Professional Notary Blog

You know you are working too hard when...

2008-12-03T22:09:06Z

The below statements are absolutely true.

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 idea.

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?

OT: Pay your bills via phone or internet because invoices are arriving VERY late in the mail

2008-11-28T19:06:45Z

Since the post office laid off 40K workers a month or two ago, I have noticed that mail delivery time has slowed to a snail's pace.

I should have received my phone, cable internet, and utility bills two weeks ago. Good thing I checked last month's invoices: payments are due next week.

Two are due in a few days. Yikes!

I will drive to the offices tomorrow, pay in person, and get a receipt.

Just a heads up to my fav AR members in the hopes of saving you late fees and dings on your credit reports.

Also - - - Mail Mum's Xmas gift 2 weeks early. You don't want to hurt Mum's feelings!

LauraV www.ProfessionalNotary.com

Please help: borrower's vendors + creditors on HUD were not paid

2008-11-25T15:36:24Z

A very experienced notary from Indiana called me yesterday: Marshall Sax. A borrower he worked with a month or so ago was having serious problems with the title company paying the vendors and creditors listed on her HUD.

Marshall said he would post the situation on a few notary boards to gain information that would help this woman. I told Marshall I would post his statement on ActiveRain so he could read what the best notaries in the US have to share. The statement is below.

Please post your contributions as comments to this blog/thread. Marshall will be reading them.

The woman's house is not in jeopardy. Even if she has to declare bankruptcy, the court will let her keep the house.

Marshall's post: This afternoon I received a call from a very nice lady on my cell phone - I did a refi loan for recently.

The purpose of the loan was to consolidate her credit card debts and to reduce her monthly payments. She seemed stressed and related to me that the credit card debts that were supposed to be paid at the time the loan funded never got paid. She told me that the mortgage originator - Ace Mortgage Co. - was no longer in business.

I knew that it was the responsibility of the Title company to pay the items listed in the HUD-1. The problem is that the title company is the now bankrupt chapter 7 (Archer Title Company) which we have recently discussed.

She asked my advice and since I do not expect nor asked for compensation just to do a nice thing for a person, I do not feel it is UPL. Unless an error has taken place by title they have absconded with her funds. I really felt sorry for her and thought for a minute.

I told her that she needed to check with her present mortgage company and see what they say. The thought entered my mind if she was not able to get satisfaction with her present escrow it is realized that times are tough and many a title and loan originator may fail in the future perhaps some forum members may have known of this happening and may have a solution to assist this poor woman.

In the mean time she is incurring interest and fines on her credit card(s) which will only have an adverse rating on her credit rating. She is in shock and has failed to service the credit card debt and does not know what to do.

What would you advise me to relate to her?

Please post your information and resources as comments below. I will give Marshall the url for this thread and he will be watching for your contributions. We all wish this woman luck. LauraV

If you know someone who is broke, this info might help

2008-11-23T16:02:46Z

Here is an idea that might help someone who is really broke.

I notarized an affidavit for a woman whose daughter was renting an apartment. Daughter, 20, had a new baby. Baby's father not around. Mother co-signed application for an apartment in a complex for low income people.

Mother also had to sign an affidavit of monthly financial support. Mum told me about how she gets the $250 a month to give to daughter for rent.

Mum gives blood plasma twice a week at the local blood/plasma center. She said they pay $20 for the first visit of the week and $40 for the second. Plus they give a month-end bonus if she makes X number total visits in a month. (I don't recall the number.)

$250 a month could make a big difference to a family not quite making ends meet.

The power of frequent personal notes to clients and referrers

2008-11-09T19:04:30Z

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.

Go get 'em! LauraV

NotaryPublicDirectory.com encourages clients to demand 10% off our fees. Grrrrr

2008-11-07T18:42:46Z

Hi, All

NotaryPublicDirectory.com is bad news.

They have a 10% off coupon for customers and they don't tell us notaries about that.

I signed up with NotaryPublicDirectory.com when it was free with no link back requirements. (btw - NEVER link back to a directory filled with your competitiors.)

A client called to make an appointment with me. He said he really wanted the coupon discount.

I was puzzled. What coupon? He said there was a coupon on my notary listing.

I told him if he found me on a directory that said 10% off, I would honor it. (500+ notaries in my town. Didn't want to give him a reason to look for another.)

After talking with him at the signing about how he found me, I discovered he would have next done a Google search. I'm on page one of Google 4-6 times. He would have found me that way.

I just yanked my listing from that site.

Just a heads up for you!
LauraV

Foreclosures and suicides

2008-11-03T21:13:30Z

I have my BA in Psychology from a very tough school. I use my degree every day. I'm always thinking about people and their behavior.

For the last year, I have been very worried that the nationwide number of suicides would skyrocket due to foreclosures and loss of retirement funds due to the home-loan-caused economic crash.

I am heartbroken to say this but I am starting to hear stories that confirm my fears.

Case in point: I was talking to a good, hard-working man today whose home is in foreclosure. He owns a small business and his sales have tanked. He's looking for a job but jobs paying more than minimum wage are scarce. He is a good, kind man.

