my area with experience and 2. I have had no signings on Snap Docs.

My question is how do you get experience if no one is willing to give you any opportunity? It’s very demotivating trying to start this.

Any suggestions ?

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enter all of your general notary and signings in to Snapdocs. The more you have in there the better your chances of getting signings due to their algorithms.

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Entering the business of notary signing agent work is an endurance Marathon (not a sprint) . . .

For more info, see the following url:

Also, please review this link for many insights, Lanette, regarding the costs of providing these types of services:

:white_check_mark:

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I would disagree with this statement. Other than GNW which is usually direct from local people who need something notarized, I would not enter ALL signings into SnapDocs - you’re giving away your direct client list.

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I am New Being a Notary ( Washington State Seattle Area) , have passed my Essentials class, NSA cert. and am a NNA member. Have my Bond and E & O insurance.

I contacted snap doc’s but they won’t allow me to join until I have experience.
How do I get signed up with a actual signing service, getting some emails for scammers.
Already made one mistake signing up for a registry which ended up as a scam.

I have 35 years of experience in the Medical field where life is on the line. I have excellent critical thinking skills, attention to detail is strong point and great customer service skills.
This is a Challenge starting this business, it’s okay I like a challenge. Hoping a door or two may open soon.

Any help or suggestions would be appricated

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Please see my post above linda.lamp It includes 2 threads that are very helpful. :white_check_mark:

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Can you explain the “giving away your direct client list” part? I’m sure most title companies are already aware of snapdocs, no?

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but what if you list companies that are not using SnapDocs - they’re contacting you directly; not any more cuz SnapDocs will now market their business and “poof” - there goes your client

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I see. Do we know if they do that for sure or is that a fear? If they are doing that, that really sucks.

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I do not…and for me not a fear (remember, I don’t do loan signings) - but it’s common sense…

Just like when signing up with a company and they want references? You give title companies names of title companies you’ve worked with, but you never never give signing services the names of title companies you’ve worked with - otherwise there goes your direct contact.

In any business - it’s never a good idea to give up your client list of database of good leads - to anyone

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Hmm… Well, you certainly lost me there. If the very kind people of this forum had that mindset, many new notaries like me would never make it.

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You enter your general notary work? I have a ton but thought that was just for loan signings. Can I enter them all now or is it too late. I’ve been doing this for 3 months.

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It’s not you the timing is bad. Most of the refinance cases have gone the way of cheap money. And most of the clients with a squeaky clean credit history have already refinanced. What’s left are clients getting offers at either equal to what they have or maybe a point below, really not worth the fee’s to do this.

Work on your general notary work and develop a following there. And please be smart and stay away from those paid mentorship programs as all you need is basic business acumen and you will do just fine. That knucklehead that says he has all of his students making 6 figures within the microsecond of doing business is full of it. Grow your business with multiple streams of income and it will work out.

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I have used Snapdocs to track all of my work since launching my business 2 1/2 years ago. Snapdocs does not pursue the non-SD companies. Additionally other services cannot see those jobs so that really won’t help with garnering more business. Solidifi uses both SnapDocs and their own app for hiring. A few others do this as well, notably Old Republic. The only statistics they can see are your Snapdocs accepted jobs.
There are lists of companies that use SnapDocs and you can contact them directly. I also contacted companies making me offers and giving them to other notaries directly when I began asking them to add me to their approved lists and some did. Just because you see an offer on Snapdocs does not mean that you are on their approved list and they do have the ability to rank their notaries as well. There are a few companies that generally (though not always) give me any assignments that I accept. I believe that they must have me on a list of preferred notaries as I have worked for them multiple times in the past and done excellent work. I would recommend to new people that you review your profiles carefully and make certain that they fully represent your skill set. Take a look at what your competition is saying and just generally review people’s profiles–also make sure you have no spelling or grammatical errors. These are very common mistakes people make. If you are unable to write a good description of yourself, free from errors, it is unlikely that a title company or signing service would have faith that you can produce an error free signing.

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Call some of the companies who are sending you the notifications and let them know you have been trying to grasp some of the offers but have been unsuccessful. Tell them you are ready and able and sell yourself. I am new and that is what I did. I started on the low end spectrum of $75 refinances for the first 2 but after that I countered up to $85, then two more, then $95 and I now have steady work with multiple signing agencies, an excellent rating. My next job is for $175 and I will not lowball. I will not lie. I am not making a mint. I started in February and I am only at 30 signings. But I am retired and work part time so I feel that is pretty good. I am on the outskirts of Nashville TN

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I make this suggestion often. Review all of your online profiles. Specifically, look at your current SigningAgent.com profile and make sure it has a friendly/professional looking picture of you, not just that default gray avatar.

