Posted by grapebed on 6/9/11 10:30am
Msg #385638

HELP! I need help building my notary business.

Hi,

I am just starting out as a notary. I really don't know what to do. Can anyone recommend resources ( class, coach, mentor, etc.) to help me build my business? I am concerned with getting on the right lists.

Also, is it important to have a web site?

Thanks in advance for your help. I appreciate it.

Reply by CF on 6/9/11 10:43am
Msg #385642

Me too- me too!!!Someone please show me how to make $$$$$$$ n/m

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 6/9/11 10:51am
Msg #385643

Those are really things you should have gone into before you decided to become a notary.

It's like opening a restaurant and then realizing you have no idea on how to cook.

Reply by Ali/IL on 6/9/11 10:53am
Msg #385644

It took me almost a year in front of computer to get my name out there.

Reply by Notarysigner on 6/9/11 11:00am
Msg #385645

I made $410.00 my first year. n/m

Reply by FlaNotary2 on 6/9/11 11:31am
Msg #385653

You and everyone else

Every week now we have three or four newbies wanting advice as to how to get started in this business. The problem is, there is barely any business to start in. This is a way oversaturated profession, and most signing agents can no longer survive on notary income alone. I would recommend that you cut your losses now and look into another career. It is unfortunate that so many companies make it look like notary work is easy and quick money... they don't mention the unlimited liability which notaries have, nor do they mention the often complicated laws that notaries have to follow, and they NEVER mention how badly the crash of the real estate market has affected the signing agent profession.

But (and this is for Cari), what do I know?

Reply by Bob_Chicago on 6/9/11 11:45am
Msg #385654

Robert , I am NOT going to get involved with your running

batttle with Cari, but , as I have said, I think that it only be fair that when you make a post such
as this, that you qualify your comments, by pointning out, that the only thing that you know about
the NSA biz, is what you have read on Notrot.
Some of us are still making a decent living in this biz.
For all you know, the poster might have experience in rhe real estate field and is located in an area where
there there is still a market for a competent NSA.

Reply by FlaNotary2 on 6/9/11 11:51am
Msg #385656

Re: Robert , I am NOT going to get involved with your running

>>>I think that it only be fair that when you make a post such
as this, that you qualify your comments, by pointning out, that the only thing that you know about the NSA biz, is what you have read on Notrot. <<<

I am not going to post such a statement, because it is inaccurate. I know a great deal about the signing agent profession, and not all of my knowedge has come from this message board.

Further, this entire nation is oversaturated with notaries, period. Whether they are signing agents or not, we do not need more notaries. You can be free to disagree with me, but I see little benefit to giving a newbie false hopes that they will succeed in this business, when we are constantly seeing how poorly many signing agents are doing. If you are makinga decent living, congratulations. Most are not.

MHO

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 6/9/11 12:16pm
Msg #385660

Re: Robert , I am NOT going to get involved with your running

"we do not need more notaries"

Robert, a lot of us were saying this for years - before you became a notary. Did the oversaturation of notaries stop you from becoming one?

Reply by FlaNotary2 on 6/9/11 12:21pm
Msg #385661

No, because I became a notary as a requiremen for my

employment - just like many others - and at the time, I did not really have a clue about what notaries do or what the state of the office really was. Obviously I have learned a lot since then - but for people who have made the effort to come to this message board, and who want to become a notary to get rich quick, I think we should be honest with them. Some don't agree with my philosophy, and that is fine with me.

As I have stated a million times on this board (which people always conveniently forget) - I would rather stop teaching classes and have no more notaries appointed, than to keep teaching classes. But until the legislature or an act of God put a limit on the uncontrollable number of notaries we have in Florida, I will keep teaching, so that at least 7 out of the thousands of notaries appointed each month will know how to administer an oath and keep a journal.

Reply by Sylvia_FL on 6/9/11 12:42pm
Msg #385666

Re: No, because I became a notary as a requiremen for my

I think you will find that a majority of the notaries became notaries as a requirement for their employment. Then they hear about the signing agent business and decide to do it part time.

