Posted by Samantha Stephens on 1/2/08 4:40pm
Msg #228682

Newbie

Hi,
I am new to the Notary world. I want to start working and making money, but don't feel I know enough to feel comfortable yet. Any tips and help would be appreciated.

Reply by PaulK on 1/2/08 4:46pm
Msg #228683

Here we go yet again and again

Reply by Roger_OH on 1/2/08 5:07pm
Msg #228687

Sam...

Read the responses to another newbie (Jackie/VA) several threads down, and heed that advice.

If you took an NNA class, you'll need all the help you can get, so become very friendly with the orange search button for your questions.

Reply by Maureen Lazar on 1/2/08 5:14pm
Msg #228688

Well That first reply surely wasn't to helpful. But if you spend time on the website and search blogs you will find lots of good, informing blogs. Sign up on the internet on all free and low paying notary databases. You need high speed internet and laser printer to do e-docs. Which is my main source of income right now. What state/town do you live in?

Reply by Samantha Stephens on 1/3/08 5:38pm
Msg #228890

Temecula

Reply by Glenn Strickler on 1/2/08 5:43pm
Msg #228691

Start with msg# 33325 n/m

Reply by desktopfull on 1/2/08 5:52pm
Msg #228693

Again?????

You just decided to do this without a business plan and expect other notaries (your competition) to tell you how to cut into their business which is already slow. Use the orange search key, look up message #33325 and read! Why would anyone start a business without a clue of what they are doing? Are you one of the recent NNA seminar taker's?

Reply by Christine Pardo on 1/2/08 6:51pm
Msg #228702

Re: Again?????

Boy, you folks are viscious when it comes to newbies. How many of you actually mentor new folks? With out mentors how are newbie supposed to know and learn the right way? If you are so well versed in your skills and marketing- why would you be so threatened by new folks.
Getting started is hard and the nuances of drumming up business are difficult to find. A little gentle kindness or a good old fashioned "keep your mouth shut if you ain't got somethin' good to say" might just keep this message board alot more interesting and a lot more pleasant.
Sorry- but I am struggling with trying my hand at few new income sources and am sick and tired of getting blasted or watching other greenies get blasted.
It is more painful to fall off a high horse than a short donkey.

Reply by CaliNotary on 1/2/08 7:07pm
Msg #228704

Re: Again?????

"If you are so well versed in your skills and marketing- why would you be so threatened by new folks. "

Ummm, because there is significantly less business to go around these days than there was a year ago? A buttload of knowledge and marketing only goes so far, if the loans aren't being written your skills don't mean squat.

Reply by desktopfull on 1/2/08 7:11pm
Msg #228706

Re: Again?????

What is viscious about telling someone to read the message board and get a business plan before attempting to start a business they are apparently clueless about. No one held my hand or told me squat about this business. I researched it, developed a plan and marketed myself. I didn't ask other people in the business to tell me how to be their competition by using their business plans. And to answer your question, I have helped people personally get into this field. Also, mentoring doesn't mean you do the work and then hand it over for someone else to reap all of the benefits. It means you give advise. My advise was to use the orange search key, read, and develop a business plan. Sorry you consider that rude or viscious. In case you didn't read the previous threads, this was the 3rd newbie today asking for the same advise when all they had to do was read the first page of the posts today to get their answer.

Reply by sue_pa on 1/2/08 7:11pm
Msg #228707

Re: Again?????

... why would you be so threatened by new folks...

no one with experience is 'threatened' by new folks. People who begin this job with no experience and no background other than a 3 hour course taught by an 'expert' cause problems for everyone. As for being quiet, go to ABC Industries and tell the person hiring you that you can do the job. Then, ask every other employee how to do the job because you don't know how to do the job - you just said you knew how and figured you'd learn as you go. When your boss finds out you don't know your job, do you think he's going to keep his mouth shut? As for mentoring, these posts ALL help - maybe someone doesn't like the answer or the tone but anyone that can't decipher the mentoring freely given here doesn't deserve any help.

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 1/2/08 7:13pm
Msg #228708

Re: Again?????

"How many of you actually mentor new folks? With out mentors how are newbie supposed to know and learn the right way"

I have mentored lots of "newbies" through the SR.
But when I and a lot of others on this forum started there was no such things as mentors.

