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paulcr
North Dakota
34 Posts |
 Posted - 06/21/2012 : 6:42:43 PM
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On of the things that I have found that gives me leverage with the signing companies to get my minimum fee of $xxx is that I have put a lot of time in researching the number of notaries (mobile) in my area. There are very very few. And even fewer who will go more that 20 miles out (yes I am in a smaller city surrounded by rural areas). So I let the signing companies who call me to do a $60 signing know that they have little choice and my fee is competitive with the market. Only about 7% of the calls/emails I take where I counter with my fee are rejected. And the same companies who have rejected my fee on one assignment have come back and paid my fee on the next.
So doing a little research, especially if you are not in a large metro area will help you in negotitations. Keep in mind that by the time they have contacted you they have essentially comitted a signing date and closing/disbursment of funds to their customers - both the lender and the borrower. I've found that supply and demand really do play a big role in this industry.
quote:
Originally posted by Diedra.holley
Edelske, I am in Abilene, TX. Not a huge town, but not a big city either. I actually cover about a 50 mile radius. Had a signing 60 miles away in Breckenridge Friday morning as well.
DD
Notary
Signing Agent
Author
Single mother
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Diedra.holley
Texas
20 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2012 : 06:16:28 AM
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Edelske, I am in Abilene, TX. Not a huge town, but not a big city either. I actually cover about a 50 mile radius. Had a signing 60 miles away in Breckenridge Friday morning as well.
DD
Notary
Signing Agent
Author
Single mother |
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Diedra.holley
Texas
20 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2012 : 06:14:31 AM
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I didn't have to worry about giving up a day job. I was laid off last September. I didn't have a job to give up.
I didn't expect to make full income from day one, or even two, but I had hoped to be at about 10 signings a month by the third month. As for everything you have mentioned, I either have done it or am in the process of doing it, so I am apprently headed in the right direction. Thanks so much.
Notary
Signing Agent
Author
Single mother |
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edelske
New York
815 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2012 : 06:13:50 AM
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Where you are located - the demand for Notary services - has a very direct effect on your ability to earn fees.
Kenneth A Edelstein
Mobile Notary, Apostille / Legalization Processing & Fingerprinting
http://www.kenneth-a-edelstein.com |
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LindaH
Florida
1754 Posts |
Posted - 06/16/2012 : 05:56:00 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Diedra.holley
As I am still a newbie, I can honestly say I have never taken those types of jobs where the pay is high but you are being asked to do something illegal, like backdate or deal with a lost ID. I have refused to notarize on at least two occasions where I was called for a hospital signing but once I got there they had no ID or had expired ID. Texas states that the IDs cannot be expired. Of that, I am proud. I knew not to take jobs like that because of the classes I went through. I took Carol Ray's Notary2Pro courses and they covered all that very clearly.
So, on to the question. I became a NP and then a NSA as a full time thing. Job wages in this town are not enough to live on so I thought I would do this instead. Perhaps I am wanting too much too fast, but I feel like my business is not growing as it should. I am signed up with 34 different companies and signing up for more everyday. Here's what I have for growth since I started this.
March took all my classes, got my commission and supplies and put out the "open" sign.
April 1 Loan Signing, 1 General Notary call
May 1 Site Inspection, 5 Loan Signings
June so far 2 General Notary, 3 Loan Signings
Is it me asking for too much too fast or is this just painfully slow growth I could do something about? I am in a fairly small town, just 115,000 or so people. I can't find anyone else doing this in my area that is listed anywhere, but I have had some calls that were for a signing but for a different notary, so I know there is at least one.
My first signing I had one minor error, I fixed it immediately and have not had another since. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks in advance.
Notary
Signing Agent
Author
Single mother
It's going to take a minimum 6 months to a year to get yourself to a busy busy stage - until then it's a game of continuous marketing and signing up with companies, studying to make sure you have your notary laws down cold, and again market market market. If you expected to start earning full-time money at this job from day one, unfortunately yes, you ARE expecting too much. I'm not saying it won't happen - just that it normally doesn't happen from day one. It takes a lot of time and investment to push yourself out there.
I hope you didn't give up your day job immediately, expecting to replace all your wages with this income - you should have kept that til you had your business established.
The best you can do is exhaustively market and get your name out there - join sites (and there are many free ones) - The more sites you join, the more web presence you have - the higher you get on google searches. Tweak your profile - make sure it's correct, accurate, no spelling errors, and that it includes a well-written statement of why people should hire YOU; develop a good website - again, carefully structured and watch for spelling and grammar errors.