Reply by nobhill on 6/9/11 12:57pm
Msg #385673

Re: No, because I became a notary as a requiremen for my

You can't get rich in this profession. I'm sure you could during the height of the housing boom however. Those days are over and won't return for decades to come. This is a good profession for people who already made their living and have a nice savings cushion who are looking for networking opportunities in the business community. You know longer get into this business to make lots of money. Those days are over. Period.

Reply by FlaNotary2 on 6/9/11 12:59pm
Msg #385674

I agree, and as I have consistently stated, both on this

board and in the classes I teach, if you are becoming a notary to get rich you are doing it for the wrong reasons.

MHO

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 6/9/11 1:20pm
Msg #385682

Now here I agree with you Robert....

Anyone becoming a notary to "make money" - not even get rich, but just to "make money" - IMO is becoming a notary for all the wrong reasons.

JMO

Reply by Linda_H/FL on 6/9/11 12:11pm
Msg #385658

I agree with Bob...

I think the only thing you should be commenting on is your experience as a notary in Tampa, FL; any comments about NSA business should be attributed to the people who actually make them - the members here and on other forums. You have no personal experience with this - no more than *I* can comment that the amount of wedding business in Florida is down to a crawl - I don't do them so I have no idea.

IMO Robert you need to quit telling people not to waste their time becoming a notary- especially people in other states.....you have no idea what's going on elsewhere. And Yes I've warned people about the feasibility of becoming a signing agent now - only to the point that business is down as evidenced by posts here and it's tough to break into the business at this time.

And if NO ONE should be becoming a notary, then maybe you should re-think teaching people to become notaries...

JMO

Reply by Notarysigner on 6/9/11 12:25pm
Msg #385662

Re: Robert , I am NOT going to get involved with your running

While I am fairly new to this industry I am not so naive as to think the majority of notaries read this and other forums. I think it's quite the contrary.

When I meet other notaries here in the S.F. Bay area, more often they tell me they don't have time to read "forums". That gives me reason to think that most notaries ( in this area) are going about the business of earning a living and not complaining about it, on a forum. My .02

Reply by Stephanie Santiago on 6/9/11 1:01pm
Msg #385675

Agree with Bob 100%. n/m

Reply by MW/VA on 6/9/11 1:21pm
Msg #385683

I agree with Bob, also. I, for one, am tired of this

"oversaturation" theme that is being beat to death. Again, some make the mistake of treating this forum like FB. I don't see it that way. It's a forum for professionals, and attitudes are important.

Reply by FlaNotary2 on 6/9/11 1:23pm
Msg #385684

Well thankfully I do not get any business from this message

board and am able to speak my mind without walking on eggshells.

Reply by MW/VA on 6/9/11 1:28pm
Msg #385686

IMO courtesy & respect are not eggshells. I think some who

post on this board are planting land-mines, waiting for others to step on them. Ahemmmm!

Reply by MW/VA on 6/9/11 1:30pm
Msg #385688

BTW, many are here for the sole purpose of helping on

another & learning from each other.

Reply by Susan Fischer on 6/9/11 7:31pm
Msg #385725

Five-Star * * * * * Post. n/m

Reply by Lee/AR on 6/9/11 12:36pm
Msg #385665

Robert has made some good points.

He freely explains that he isn't--nor does he want to be--a Signing Agent. I think he has (after an initial rocky start) contributed to the discourse on this site. All one has to do--Signing Agent or wannabe--is to go back through the postings for the last couple of weeks to determine the veracity of what he has said. Does that mean that becoming a newbie NSA is just the most horrible idea ever? Of course not! But it surely is not the greatest idea for achieving an immediate livable income nearly anywhere at this point in time. I know that there are many 'oldies' who are still doing OK...maybe even 'well', but nobody--repeat--nobody--can possibly be doing as well as they were during the boom years. Which, imho, are over forever for all the reasons that we see in the news.

Reply by FlaNotary2 on 6/9/11 12:45pm
Msg #385667

The bottom line is - I tell it like it is

I am not going to sugarcoat things. None of these newbies are my competition so it has nothing to do with money... I am looking out for the good of the profession. No I don't practice as a signing agent because I know that it would be a waste of my time. There ARE signing agents here in Tampa that are doing signings for less than $50 and it isn't worth it for me to buy the paper and toner and waste the time to participate in a business that is on its last legs.