One only has to read this forum to know that business is not what it was several years ago. There is a lot less work to "go around".

Reply by jba/fl on 1/2/08 7:21pm
Msg #228710

My high horse never came to my pasture, and I don't have

a donkey either, but I have fallen from other places as well as from grace from time to time.
BUT, at this point in time, I will not mentor without pay, a lot of it.
I don't know where in FL you are Christine, but you are my competition, and there are so many of the new, churned out by a notary machine with no regard for truthfulness when advertising their wares, and if you are new because of this deceptive advertising, I am truly sorry. The time to do research about a business is before you pay for a class, before you take that class, and after you have done some checking as to the claims and the validity of those claims.

Yes, I was mentored or introduced, to this business by a friend, and yes she helped me. This was 6-7 years ago, when the market was hot, business was booming, she couldn't keep up and saw a way to expand her business by introducing others and scheduling them to take her overflow, and making money to boot. She had a plan, and after a while I developed my plan, quit my job, enjoyed boom times, mentored a few and made some extra money. Now, we are both struggling, and no, I think I speak for both of us, we have no plans to help another single soul at this time. We also feel a bit sorry for newbies who are suckered into this game, but not a bit sorry in other ways BECAUSE they did not do their homework before setting onto a new course.

"Google is your friend", "use the orange search button" are constant refrains here from almost anyone who posts. Every time those, and a few others, are used, someone gets onto their short donkey (you) and slams us for telling you something you don't want to hear. This is not kindergarten, where we share our toys. All during school your generation (ok, I am assuming you are younger than I, and rightfully so, I am old as dirt almost) has been told you are ok, you are wonderful so as to not damage your self-esteem. The result: everybody's picking on me, esp. when you hear truths not to your liking.

Get a grip! The kindest things we can tell you right now is the truth. You have already been lied to. Ok, if I lie to you, pat your hand, smooth your worried little brow and whisper it's all going to be alright, will that be helpful? I can do all that and never tell you the truth, and how does that help you? Bluntness on chat boards is where it is at - time is of the essence, and you need to understand that successful individuals that do take the time to write are not tending to business while doing so. These nuggets of wisdom are posted over and over, yet the "entitled" fume and call names while waiting for the platter to be passed to them.

At this point in time, the platter is not being passed as frequently, but the collection plate might be.

Grow up!

Reply by Bobbye Zeitman on 1/2/08 7:32pm
Msg #228711

excellent post JBA!!!!! n/m

Reply by desktopfull on 1/2/08 7:48pm
Msg #228715

Thanks, great message. n/m

Reply by Linda Spanski on 1/2/08 7:52pm
Msg #228718

nicely put. n/m

Reply by BrendaTx on 1/2/08 7:53pm
Msg #228719

Well, that pretty much sums it up jba.

Saves me from posting the less eloquent thoughts I had.

Reply by desktopfull on 1/2/08 8:02pm
Msg #228724

Brenda, go ahead and post them!

See if you can be more viscious than I was accused of being. Sheeeeish!!!!!!!!!!

Reply by BrendaTx on 1/2/08 8:39pm
Msg #228731

Okay, you convinced me. :)

(1) Can't believe someone would begin this job without:
a) having experience in mortgage, legal, title, or real estate; and/or
b) expecting everything gained would be strictly done by their own work; and
c) being willing to work, read, study and "listen" to forums 24/7 before starting.

(2) What other profession provides free mentoring to newbies? Not to advancing novices, but to newbies? None that I can think of.

(3) This isn't a hobbyist board. It's a work board.

(4) Everything anyone needs to know about the nuts/bolts of this type work is in this forum but you have to be willing to dig it up.

(5) Whiners never win, they just grate nerves and all they've learned is how to be an expert whiner...whining until someone pacifies them just to get them to shut the heck up.

(6) People who get their feelings hurt from strangers on a forum have other emotional issues that need to be resolved before starting this business, else their emotions will hobble them. This is a tough-talk business. Talk is nothing. Until you're like teflon, be prepared to be stuck with a lot of crap on you.

All of the above is mho.

Reply by desktopfull on 1/2/08 8:45pm
Msg #228733

Great post!!!! The truth sometimes hurts. n/m

Reply by jba/fl on 1/2/08 8:50pm
Msg #228737

And for those of you in the Bible belt, etc.,

there is a Proverb for each and every item discussed today. and if you don't read the Bible or other writings of/about Supreme authority, you had to have heard your mom nagging from time to time.