Something else I did was cold-call nursing homes and hospitals in the area, leaivng business cards. We also have a local weekly paper containing nothing but classified ads - I run an ad simply stating "mobile notary to you at your convenince call Linda <phone number> - cost me $2.00/week. I've had postcards printed which I'm going to mail out toward end of year (when I expect to scale back on my 9-5 job) which I'm going to mail to local attorneys - they say "if your clients can't come to you, I'll go to them"...blah blah..AND I always always always have business cards on me no matter where I go - restaurant, grocery store, pizza place - these places have bulletin boards where you can tack a card on the wall - throw one on there - you just never know.
It's going to take time, but hard work pays off..
Good Luck.
Linda
http://www.columbiacountynotary.webs.com |
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Diedra.holley
Texas
20 Posts |
Posted - 06/15/2012 : 9:24:42 PM
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As I am still a newbie, I can honestly say I have never taken those types of jobs where the pay is high but you are being asked to do something illegal, like backdate or deal with a lost ID. I have refused to notarize on at least two occasions where I was called for a hospital signing but once I got there they had no ID or had expired ID. Texas states that the IDs cannot be expired. Of that, I am proud. I knew not to take jobs like that because of the classes I went through. I took Carol Ray's Notary2Pro courses and they covered all that very clearly.
So, on to the question. I became a NP and then a NSA as a full time thing. Job wages in this town are not enough to live on so I thought I would do this instead. Perhaps I am wanting too much too fast, but I feel like my business is not growing as it should. I am signed up with 34 different companies and signing up for more everyday. Here's what I have for growth since I started this.
March took all my classes, got my commission and supplies and put out the "open" sign.
April 1 Loan Signing, 1 General Notary call
May 1 Site Inspection, 5 Loan Signings
June so far 2 General Notary, 3 Loan Signings
Is it me asking for too much too fast or is this just painfully slow growth I could do something about? I am in a fairly small town, just 115,000 or so people. I can't find anyone else doing this in my area that is listed anywhere, but I have had some calls that were for a signing but for a different notary, so I know there is at least one.
My first signing I had one minor error, I fixed it immediately and have not had another since. What am I doing wrong?
Thanks in advance.
Notary
Signing Agent
Author
Single mother |
Edited by - Diedra.holley on 06/15/2012 9:32:31 PM |
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edelske
New York
815 Posts |
Posted - 06/10/2012 : 6:20:17 PM
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Often newbies briefly earn significantly more.
Without knowing, or often not caring about the consequences; they tend to accept jobs experienced notaries would reject during the first call. Jobs that start out with "I lost all my ID" or "Signing pays 250$, but must be dated last Tuesday" or "I'll FAX it to you for notarization and you mail it back to me", etc. etc.
On the subject of "this is what you make" let's not forget to mention "License Plates".
Kenneth A Edelstein
Mobile Notary, Apostille / Legalization Processing & Fingerprinting
http://www.kenneth-a-edelstein.com |
Edited by - edelske on 06/10/2012 6:23:30 PM |
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Angela V
California
40 Posts |
Posted - 06/07/2012 : 12:53:42 PM
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I agree. Even in areas where the compensation is higher, so are the time & expenses. This is why I do not lower my signing fees to "work more".
Another reason I also enjoy" regular" notary work that provides the same compensation without the headache.
Angela V
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edelske
New York
815 Posts |
Posted - 06/06/2012 : 11:15:00 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Dannotary
For 12 yrs as a signing agent, I have figured it over and over and costed everything out. Our costs and taxes are actually 45% of what the fee is. 90. fee, minus about 40.= 50. profit divided by how much time it took you, usually 2 hrs at least, printing, setting it up, mapquesting it, travel, the appt time, and dropping it off. So dont believe those people blabbing about making 100.-150. an hr- you never will.
Amen.
Kenneth A Edelstein
Mobile Notary, Apostille / Legalization Processing & Fingerprinting
http://www.kenneth-a-edelstein.com |
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Dannotary
California
265 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2012 : 9:17:48 PM
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| For 12 yrs as a signing agent, I have figured it over and over and costed everything out. Our costs and taxes are actually 45% of what the fee is. 90. fee, minus about 40.= 50. profit divided by how much time it took you, usually 2 hrs at least, printing, setting it up, mapquesting it, travel, the appt time, and dropping it off. So dont believe those people blabbing about making 100.-150. an hr- you never will. |
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