Who's your pick?

I wrote this article about improving your notary business back in January. I think the information still applies. I came across this article that was written for process servers but a lot of the tips relate to the notary industry as well. These are the articles main points:

1. Answer Your Phone: Keep your cell phone on as much as possible. During a signing it is courteous to stay off the phone but at your earliest convenience you should excuse yourself to return the call. You might also consider having someone field calls for you when you are unavailable.
   
2. Expand Your Service Offerings: If you aren't currently trained to notarize loans consider going with LoanSigner101. Most mobile notaries only handle loan signings. Laura Vestanen has written an e-book titled, Marketing Your Non-Loan Notary Services: Effective and practical techniques to get notary work outside the loan industry. It has received excellent reviews and sells for $9.98 on Amazon. If it sparks a few profitable ideas, it is well worth the investment.
   
3. Understand Marketing Basics: Consider purchasing one of the several marketing books available.
   
4. Advertise When Business is Good: This is easy to do.
   
5. Advertise More When Business is Slow: This is easier said than done, yet it has to be done. If business is slow and you need to take advantage of the downtime and work on ways to increase your exposure.
   
6. Get Involved in State and National Associations: Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. In all honesty, being a part of the National Notary Association is generally going to be a positive experience, especially for new notaries.
   
7. Ask Your Customers for a Referral: This is as easy as handing them a business card at the end of the signing.
   
8. Contact At Least Three New Potential Clients Per Week: Successful individuals don't skip the intimidating aspects of their job. If you can commit to this sort of persistence you will almost certainly succeed.
   
9. Improve Customer Service and Communication With Customers: Do your best to enjoy the conversation at the signing table. Don't become so single-minded that you can't carry on a discussion with the signer if they are interested.
   
10. Raise Your Prices--Compete on Service, Not on Price: I would not recommend raising prices to any client you are currently working with. Just about every bank, title and escrow company is considering how they can cut costs. Sending them an updated fee schedule at this time would be unwise. However, you can alway charge more to new clients. Just make sure that your service is worthy of the fee.
    
11. Delegate Tasks: This is not likely an option for notaries. Maybe your spouse could help answer the phone when your unavailable but that is about all you can legally delegate.
    
12. Use Technology to Improve Efficiency: I know most notaries print everything on legal-size paper even when the document is supposed to be letter-size. Consider purchasing a dual-tray printer so you can save money by printing on the correct size paper. A good quality printer is a must in the loan industry. Now would also be a good time to look into electronic notarization supplies.
    
13. Build of Update Existing Web Site: If you don't already have a website for your notary business you should consider going with NotaryWebsites.com.
    
14. Charge More For Private Individuals: You should probably consider focusing your attention on clients who can offer you recurring business. You should charge more for "one-time" clients.
    
15. Set, Plan and Track Your Goals: It's always a good idea to set some goals early in the year and figure out how you can achieve them. Create a fun way to track your goals and stay motivated throughout the year.

Here's to a prosperous 2007!

I originally posted this on MyNotarySource.com where you can find a notary in our mobile notary directory.

Allow me to clue you in on one of the most helpful tools on the internet. It is my understanding that RSS feed readers are far too underutilized by notaries. My guess is that most notaries don't realize what they are. Hopefully, after reading this article, you'll be well on your way to a more educated future in the loan signing industry.

You'll be happy to know that Google Reader is free. So the only investment required is your time. Feed readers were invented to in order to save you time. If you do things the way I used to, you have a lengthy list of websites you visit on a daily or weekly basis. You probably click on each link to read the latest information. Oftentimes, you visit a page that hasn't been updated, so there is nothing new to read. Here's where feed readers come in handy.

With a feed reader, you can see what sites have been updated before clicking. Not only that, but you can also read entire articles right within your reader. Some, like my own site, only provide a preview of the article. Either way, you will save time by only checking the sites that have been updated and only reading the articles that interest you (if you still have to click through to the site).

There are several feed readers available but I have found Google Reader to provide the most comprehensive instructions and the best ease of use. I appreciate it's simple look. Some of the other readers are more cluttered. But, for whatever it's worth, you can always check out the other feed readers.

Here are some step-by-step instructions to help you stay on top of the latest discussion coming from the best notary forums and blogs:

1. Create an account with Google if you do not have one already.
2. Once your account has been created you will need to login to Google Reader.
3. Read through the 3 pages on Getting Started With Google Reader.
4. Still confused? Read the Common Questions About Google Reader.
5. Now you should be ready to begin adding subscriptions.

Here's my subscription suggestions for mobile notary forums and blogs:

• MyNotarySource.com (RSS Feed) - This is my own website. I update it regularly with articles related to the loan signing industry including the latest industry news, additional resources, technology updates, and an occasional humorous post.
• Mobile Notary Network: Forum Posts (RSS Feed) and Blog Posts (RSS Feed) - This website quickly became the most active notary community. Great resource for both rookies and veterans.
• United Notary Association of America: Forum Posts (RSS Feed) and Blog Posts (RSS Feed) - Great people who genuinely care about you and provide loads of helpful information.
• ActiveRain: Notary Signing Agent Group (RSS Feed) - An up and coming resource that you can become a part of by joining the community. This site is updated several times a day and allows for networking with other industry professionals, such as realtors, loan officers and mortgage brokers.
• NotaryGift.com (RSS Feed) - Geoff provides a ton of helpful marketing tips, loan document tutorials and informative interviews. His site is updated daily.
• Notaryzine.org (RSS Feed) - While this site is new it already has several quality articles featured. This is another site that you can join and contribute articles to.
• Go Mobile Notary Board (RSS Feed) -This board used to be a lot more active. It still receives about 10 posts a day.
• Notary Depot Forums (RSS Feed) - This forum receives a couple posts per day.

There are many more excellent mobile notary public resources available but they don't have rss feeds (or at least, I can't find them). If you frequent a notary website that has a feed and isn't on the list above, please contact me and let me know. I'd love to add them to the list. Also, if one of your favorite resources doesn't provide an rss feed, bug them until they do. Then let me know!

I hope this article was helpful! Don't forget to add my RSS feed to your reader to continue to get the latest posts from MyNotarySource.com.

I originally posted this on MyNotarySource.com where you can find a notary in our mobile notary directory.