Starting to hate doing this work

I would recommend the book “Marketing Your Non-Loan Notary Services” by Laura Vestamen. It’s copyright date is 2012, so it’s little dated, but it still has some great ideas about getting non-loan signing work.

3 Likes

Concur, Arichter. Same scenario in my service region. :white_check_mark:

1 Like

:studio_microphone: :mute:

SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

There’s $75 refinances waiting for you, are you going to them? :thinking:

1 Like

SHHHHHHHH. Don’t tell anyone.

Hahaha that’s funny. :joy:

1 Like

The industry is OUT OF CONTROL. Awful, sickening. There are TOO MANY COOKS IN THE KITCHEN. Waaaayyyyy too many “newbies” who paid some fly-by-night, NOT CREDITED company to “teach them how”. Seriously??? Look at us now, 453 notaries in a cattle call versus maybe 50 that HAD A WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH LENDORS.

1 Like

And just LOOK at the dang 1000’s of “middlemen” - Notary Signing Agent platforms in existence? Whhhaaaatttt? Go get another job, man, leave us alone to get back to being independent, professional Certified Signing Agents who have been doing this for years.

Cattle call, cattle call,

There’s a lot of cattle that accept $75 refinances….:cry:

I’m a less-than-one-year notary/signing agent with an extensive background in business. I’ve been reading this thread and thought I might jump in and share what I have experienced. Here are my randomly listed thoughts, written primarily for newbies :slight_smile: :

I’m beginning to make some money now that I have been established for a while. My average fee earned is now $100 and it took several months to get to that rate. I don’t bid most of the lower offers anymore unless they are easy or nearby. I often ask for more $ when the job is thought to be more difficult or distant and I usually get what I ask for (if it’s reasonable).

I bought a Brother 5200 printer and my life changed for the better instantaneously! These printers are impossible to find (you try and find one) but this machine is perfect for my work. Two trays, prints fast as heck, never jams, space efficient, laser quality. I strongly recommend. I use the Adobe method for two-sized paper printing and it works perfectly. I save TONS of time.

I use ‘convenience’ stamps for routine journal entries (e.g. “Deed of Trust”, “Signature Affidavit”, “Errors & Omissions” and many more. Saves tons of time. I will be going to the electronic journal soon and my stamps will be for backup only. Another huge timesaver. Can’t wait to get started.

I’ve started to advertise on YELP! and it’s paying off. I’m getting more and more GNW each week and my fees yield much more profit than NSA work because my costs are so low and I can do so many more in any given day. I work the heck out of that slice of the market and it’s showing on my bottom line. You’d be shocked at who I’ve found that use a notary regularly. Can’t share that with you, though, because my competitors read this forum and I’d be giving away my trade secrets. My advice, however. . . get creative. I suspect each geographic region in this country has ‘pockets’ of notary-users and it’s up to you to ferret them out. I’ve found 14 major lines of business for GNW. :slight_smile:

About a month ago, I spoke to a Signing Service guy who is also a NSA. He told me on his best day he did 8 refinance signings and he made about $1200. Eight! Gee, I’m a model of efficiency and my best day is four. I could do five, maybe, but not eight. And, it’s NOT my age that keeps me from doing eight. I’m just not going to invest in a printer and scanner for my car (gee whiz!) or buy a Prius nor am I gonna skip meals and potty breaks so I can do eight signings a day. These folks who claim to be making $10 grand a month are keeping their trade secret from the rest of us. . . or they are, well, exaggerating a little to scare us off. Just my opinion.

Incidentally, where I live in Southern California, gasoline is $4.89 per gallon for premium. My travel costs are awful and there is little I can do about that. Traffic sucks, too. But I drive a really fun car and I like driving so it’s not too bad, except for the gas part.

Here’s a piece of advice that my ol’ sweet daddy gave me years ago: He said, “You want the business? You’d better go ASK for it, son. Ain’t nobody gonna hand it to you.” I have taken that advice to heart as a notary. Everywhere I go, I ask for the business. I’m not a pest or a huckster, no. I politely inquire as to someone’s needs and then I offer a business card (mine are STELLAR and very professional) and I’m amazed at where business is beginning to come from. But you gotta be clever and sublime at the same time. Not everyone can master that skill, but try.