I don't know how any member of this board can read the daily posts from people being offered $35 for signings and say that this business has room for more signing agents.

I imagine if it was anyone else posting it, it would be a different story. Unfortunately, I think a lot of members judge my posts before they even read them.

Reply by HisHughness on 6/9/11 1:33pm
Msg #385689

Re: Robert has made some good points.

Indeed he has.

1. Lots and lots and lots of veteran signing agents on this board have made the exact same point that he has about the decline in this business. Just because he can sometimes be terminally exasperating does not mean that he cannot be right. In fact, sometimes he can be both simultaneously.

2. I think it is great that he is training notaries; we need much more of that, and apparently he has some commitment to seeing that they perform their duties correctly. The difference between Robert's training and XYZ training is that the NNA is recruiting new notaries and telling them <XYZ> classes will have the new notaries behind the wheel of a new Mercedes in less time than it takes to say "Sworn to and subscribed before me." Robert apparently just trains them; he doesn't recruit them.

3. Apparently it is a sore point with some NotRot contributors that he occasionally disses signing agents. But he did not comment in this thread on the mechanics of being a signing agent; he commented on the current economic status of the profession. A Louisiana gator wranger who never leaves the swamp except to buy filet gumbo for his garfish patties could legitimately comment on the economics of our profession after reading this forum; it ain't no professional secret, guys.

Cut him some slack. Robert being Robert, just give him a little time and he'll give you something valid to b!tch at him about.

Reply by desktopfull on 6/9/11 2:38pm
Msg #385698

Looks like this changed from "how do I start my notary busin

business" to attack Robert for make some very valid points. To go back on topic to the OP, I suggest that you take some business courses and learn how to develop a business plan before starting a business in the first place.

Reply by nobhill on 6/9/11 12:53pm
Msg #385672

You must have a web site. Good luck.

Reply by laurel/nc on 6/9/11 1:19pm
Msg #385681

I, too wish you luck. I have been a paralegal for over 30 years and have been involved with closings that long, attorney assisted as well as independent notary closings. I love what I do and when I retired from the law office I decided to become a notary signing agent. I do not make a lot of money, due to the market, but it is a lot of fun and a lot of hard work at the same time.

Reply by Stephanie Santiago on 6/9/11 3:30pm
Msg #385702

I have no web site and yet I am so very busy...often

referring to other Signing Agents in my area.

Reply by Frank/NC on 6/9/11 6:05pm
Msg #385716

Tell me, how do you go into any business without some sort of business plan, knowledge of the business or not knowing where to go to get clients? Not only is it amazing but many of the low ballers, non payers and other slime in this business will definitely prey on you. If you did the slightest bit of research you would realize that this is no business to go into at least at this time and for the forseeable future. Personally I just think it's also amazing that you would invest your time, money and effort thinking that you are going to do better than many of us who have been in business for years and realize this is one of the worst times we have ever seen.

Reply by 101livescan on 6/9/11 11:08pm
Msg #385747

I for one: Don't want to be my own root canals, GYN exams, oil changes, drywall, roof my house, clean my chimney, or pump my own septic tank. Hence, I will call the professionals. I do not expect I could learn enough about any of these services to do them well, ever. It takes a long time to become a Professional Notary/Loan Signing Agent, not just a quickly dashed post to NR. Study, Study, Study. Find someone to emulate, and study that individual. It is a long, steady climb, and one day you can say, AHHHHHHH!

Reply by laurel/nc on 6/10/11 5:46am
Msg #385754

Frank is right, and believe me there is an investment!!!!!

Reply by LKT/CA on 6/9/11 8:04pm
Msg #385732

<<<Every week now we have three or four newbies wanting advice as to how to get started in this business. ***The problem is, there is barely any business to start in.**** This is a way oversaturated profession, and most signing agents can no longer survive on notary income alone. >>>

Robert's statement is supported by the fact that every week now there are three or four posts with titles like: No Business.......Phone Not Ringing.....Slow Week.....Getting Out of the Biz........Howz Your Month?.....No Calls For 2 Months......., etc.