He's getting some legal help and MAY be able to save the house he has owned for 15 years so he is feeling better. Best of luck to him.

He confessed to me that a month ago he was seriously considering suicide.

That made me furious.

Those rotten lying greedy loan officers. I hope they rot in H E dbl toothpicks.

I truly believe there have been thousands of suicides across the country this year due to foreclosures and the stock crash.

The families of these desperate people don't reveal the reason for the suicides and I don't blame them. They want to preserve the reputation of their now-dead loved ones. My heart goes out to them.

The people who murdered themselves are the casualties of our current war of the greedy vs the honest every-day American.

I am comforted to know I refused to notarize loan docs when the borrowers did not fully understand the terms of their loans. Just as I do not notarize docs related to Powers of Attorney and Wills when the signer does not fully understand and agree with all the terms of those docs. I never advise - I only ask questions so I could tell if they understood what they were signing.

Lenders blacklisted me. Loan officers screamed profanity through my phone. I didn't care about those greedy #####. My decision was personal.

But it turned out to be a good business decision: I have zero worries about lawsuits while the Feds are auditing tens of thousands of loan packages nationwide.

I have two words of advice for notaries:

1. Stick to your ethics.

2. Market your notary services to wealthy people.

Wealthy people always make certain they understand what the documents say before they sign. They are the people buying rental and vacation property in this horrible economy. They are also buying luxury cars and boats. (Sales of Rolls Royce cars are up 7% this year from 2007.) Some thirty-something-wealthies are adopting babies.

Market your notary services to wealthy people to help you survive these terrible economic times.

Best of luck to you and your family, LauraV

Recommendation for a great website technician

2008-10-21T12:05:22Z

Now that my new website is done, I am happy to share information about my fantastic website technician: Greg Cunningham. Greg@Tech-hachapi.com

I am in NW Washington and he is in Southern California. We had absolutely no problem working together. Greg is very prompt at responding to my phone calls and emails.

Take a look at the two websites Greg did for me: www.OliviaCarlin.com and www.BestOfWA.com

The first one is my new evening purse business. The second one is for a non-profit I founded. I designed the websites. Greg did the technical work.

Greg was website tech number 6 for me. The first 5 were complete flakes. I'm going to have to take one of them to small claims court just to get my deposit back - she did zero work on the website.

I don't get anything for posting this information. I'm just grateful to have found a reliable and excellent web tech.

You've heard the saying: You can only get 2 of these 3 items, never all 3: Fast. Top quality. Cheap. With Greg, you get the first two in abundance.

You are welcome to contact me with questions: ProfessionalNotary@yahoo.com

Or contact Greg directly for information and references: Greg@Tech-hachapi.com

Greg's attributes:

Fast worker :::: Responds to emails and phone messages very quickly :::: Meticulous :::: Finds good deals on hosting and email software. He doesn't add a mark up. :::: Solid communication skills. He writes in understandable plain English, not tech talk. :::: Offers multiple solutions and choices to problems and puzzles :::: Excellent handling of graphics and photos :::: Fully versed in e-commerce and secure shopping carts Invoices are clear. Work is well documented. :::: Versatile in website coding. Only uses templates when client wants them. :::: Conversant with high-tech images such as those images which dissolve to new ones. :::: No English language problems. No dealing with time zones and international currencies. :::: Worked in Intellectual Technology (IT) industry for 10 years before becoming a full-time freelance website designer and technician 3 years ago.

If you need a website, contact Greg! Greg@Tech-hachapi.com

LauraV

Build your referral base to get more non-loan notary work

2008-10-08T10:40:31Z

My recent marketing efforts have been spent on developing more referral sources for non-loan work.

Monday's appointments were all from referrals.

*One appointment was referred by a notary who owns the local UPS store. We send work to each other. She does not: work on weekend, notarize wills, or provide witnesses (too much time away from more lucrative shipping work). My big coup for will work is that I can furnish witnesses on weekdays. They are secretaries in the building I use for notary work. They are always happy to earn $5 for 5 minutes of work. All are single moms so the $5 is very welcome.

*One appointment was for adoption work. The three biggest multi-doctor offices in my county all refer all their patients to me for notary work. This is a result of me calling on the office managers and leaving cards whenever I am at the office. (The three offices combined serve 25% of the total population of my huge county.)

*One appointment was for a language translator. We refer work to each other. We both get calls for both notary and translation work and refer clients to each other. She called me for the first appointment and turned into a referral source as well as client.

Coincidentally, all docs were bound for foreign destinations: South Africa, Ethiopia, and Columbia. Fun and lucrative work: $225 for 3 hours including driving. I drove to the doc's office. Others drove to me. Everyone paid at the appointment.

This week I'm meeting with a non-attorney immigration specialist. I notarized some docs for him recently. He has the energy and drive of youth but my marketing chops are better. I will help him, he will refer work to me.