I use and very much like SnapDocs accounting system. If you’re not using any accounting system, you might look theirs over.

Buy your paper by the case at COSTCO if you haven’t licked that logistical problem already.

I’ve been modestly successful as a new notary/signing agent and I work the system hard. All you new notaries just have to hang in there, be innovative and smart and professional. Run your numbers once and figure out what your margin is, what you want it to be and what you need to do to get that margin. If you can’t make it work, it may be time to look for other work.

There’s an old baseball adage I really like. Baseball teams play 160 games in a season. Every team in the league will win at least 60 games and every team will lose at least 60 games. It’s what you do with the other 40 that counts. What are you doing with the forty games you’ve got to play?

If you don’t get the implication I’m trying to make, it probably is time for you to find another line of work. Complaining like so many do in this forum ain’t getting y’all nowhere.

Here’s my wish for you:

May your printer never jam,
May your pens never run out of ink,
And, may your scanbacks be few.

Until next time. . .

9 Likes

I appreciate the respect you demonstrate for the business you’ve created from the ground up!
A completely understandable position.

Truer words have never been spoken.

@Bobby-CA outstanding post!! Kudos to you on your success and your perseverance. Great words for all notaries and signing agents.

Thank you.

You say there’s plenty to go around, yet from the other side of your opinion say that others in the business are “your competitors” – thereby labeling them/us as such and not seeing us/them as TEAM MEMBERS.

Yeah, that’s all I got out of that novel, too. He’s one a few notaries on here who literally just post about how they’re doing 20 signings a day, making 200k a year, are too busy to even take a shower, etc etc. Those types of people never help anyone, contribute to the community in any way, or mentor as far I’ve seen. I’ve just stopped reading posts by em. I don’t get the point of bragging to others and not helping. It’s so cringe.

2 Likes

Hello, thank you for sharing. You are going to be a six figures NSA soon enough! Keep doing it! I love your perseverance and your hard work. You are proactive and you are creative. These are the traits that will lead you to be successful in all you do in life. I can tell from your excitement that you love what you do! When you love what you do the sky is the limit.

I know, Taylor Green and noblenotary615!! Seriously??? :lying_face: Sounds like he’s got all this time in the world, and we KNOW, we KNOW he did not get there overnight, and it’s so much posturing, a braggart IMHO… you hit the nail on the head!

Exact spot I got to after the influx of “newly trained Signers” AND the middle-man companies AND the loan/mortgage companies thinking they are paying LESS in the end for expert notarial persons! I see so many mistakes and miscommunications as a result of these relationships and practices. I, too, am 69 years old, back to work in a comfortable spot, $56k/ year, and guess what?.. no more high ink & paper & gas costs – taxes taken out for me, no more “over the top borrowers’ attitudes”… You are so valuable to a regular job… I wish the best for you, you are young and experienced. :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

1 Like

Rochelinda,
My success is MY success. Those that can. . . Do. Those that can’t, typically WON’T. What do you expect me to do, give my competitors ammunition? There are so many gripes on this site, I hardly know why I bother with it. My objective was to encourage newbies by letting them know that a 72 year old guy still has enough in the tank to get it done. They can do the same. All y’all just complain over and over again and again when you should be THINKING and hustling.

I live in Southern California (gas this morning is $5.15!!!) and it is super saturated with notaries and super competitive. I’m doing well because I figured out where the work is and I went and got it. Quit whining and quit looking for a handout. You, Roche, seem to want all the goodies for free. That’s not the way it works. Instead, you and other complainers like you sit on Notary Forums all day and pour your little hearts out looking for sympathy.

If your region doesn’t afford you the opportunities than 1) move; 2) quit and do something else; or, 3) get off your arse and dig up enough work to make you happy. The title companies, escrow companies and lenders read your posts, y’know, and they are laughing at your complaints.

Gee whiz. All I tried to do is explain how one old guy found his way in this goofy business and you’d think I was just being boastful. I’ve got waaaay better stuff to do than entertain myself on this site with my input. You and Noble and others have an endless gripe cord in you and somebody needs to snap it. I wish you all the $65 signings you can handle.

There. . . I feel better now.

(Not really)

3 Likes

Good for you, kid! That’s what I like to hear :grinning: See my clapback farther down this thread.