Backstory - I wanted to update my Will, Powers of Attorney, etc. My biggest competitor just became a grandmother so I knew she would want to update her Will too. So I called her and suggested we notarize each other's documents. I knew some gals who would act as our witnesses. We arranged a date.
I was shocked at her behavior at the appointment. She did the absolute minimum required by our state's notary laws: she added her signature, date, and notary stamp on my documents.
She didn't note anything in a journal.
She didn't use an embosser seal besides the inked seal.
She was very awkward about swearing in the witnesses with raised right hands which told me she hadn't administered the oath to anyone during the thousands of loan signings she had done over the last 6+ years.
If I weren't a notary and didn't know that all notary laws were fulfilled, I would have wondered if my docs were legally notarized because of her cavalier attitude and actions.
My state does not require journals. But I journal and collect clients' signatures because journaling protects me in the event of a false accusation. (Judges love paper trails.) Journaling also lends an air of importance to the legal status of the documents involved. Plus I can be helpful if there is an enquiry about a notarization.
My state does not require an embossed notarization in addition to an inked one. But I have noticed that clients are VERY impressed when an embossed seal is used. Using an embosser adds a solomnity and respect for the documents and thereby to the clients for their important transactions. If the document is bound for overseas, I also use a gold seal before I emboss.
I always have preprinted receipt forms handy. I created them on my computer with my letterhead and tax ID number (not social security number). I complete the form at the end of the appointment and give to each client.
Because I always treat my clients' documents with careful respect and do more than the minimum required, I am telling them via behavior that I am a true professional. They won't want to go elsewhere and they always return to me.
So always provide services at your Professional Best standard. Your clients will have greater trust in your work, be loyal to you, and happily give colleagues your phone number.
In this economy, most of us need to learn new ways to save money on everyday things.
There are three message boards I read for this purpose. Here are the URLs for this purpose:
http://www.frugalvillage.com
http://www.simpleliving.net
http://www.stretcher.com/index.cfm
The first two require free registration. (I've never been spammed by submitting my email address to either site.) You can read all the articles on Stretcher.com without registration.
It's a bit tricky to get to the first two sites' forums' log in page. Once you arrive, bookmark it.
I found these three sites years ago. I've always wanted to pay pennies for unimportant things (like dish soap) so I could spurge on loved things, like European travel.
Keep anything religious away from your business voicemail greeting, website, and emails. Even if the message only vaguely relates to a religion, it can keep a client from calling you.
Current project is a great example
A new client wants me to find a notary in a specific distant city in the US to handle some non-loan notary work as well as some specific administration services involving client interaction with foreigners via phone. My client has clients with backgrounds diverse in culture, races, and religious beliefs.
I can see his point of view. I used to live in San Francisco and now I live 20 minutes south of Vancouver, Canada. I love diversity and I'm cool with virtually all religions.
The client wants business dealings, correspondance, and conversations completely devoid of even the most vague of religious connotations so his clients are not offended.
If the notary he hires says anything as religiously-mild as "have a blessed day" to any of his clients, he would instantly stop sending the notary any work.
Read the definition to see why at: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/blessed
During this project, I have had to eliminate some great notaries because of semi-religious messages or symbols on their voicemail announcements, websites, and/or email signatures. Correspondance and conversations with even semi-religious connotations would have insulted my client.
I understand my client's position. Here is a story of something similar that happened to me:
A local women's non-profit organization had heard of some effective strategies I used with the support of a similar group in California. The local group invited me to attend a club event with the purpose of wooing me to join.
I happily attended. They made me feel welcome. When lunch was served, one of the leaders offered a prayer of thanks.
The words used in the prayer told me that the club members' religion was not mine. The city in which the club is located includes many women of religions not matching the one in the prayer. It was clear the club only wanted women of X religion.
I decided during the prayer to not join that group.
So think carefully about your greetings, graphic icons, and well wishes on various media.
Your well-intended words and symbols could be off-putting or even offensive.
I get spam emails every day - who doesn't? Most arrive in my Spam folder. Plus I get spam emails that arrive in my In folder or Trash folder.
I check all three folders every day because some of my clients send out so much email they have been labeled as spammers.
Some spammers are becoming superb at wording subject lines to maximize the chance of my opening the message and at least reading the top lines.
I hate not opening these messages for fear of missing a gig or note I really do want. But I hate to open questionable messages because even opening some of them will lauch cookies and other nastiness into my computer. (White html on a white background, etc, can easily manage the trick.)
Today I came up with a way of prescreening questionable emails without actually opening them. You are probably already onto this trick but just in case.....
Step 1 If the message is in your Trash or Spam folders, you need to move it to another folder. I move it to my Inbox folder.
Step 2 Find the words in the subject line that are unusual in comparison to the words in most of the emails in your folders. Notary would not be a good word to select. Appointment would be a good word: we notaries think in terms of appointments: most clients think they can walk in to an office or schedule a loan signing with us.
Step 3 Type the unusual words into the Search field. Hit the search mail button.
