Posted by Kathryn on 11/20/08 9:53am
Msg #270125

Marketing in this day and age.

Are you all continuing to market yourself to local and online companies and do you think it helps at this time? No I am not a newbie but an experienced closer.

Are many of you still doing this full time?
If any of you have any ideas on new jobs or ways to use your notary I would love to know that.

Thanks so much.

Reply by Ernest__CT on 11/20/08 10:05am
Msg #270128

Yes, marketing is essential! Marketing is especially important in slow times.

You won't find many of us trying to make a full-time living from being a Notary Signing Agent these days.

Reply by Claudine Osborne on 11/20/08 10:21am
Msg #270130

Like Ernest said do not stop in this slow period! With many people leaving the field or obtaining other jobs this reduces the amount of notaries. The people still marketing will be the ones that still get calls!

I put a note in my profiles that state the date and that I am still active!

In a slow market many businesses stop or reduce advertising, which should be the opposite!

Keep yourself out there!

Reply by Marian_in_CA on 11/20/08 10:59am
Msg #270132

IT's actually really important to make personal contacts right now. In my current 9-5er, I have to make phone calls to companies for our clients. A lot of these companies are closing down and it annoys me to no end to spend 3 hours phoning to find so many people who have closed up shop and not bothered to tell us.

So what we've done is send out a letter to everyone and asked them to email or fax us on a weekly basis to update us on their vacancies and that we will be referring to the list of people who keep in contact with us.

We figure those are the people that will be rewarded with our work and it's actually been quite beneficial. We've been weeding out our list like nobody's business and it's really nice.

The same could be had for those in this business, too... make personal contact and tell them that a lot of NSAs are getting out of the business or taking full-time jobs and you know it's frustrating for them to make endless phone calls.... and just let them you know you're available and willing to accept work. The downside, of course, is that you better mean it. So you really need to market to the places from whom you really WILL accept work.

The point would be to not to just tell them about yourself. Everyone does that. What makes it different is that you understand THEIR needs, offer a solution to their needs and you show them how they can benefit from it.

I have companies marketing to me all day long wanting to contract with us. I ignore most of the mailings. I get a ton of them and they don't stand out. What stands out are the ones who come to me with a real solution for our clients that the others don't. For example, a company that works with clients on SSI is going to get my attention immediately because we have a large unmet need for that. However, there are few companies that do this.

So in doing your marketing, it helps to find out what your customers actually need. Do not assume what they need... go find out.

Reply by Treasure Valley Notary - Tina on 11/20/08 10:37am
Msg #270131

Target Marketing

Kathryn,

Eventually the market will turn back around and you want to position yourself for when that happens. With the slow down, we have been teaching people how to target market. It doesn't matter the industry you are in. It works with all of them! Let your past clients know that you are still around, and that you value them. Even if they don't have jobs available in your area at this time, you want them to remember you. You want them to think about you first, and not your competition. And at the same time you need to be contacting new clients, local and out of state.

I am still considered doing this full time, but when the jobs aren't available, they aren't available. But everyone knows that I am still in business.

Good luck. Keep working on it!

Reply by MichiganAl on 11/20/08 2:42pm
Msg #270144

I still do this full time. I marketed like crazy my first 6 or 7 months. For years after that, I was busy enough that I didn't need to devote a huge amount of time to marketing. I still did it, but not as frequently. Now, it's absolutely essential. In my opinion, those who can't or won't do extensive marketing will have an impossible time continuing this as a full time occupation. So many people were used to having the business just roll in. But now I think effective marketing is the most critical part of this job.