Reply by Becca_FL on 1/2/08 8:14pm
Msg #228726

Ditto, Brenda. n/m

Reply by Becca_FL on 1/2/08 8:14pm
Msg #228725

Re: My high horse never came to my pasture, and I don't have

"At this point in time, the platter is not being passed as frequently, but the collection plate might be."

Classic post, Julie. Maybe we should start a new 33325 that better reflects today's market. And, if so, your post needs to top the thread.

Reply by jba/fl on 1/2/08 9:11pm
Msg #228744

Thank you for the praise Becca; coming from you is meaning-

ful. As from Brenda, desktopfull, Linda, Zee and if I didn't mention you, it is because I started to write this and I can't refer to the listing at the same time, but your kind and thoughtful words are balm to this tortured soul who is losing many plants tonight to this awful weather. Someone just whining and sniveling about their laziness just pi$$ed me off.

A hard freeze is hard to take - this is my toothache.

Reply by Becca_FL on 1/2/08 9:18pm
Msg #228745

Re: Thank you for the praise Becca; coming from you is meani

I'm with you, Julie. We brought in all the orchids and ferns, but I couldn't get my HUGE Yuca in...it's just too big to move. I'm worried about my Koi. I know they should be just fine, but they have never experienced such cold weather. Are you covering everything with sheets and blankets?

And now, a quick weather update...It's 10:14, currently outside 40 degrees, with a wind chill of 34.

Reply by desktopfull on 1/2/08 9:30pm
Msg #228749

Hope you get through the freeze okay too!

Koi are cold water fish and generally if your pond is 3 feet deep they will be fine. The books I've got state it's supposed to stay around 55 degrees at that depth. Do you have any frost cloth? You could put some of that across the top of the pond to keep it warmer, and air gets through it so the Koi can breath. Just a thought.

Reply by Becca_FL on 1/2/08 9:43pm
Msg #228755

Re: Hope you get through the freeze okay too!

Hope you get through it too. I have never even heard of frost cloth. I guess its one of those things I never thought I'd have to research. They'll be fine. I have a 16" waterfall weir that should keep things moving enough to not freeze. The fish have been down low all day and seem slower than normal which is par for the course in this kind of weather, from what I understand. Thanks for the tip. I'll keep it in mind.

Reply by desktopfull on 1/2/08 9:47pm
Msg #228760

Re: Hope you get through the freeze okay too!

Lowes and Home Depot carry something called a freeze blanket, but I understand that it's pretty much the same thing.

Reply by jba/fl on 1/2/08 9:34pm
Msg #228751

Re: Thank you for the praise Becca; coming from you is meani

I have covered sections, relying on huge trees to give micro-climate. We are now 36 degrees, wind whipping all sense of refuge for some just sitting under hedges and other cover. My house interior now looks like a greenhouse - I was careful to water pots well and soak in Sarah's pool w/soapy water to drive out any hitchhikers (have brought frogs, ants, roaches, snakes and god know what else in the past). Just brought in 2 huge plants that I know will not survive 10 hrs. as this is expected to go to 9am. Don't know wind chill factor here; I have regional park in back of me w/open fields so have lost my micro-climate, ... best one can do is save the roots, mounding cover if you can't cover entire plant. Do not prune any dead tissue until all danger of frost is past, the dead stuff actually protects the plant, so that is mid-Feb. Tomorrow should prove interesting - lots of black stuff in yards. Am wondering who will leave their sprinklers on - that's always good for a show and tell! LOL

As for you koi - if your pond is deep, they should be fine. Water is warmer longer than the air...Hope is all works to your advantage. Good luck..

Reply by Becca_FL on 1/2/08 9:57pm
Msg #228764

Thanks, jba. Let us know how things work out tomorrow. n/m

Reply by desktopfull on 1/2/08 9:22pm
Msg #228747

Dittos, hope plants make it through without damage. n/m

Reply by Becca_FL on 1/2/08 9:07pm
Msg #228742

Commissioned for two months and already calling those

she came to learn from 'vicious'? You've got a ton of learning to do, Christine.

