Once more, I'm reminded of the mortgage meltdown years. Many here will remember the barrage of "offers" we started seeing that were similar to this. For those of you who weren't yet readers here, it seemed that all kinds of folks were jumping on the bandwagon of trying to extract some extra money from notaries by charging various types of membership fees in order to either make some kind of windfall or keep their heads above water.
As I recall, they fell into two main categories. First, the hiring parties who started charging fees for notaries to be entered into their database - virtually always without guarantee of receiving any work. They might not even have any work in a given area, but tried to charge these fees anyway. (A rare few said they would credit it back with the first assignment - if that ever happened. But that's still money out of your pocket.)
Second, was a whole new rash of online directories with enticing promises of marketing their database - and therefore your listing - to title companies and other hiring parties, bringing lots of new business. Only problem was that no one ever seemed to use these directories and they sure didn't manage to show up on internet searches. Most were never heard from again, but it wouldn't surprise me if some pf those same players now rise from the dead...
Bottom line is save your money! There are no shortcuts or easy answers for finding work, especially in a declining market. [See http://www.sourceoftitle.com/article.aspx?uniq=8758.] There's only a handful of online directories that are legit and possibly worth the investment, but that will vary by region. Before you decide to invest in online advertising, do your homework and check them out carefully. (I recommend going beyond this forum for that research.)
And as for paying a signing service (or settlement co) just to be in their database, I don't recommend it at all. There may be exceptions, but I believe that request is a sign that a company is either having financial problems or has their values way out whack - and I wouldn't want to work for them in either case.
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