1. Fees. There are long-timers, very experienced, with established professional relationships and connections with established companies, in populated areas, that are taking assignments anywhere from $250-$125, sometimes more, per assignment. The fees THEY set vary depending on time/complexity of assignment, travel distance (traffic, tolls, parking fees, immediate delivery to FedEx office), and type of document signing (time 30 minutes to 90 minutes [aka "the readers"]). When YOU set your base fee, consider federal and state income taxes, Social Security taxes, wear-and-tear on equipment and car, and your cost of insurance (car used for business coverage if your car is broken into or in an accident and the loan documents are stolen or damaged resulting in private info such as SSN, name, address, employer, credit card #s, etc. "lost or stolen" from YOU). Also, as stated, consider your competition: you need $125 gross for a net profit of $XX; your competition takes the same assignments for $5, $10, or even $60 less than you.
2. Availability. You must be available when the COMPANY or CLIENT wants you, not when you want to work. Be flexible. Those who are available 24/7 have the greatest opportunity for work. It doesn't mean you have to work 24/7, but until you are established as "one of the best professionals," you won't have much flexibility. Flexibility means accepting an appointment for that evening at 6 pm and taking a call at 5 pm telling you the time is now 7 pm. Know your travel time from point A to point B during rush hour, construction work, or bad weather.
3. This is not easy work. If you handle stress well, like dealing with different personalities (some nice, some demanding and difficult), driving, and are comfortable in stranger's homes then you will like the notary signing agent lifestyle. It's your business to decide when an assignment is offered whether to accept = flexible hours.
4. General Notary Public. Law firms, insurance companies, banks, most businesses have a salaried staff member who is also a notary. In CT public libraries, town offices, senior centers, and quite a few non-profits have staff notaries who will notarize documents FREE. Put your business cards on every bulletin board you can find, tell your friends what you do, drop cards where ever.
5. Marketing. RON, RIN, whatever, you WILL have to market your services in various ways. Depending on how many people in your "travel range" need documents notarized and who is already know will determine your work.
Good luck if you decide to do this. YES it is possible to make a $1,000 a month gross or more if you WORK at it. Paper only: I used to do this as a part-timer weekdays 4pm - 9pm appointment times and 5am-8pm appointment time weekends. I've had 5am (before morning mass or vacation) and 11 pm (documents weren't ready and borrower's work shift was extended and couldn't get home before then; date sensitive transaction; my quoted rate stayed the same for a client that called me first for my area). I never took an assignment under $125, BUT back then I has less competition and traveling to my rural area averaged 15 miles one way. My regulars knew my experience, my perfect work product, great reviews from customers, I always arrived on time dressed in business casual, sat with customers as long as they needed me (no pushing them along for me to get out the door to the next assignment), and followed instructions. My legal experience was also key; I knew my area, people, and documents - pre-signing if I saw something I called and said something. I always called to confirm time and location: Customer wanted to change time, customer's address was wrong on documents, name was misspelled, customer didn't have required documentation ready. I set my rates by type of work and location; it averaged out. Some assignments were high net profit, some were low or no net profit. At the end of each quarter it averaged out. |