Good luck! LauraV

Blogging + Social Internet Networking does not get you work: Here's what to do

2008-09-28T19:30:24Z

Suddenly, everyone is on the Social Networking bandwagon.

My local Small Business Administration is offering classes on the importance of participating in Social Networking sites, blogging, eArticle posting, etc. The overall name for this activity is Web 2.0. Tons of SBA offices and marketing experts across the US are offering lessons and ebooks for purchase.

Social networking on the internet is worthless. I think Google and the other search engines will soon agree.

Most of the social networking posts are now coming from people who are not business-savvy. The posts look more and more like the pages from a teenager's diary talking about her after-school job as in "I helped a client and her granny today" or "Don't miss this weekend's high school football team game." Just take a look at a few hundred ActiveRain posts to see what I am talking about.

Important aside - Posting on AR to interact and help and industry colleagues is extremely helpful to our businesses and careers because they help us expand our professional knowledge. That is a different topic from this post.

Most social networking posters have been making matters worse for those of us wanting to market our services on the internet. The posters are adding sound and video to home-made monologues with head-shot movies of them talking. Boring at best. I think these types of blogs, MySpace posts, etc, will become so full of useless rhetoric that their importance in SEO and internet marketing will quickly fade and no one will pay any attention to them, not even the Google bots.

Forget Google Analytics. Most small business owners with websites are told to use Google Analytics and other tools to help drive traffic to their websites.

To this I say Phooey.

You can get 5,000 hits (visitors) a week to your website simply by adding some pics of Pamela Anderson. This will not get you notary work. What you really want is to get 20 hits a week that result in 14 phone calls wanting appointments. (By the way, I get lots more calls than 14/week because my website is not the only place I post information about mynotary services.)

The solution is to make certain the home page of your notary website has all the keywords your prospective clients will use when searching for a notary in your coverage area. Plus give them links to websites with forms that most of your clients need which are hard to find on internet searches.

Check out my website to see what I am talking about. You are welcome to paraphrase and adapt the text on my website for your coverage area.

btw - I have a psych degree from an ivy league college so I know what I am blogging about.

LauraV www.ProfessionalNotary.com

Oregon Sec of State is against eNotarization and so am I

2008-09-02T19:42:34Z

The NNA has been conducting a nationwide campaign for over 5 years to get states and notaries to use their Enjoa enotary software.

Please note that eNotarization is an entirely different animal than loan packages that are eSigned. eSigning mean the non-notarized docs are "signed" via computer using a previously signed PofA. Docs requiring notarization are printed out. Signatures and notarizations are completed in traditional ink on paper format.

eNotarizations scare me to death.

In the US, our computers simply do not have sufficient firewalls and other tools to fight the invasion of hackers into our computers' database. People who connect their computers to the internet via WiFi and AirCards are the most vulnerable. In contrast, internet users in France have a separate box between their computer and the cable connection in the wall that protects that computer from being hacked into. This firewall equipment is serious stuff. ID theft via wall-connected computer is VERY low in France. WiFi and AirCard connections are just as vulnerable in France as here.

Key statement by Oregon's Sec of State, notary division: "Identity theft, by the notary or someone with access to a notary's computer, would be a relatively simple affair. Victims would have an enormously difficult time repudiating their thumbprint, and might not have any idea how their identity was stolen."

Read the full statement at http://www.filinginoregon.com/notary/currenttopics/enjoa.htm

The title companies in my state want our legislators to pass legislation accepting eNotarization and eRecording of Deeds. They are pushing it through in an underhanded, quiet way through a railroad transportation regulation. Sneaky bast@rds. As you know, title companies give a rat's a$ regarding the protection of the borrowers'/buyers' private information. TCs show extreme negligence when they send us edocs in simple PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format with no encryption or even the requirement of a password. Crikey! They might as well print out legal name, date of birth, and social security numbers on a postcard and put it in a corner mailbox!

Please think long and hard before joining the eNotarization bandwagon.

Remember this: All liability connected with any notarization falls on you. If an ID theft is conducted via your computer, you could easily be named as an accessory by not securing your information.

LauraV

These TCs just closed their doors

2008-07-30T19:27:40Z

These TCs just closed their doors

American Heritage Title Agency, Inc.

Arizona Title Agency, Inc.

Financial Title Company

First American Heritage Title Company

Guardian Mortgage Documents, Inc.

Investors Title Company

Lender's First Choice Agency, Inc. (includes All Reverse Title) (dba Lenders Choice Title Company in California)

Mercury Exchange, Inc

Mercury Settlement Services, Inc.

Mercury Settlement Services of Utah

Mercury Transaction Services, Inc.

Security Title Guaranty Co.

Title America, Inc.

Title Guaranty Agency of Arizona, Inc.

Title Guaranty Agency of Colorado, Inc.

United Title Company, Inc.

United Title of Texas USA Digital Solutions, Inc.

Many thanks to Kathy in Idaho for compiling this list.

And for more bad news, IndyMac owns Financial Freedom.