Step 4 A screen of email messages with your selected words will apear in chronological order with most recent on top. So the suspicious message will appear first or close to it.
Step 5 You can read the first few sentences of the message on the Search Results screen. It is super easy to tell a "real" email message from spam by reading these lines.
Now you know whether to open the message or check it as Spam and delete it.
I realize that all the marketers say we should have an email address that is dedicated to our website domain names. Notary@ProfessionalNotary.com for example. But I have had ProfessionalNotary@yahoo for a zillion years. It is all over the internet - thanks to my hard work. I don't dare change it.
The thread of messages starting with message #33325 at the NotaryRotary.com message board is the best online source for learning about being a successful signing agent.
I re-read it occasionally because sometimes I get a new idea inspired by one of the messages.
Don't take everything as being accurate because the signing agent industry has changed drastically in the last two years, especially the way NSAs market to TCs and SSs. But there are still plenty of terrific tips to make reading worth your time.
LauraV
ps: If you are new to this industry, do NOT ask questions on NotRot. They will eat you alive! The board at GoMobileNotary is much friendlier. http://members.boardhost.com/gomobilenotary/ The owner of GMN is a very nice man so that's where I buy all of my notary supplies.
I'm writing about this so you can learn what professionals expect and look for when they want the best notary in the area.
I've been getting a new type of client: business attorneys and real estate professionals who hire me to find the best notaries in their area and train them in marketing to help bring clients in. They find my website, my profile on ActiveRain, and gossip about the notary marketing books I sell.
Attorneys, especially, want marketing-savvy notaries to help bring in new clients.
I start by Googling the word notary and the town of my client in this way: +notary +"New Orleans" +LA
Then I look at the last line of each search engine result in the free (no paid ads) section. That last line tells me if the notary has a unique domain name or is part of a notary directory.
I want the notary to have their own dedicated website and it cannot be an add-on site like the ones at NotaryNet or FreeWebs.
I am impressed when I find notaries with dedicated websites AND profiles on ActiveRain. I read their website, ActiveRain, and GoMobileNotary profile carefully.
I am looking for a few years of experience, full time availability, and number and types of loans signed.
I read the profile to see if the writing is informative, clear, and error-free.
If there is a photograph of the notary, I look for "normal," good grooming, and casual-professional attire. "Normal" means no crazy hair or any odd, cute, or sexy facial expressions. (Lots of ladies need to change their photos.) If there is no photo, I politely request that a recent one be emailed to me.
I was recently asked to search for a notary in a large southern California city. I knew there must be several hundred notaries within a half hour drive of the client's office. I found only SIX I thought worth contacting via email.
To get found by the best potential repeat clients, follow the above guidelines. (And please don't contact me to say you would love to be on my list. This is a huge country and I only get a few of these requests a month.)
A few months ago, my local public library granted free access to several databases for cardholders.
I access these databases from my home computer using my library card number.
Using Reference USA, I have been building prospective client and referrer lists with owners' names, fax numbers, and addresses. I only note business owners who have websites.
I believe strongly in doing detailed demographic research to find my best prospective clients. I started this when I moved to my new town five years ago. I know exactly who my best prospective clients and referrers are by industries, age range, income range, etc. www.ZipSkinny.com is a helpful website. You won't find the information by just reading it: take time to really study the data there.
I faxed an annoucement of services to 75 potential referrers in a specific industry this week. I have found MyFax.com to be cheap and reliable.
Now that virtually all businesses with websites get faxes via email, I no longer think faxing is unethical. The recipient can view the first page of the fax in the body of the email so she/he can choose to print or simply discard. Even better, they can save the message for future reference. So even though the fax arrives in their email, it stands a far better chance of being read than a regular email does.
Tomorrow I will mail 100 color postcards to a different list. (I had the cards printed at www.VistaPrint.com - They look great.)
This weekend I will create a list of clients in yet another industry and fax a different announcement to them next week.
Some of the notary work my clients want involves some legal secretary chores as well, so I charge handsomely for that. I'm still cheaper than what attorneys would charge for the same service. I made $255 yesterday from two back-to-back appointments. Total time 1.25 hours. No loan docs involved. Payment at table. Both clients drove to me: one from a half hour away, the other 1.25 hours away. While writing this text, I just got a call from someone wanting this service tomorrow. I quoted $105. Sweet!
The main database I use is Reference USA. This is a database of businesses in US and Canada. Most libraries grant access to additional databases as well.
How to access the databases for free: First, get a library card. Then access the library's website from anywhere. Look for the word reference or search or databases. At some point you will be required to enter your library ID number.
Once you get into Reference USA, select Custom Search. In the next window, click on Yellow Page headings and City, State. Click any additional boxes you wish. Most industry databases use SIC codes for businesses. The longer the number, the more specific the selection. For example: Surgeons would be a longer number than doctors. The more specific you can be, the more useful your results will be. You can find the SIC codes by looking at the Yellow Page headings. Click on the blue word "headings." A pop up window will appear. Note the SIC codes for future reference.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) website might allows access to additional databases and knowing the SIC codes will be handy. http://sba.gov/tools/resourcelibrary/smallbusinessstatisticsresearch/index.html
So do what clever notary Pamela Knight does: think about what add-on services your notary clients might need and post them on your website.