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Hiring companies use websites like SigningAgent.com and Notarycafe.com to hire notary signing agents. You increase your odds by having a complete profile.

So make sure the profile says what you want it to say and accurately reflects what your capabilities are. Finally, make sure you have adequate E&O insurance as a notary signing agent. Many hiring companies require at least 100k.

Under “Services”, if a notary signing agent’s profile indicates he/she does NOT accept eDocs, it severely limits any hiring company. Do you intend to require hiring companies to ship docs to your home instead?

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For new signing agents it is simply a misunderstanding. They have confused the term eDoc with eNOTARY, two very different things.

“Accepting eDocs” simply means a hiring company can email you an assignment. Make sure you login to your NNA profile and choose YES for eDocs.

GOOD LUCK!

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cNsa5,

Thank you for your insight and input. I am a new NSA in Michigan and just starting my business. I recently signed up with Notary Cafe Pro. I am an experienced notary and have a strong background in real estate loan documents. The Notary Cafe profile has a “pricing” section. As a new NSA how should you list your pricing (fees) without losing assignments while you build your business. I want assignments but at the same time I cant afford to work for pennies. Should I even complete the Pricing section on the notary cafe profile summary? Please advise. Thank you so much for your input.

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You asked cNsa5 but I’m going to jump in here as I, too, began my business with a long history of being a notary and a 25 year career as a real estate closing paralegal. My best answer to you is you know what is involved in a loan closing - you probably know the ins and outs of the process - better than most I’d wager - so you know what you are worth - you know what you’re going to go through “on your own” I might add and you know what is involved. Price accordingly, taking ALL aspects into consideration, as all costs of completing this loan are on you. Set a minimum fee for each type of closing and I would post that in my profile, noting that the fee is “minimum fee” - leaving negotiation open.

Also make sure you know what you need to financially sustain both your business and yourself personally. That is how you base your fee.

Don’t underprice yourself. If you truly know your stuff, and bring a stellar history of experience to their closing and the table, ask for an appropriate fee for that.

As for GNW - you’re limited to what your state says you can charge together with a travel/time fee, if allowed.

JMO and best of luck

P.S. Sorry cNsa5 - had to jump my two big feet in here :slight_smile:

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entering signings from out side of snapdocs does nothing for the algorithms only work assigned through snapdocs works. this is so people can not fake signings to get work. no other SS can see what you entered.

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@pkillebrew Hmmm . . .

Great question! Excellent insights from @LindaH-FL. Thank You VERY much, LindaH-FL => Greatly Appreciate you ‘pinch hitting’ for me! :yellow_heart: Just now returning to the office after a very FULL schedule today (thankfully).

There are myriad variables that one should take into consideration for the creation of your Professional Fee Schedule. :+1: More about this later . . . (see below).

I know your query only referenced how to complete your Notary Café Profile pricing section, so I’ll respond to that first.

ANSWER: Well, that depends. Are you serving only 1 county? If yes, you ‘could’ populate your fees in your Notary Café Professional Profile, but you’d be sagacious to populate those fields with “Call for Pricing.”

This will shield you from revealing your pricing to others in your service region AND you’ll be able to negotiate your Travel Fee based upon the actual distance/travel time, turnpike fees, parking, ferry fees, etc.

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For the creation of your Professional Fee Schedule:

It would be in your best interest to jot down all of the expenses associated with performing the services you provide within your service region to determine a baseline operating cost. Then, at that point, you can calculate the fees that will generate a net profit to determine if you’ll have a Profit or sustain a Loss at that rate.

There are many items to consider within your Overhead calculations. Here are a few to get you started:
• telephone expenses including cell phone equipment and monthly service fees
• office equipment and furniture; i.e., work chair, work desk, reliable dual-tray printer, trustworthy scanner, etc.
• Notarial stamps for Jurats, Acknowledgements, Notarial Name, Commission Expiration, etc.
• rent and utilities
• paper
• toner
• binder clips
• pens (inexpensive for one-time use)
• stationery and supplies including stamps & envelopes
• travel costs to & from signer locations (i.e., create a generic by county list)
• travel costs to & from FedEx/UPS/USPS, etc. (i.e., choose your favorite location OR the closest that will provide you with a receipt)
• business insurance
• business-related meals and entertainment
• professional association memberships
• annual background checks
• annual certification expenses
• legal and accounting fees
• tax preparation fees
• advertising and marketing costs; i.e., Google ads, yellow pages ad, website, business cards, or brochure
• Protection equipment; i.e., COVID-19 masks, hand sanitizer, wipes, etc.

AND many more!

Your individual overhead would also include the cost of fringe benefits; i.e., medical insurance, disability insurance, retirement benefits. Also, remember to include quarterly income tax payment to federal & state (as appropriate) and self-employment taxes.

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Best wishes. :sparkles:

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