CANCER Institute warns of cell phone risks: men carrying cell phone in pants pockets esp vulnerable to prostrate cancer

2008-07-24T20:51:38Z

I live in WA just below the Canadian border. Today I heard a very interesting interview on CBC: Canada's version of National Public Radio. US news reporters don't seem to be featuring the story in the US so I am sharing with you because the news is VERY important.

My apologies for posting this blog-post in AR groups with zero relevance to this topic. I simply think this info is too important to not share as widely as possible in the real estate industry because we all need our cell phones to stay in business.

A prominent US doctor at a US cancer institute is telling us not to use cell phones near our bodies because of the electromagnetic fields that could lead to cancer.

The beginning of the newsprint article is below. Full article text is at the webaddress provided.

What I heard on the radio interview that is not included in the article:

*Old research says cell phones are not bad. But old research is old. 10 years ago, only well-to-do individuals and certain types of business people used cell phones often. The phones were the size and weight of bricks. But today, every teenager has her/his head glued to a cell phone several hours a day. Many people working in businesses that require us to be "in the field" use cell phones for a few hours every day. That certainly includes us on Active Rain: the real estate industry!

*It is not enough to wear a headset if the cell phone is kept near the body. Men carrying a cell phone in a front pants pocket are starting to show prostrate cancer statistics. The phone must be kept away from the body. For example: I put my phone on the passenger seat when I drive with my headset.

*Science usually wants lots of data gathered over a long period of time. Dr. Herberman said he issued a warning against cell phone use near the body this week because the current research data cannot wait the usual 10 years before issuing warnings.

*The big scare about microwave use 20 years ago turned out to be irrelevant because none of us use a microwave (and very close to our bodies. If we used microwaves in our pockets, we would have data telling us that microwave use could lead to cancer. So the early nay-sayers were right, in a different but relevant way.

http://ca.us.biz.yahoo.com/ap/080723/cell_phone_warning.html?.v=2

Beginning text of article:

Pitt's Cancer Institute warns 3,000 faculty, staff about possible cell phone health risks

PITTSBURGH (AP) --

The head of a prominent cancer research institute issued an unprecedented warning to his faculty and staff Wednesday: Limit cell phone use because of the possible risk of cancer.

The warning from Dr. Ronald B. Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, is contrary to numerous studies that don't find a link between increased tumors and cell phone use, and a public lack of worry by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Herberman is basing his alarm on early, unpublished data. He says it takes too long to get answers from science and he believes people should take action now -- especially when it comes to children.

"Really at the heart of my concern is that we shouldn't wait for a definitive study to come out, but err on the side of being safe rather than sorry later," Herberman said.

Herberman's advice is sure to raise concern among many cell phone users and especially parents. In the memo he sent to about 3,000 faculty and staff Wednesday, he says children should use cell phones only for emergencies because their brains are still developing.

Adults should keep the phone away from the head and use the speakerphone or a wireless headset, he says. He even warns against using cell phones in public places like a bus because it exposes others to the phone's electromagnetic fields.

Make those headset and cell phone changes TODAY!

LauraV www.ProfessionalNotary.com

When your client does not have to appear before you; Witness work an under tapped source of income

2008-07-14T12:07:03Z

Ron posted a provactive blog about clients appearing before us and necessity of keeping detailed and accurate records in our journals.

Accurate knowledge and accurate records protects both the public and us.

I think Ron's last paragraph was most important. He is right: it is urgent that we notaries know our state's regulations and practices thoroughly.

In WA, there are 3 types of services a notary may perform out of presence of the client:

*Copy certification (comparing an original document to a copy and attaching a notarized statement that the copy matches the original). Seal is used. The person providing the original and copies does not need to be the owner of the original. The documents can even be sent to me via mail or FedEx.

*Acting as a government official on some forms. Example: signing a form in the capacity of Notary Public that the ID number on a vehicle matches number listed on form. The person who owns the car doesn't need to appear before the notary. The ID# verification request could come from anyone. The notary seal not always required. Seal IS required when proper notarial wording is presented.

*Acting as a witness. Notary seal is not used. Client does not appear before notary. This is usually in the context of presentment honor/dishonor work.

I am posting this blog for two reasons:

1. We notaries have to know our regulations cold PLUS be aware of things not clearly stated or not even mentioned in the regulations.

Of the three examples above, only the first situation is clearly discussed in my state's notary regulations.

My state's fee schedule mentions a witness fee but doesn't give instructions or even mention examples. We can all think of being a witness to someone signing her will when we are not the notary. But there are many other cases where I have acted as witness in my capacity of notary. Some of the situations required that I call my SoS to ascertain that I am handling the work properly.

2. Witness work is a largely untapped area of non-loan notary work. While the mortgage crisis continues, we notaries who love our work and don't want to change careers must be ever vigilant to find new opportunities to increase our service offerings.

Copy certification and witness work has come to represent around a third of my monthly notary income. It pays much better than loan work. Clients drive to me or mail/FedEx the work to me so I don't have time and overhead wasted on driving to the client. It is important to realize that I don't just get notary income, I get income from the administrative work involved. Scanning, driving to post office or FedEx (both are very close by), phone conversations with clients and others, etc. I charge $30 minimum for my time. I'm researching to become more experienced and will probably up my admin fee to $50 by the end of this year.

