Posted by Anonymous on 2/6/05 1:04pm
Msg #19568

NEW NORTHERN NV NOTARY

HI, I HAVE BEEN A NOTARY FOR 2 YEARS NOW, BUT FOR MY EMPLOYER. I HAVE QUIT MY JOB AND HAVE NOW STARTED MY OWN BUSINESS BEING A SIGNING AGENT. WOULD LOVE FEED BACK FROM ANYONE, CAN I MAKE A LIVING AT THIS OR WILL IT ALWAYS BE A PART TIME JOB? ANYONE CARE TO SHARE HOW MUCH MONEY THEY MAKE A YEAR DOING THIS? THANK YOU IN ADVANCE. I KNOW I WOULD BE YOU COMPETTION, BUT ON OTHER SITES THEY ACTUALLY ENCOURAGE NOTARIES TO WORK TOGETHER FOR REFFERALS

Reply by Fay, CA on 2/6/05 1:12pm
Msg #19569

Without divulging actual income, I made out quite well this year for part-time income. However, I have back up money to keep me going. Just when you think everything is going smoothly, the interest rates go up and here in the United State of California, the constituency will not be dictated to and refuse to refinance unless absolutely necessary. I don't know about the rest of the 50 states, but if you read back issues of messages, you will hear one refrain, "How come it is so slow?".

Reply by Anonymous on 2/6/05 1:30pm
Msg #19573

THANK YOU FOR REPLYING, I JUST DON'T WANT TO BE HOMELESS, OR HAVE IT BE LIKE THE MARY KAY SCAM SOME ON GOT ME TO TRY ONCE. SO, YOU COULD LIVE ABOVE THE POVERTY LINE AND STILL MAKE A CAR PAYMENT?

Reply by Loretta Reed on 2/6/05 7:11pm
Msg #19588

I have been doing this for 8 years. It took me 2 years to get a good client base that I knew would pay me. I don't personally see where you can make even $300 a week for quite some time if you are just starting on your own You need to be very aggressive in signing up with companies, especially if you are the one responsible for paying your bills, I don't know your situation.
I typed in the word "newbie" with the "search" button. I saw Message #18396 by BrendaTX is a good thread to start with.
I typed in "newbie" and you can see where people have posted the same question(s) you have.

Reply by BrendaTX on 2/7/05 1:28pm
Msg #19633

Message #18219 ...

Loretta mentioned #18396 - Also, Try Message #18219 gives a few more answers. The one that Loretta indicated will get you to the other.

Use the Orange search button and it will drive you there.

B

Reply by Dogmonger, Ca on 2/6/05 11:08pm
Msg #19599

Not to be a Nag or sound too Negative, but

aren't these the type of questions you should have asked before you quit your job and started your own business?

Reply by Loretta Reed on 2/7/05 12:00am
Msg #19602

Re: Not to be a Nag or sound too Negative, but

That's a good one, Dogmonger. I would be nervous about this kind of jump.

Reply by CaliNotary on 2/7/05 3:26am
Msg #19603

"I KNOW I WOULD BE YOU COMPETTION, BUT ON OTHER SITES THEY ACTUALLY ENCOURAGE NOTARIES TO WORK TOGETHER FOR REFFERALS"

That's an interesting approach to try to get information from us. Since you're brand new to the business and don't even know if you can make a living from it, exactly how many referrals do you plan to provide to your local competition?

Reply by Loretta Reed on 2/7/05 8:43am
Msg #19604

That's a great question CaliNotary. I have never heard of other notaries saying that they are working together for referrals unless they are in different states or counties in one state. I, personally, am not going to ship my clients to another notary in my area. I will refer them to other notaries that I know that cover the counties that I do not cover.

Reply by CaliNotary on 2/7/05 1:13pm
Msg #19630

I don't really get the concept either. Yeah, it's nice to have one or two local connections as possible backups for emergencies, but beyond that I really don't want to network and share information with any of my competition. Call me crazy and selfish, but I'd rather have the business for myself.

Reply by Ernest_CT on 2/7/05 2:00pm
Msg #19639

Networking versus competeting

Daily I mentally thank four notaries who post here: One (whom I will not name here because I do not want to raise expectations among CT newbies) who spend two hours on the phone with me when I asked for her help initially; BrendaTX, who is an example and inspiration to all of us who try to walk the walk; HisHughness, logophile, bon vivant, raconteur, and sage; PAW_FL, careful advisor and gentle critic.

Giving other notaries advice based on our own experience, encouraging everyone to keep high standards, and urging new notaries not to accept rediculously low fees even though their geographic area has many notaries, all benefit the entire notary profession. The notary at the bank down the street is not my competition, nor is the mobile notary 100 miles away. Helping either of them costs me nothing but a little of my time. They may refer people to me; I may refer people to them. Life is not a zero-sum game.