You're in Salida, not too far from me in Rocklin. In essence, you may be considered my competition -- one of many, many. This area is fairly saturated with notaries. As others have posted, business is slow. Business is typically slow during the end-of-year holidays. Hopefully, you're not relying on this as your sole source of income. It's going to take a while for your business to take off.
May I suggest you contact the Small Business Administration (SBA) for counseling? They'll help you develop a business plan; put you in touch with SCORE for a mentor; and help you start and grow your business. Being self-employed is a lot of work. It takes a lot of time and energy to start, develop, continue and grow your business. The key word is market, market, market and market some more ... and when you get tired of that, market even more! As a first step in marketing, develop a profile for here. At the moment, it's blank. If a hiring party is looking for a notary in your area, they'd like to know something about you to decide if they want to hire you and they'll need contact information as well.
Insofar as your questions:
1. Start with the tab above "Signing Central" and contact all the companies rates 4-5 stars. At a stretch, you might even consider some of the 3-star companies but be careful there.
2. Only you can determine what your fees should be. Take into consideration ALL the scope of the work; ALL your expenses (including taxes); the expense of purchasing and maintaining your equipment and vehicle. Most here would probably say that a minimum of $100 per signing is somewhat adequate. However, some of us charge a little more and offer better-than-point-and-sign service. If I accept an assignment that consists of driving more than 20 miles one way, my fee increases. There are many variables to take into consideration.
3. Printer: You definitely need a laser printer. As to the brand ... that's a personal preference. Most on Notary Rotary prefer either Brother or HP. I would certainly recommend you get one that accommodates dual trays.
4. Office supplies: Both letter and legal sized paper, 20 lb., start with at least a case of each. Blue ink pens, as most docs are signed in blue (very few black ink so you may want to have a couple of black pens). All the other usual -- i.e. stapler/staples/remover, paper clips, binder clips/rubber bands, post-its, envelopes, shipping supplies for Fedex and UPS, etc.
Like I said, SBA is a great starting point. Notary Rotary is a great information resource. Use it. Read every day and learn. Good luck!
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| Messages in this Thread |
|  New to this ... - Amanda Lowe on 11/15/17 11:35am |
|  Re: New to this ... Welcome. - NVLSlady/VA on 11/15/17 11:41am |
|  I'm curious.... - PA_Notary_II on 11/15/17 1:04pm |
|  Re: I - Amanda Lowe on 11/15/17 5:45pm |
|  "There is a high demand for mobile notaries and signing -  MW/VA on 11/16/17 10:41am |
| Wow, is this Message out of date or what!? - BearPaw/CO on 11/15/17 1:56pm |
| Re: Wow, is this Message out of date or what!? - NVLSlady/VA on 11/15/17 3:10pm |
| Re: New to this ... Welcome. - Amanda Lowe on 11/15/17 2:15pm |
| Well, think I envy you even less ;) - NVLSlady/VA on 11/15/17 3:21pm |
| Re: New to this ... Welcome. - JanetK_CA on 11/15/17 3:46pm |
| I'll probably get blasted for this, but - desktopfull on 11/15/17 3:51pm |
| Re: I'll probably get blasted for this, but - NVLSlady/VA on 11/15/17 4:37pm |
| Re: I - sueharke on 11/16/17 12:38am |
| It's called a business plan. - Bear900/CA on 11/16/17 1:18am |
| Re: New to this ... - Cheryl Elliott on 11/15/17 5:39pm |
| Investing in a postal business center office - Cheryl Elliott on 11/15/17 9:09pm |
 | Re: New to this ... Welcome, Amanda! - Yoli/CA on 11/15/17 5:43pm |
| Re: New to this ... Welcome, Amanda! - Amanda Lowe on 11/15/17 5:53pm |
| May the calls keep coming. You're already ahead of the game. - NVLSlady/VA on 11/15/17 6:04pm |
| Re: New to this ... Welcome, Amanda! - JanetK_CA on 11/15/17 7:54pm |
| Re: New to this ... Welcome, Amanda! - Cheryl Elliott on 11/16/17 5:27am |
| Re: New to this ... Welcome, Amanda! - Luckydog on 11/16/17 6:41am |
| Re: New to this ... Welcome, Amanda! - Ink color - jojo_MN on 11/15/17 6:07pm |
| Success Strategies - Cheryl Elliott on 11/16/17 6:43am |
| to answer your questions..... - notarydi/CA on 11/16/17 7:10am |
| Re: to answer your questions..... - Amanda Lowe on 11/16/17 11:58am |
