Posted by Erin Mossa on 6/29/07 1:05pm
Msg #197766

Just getting started

I just am getting started with my notary business. I am getting signed up with some of hth signing agencies. Does anyone out there have and "X" list or have some companies that haven't been good to work for or with? Ones that I should avoid?
Thanks for your help
Erin Mossa

Reply by Eric Spence on 6/29/07 1:11pm
Msg #197769

Oh Boy! I made my first post here last night and was asking newb questions like you. These guys are tough and will chew you out for asking these type of questions. They have mindset that you are stealing money from them and that there are already enough notaries/signing agents in the biz. They aren't much of a welcome wagon, I can assure you of that!

Put on your flame suit because I am sure it's gonna burn!

Reply by Loretta Reed on 6/29/07 1:18pm
Msg #197772

You know what Eric, I do not believe we "veteran" signing agents do anything out of malice.
It is great to be your own person, make your own decisions, start your own business but when you tell the owner of your favorite restaurant in town that you are going to open up a restaurant just like his and want to know what to do first, who to buy the food from and what color carpet to have, you just aren't going to get a happy answer so to that I say to our dear citrus......
There is an orange "search" button at the top, put in words like "no no" and "fees" and you will get all of the info that you can stand to read. It may take you hours to get through the junk but you will find all of your answers. BUT FIRSt, go to "Find a Notary", then type in your zip and find out exactly how many people are ahead of you and then decide if you want to spend hundreds or thousands to get into this business. You may be a year too late getting here.

Reply by Loretta Reed on 6/29/07 1:21pm
Msg #197775

Re: Just getting started...Erin not citrus...got fruit

on the brain

Reply by Marlene/USNA on 6/29/07 1:35pm
Msg #197777

I WONDERED where that came from! n/m

Reply by rengel/CA on 6/29/07 1:40pm
Msg #197778

Eric ....

We "veterans" don't flame newbies for sport as you seem to think. We just get bombarded with the same questions week after week after week. It gets old. If the newbies come in and read the board, do a search and do their own homework, we appreciate legitimate questions.

So please... do your due diligence and THEN, ask questions. I assure you, you will get many helpful answers.
My .02

Reply by ZeeCA on 6/29/07 2:12pm
Msg #197787

Re: Eric ....

burning bridges results in no help.... which you seemed bent on doing in your previous postings... a lot of wonderful people with tons of knowledge post here answering questions but not if you feel entitled or do not at least so some leg work first

Reply by Eric2OO2 on 6/29/07 3:02pm
Msg #197801

Re: Eric ....

I can understand someone being frustrated and someone being afraid of competition. What I cannot understand is rudeness & nastiness. There was no reason for some of the people to respond the way that they did. I received several PM's from others stating that those sort of replies are the norm on this board for newbs. That is sad!

A more respectful reply would have been something like "use search, it works," "Sorry I cannot give out any leads as you may be my comp.!" etc etc...

some people need tact!

Reply by Erin Mossa on 6/29/07 3:08pm
Msg #197804

Re: Eric ....

Thank you Eric. I agree.

Reply by bestcal on 6/29/07 6:26pm
Msg #197840

Re: Just getting started-Very funny Eric!Welcome aboard

Eric and Erin!

Reply by JohnnyB on 6/29/07 7:49pm
Msg #197851

Tale of the Two Erics

Reply by Eric2OO2 on 6/29/07 1:13pm
Msg #197771

sent you a PM as well

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 6/29/07 1:31pm
Msg #197776

Erin
What most of us do is make our own list of No-No companies to work with based on the experience we have had with them. Some signing agents have problems with a company other signing agents have no problem with. I suggest that when you accept signings you have a 'credit limit" - do not do more than 2 or 3 signings for a company until you see how they pay you. The exceptions to this, are do not accept work from SOX. They have a very bad reputation among the majority of signing agents.
As to good companies, there is no list out there that I am aware of. If you need to know about a particular company do a search on this message board to see if there are any postings about them, either positive or negative.
But no one will give you the names of their good companies, you are their competition after all.

Read all the messages on this board and you will learn a lot.

Reply by GF_CA on 6/29/07 2:14pm
Msg #197788

Add Perfect closing service to SOX. They do not pay n/m

Reply by Erin Mossa on 6/29/07 2:27pm
Msg #197793

Thank you for the info. At this point I'm afraid to say any more.

Reply by PA_Notary_II on 6/29/07 2:29pm
Msg #197794

Just curious....did you go for the NNA's pitch and take their courses? Did they promise you could make a great living doing this? Did they also tell you that $50 to $65 was the going rate for signings? FYI...this business peaked about 2 years ago and now most of the business is done by the older, experienced people. Click on the search button and enter your zip code to see how many other CA wannabees in your area are in competition with you for the remaining crumbs of this business. Not trying to be discouraging, but you're gonna need alot of luck in addition to know-how, intestinal fortitude and solid leads. Good luck.

