Posted by Shauna/WA on 9/29/10 10:05am
Msg #354699

Marketing

I see a lot of new notaries (and trust me, I'm one!) who ask a lot of questions about getting known. Keep in mind that most of the work HAS to be done by you. If you're doing the footwork then any rewards that come your way are earned and more appreciated. Even before #1, get trained. Nobody will do it for you. You have to put in hard hours learning your business.

1) Get business cards

2) Give business cards to everyone you know, everywhere you go. If I get a manicure, the owner gets my card and I ask if I can put a card holder up by the register. Never been turned down.

3) Flyers/rack cards/postcards. Get 'em, give 'em out. Door to door, business to business.

4) Get yourself on Google maps. Google will give you guidelines and if you research you'll find out how to get on the first page (especially in your zip).

5) Get a website, make it look good. Monitor traffic and where it comes from. That'll give you good ideas on what to use as keywords and where most of your visits are coming from (in fact, I had so many visits from one certain website, that I called them up and offered my services at a discounted rate. Paid off, big time).

6) Sign up with title companies and signing services. I've kept a notebook of who I signed up with, if I've had a response and when I've done a signing with them. Signing Central can be your best friend. I've only signed up with companies with a 4 star or higher because I want PAYING jobs.

7) Read this board daily. You'll find out about companies you haven't signed up with, problems you didn't even think about and the best tips anywhere.

8) Memberships with websites like NotRot. The price on some isn't worth it and on some it's invaluable. One signing can pay for an entire year, here.

9) Be organized. I keep a map with my prices in each city I routinely get calls for and a datebook with me at all times. No signing service wants to listen to you fumble around for your available dates, cities you visit, price, etc.

10) Remember that this is a business. It's up to you to grow it and if you're timid about telling people about yourself and what you do, it'll be hard. You never know what friend may be in financial difficulty and need someone to notarize their sigs on a loan mod. Not only is it good for you but it's good for them - they have someone they trust sitting next to them.

11) Sign up on any website that'll bring you business. Think about all the areas you specialize in and start signing up. I felt like a dolt, but just yesterday I discovered Kudzu and signed up.

Not everything can be accomplished in one week or even one month, but keep at it and you'll find business picking up. I'm nowhere near as busy as I'd like to be, but I'm busy and for someone relatively new, I'll take it.

Any other tips/hints/ideas?

Reply by garland/CA on 9/29/10 10:16am
Msg #354701

very nice summary!

I've been in this business 8 years now and have slowly incorporated most of these, but I only found this site a few years ago. Wish I'd known of it from the beginning! thanks for all the great tips! Getting business cards and signing up on a few notary sites really helped me a lot. I also go into the local title companies as often as possible and that has been very helpful too.

Reply by kathy/ca on 9/29/10 10:41am
Msg #354704

Shauna, you will do well in this biz because you want to and

it is obvious. You have put alot of thought and hard work into being a good NSA and it also sounds like you pay attention to detail. I am not a "newbie" but there are a lot of them out there and your post will certainly guide them into the right direction. Best of luck to you!

Reply by MW/VA on 9/29/10 10:49am
Msg #354705

Great tips! It shows you fully understand this biz & are

sure to do well.

Reply by Stephanie_CA on 9/29/10 10:56am
Msg #354708

Re: Marketing...I'm thinking you'll be pretty successful. n/m

Reply by MW/VA on 9/29/10 11:05am
Msg #354710

You also might want to link your profile. There are many

companies that read & follow this forum.

Reply by Doris_CO on 9/29/10 3:34pm
Msg #354749

Re: You also might want to link your profile. There are many

This should be linked to the famous message 33325--but I have no idea how that's done. Thanks Shawna, for the great tips.

Reply by Doris_CO on 9/29/10 3:36pm
Msg #354750

Re: You also might want to link your profile. There are many

Shauna - sorry for misspelling your name.

Reply by Shauna/WA on 9/29/10 3:58pm
Msg #354758

Re: You also might want to link your profile. There are many

No problem...as long as they call, I don't care what they call me, right? ;D

Thanks for the nice words, everyone. I had a career in sales previous to this (can you tell?) so I think marketing yourself is HUGE.

FWIW, I just got back from doing a notarization. They saw me on Google maps. Five minutes, there and back, $10. You can't beat that kind of work.

Reply by NJDiva on 9/29/10 7:45pm
Msg #354800

Re: You also might want to link your profile. There are many

Just so you know Shauna, when it comes to mobile notarizing (not NSA), I don't leave my house for anything under $25 and people pay it. I did one one time a half a mile from my "office" (home) and they had no problem paying $25.

Don't be afraid to charge your worth...

Reply by 101livescan on 9/29/10 5:37pm
Msg #354782

Kudos to you. You have all the right stuff to be the top gun notary/loan signing agent in your area. And, I want to express my appreciation to you as someone who is so generous to share your great ideas. Your fresh enthusiasm and energy will carry you far. It seems that you are a marketing pro, and I'm sure you've helped a lot of people on this board already.

Keep it coming, I think it's good for everyone to where their marketing hat when the business pauses and we can clean closets, the back seat and the trunk of our cars of all the chaos that happens during the month end craze.

Best of luck and good wishes.

Reply by Shauna/WA on 9/29/10 7:44pm
Msg #354799

Trunk/car

I'm so glad someone else mentioned that - my car looks like a bomb hit it. Was looking at it today and thinking I need to make time to clean it out. It really could be certified a disaster area.

Reply by Tish/CA on 9/30/10 2:38pm
Msg #354880

Wonderful points, Shauna. Would you mind elaborating on points 4&5. How do you go about getting yourself on google maps? do you pay any fee for a better placement?

Also - I didn't quite understand what you're referring to when you said "in fact, I had so many visits from one certain website, that I called them up and offered my services at a discounted rate. Paid off, big time". What website, your own? Just a bit confused. Thanks again for oaying out some great points.

Best,
Tish

Reply by Shauna/WA on 9/30/10 9:47pm
Msg #354924

Hi Tish - sorry for the delay. Crazy day.

You can place yourself on Google maps for FREE. It's great. I remember some of the stuff that helped me get on the first page was a picture, website, phone number, hours, etc. Here's a link: https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=lbc&passive=1209600&continue=http://www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter&followup=http://www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter

The visits were from a certain company to my website. When you have a website you can track who visits you (most of the time) or their referring source - ie, the website they last visited before finding you.