You’ve heard it before, how unwise it is for a business owner to have all your eggs in one basket. When it comes to being a Notary Public, and running a Notary business, diversifying your sources of revenue is a high priority.
While loan signings will most likely be your primary source of income in the Notary business, you can also be bringing in some good money with General Notary Work.
Your Notary Stamp and Journal could be earning you MORE money!
(After years of use, we highly recommend the Excel Mark Re-Inkable Notary Stamp. It has held up strong and is easily refillable. For Notary journals, we are big fans of the Integrity Notary Journal, for its comprehensive list of commonly notarized documents, and ability to accommodate up to 4 signers on each page!)
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In a moment you can read the 3 Tips, but first, lets explain General Notary Work is.
What is General Notary Work?
General Notary Work is when you are notarizing documents outside of the Real Estate industry.
It may involve Estate Planning documents like Family Trusts, Wills, Power of Attorneys, and Advanced Medical Directives.
You will run across banking documents, adoption paperwork, and a host of other forms that need to be notarized for a variety of reasons.
Now, let’s get into the tips!
Tip #1 – General Notary Work Is INSTANT Income!
As with any business, cash flow is a vital aspect of having a successful notary business.
Mobile Notary Signing Agents doing loan signings for real estate transactions can take up to 30-45 days to get paid. Yes, they pay well and will probably be the primary source of revenue for your business, it’s important to have money in the bank! Right?
General Work provides INSTANT INCOME!
The fee you charge for General Notary Work is regulated by your Secretary of State, but will most likely consist of your Travel Fee + Notarizations. Make sure you follow your state notary laws.
As an example: $35 travel fee, $10 per notarized signature (whatever your state allows you to charge per notarization)
This can add up fast!
As an example, Estate Planning packages for a couple can often consist of 15-25 notarial acts total.
So, using my above example fees: $35 + 15 notarizations @ $10 each = $185 of INSTANT INCOME!
Also, these fees are due at the time services are rendered, so you get paid on the spot! A huge benefit of doing General Notary Work.
(We HIGHLY recommend that you track your income, and manage your business with Notary Gadget, they are the best in the industry and will save you tons of money. Check out our article “7 Great Notary Gadget Software Tips for Mobile Notaries”)
Tip #2 – General Notary Work Does Not Require Printing or Shipping Documents.
This is another great tip! It saves you both time and money.
When doing Loan Signings, if you are using Signing Services to get your jobs, then you are probably required to print 2 sets of docs, one for them to sign, and one to provide them with a copy.
Printing costs add up fast. Not just because of the printing costs, but also because of the time it takes for you to print 2 full sets of loan docs, as well as the time to go through them to prepare for the appointment.
When doing General Notary Work all you have to do is show up, they will have the documents in hand already.
Most of the time, you don’t have to ship any documents either, you just leave them with the clients for them to take care of.
From Visually.
Tip #3 – General Notary Work Can Stabilize Your Notary Business.
Obviously owning and running your own business is all about being profitable. If not, why be in business at all?
Having multiple revenue streams is the best way to stabilize your notary business and be profitable.
Being a Loan Signing Agent is such an amazing way to make some significant money in the Notary Business. Mobile notaries are in high demand to do loan signings in order to buy, sell, and refinance homes and properties.
However, as you may know, the mortgage industry can be a little bit of a roller coaster.
We recently went through a refinance boom because the interest rates were at historic lows. This provided a tremendous opportunity for mobile notary loan signing agents to make quite a bit of cash.
But what happens when the mortgage industry slows down?
If you are completely reliant on loan signings for your notary business, then you could find yourself in a challenging situation financially.
This is where General Notary Work comes in! It should be a significant part of your business plan.
Having another revenue stream other than Loan Signings will not only supplement your income when things are going great, it can also get you through the slower times when loan signings are slower.
Experienced notaries and new notaries alike can benefit from these tips.
The National Notary Association is also a wealth of knowledge when it comes to General Notary Work, as well as Loan Signings. If you are not already a member, we encourage you to join the NNA as it will not only be a great resource for notary training as well as your notary business, but it will also add credibility. Make you sure include your membership in the NNA on your business cards and website.
How to Get General Notary Work and Potential Customers:
How to get General Notary Work? Finding a law office in your local area and marketing your notary public service to them by dropping off some business cards, is a great way to get some General Notary Work. Keep in mind that they are usually only open during business hours, so if you are willing to work evenings or weekends you have an advantage.
Make sure you leverage social media to get the word out about your mobile notary work and types of services that you provide in your area.
Also, be sure to get your business listed with a Google Business Profile and learn how to rank in the top 3 of those listing in your area.
When people need a mobile notary, many of them search in Google the term “Notary Near Me”. If you are in the top 3 of those listed, your business will see a good increase in General Notary Work.
It’s very worth it to learn how to rank high in your local market on Google. You can search YouTube on “local SEO” and “Google My Business SEO” and find plenty of information on the subject. “SEO” stands for Search Engine Optimization”.
Also, it’s important for you to have a website. Even if it is just a basic website for your Notary Business, people today see this as a big indicator if your business is legitimate. If you are looking for ideas on what to put on your website, try researching your local competition for “notary near me” in Google. Check out their websites and see how they are doing. This will give you some great ideas on what to put on yours.
Here is another Great Marketing Tip for Notaries:
Most official FEDEX shipping centers do NOT offer Notary Services but get people asking them if they do have notary on a regular basis. It’s a smart idea to go introduce yourself to the local FEDEX Manager and give them some of your business cards. Maybe even drop off some Starbucks coffee once in a while to thank them for the business they send your way.
Hopefully this article has given you plenty to think about when it comes to General Notary Work, and how to leverage this great source of revenue to increase your revenue and help you stabilize your notary business.
Here are some other articles you may want to check out:
- 3 Top Notary Public Journal Picks for Loan Signing Agents
- How to Start Your Successful Mobile Notary Loan Signing Agent Business
General Notary Work can be a very rewarding part of your business, and really does help the people in your community to be better served. You will get to know people in your area and can actually build relationships this way.
Be sure to always leave a business card, and let your client know that you want to be their family notary. Making a good impression at every appointment goes a long way towards building your brand and sustaining your business for the years ahead.
Remember, building your notary business is a marathon not a sprint. Longevity and success will come when you play the long game, work hard at building a business, not just making money.
Most of all, consider that this business is “PEOPLE WORK, not PAPERWORK”.
If you will run your company with that mentality you will not only enjoy what you do, but will be able to have a good sustainable income with stability, as well as the independence that we all love as small business owner
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