When it comes to marketing your business there are no hard and fast rules. What works for one person or business may not work for another. If you have a marketing idea the best thing to do, if it's in your budget, is to give your idea a try.
Some people will swear against cold calling, canvassing, mailers, e-mail marketing, networking groups and promotional giveaways but then there are others that have built their business using these techniques. Since the notary business has been slow in my neck of the woods I decided to give cold calling a try.
Cold calling is definitely not on the top of my list of favorite things to do but I figured it could not hurt. To my surprise the response I received was 99% positive. Because I am offering a service and not trying to sell anything, the person on the other end of the phone was happy to learn that I was available to perform mobile notary services.
So next time you have a marketing idea give it a try!
Lately business has been slow in my notary world. 2008 started out so promising the slow down of the last couple of months caught me totally off guard; I didn't know what to think.
Thankfully, all hope is not lost as I have had a busy week so far, and it's only Tuesday! I was so busy today that I drove over a 100 miles handling notarizations and authentications from Long Beach to Norwalk back to Long Beach to Downtown Los Angeles to Rancho Palos Verdes back to Long Beach. I was in my car from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. And I already have two jobs lined up for tomorrow.
I may have been running around like crazy but I was busy doing what I love so the day could not have gone any better. :)
Attn: Mortgage, Title, Escrow & Loan Officers, help your borrowers - arrange to have their loan signed and notarized in their home, at their convenience.
Browse The Rain for a qualified Notary Signing Agent in your area.
I am happy to report that the L.A. County Recorder's office has officially come into the 21st Century and is posting for download some of the most common forms relating to real property transactions. On their website you can find such forms aspower of attorney, grant deed and quitclaim deed. This is a really convenient service and I hope they continue to use the web to its full potential. If you are unable find the form you're looking for you can also view the County of Riverside's County-Clerk website.
Any successful business owner will tell you how important it is to market your business at all times, and to always be on the look out for new and inventive ways to do so.
One of the guerrilla marketing techniques I decided to employ was to use my car as a advertising tool. Because being mobile is the key to my business, I spend almost as much time in my car as I do at home. If fact, my car is my second home.
As I was deciding what method to use - window lettering, door magnets, etc. this brightly colored vehicle drove right past me. I liked what I saw so much I called them right away!
After deciding on the wording and the colors this is what I came up with and I absolutely love it! It's only been a couple of days so no one is knocking down my door quite yet but I am confident I will be receiving business in no time.
Attn: Mortgage, Title, Escrow & Loan Officers, help your borrowers - arrange to have their loan signed and notarized in their home, at their convenience.
Browse The Rain for a qualified Notary Signing Agent in your area.
As a notary, you'll have the greatest opportunity to earn income working as a Loan Signing Agent, and after four years in this profession I have gotten used to many things - last minute signings, e-docs (loan docs that are electronically transmitted so that you can print them), keeping a smile on your face when in front of a difficult borrower, etc. But one thing that I still do not like are fax backs!
This is when the company that has contracted you requires you to fax back a portion of the loan documents after the signing for their review. I know it is a necessary evil in some instances but when I have to fax back 20 pages and more I am a little irritated.
I mean what are they doing with all this extra paper?! You are overnighting the documents back to them so what is the big deal.
I could understand if they were asking for just the notarized documents to review so they can catch any errors early but I just faxed over 50 pages for a Countrywide loan and only three of the pages were notarized! Faxing that many pages took more than 30 minutes.
Thankfully, this does not happen all of the time or I would be pulling my hair out.
Attn: Mortgage, Title, Escrow & Loan Officers, help your borrowers - arrange to have their loan signed and notarized in their home, at their convenience.
Browse The Rain for a qualified Loan Signing Agent in your area.
Yesterday was one of "those" days... It started at 6:30 a.m. and did not end until 10 p.m. In total, I completed three loan signings, one non-loan notarization and spent 3 1/2 hours at the Tai Pei Consulate. Let's just say I'm pooped!
I traveled from Long Beach to San Pedro back to Long Beach to Los Angeles to Carson back to Long Beach to Cerritos back to Long Beach and then home. At the end of the day my odometer reading had increased by 118 miles!
I started the day knowing it was going to be busy but I just had not imagined my trip to Los Angeles would take so long. I have taken documents to be apostilled by the State of CA but I have never had to make a trip to a consulate office before so I was green to the process and the wait!
Even though I'm incredibly tired I would do it all over again. You can't beat the variety of this business.