I hope you research how witness work should be handled in your state and investigage the possibilities of how to get more witness work.

LauraV www.ProfessionalNotary.com/7.html

Why I fired my marketing consultant

2008-07-03T20:14:01Z

This blog post is to give you an example of why you need to create a super clear definition of your best prospective clients and referrers and then place your marketing text where these people look. Yellow pages, internet, clients' accountants, whatever.

I am very good at marketing. But I would be nuts to think that I can consider all aspects of my business, target clientele, and appropriate advertising media. So I visit with my local Small Business Development Center (a federally funded division of the Small Business Administration) every month or two.

My last counselor was amazing. Very sophisticated and experienced marketing and business consultant. He moved out of the area so we locals lost this great resource. (But I am happy to report that the counselor, his wife, and I have become friends and stay in touch.)

I had two appointments with the new counselor replacing Mr. Terrific. Then I fired him.

He knows marketing formulas, internet analytics, direct mail methods, coupon use, etc extremely well. He was born and raised in my rural area. He knows the local people.

But he is absolutely ignorant of my target clientele and personally incapable of thinking outside the box. He is a formula man through and through.

Some characteristics of my best current and prospective clients. Some points may not make sense to you. I cannot post on a public board exactly what I do for these people because my competition reads the boards.

*Aged 30-65

*Income of $80K or more.

*Highly educated, mostly at the best schools.

*Loves traveling to metro cities at home and abroad (not adventure travel)

*Comfortable around many different ethnic groups. Often born outside US. Usually comfortable with gays.

My just-fired counselor thought I should prioritize my time and money by launching a google adwords campaign. That didn't seem right to me but I am always willing to say that I may be the one who cannot see the elephant in the living room. So I spent 40+ hours researching google adwords.

I came to the conclusion that my best prospects and referrers use the internet heavily to search for what they need but they RARELY click on the paid ads.

Just Fired and I argued about whether this was true.

I told him I fit all my profile's characteristics and that I know these people well. They do not click on paid ads. Sidebar: I went to Mills College. US News and World report ranks Mills as 6th best college in the US. My degree is in behavioral psych. Marketing is simply psych in a business setting.

Just Fired said that he was "highly educated" and he clicks on paid ads on Google all the time. I should learn from this. He defined highly educated as graduating in the top 5% of his farmland high school and his local state college. (US News and World report ranks his college quite low.) He hasn't traveled outside the state. He makes far less than $80K. He isn't biased against gays or other ethnic groups but he has little experience around them.

This told me Just Fired has absolutely no clue about my target prospects and referers.

If you don't understand your best prospects and referrers extremely well, you CANNOT create an effective marketing or ad campaign.

Suffice to say BEWARE! of marketing advisors who do not understand what you do, who your best prospective clients and referrers are, and the best methods of advertising to reach this focused group of people.

Hope this helps! LauraV

Update on true cost to own + run your car: at least $1.37 per mile

2008-06-27T10:02:32Z

The website for determining the true cost of owning and operating your that I mentioned several weeks ago was just updated.

http://www.commutesolutions.org/calc.htm

Note that they use a base of $1.37 per mile using a gas cost of $4.36 per gallon. I'm paying $4.79 per gallon these days, so I'm sticking with my earlier estimate of $1.50 per mile.

Plus I charge for my travel time: $30 per hour.

An example:

I accept an appointment to go to a home 5 miles away. It takes me 15 minutes to drive 5 miles. Round trip travel time is 30 minutes x $30 per hour = $15. Plus 10 miles x $1.50 per mile = $15. That means the travel portion of my fee should be $30. Notary seal and oath fees are additional.

Hope this helps,

LauraV

Being helpful pays off in more work

2008-06-26T11:19:03Z

When people call and want services that I cannot provide, I always try to help them if I can.

Examples *Someone wants me to notarize a copy of their birth certificate. I explain that notarized are not permitted to do that. Then I give them tips on how to get another birth certificate from the government agency in their county of birth.

*Someone wants me to draw up their Will or Power of Attorney as well as notarize it. I tell them I am happy to notarize their papers for them but I am not permitted to draw the documents. I then tell them about a terrific local paralegal plus the name of a stationery store where they can buy preprinted forms that are compliant with our state's regulations.

Most people are unfamiliar with government and legal resources and are grateful for the help. They remember kindness.

My experience is that they not only call me whenever they need a notary but they also tell their friends and colleagues.

I post lots of information about resources on my website including the URLs of government agencies offering free legal forms to print and complete. Many clients tell me they love my website because it is helpful. They also say the large amount of info on my site assures them that I have a deep understanding of notary regulations and practices. My website helps them decide I am the notary they want.

LauraV

www.ProfessionalNotary.com/7.html

Blogging does not help you get notary work

2008-05-20T11:07:36Z

Hi, All

I opened my ActiveRain account this morning to find spam about a service to help me with blogging. I imagine most -if not all of you - received the same message.