Notary ID: 1209528
Last Name: Pardo
First Name: Christine
Middle Name:
Birth Date: 02/02/63
Transaction Type: NEW
Certificate: DD 730630
Status: ACT
Issue Date: 11/01/07
Expire Date: 10/31/11
Bonding Agency: Atlantic Bonding Company
Mailing Address: Sunrise, FL 33322-0000

Reply by desktopfull on 1/2/08 9:45pm
Msg #228757

Re: Commissioned for two months and already calling those

I guess she didn't like getting the same message: "Use the orange search button".

Reply by Maureen_nh on 1/2/08 9:32pm
Msg #228750

Hi Samantha,
This is a board that is full of professionals that are scrabbling to survive right now.
There are many that have lost this profeesion as a sole means of support and have had to make some drastic changes to their lives.
The survivors will come through

In the meanwhile, Hon, if you really want to do this, read and learn and market yourself.
Take jobs from $40 companies and learn
Don't quit your day job until it gets in the way of signings and you have enough equipment and are signed up with a few notary boards ($) Do as was pointed out get all the free listings you can.

And please come back and ask all the intelligent questions you want. We'd love to help
PS Please do not ask any questions that could be answered by knowlege of the notary laws of your state--that is a No-No You are supposed to know all that stuff. You ARE a notary , right?

Reply by jba/fl on 1/2/08 9:40pm
Msg #228753

ROFLMAO

"In the meanwhile...Take jobs from $40 companies and learn...You ARE a notary , right?"

Reply by desktopfull on 1/2/08 9:40pm
Msg #228754

$40 notaries are one of the major problems!!!!!!!!!!! n/m

Reply by Maureen_nh on 1/2/08 9:46pm
Msg #228758

Got to start some where

This is not a goal, but a foot in the door and some experiance. Sort of like being a dishwasher before you become a chef.

Reply by jba/fl on 1/2/08 9:49pm
Msg #228761

Chefs do not start as dishwashers! n/m

Reply by Maureen_nh on 1/2/08 9:57pm
Msg #228765

Re: Chefs do not start as dishwashers!

My dear, You have never been that business. A good chef know every facet of a restaurant and can fill in in every spot. Much like the Captain of a ship can show a swabbie the "right" way to mop that deck. Dishwashers, by the way way are essensial to every kichen and good ones are prized.
Not saying $40 notaries are appreciated, but are you really working for $40 companies for $45 and feel threatened.
Just telling the girl she has to start at the bottom of the totem pole and learn the hard way before she can jump into all those nice title jobs.

Reply by jba/fl on 1/2/08 10:25pm
Msg #228768

Re: Chefs do not start as dishwashers!

Sweetie, (as long as we are being patronizing), I have worked at jobs that you would probably sniff at and turn away. And I have worked many restaurants, from the 1 star to the 5 stars. I have served, bartended, garde manger, prep cooked w/some line cooking thrown in. DON'T TELL ME about myself.
I have managed a McDonalds - talk about fun and games!

I don't think your advice is good to whoever you are giving it to. I have never worked for $40 or $45. I VALUE my time spent educating myself in all facets of this business.

I had composed a reply prior to seeing this post of yours, the cat decided to hop up and I lost my whole long message and was intending to re-create and saw this - you are an a...
I think you are not worth one iota of my time.

Reply by Becca_FL on 1/2/08 10:32pm
Msg #228769

Re: Chefs do not start as dishwashers!

I always guessed you were a scrapper...like me.

Give me a call tomorrow if you feel like commiserating...with this nasty weather, I know I'll need some company.

Reply by Becca_FL on 1/2/08 10:14pm
Msg #228767

Oh, but some DO.

In many professions (unlike the NSA profession, as told by the NNA and other g'me your money proponents) people do start at the bottom and work their way up. Living in a "service" town, I know many Chefs that used to wash dishes...sometimes that's the 'in' you need to get a good private club gig.

Again, I refer to Gordon Ramsay.

Do a google and PLEASE don't email me asking who he is. Your brain is there for you to use, just as mine is with me for me to use. I will not rent my brain for use by those that don't know how to use the one God gave them.

Reply by jba/fl on 1/2/08 10:34pm
Msg #228770

Re: Oh, but some DO.

Becca, I love Gordon Ramsey. I think if a chef owns his restaurant, he will know everything, yes. But, I don't think many dishwashers aspire to do much else except get out of the kitchen!