Then do what I do: fax or mail announcements to people you find on free databases!
Lots of us have been happily ordering high quality business cards from VistaPrint.com for several years.
VistaPrint has recently added signage to their line of product offerings.
I just ordered a waterproof plastic lawn sign measuring 12"high by 18"wide. That's approximately the same size as two letter size sheets of paper side by side. My sign says in big letters on three lines: Notary Public inside building
If you want the stand, that is $3 extra. I declined.
I chose 3 week shipping for around $7. (I have found that clicking on 3 weeks usually gets me the product in around 10-12 days.)
I plan to tape the sign inside a window of the building in which I perform notary services. Next month when roads are no longer icy, I plan to offer Saturday notary services in at a border town south of Vancouver, Canada. I'll tape the sign inside my car window parked outside the building to help clients locate me.
Car door magnet signs measuring 11.25"wide by 8.5" high are temporarily free at:
Remember to take them off your car when you go through the car wash.
I recently received some printed postcards I ordered to announce Saturday border town services. I got 100 free and paid around $7 for shipping. The cards look great and are printed on heavy stock. I had my local Small Business Administration help me build a tightly targeted recipient list of clients mostly likely to drive to me and use my most lucrative services. SBA does not charge for these types of research projects. Put your local office to work!
I always wait for VistaPrint's email sales announcements for free products. To get on VistaPrint's emailing announcement list, enter your email address above the Sign Up button near the bottom of the left column of the home page www.VistaPrint.com
Good luck with your own marketing projects! LauraV www.ProfessionalNotary.com
These are things I have discovered myself doing or thinking during times when I was working waaaay too hard. I am self employed and do most of my work from my home office and notary office 2 blocks away.
I started this list when loan closing appointments were still fun. I add to it when I realize I have been a dork. I added the last item a few days ago.
You know you are working too hard when...
You have run out of clean dishes although you have place settings for 10 and live alone with your pug.
Your kitchen trash is filled with Chinese Food containers.
Your living room is a wreck and your vacuum cleaner was abandoned there many days ago. A snappy idea suddenly hits you: if anyone stopped by, it would appear you were in the middle of house cleaning. You think this is a great strategy.
If you try to slip in a nap, you place your phone next to your pillow.
You get your socks and undies from your clothes dryer, not your dresser.
You have a glass of Ovaltine and call it breakfast.
Your ironing board is erected in your home office and is stacked with papers.
You yearn for a cigarette even though you have never smoked.
You consult your calendar to schedule each day's shower.
You look in your rearview mirror as you are pulling out of the driveway. You notice you applied eyebrow makeup to one side only. Your eyebrow hairs are pale blonde so this omission is noticeable.
Happy Meals start to sound good.
After your shower, you look at the mirror and see you have just smeared hair mousse all over your face.
You get up at 5am, have a glass of milk and a vitamin around 7am. At 1:30pm your stomach is in knots and you suddenly realize you are starving. Your brain races: who can you phone to bring lunch?
A lovely man I know works in Manhattan and pulls over $1m in salary and bonuses a year.
He is the VP of sales for a major international health products company. If you have ever had a cold in the USA, you have bought his one of company's products.
This man sends out hand-signed notecards to his addressee list every month. The addressee list includes clients and referrers.
He hires a college student and pays her from his own checking account. She is not an employee of the company: she works solely for him.
He gives the student a list of his addressees, their addresses, and their personal interests: golf, Parisian art galleries, wedding of daughter, etc.
The student clips articles on the topics of his list from paper versions of NY Times, Washington Post, SF Chronicle, and other newspapers and magazines he subscribes to for this purpose. Paper versions because paper is far more personal than print outs of websites.
The student hand-addresses the envelopes and adds a postage stamp. She adds an address label to the top center of the envelope flap because this is the proper etiquette of personal mail among the elite. She does not run it through a postage meter. This is because envelopes with computer-generated addresses and metered postage have less than a 9% chance of being opened. A hand-addressed envelope with postage stamp gives the envelope a 80%+ chance to not only be opened but read.
Personal note here: chance of being open and read would be even higher if my lovely friend purchased an embosser with his return address. Each envelope must be hand-embossed for the image to appear. Hard to do via machinery.
My friend's wife buys bulk note cards with no text in various designs. Again: sports for guys, florals for gals. The student hands the press clippings, note card, pre-addressed and stamped envelope to my friend. He adds a short personal note in pen like "Read this and thought of you, John Doe." He has been using this technique for 25 years with huge success.
You may not have a wife to buy your notecards but you can easily find a very competent college student who will work for $10 an hour as long as she gets a great letter of recommendation from you. Female and gay guy students are far more reliable and sensitive to personal nuances than hetero guys.
You can buy your own blank notecards. Florals for women, sports for men. Just be certain to send the right guy the right sport.
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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