I have done over 300 hours of research on internet marketing. I have tried blogs to see how it impacts getting on the first page of Google and the other search engines.

Blogs used to work great. But Google and most of the other search engines changed their algorythms (search engines strategies) drastically last year. Blogging is no longer helpful for notaries.

Lots of people think posting lots of blogs here on AR will help get them on page one of an internet search. No longer. Blogging here mostly helps you network with other NSAs to advance your professional knowledge.

What DOES help you get on page one of Google:

*Posting terrific announcements about your services here, on CraigsList, on Kijiji, and a few other free places to list your services.

*Having a website and submitting its info to Dmoz.com and Yahoo yellow pages.

*Putting keywords (the words people use when searching for a notary) on your website and in all your announcements.

If all you want is loan work from your internet marketing, you need to be where the TCs look: the notary directories. I think 123notary is the most used one. I don't like 123, but if it is the most effective way to get loan work via the internet I'm not going say otherwise. GoMobileNotary is probably second best. I like GMN lots - the owner is a good guy.

Some LOs (especially RevMort ones) look for notaries on the internet and don't know about the notary directories. So if you want RevMort work, be on 123 and GMN AND do the above things I mention.

Hope this helps,

LauraV

www.ProfessionalNotary.com

Free online calculator to determine true cost to own and operate your car

2008-05-07T11:39:30Z

I found a great website that gives you the true cost to own and operate your car. It is published by the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission in California.

http://www.commutesolutions.org/calc.htm

Note that they come up with a base of $1.19 per mile to own and operate your car. I telephoned them this morning to ask when the calculator was created so I could adjust for gas price increases.

They said 2004!

The agency is in the process of updating all the figures on the site and the new calculator will be available in early June.

I've been assuming $1 per mile PLUS $30 per hour for my travel time. For now, I'm going to assume $1.50 for the per mile number and adjust it next month when the new calculator is out.

I suggest we all bookmark the site and write a reminder in our calendars to check for the update in June.

LauraV

Having this stamp made will save you lots of work and time

2008-05-04T14:54:47Z

When I use the notarial certificates I create and print myself, all my required information is preprinted on the forms.

But when I notarize a document that has its own notarial certificate wording, I use a rubber stamp I had made.

My stamp states the following info - most of the text is required by my state. Adjust for your state's requirements.

Laura Vestanen, Notary Public
Residing in Bellingham, Washington, USA
Commission #12345 expires 10 Aug 2011

I had the stamp made with small letters using Arial font size 8. The letters are big enough to read but the entire stamp is small enough to squeeze into most spaces. This stamp has saved me lots of writing by hand and I keep it in my briefcase at all times.

www.GoMobileNotary.com has pre-inked stamps that give super clear images. Much better than the self-inking stamps. I highly suggest GMN for all your stamp needs.

LauraV

Where to find examples of common non-loan documents needing notarization

2008-04-21T20:53:23Z

Want to provide notary services for the general public? Want to see examples of the forms you will be working with? Here are some common forms needing notarizations and several resources for viewing examples.

DOCUMENTS I FREQUENTLY NOTARIZE FOR THE GENERAL PUBLIC
Power of Attorney (for general / financial matters)
Power of Attorney for Health Care
Wills
Advanced Health Care Directive (aka Living Will)
Vehicle title transfers (car, boat, RV, etc)
Sales tax forms regarding vehicle sales
Letters requesting birth certificates
Vehicle loan papers
Quit Claim Deeds
Declaration of Domestic Partnership
Marriage License Applications
Certified copy of a document
Passport related documents
Medical reports (usually related to adoptions or working in a foreign country)
Diploma, Manuscript, Thesis, Transcript
Financial report or letter of instruction
Grant applications
Bylaws, Minutes, Corporate documents
Pension papers
Timeshare & condominium purchases and sales

RESOURCES FOR FINDING SAMPLE DOCUMENTS

Public library
Many libraries have blank forms for people to photocopy in the library. Visit the main library in your town and the reference librarian for help. Show her the above list.

Small stationery stores
FedEx as well as Office Depot and similar large chain stores sell legal forms. But they tend to not be specific for your state and compliant with your state's rules. Some mom and pop stationery stores sell blank legal forms for a few dollars each. Call your local small stores and see if this is the case. Most will probably let you simply view the forms without purchase if you buy some other things while you are there (paper, pens, etc).

The internet
There are lots of sites that offer legal forms - for a price. To find free ones, specify that you only want to view government websites. It is important to use + - and " signs in your search. A + sign tells the search engine to only show results that include the word after the + sign. A - sign tells the search engine to not show any sites you have specified by putting the - sign before a word.

Example: I want to find a free form for a Power of Attorney compliant with my state's laws. I would use these words in a search:
+"power of attorney" +form +free -price -order -book +gov -com -net -biz +WA
The last one is the abbreviation for my state.

