Oh my word, YES. Thank God you kept your primary job!! That is EXACTLY why I keep posting this post-there are a lot of slimy and crooked “coaches” out there and I have actually run into a few of the folks who took their rotten bait, LOL.
As I mentioned, the ONLY reason I did this full-time for 2 1/2 years was because I wanted out of the industry anyways, and initially it was a temporary thing for me. YES, it was absolutely lucrative-i just did my taxes and made $112k last year, but as is typical of real estate that came crashing down starting around December.
I do want to encourage you to keep doing it on the side!! Even if you do only 3 a week at $75 each (which is the average rate in my area) that adds up! I still make between $600 and $900 a month and that’s PRETTY COOL if you ask me…
I wanted to ask you, are you signed up on SigningOrder.com and Snapdocs?? These 2 platforms have been very successful for me-Coast 2 Coast uses Snapdocs and while they don’t pay the highest rate, it’s consistent and they always pay. If so, and you still aren’t seeing any orders, drop an email to Coast 2 Coast at office@c2csignings.com or to the owner, Lisa Bittner lisa@c2csignings and introduce yourself! They are really super great to work with, truly, especially if you are brand new and they will give you orders-promise!!
Also, Snapdocs does track your availability and though I saw somewhere here (not sure if it’s this thread) where someone said it doesn’t matter, that’s actually not 100% correct (I know this because I’ve spoken to Lisa about this). Having a good response rate on Snapdocs will push you to the top of the list of signing agents in your zip code so even if you can’t take a signing make sure to respond to every request that you can. I try to maintain 85% or better if possible, even if I’m only declining them.
Which brings me to this…A word about how these orders get assigned…this was driving me nuts so, of course, I found out the answer LOL. I actually had schedulers that I was friendly with that work with each platform do a “Zoom” meeting with me so they could share their screen in order to show me how they assign, so I’ve seen this with my own eyes. And, First IS your response rate - this applies to SigningOrder.com as well. The platforms use algorithms and the higher your response rate the more frequently you’ll show at the top of the list - Even if you decline them! SigningOrder doesn’t show your response rate, but it matters because when a scheduler submits the order, they will indicate how many results (signing agents) they would like the order to be texted to. Could be 5, 10, etc. and the higher your response, the more requests you’ll receive. If no one bites, they’ll push it to 10 more and so on until they get a bite. And, the signing company also has the ability to mark YOU as preferred for them which means you are automatically included in their initial requests sent to your area. So, for example, if they mark that they want 10 signing agents to receive their request, you will ALWAYS be in their top 10 regardless of your response rate. If they only want 5, you’ll ALWAYS be one of them. Also, once you are preferred, any order you accept will automatically be assigned to you-The schedulers won’t even have to manually select you. If there are multiple preferred notaries responding to one order, the first response gets it so try and be quick. If there are more than 10 preferred agents and they indicate they want 10? Well, that’s when your response rate also counts - The preferred notaries are once again selected by response rates (algorithms).
As far as marketing to title companies, well…heck, why not?? As I mentioned, there will be times the EO can’t do the signing and those pay very, very well. I’d still target a few if I were you! 
. Just don’t anticipate many and be pleasantly surprised when you get one!
One final thing (promise) is to pay attention to what day of the month it is. The refi’s have a mandatory 3 day right of cancelation…so for a loan to close, the signings have to occur at least 3 business days before the end of the month. For this reason, there is usually a surge in orders right around the third week of the month (I always see posts during that time from excited signing agents saying “WOW THINGS ARE REALLY PICKING UP, YAHOO!!!” and no…they aren’t. It’s just a surge for about 5 or 6 days and even these surges will go away soon. However, you’ll have better chances at snagging a few during that time so keep your phone close to you. And most companies are fine with you moving the time a bit-if I get one for 3:00 and I can’t do it until 5, I’ll snap it up. Just be aware of when your last FedEx pickup is, so you can still have time to drop them the same day. Anything after 4, they do not expect the packages back the next day, so grab the ones after 4 even if you need to move them out. The folks are already home and won’t mind pushing it back at all. I will probably get some pushback about this-but I have never had problems moving the time around, personally. They just want them signed so the clock starts ticking on the ROC.
With all of this being said, I wouldn’t say you wasted money at all…you will for sure recoup your investment! While I’ve been typing this I snagged 2-one at $100 and one from C2C for $75…shazaam! You will recoup, Just not as quickly as if it were the same time last year.
Let me know if I can help you in any other way, I hope I shed a little light on the whole ballgame for Ya!