Posted by Jillian Hinrichs on 11/29/11 2:36pm
Msg #405206

Good Companies - Please Help Us Newbies Out

It would be totally awesome if you could post replies to this discussion and let us newbies know who you LOVE to work for so that we can make sure we have or will contact them. I have a rather lengthy list of good companies that require more experience than I currently have - I will contact them once I have more signings under my belt, but could always use more.

Also, I am continually reading this forum and making notes about good and bad companies, and keep finding that the few comments about a good company don't match up with what shows for that company on Signing Central. PLEASE take the time to put a note in Signing Central about companies you LOVE, the bad companies usually have enough postings.

I am nearly thru the list on Signing Central (and have signed up with ones with good reviews, even if they were fairly old reviews, and found MANY companies are out of business but still show as active in Signing Central (is there a way to fix that?) -- so it would be great to not have to keep going thru it all again and look for newer posts, in case you are willing to share the full names of good companies you have/are working for. I say full names because many of you use short versions of a name in your postings, and sometimes companies have similar enough names that I can't tell for sure which one you are talking about.

Thanks!

Reply by JulieD/KS on 11/29/11 2:49pm
Msg #405208

I hate to tell you this but part of starting a business is doing your own research. No one here will hand over their favorite company names to you (or to anyone) on a silver platter. I know I won't!

It's othing against you...but it's a competitive business and what you are asking for is for us to give our company secrets away. I learned long ago to keep my secrets to myself.

Reply by Stephanie Santiago on 11/29/11 3:10pm
Msg #405212

Jillian,
We were all Newbies at one time and most of us were totally awesome in building our Client List through research and hard work.
A company that "works" for me may not work out so well with you.
Building a business is a very personal and we helped ourselves out.
Jillian,
You will be more appreciative of your business if you take the time to build your client list.Also, most good business are not built over night.
Hang in there, be persistent and you will build a contact list of your own.
You may want to share your list with "newbies", possibly not. In any case, hang in there and you will eventually build your contact/Client list.
The best of luck to you,
Stephanie
I've been a signing agent for over ten years and I'm still adding contacts to my list.

Reply by BossLadyMD on 11/29/11 4:05pm
Msg #405215

Great advice! Case in point - I work for a company that most people talks bad about. They're the best in my eyes though, pays under 30 days, always pays my competitive fee of $xxx and no hand holding or fax backs.

And some people work for companies that I wouldn't walk next door for even if it was to get just 1 document notarized. It's trial and error, and a lot of lady luck. Oh and by the way, when I first started nearly 10 years ago, I had the exact same question

Reply by Notarysigner on 11/29/11 4:36pm
Msg #405218

Agree with everyone above, my first six months I earned

a little over $400.00 but I continued to read the forum daily and learned a lot from it. You can find all the information you will need here but it really takes a lot of hard work to build your clients. IMO

Reply by GOLDGIRL/CA on 11/29/11 4:39pm
Msg #405219

One size does not fit all

I'm glad to know we're in the same boat, BossLady! I, too, work with a couple of SSs with so-so ratings on SC but have great for me for years. I also have had mostly nightmare experiences with this five-star SS that everybody else swoons over. So, then I feel guilty working for a SS that has caused grief (NOT nonpayment grief, tho) to other notaries and I wonder what's wrong with me that I can't cut it with the World's Most Perfect SS (which is owned by this abusive, overbearing, condescending bully who, thank gawd, is never calling me back, saving me the trouble of "firing" her).

So, I agree - it must be lady luck - or karma - or something.

Reply by Les_CO on 11/29/11 6:52pm
Msg #405223

Also there are several SS’s that use software provided by a competing site. We really out of respect for Harry can’t post that info here. You will have to just do your own research. Sorry, no freebies today…join with the rest of us and find out how to be in this business yourself.

Reply by BrendaTx on 11/29/11 7:23pm
Msg #405227

Three points for you, Jillian.

#1 - Consult Msg #401519

#2 - To that, add the fact that we did not have Signing Central.

#3 - and take to heart: Msg #8823:

Advice for new notaries
by Hugh Nations

Above the menu of posts, click the "First" button. Go all the way to the very first post in June 2003, "Welcome to the General Discussion Forum." Read all the way to the last post today. You will find your answer many times over in the intervening messages, along with far better information about being a signing agent than you ever got in your certification course.