Reply by Erin Mossa on 6/29/07 2:54pm
Msg #197798

I am satisfied with the work I'm getting and I'm being paid well over the amout you stated. I was just tring to prepare my self.

Reply by Ndwa on 6/29/07 2:57pm
Msg #197800

You can search the company name here then decide (based on comments/posts) if you're going to waste time signing up with them.

Reply by Robin Guthrie on 6/29/07 4:19pm
Msg #197814

Wow...that was not nice. Apparently, if you weren't a notary 2 years ago, you might as well go find a job flipping burgers. At least that way, you'd get more than just "crumbs". I just can't believe someone could be so unkind...I hope that you truly are a happy person and we just caught you on a bad day. Have a good weekend.

Reply by Philip Johnson on 6/29/07 4:28pm
Msg #197819

Step right in the water is fine.

Robin, why ask those you are in competition with for the "secret" of the business? It's obvious you have done your research, jump in and start swimming you don't need us to help keep you afloat.

Reply by goatgal/CA on 6/29/07 4:35pm
Msg #197821

Re: Step right in the water is fine.

My reply was in response to the angry posts...not to Erin specifically. A message board is usally a safe place to converse with others in the business. This is not the case with this particular board. I would never snap at someone I don't know just because I felt like it. It just isn't nice.

Reply by Philip Johnson on 6/29/07 4:40pm
Msg #197823

Can't help it. Someone got your goat? :) n/m

Reply by JanetK_CA on 6/30/07 5:40pm
Msg #197907

About this message board

This message is directed to anyone on the new side who has a problem with the tone of some responses. It seems we are once again, for the gazillionth time, experiencing an influx of new people coming to this board and asking basic questions. The responses they get may seem to come out of left field and to be all out of proportion to the question asked. If you have no idea of the history of what's been going on here, that would appear to be a reasonable assumption. But as someone else alluded to here, it got old a very long time ago and there are many other factors influencing people's reactions to what appear to be simple questions.

For a better attempt to explain why people here sometimes aren't "nice" and why some "simple questions" get the reaction they do, read my message #197353. (It will make more sense if you read the whole thread first.)

When you're at a party (or any other setting) and you join of group of people already involved in a conversation, the courteous thing to do is to listen for a while and see where they are coming from. If you just barge in and start talking about yourself and your own issues without regard to what was going on before your arrival, what kind of a reaction would you expect?

This message board is a conversation that has been going on for years now. And unlike at a party, you have the unbelievable opportunity to go back and get caught up because the history is all saved and available to anyone willing to make the effort to read it! New folks who show they have made the effort, but have a genuine question (and not one that they should have been able to easily find an answer to), typically get a much different response -- and a great deal of help. In fact, sometimes a new person will pose a question that others may not have even thought of which sparks a discussion that many of us can learn from. I think most of us appreciate that.

Having said all that, I'll agree that some threads in the past have gotten ugly and descended into name calling and whatever. I generally choose to just skip over those - and we all have the freedom to make that same choice...

Reply by VickiWA on 6/29/07 5:41pm
Msg #197835

No one is being rude here...

The advice here is constuctive. Search, read and learn. You learn to weed out the posts that do not help and ignore them. People do not always speak or post in a manner we prefer. So get used to it.

I have been in this business part-time for 1 year. It is true, unless you have contacts going into this business, we newbies do end up with the crumbs. That's reality not rudeness. I understand that in the past when someone posted their fees other notaries in direct competition undercut their fees to steal business. So no one is going to pass out information that will hurt their business. So don't expect it.

Just my .02 and I don't give my .02 much but the whining gets old and is unproductive.

Good luck!
Vicki

Reply by Becca_FL on 6/29/07 6:30pm
Msg #197841

Read Msg #197675 for a bunch of good info. ;-) n/m

Reply by BrendaTx on 6/29/07 7:51pm
Msg #197852

I am going to post this knowing that someone will yell at me for advertising myself. I am going to do it to prove a point. In my free book online (see my profile) it tells exactly how to find out where to go after the title companies working your area. It will require you to get in your car and go do some research which won't be as easy as sitting in front of the computer and getting answers from a notary board but it works. If Harry wants to remove this post because I am advertising myself, that's okay, but my point is that the information is out there. You just have to do more than hope someone will tell you who your clients oughta be. Furthermore, it will tell you whether or not there's a chance of a snowball in you know where as to whether or not you can even get enough business to have an income.

Okay. I have my flack-n-fuss jacket on.