State government websites
If you know the agency that issues the forms, start with their homepage. There is usually a search field. For example: The Dept of Licensing handles all vehicle title transfers in my state. So I would visit www.dol.wa.gov and start my search for vehicle forms there.

Travel-related websites
Passport
http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html
Children traveling not in the company of both parents
http://www.gsppc.org/forms/Perm_TravelMinors.pdf
http://www.globalworksinc.com/2005_Permission_to_Travel_Form-To_Notarize.pdf

Friends and family
Ask your friends if you can see their copy of their papers related to car loan, medical lab report, thesis paper, IRA transfer request, etc. Assure them you have no desire to see the money numbers involved and they are welcome to make a copy and black out any private info.

IMPORTANT TIPS
It is essential that you know your state's notary regulations thoroughly. You will also need to research some relevant standard practices, such as how many witnesses are required for Wills in your state or how your state handles the certification/notarization of copies. My state has a special notarial certificate for copy certification. Some states only allow the client to write and sign a statement under oath that the attached document is a true copy of the original.

If you have questions, call your Secretary of State's office, notary division. Never "Wing It." Always research and know what you are doing.

If you plan to perform lots of notarizations for the general public, get small pre-inked rubber stamps with your state's wording for Acknowledgements and Jurats. It is always preferable to add notarial certificate wording to a signature page rather than attach a loose certificate - especially if the document will travel abroad after signing. The absolute best rubber stamps I have used are available from www.GoMobileNotary.com Order the PRE-INKED stamps, not the self-inking ones. The image is super clear. To request a custom stamp, send an email to Keith, the owner, at Support@GoMobileNotary.com saying that you want to order a pre-inked custom stamp and would he please email instructions to you. Mention my name for great service (Keith likes me).

The above is the adaptation of a small excerpt from my ebook Marketing your Non-Loan Notary Services. Sold for $19.98 at http://www.professionalnotary.com/7.html

Good luck!
Laura Vestanen

Save 15%-35% off online orders at Staples via BestOfWA.com

2008-03-11T08:54:12Z

Hi, All

Save 15%-35% off online orders at Staples simply by joining (free) Best of Washington - a new non-profit online statewide chamber of commerce style association for small business owners in WA.

www.BestOfWA.com

Become a member for free, post your business profile (also free), and then click on the Staples logo and follow the instructions. This is not a one-time offer. Members of Best of Washington continue to get 15%-35% off online orders at Staples. Delivery is free. Minimum online order price is $50 ($100 the first time only so you might want to order with a friend.) More vendor discount offers are coming.

FREE membership gets you:

Free business profile to boost your internet marketing

Discounts for members from vendors selling products and services

Links to terrific free resources for small business owners

ABOUT BEST OF WASHINGTON

Small business owners pay top price for office supplies and the other goods and services we need to run our businesses. But we are the people who can least afford to pay full price.

Best of Washington is a new FREE non-profit association helping small business owners in Washington. It uses collective clout to secure discounts for members and helps them advertise their businesses. Staples is already on board: they give 15%-35% off online orders to our members. The larger the membership, the better and more numerous the discounts.

The group needs bigger membership numbers to attract more vendors to give great discounts. Right now we only have 250 members and a handful of vendors. Dozens of other vendors are interested but want to see bigger membership numbers before they offer deals. Future vendors include toner cartridge sellers, cell phone companies, and a terrific chocolatier.

So if you live and have a small business in WA,

PLEASE JOIN TODAY AND SPREAD THE WORD!

Best of Washington does not make money on the vendor deals. This is truly a non-profit organization. The founders used personal money to launch this organization. We are in the process of incorporating as a 501c6 corporation.

www.BestOfWA.com

Your information is never shared or sold.

Thanks for your help and enjoy your discounts!

Laura Vestanen

Where to scatter business cards

2008-02-22T17:06:45Z

Some examples of where I distribute my VistaPrint.com business cards to get non-loan work.

I keep a dozen business cards on me at all times. You never know who you will encounter.

I received a call from an accountant's office yesterday. The secretary asked if I would send her a stack of business cards. This gal heard about me from one of their clients who was happy to have found me. I mailed 50 cards to the office today. (I had given my client several cards and they passed one along to the accountant.)

An intern at a law office called me today for advice in handling a tricky situation for a distant client in Seattle. She needed a notary in Seattle (2 hours away from me) but I helped her by telling her how to handle her paperwork and found the names and phone numbers of 2 notaries for her. She was grateful for the help. That law office is north of me and I am north of Seattle. I asked if I could mail some business cards to her. Those cards go out in tomorrow's mail.

I have been referring clients to the local Mom and Pop stationery store downtown for years via phone and via my website. They sell legal forms quite cheap that are compliant with my state's laws and regulations. This stationery store is happy to provide my business cards on top of the file cabinet that holds their forms.

A few days ago I dropped off 50 cards to a UPS store in town that sends me lots of work. Their notary is not in on the weekends. Plus she hates long appointments (like Wills) and doesn't know how to handle more than the simplest of notary tasks.