If you are a notary looking to get loan and non-loan notary work then you must have a website. People are using the web more and more to find professionals to do business with so why not make it easy for them to find you!
I have personally found that developing a website and learning how to optimize it for the web was one of the best things I could have done for my business. I frequently get calls from clients that found me on the web. This easily adds an extra $500 a month to my income.
If you are apprehensive about where to start then I would suggest listing your profile in as places on the web that you can. Two of my previous blogs list directories that enable you list your profile for free. Here is a link to Vol. 1 & Vol. 2 of "Increase Your Web Presence For Free."
You can also do a Google search for "free directories" and you will never run out of places to list your profile.
If you decide to create a website yourself a good place to start is Freewebs.com. They have hundreds of templates to choose from, which are relatively easy to use. If you can get around Microsoft Word then you can make the most of Freewebs.
Get out there and start increasing your web presence!
Attn: Mortgage, Title, Escrow & Loan Officers, help your borrowers - arrange to have their loan signed and notarized in their home, at their convenience.
Browse The Rain for a qualified Loan Signing Agent in your area.
One way to increase your chances of success as a notary is to network with other notaries. An easy way to do this is to read and participate on the many popular notary boards, such as Notary Rotary, Go Mobile Notary, and Mobile Notary Network (view MyNotarySource for a comprehensive list). There you will find new and experienced notaries that you can learn from, get your questions answered and exchange marketing ideas with.
When you first log on to a board it is always good to read and get a feel for the board before you post. Once you feel comfortable you can introduce yourself to let your voice be heard. The board I recommend the most for newbies is Mobile Notary Network because the notaries are friendly and helpful.
Another way to network with other notaries is contact local notaries in your area to set up a referral system. Because I have been in contact with other Long Beach notaries, I can easily refer business to them that I am unable to accept. If am presented with an assignment that conflicts with my schedule I tell the caller that I can have one of my associates perform the notarization.
I then proceed to take down their information so the other notary can contact them (this is the best way because when you just give them another notaries' phone number they never seem to call).
Our Long Beach notary group has set up a referral system so if the notary makes $100 and up from the assignment then a 20% referral fee is paid to the referring notary.
Do not be afraid get out there and network you way to success!
Attn: Mortgage, Title, Escrow & Loan Officers, help your borrowers - arrange to have their loan signed and notarized in their home, at their convenience.
Browse The Rain for a qualified Loan Signing Agent in your area.
As a notary, your cell phone is your lifeline to receiving new business. If you do not answer your phone then the caller is likely to hang up and dial the next notary on the list.
Because our cell phones are so important to our notary business, I am often shocked at how many notaries do not answer their phones.
I recently had a gentlemen tell me that he was surprised to get a live person when I answered my phone. He had tried several other notaries and I was the only one that actually answered his call.
Great customer service not only sets you apart but it also guarantees repeat business. One way to deliver great customer service is make sure your phone is always in ear shot so that you can easily answer your phone.
Even with the best intentions there are times when you are going to miss a call. I have found it extremely helpful to ask in my voicemail greeting that the caller "leave a message as I am able to return most phone calls within 15 minutes."
Being a notary requires that you are available at a moments notice so be sure always keep and answer your cell phone!
Attn: Mortgage, Title, Escrow & Loan Officers, help your borrowers - arrange to have their loan signed and notarized in their home, at their convenience.
If you're relatively new to blogging or only blog on AR you may not be aware of all the ways to promote your blog. Many of the steps are similar to traditional website promotion, such as submitting your site to blog directories but some are different.
These are a few sites that have helped me drive traffic to my outside blog - Mobile Notary Review:
Linkreferral - You benefit by reviewing sites and in turn your site is reviewed. Open to blogs and regular websites.
BloggingZoom - Similar to Digg and Stumble except it's only open blog sites and not mainstream sites, like CNN. A great way to discover blogs and drive traffic to your blog (warning: highly addictive).
Entrecard - I'm still trying to figure this one out but I've received consistent traffic.
Attn: Mortgage, Title, Escrow & Loan Officers, help your borrowers - arrange to have their loan signed and notarized in their home, at their convenience.
Browse The Rain for a qualified Notary Signing Agent in your area.
Mobile Notary & Loan Signing Agent that offers Notary Public & Apostille services to businesses and the general public. I specialize in working with real estate professionals helping them process their loans error free. Services guaranteed!
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
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