Reply by Becca_FL on 1/2/08 10:48pm
Msg #228771

Re: Oh, but some DO.

Well, I guess the two that I know are true gems. One, is now a sous chef at a hoity toity French restaurant and the other is a head chef at an exclusive retirement community. They both love what they do and have no grievances about starting at the bottom...smart guys, both of them.

Reply by Pat/IL on 1/3/08 2:05am
Msg #228786

Re: Oh, but some Don't.

Thirty years ago and some change, I had a job as a bus boy. I wasn't particularly good at it, so I got promoted to dishwasher (same pay, $2.00/hr and I still got to handle dirty dishes!).

After a while they let me make pizzas. I wasn't an actual chef, but I liked to pretend that I was. What this has to do with the loan closing biz, I don't know - except that the career path eventually meandered to the title business, which I've been stuck in for way too long.

You will soon be able to read more about my career foibles in my autobiography, entitled "This Isn't Going So Well".

Thanks to Gilbert Gottfried for the autobiography gag.

Reply by desktopfull on 1/2/08 10:50pm
Msg #228772

Re: Got to start some where

The more companies are able to find $40 notaries the more they are encouraged to keep lowering our fees, which hurts all of us in the field. Sorry that you don't seem to understand that point. I marketed myself to companies at the going rate when I started and some took a chance with me and I gained the experience without undercutting anyone and still work for several of them even though the work has slowed down tremendously.

Reply by Rachel/ORWA on 1/2/08 11:25pm
Msg #228773

$40 signings

I am ceaselessly amazed that anyone, newbie or not, would conduct a loan signing for $40. Or $50, or $... I'll stop lest I start stepping on too many toes.

Actually, I'm especially amazed a newbie would work for this. A pro might know their clientele, area, documents, printer, courier schedules, etc., well enough to make a profit, but a newbie? Come on! An hour or two pre-signing (figuring out viewers, figuring out printer problems, nervously reading the docs, etc.), and hour or two at the signing, several afterwards reading and checking and re-checking. That's not even counting the inevitable return trip to get an initial you missed. At least that's how I was when I started (not all that long ago).

Even when you're getting on-the-job training (as alluded to in an earlier post), most companies will at least pay you minimum wage for your time. I wouldn't have considered doing this work for anywhere near minimum wage-- not even for the very first signing I conducted. Whether you're a "hobbyist," or not, is immaterial. The job itself is not a hobby; it's a very serious business.

This is not towards you, personally, Maureen; JMO on the subject.

Reply by CJ on 1/3/08 12:05am
Msg #228778

Advice

Don't work for Signatures Plus or United Notaries, if they are still in business, or you will be working for free. It is better to sit home than do that.

The Notary situation is glutted and the work has evaporated because of the nationwide mortgage crises. We could give you all the good advice in the world, and it will not make your phone ring. We all have tons of experience and connections, and our phones are not ringing either.

Do this: lurk on this forum for a couple of days, and you will find out what is going on. There is no work, notaries are not getting paid for work they did do, and borrowers are idiots. Banks are not lending money, so there is nothing to sign.

I WAS making $5,000 a month. Now I am sitting at the comptuer with no money coming in.

Reply by sue_pa on 1/3/08 7:57am
Msg #228804

agree w/Maureen

If you enter this business and have no idea what you're doing, you should be down on your knees thanking someone for giving you $40 and $50 orders. What other job will give someone with the only skillset of being the cheapest a chance to learn as you go? Companies like ATM & DiTech aren't coming up in price, no matter what. They don't want to hire me and I don't want to work for them. My clients don't want someone who is 'certified' but who has never touched a set of loan docs. I liken it to lunch - I want to eat at the country club and I expect certain things. Someone else eats at Hardees and expects (or doesn't) expect certain things. At the end of the day, everyone has had lunch but the experience is quite different.

Reply by Marlene/USNA on 1/3/08 2:35pm
Msg #228862

Thanks for this perspective, Sue. . .

Not being in the field myself, I was having trouble with the concept of "If you accept low-paid work, you create low-paid work for everyone."

My life work experience has shown me that your economics makes more sense. Some employers are just never gonna pay more than the minimum and they make do with the quality of worker they get for that.