I also routinely drop off cards to FedEx and the banks downtown. Banks in my town no longer provide notary services for documents not created by them. The notaries in the banks hate saying "no" to a customer without handing them one of my cards. Sweet.

Good luck to you,
Laura Vestanen

http://professionalnotary.com/7.html

Marketing tip: get your address found by Google Maps

2008-01-31T11:11:50Z

I notarized a Will/POA/Living Will package for a couple yesterday. I love these because witnesses mean lots of signatures to notarize and 4 people I must administer oaths to. ($160 cash on the spot and they came to me)

I always ask new clients how they found me. They used a way no one had said before: Google Maps.

They entered their address into http://maps.google.com
Then they hit the "business" button and entered the word notary.

I did a search and saw that the information came up in the format I used when I entered my info on Yahoo yellow pages. Yahoo and other online phone directories get their data from InfoUSA.

This was a wakeup call for me: it is now important to not only submit our website addresses to google, have an address on websites, but we must make certain to submit that address to InfoUSA as well.

I didn't enter my home address. I entered the address I use when people come to my office for notarizing. (2 blocks away from my home.) Think of what address you might use for your listing.

In the 4 years I've listed this office address, I have never had a problem with people just showing up wanting notary work. They always call ahead because they want to know the price and/or think they might need to make an appointment. I head off people calling around to get low prices by stating that the fees are set by my state and are used by all notaries here. Once they hear that, they want to set an appointment.

Here are the urls for submitting your info:
http://www.google.com/addurl/
http://dbupdate.infousa.com/dbupdate/yahoo1.jsp

Good luck!
Laura Vestanen

Using Google alerts to stay on top of news relevant to notaries

2007-12-24T13:11:05Z

Michelle Riley of Huntsville Mobile Notary in Alabama is a member of our group but rarely has time to post. She is a mobile notary, notary signing agent, RN, and a student studying for yet another college degree - this time in Communication. She is top professional and a gracious woman.

Michelle has had great success using Google Alerts to hear the latest news relevant to our notary businesses. When Domestic Partnership registration became legal in my state of WA (a great new source of work for notaries), Michelle found out about the same day I did. And I live here!

I asked Michele to share her Google tips with me via email. I promised to post them and here they are.

Thank you, Michelle! www.HuntsvilleMobileNotary.com

When I first started my business I spent that time surfing the internet looking for business leads. It took a lot of time but it was also enjoyable. It was similar to digging for treasure. This is how I found out about different notary sites and educational information that were very valuable to me. Well, business picked up (thankfully) so now "down time" is a thing of the past. Google Alerts scours the World Wide Web for topics of interest to me and tells me about it.

In order to use Google Alerts, you need to create a Google account. When you're at your home page on Google, select Alerts. Next:

Enter the topic you wish to monitor: This is where you type the subject/topic you want Goggle to search for you. Examples of some of my Alerts include: Alabama Secretary of State, National Notary Association, Notary Public, Field Inspections. Type this in the requested field.

Type: This is where you select the types of internet entries you want Google to search. For instance: blogs, news, video, etc.? For most of my Alerts I select "comprehensive" because it includes all types of entries on the World Wide Web.

How Often: In this field you need to tell Google how often you want to be notified about an Alert. I get enough email already so I selected once a day; however, I anticipate changing that to once a week real soon.

Email: You may be asked to enter the email address where you want the Alert to be sent to. If not, it will default to your Gmail account. That's right - I have some Alerts going to a Hotmail email account. (Don't ask me why, I just do. I need to fix that when I get the time.)

That's it. You're all set. Just sit back and wait for the Alerts to show up in your email inbox. You simply scan the email for those subjects that interest you. The email is a snapshot or quick summary of the article or webpage that contains the information you're interested in learning more about. If the email lists articles that have no interest to you at all, just delete it and move on to the next one. If there is an article of interest, just click on the hot link and you're taken to the original article or website.

Google Alerts search the World Wide Web - not just U.S. sites. So......an Alert topic of "Notary Public" will result in you being notified when a tourist in Malaysia is looking for a Notary Public. While it may be interesting reading (and sometimes hysterical) it really has no bearing on me or my business. So....keep that in mind when creating Alerts. Be as specific as possible. After so many of these international Alert results, I changed my "Notary Public" Alert to "Alabama Notary Public".

One day I wanted to see how effective the Alerts really were so I posted a blog on my Active Rain account and used keywords that matched my Google Alerts. Within 48 hours I had an Alert in my email inbox with a link to my Active Rain webpage - incredible! {In fact, I get emails all the time about your non-loan notary book that you wrote, Laura.} There's nothing like free advertisement, right?

I find Google Alerts help me keep an eye on my competition. That's right. If my competition keeps a blog where he/she lists his/her notary fees - I get notified and can determine whether my prices are competitive or not. When a neighboring state increases their notary fees, I get an email. Although it may not affect me directly, I want to know what is going on around me.

I consider Google Alerts just one of many tools I need to use as a small business owner. Large companies hire marketing representatives to do this sort of thing for them. I use Google.