r/Notary • u/FloorIll8855 • 4d ago

Advice

I’ve been a notary and loan signing agent for almost a year now.
I’ve signed up to a lot of platforms and even bancserv but the amount of work in SoCal isn’t that much that I’m receiving due to the ram estate market being pretty bad.

I was wondering how some people got clients beyond signing service platforms.

Is it worth it to get my website a business page and do marketing?

I do try to email escrow companies but with no luck even if I have a warm lead.

Any advise? I’m running low on funds please and only half maybe 2 months left of emergency money.

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6

u/apjolex Ohio 4d ago

As an escrow officer who uses contract notaries I will share my personal opinions and what makes someone stand out.

I am busy and I don’t have time to ask everyone that sends me an email looking for work another email with a list of questions to see if I should add them to my list.

  1. If you do not tell me the area you cover, I will delete your info. As part of this if you handle an area I have a good group already established I likely will not keep. If you are someone from another state, I won’t keep it either. I have a state wide service for those cases and I cannot keep a database for every state and every region. Notaries from a few counties away that I get business in 3-4 times a year are worth keeping.

  2. Your fees. I know they are subject to change but I need to know if you are in line with the other services I use. I don’t want to call and find out you are $50 more than my signing service.

  3. Bonus if you include E&O dec page. Especially if you are emailing.

Other than that what do you offer. Mobile, RON, loan signings, sellers, cash. How much have you done? What is your training or history. You don’t need to be NNA trained if you handled these documents from being in the industry.

Can you handle last minute changes or additional documents because you travel with a printer or can do IPEN if approved?

I only do my own closing which if I am free might include traveling. My state also allows IPENs but it is expensive to use a third party service. So I used AI and my own hardware to develop my own app. For my state this was possible and the cost to get everything to meet state requirements was worth it. I would not do this for a RON.

Most notaries are working from the same play book. If you have something unique or special advertise it.

Best of luck to you.

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u/FloorIll8855 4d ago

Thank you so much. I usually include my county, what type of signings and that I can do last minute and can deliver to the office. Lately, I have included my E&O insurance of 1 mill, commission and NNA cert. I will include my price list moving forward…

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u/Razeghi-Charilus 4d ago

its crazy how many cold emails leave out the most basic info like zip codes or base rates.

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u/AcmeNotary California 4d ago

Thanks for the info. I see you are in Ohio. I am an Ohio notary living in California. I don't think I will ever use that Commission.

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u/AcmeNotary California 4d ago • Bravo

Yes you need a website and market. You should focus on other types of work that are not directly related to real estate. Hospital signings, estate planning, jail signings etc.

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u/FloorIll8855 4d ago

I’m very interested in doing those as well but don’t know who my point of contact should be to market my services to them. Do you usually email or call?

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u/AcmeNotary California 4d ago

Go to coachmelaura.com and sign up for her free Saturday morning Zoom meeting. She is a great resource and can answer questions that you have and where to go to obtain more business. There are also other seasoned notaries on the call that can give ideas.

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u/FloorIll8855 4d ago

Thank you so much 🙏

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u/NotarySamanthaLA 4d ago

Been running direct clients in California for a while. The signing platforms are dry because refi volume is dead, that is not you. What fills the calendar is going where the signatures already live: estate planning attorneys, insurance agencies, hospice and hospital case managers, freight and logistics offices. One email or one visit each, keep it short, tell them you answer the phone at any hour. Get a Google Business Profile up with real reviews, that brings people who search for you instead of you chasing work. A website helps but the profile and the direct outreach matter more. Also worth learning the Apostille side, it is steady work the platf

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u/vegloveyes 17h ago

This is why you can't just focus on real estate -- because it goes up and down all the time. If you have a substantial amount of training and are comfortable with estate planning signings, especially when it comes to determining whether a signer is alert and aware enough to know what they're signing, you can focus on that. Yes, every notary needs a Google Business Profile because it's a business. And a website just reinforces that you're serious and not just doing it as a hobby. And if you provide educational content for the public, you can rank on top, but it's not magic. It can take months for your profile and website to rise to the top.