   | Welcome to the Notary Talk General Discussion Forum. Before posting, please read the  |
| You are replying to this message: | | |
Posted by  Hiba/CA on 10/1/14 1:25pm
Welcome, Roxanne! I am a fairly new Notary too, commissioned in October. I will share with you what I found helpful because it was honestly so hard for me to find anyone willing to help. I don't blame them, it's a tough business these days and the key for your success will be to work, work, work on marketing yourself. Since October I have closed close to 100 loans and I know I am one of the lucky ones.
That said, I second everyone's advice about reading reading reading on here. Also I am not sure whether you are certified signing agent or not, so assuming you are not, here is a list of what I would do:
1) get certified through a reputable outfit. There are at least 4 I can think of who are top notch. Don't go with the cheapie ones. You always get what you pay for.
2) Get a membership on this site if you haven't already, and craft a solid marketing email that you will send to potential clients. Then go through the Notary Rotary Signing Central list, choosing the top-rated outfits and email them directly asking to be placed on their notary vendor list
3) Market yourself exhaustively: through marketing letters described above, and by joining LinkedIn notary groups, Notary Rotary and the others and contributing to the discussions.
4) Even if you are certified, take more classes. There are two particularly highly-recommended certification courses out there but I don't think the Forum will let me post their names
5) Advertise your business on Yelp and Craigslist
6) Lastly, if you are looking for experience in general notary work as well, not just signings, one thing that did wonders for me was getting a part time job working for UPS (or Postal Annex or FedEx shipping locations). They are often looking to hire notaries (you will have to do the other "shipping" work as well) and they always have notaries on staff who can help you if you have questions. I can't tell you the totally bizarre things I have notarized while working at UPS.
It took a while for my LOAN SIGNING business to get going but once the phone started ringing more than twice a week, I gave UPS my notice and thanked them profusely. I did not want to turn signings away if they conflicted with my UPS schedule but I am not the type of person who would call in sick just to take another assignment: not fair to the rest of the team and not cool.
Lastly, go to hospitals, nursing homes, other care facilities, lawyers' offices, escrow and title companies, real estate companies, etc. in your area. (Someone even suggested that when I bring my marketing materials to title and escrow companies, bring some tummy yummies such as cookies or chocolates. Be careful how you package that stuff. Some folks won't touch it due to the "ick" factor and others will devour it. The safest thing to do in this case is to bring in something from a controlled place such as supermarket. Every time they reach for a cookie or a Hershey's Kiss, there's your business card in front of the food jar/bowl/plate.)
You can even go to your local banks. Although the latter usually have someone in house, just drop off your marketing materials (a one-pager and business cards) and have a little elevator speech ready along the lines of "if you ever need a notary if yours is sick or on vacation, please do call me."
Hope you find this info helpful. Best of luck and keep reading and learning on Notary Rotary. |
|
