Having a Bad Day? Smile

This is a picture of Elwood, 2008 World's Ugliest Dog. This is a face only a mother could love but I think it is hilarious. He reminds me of a Gremlin.

Successful Notary Tip #10 - Spoil Your Customers

Excellent customer service is essential, especially for the small business owner. As the owner of a small business you do not have the luxury of spending hundreds of dollars to get new customers so you have to work to retain the customers you have. It often takes less work to maintain your current client base than to acquire new ones.

It is always good to develop a process that works for you. My customer service process is to send every new client a thank you card within a week of our appointment. Repeat clients receive chocolate chips cookies from DoubleTree Hotel (absolutely to die for). Persons who refer me business are sent gift cards in varying amounts. I also give new clients my business card and a magnet with the same information, something they are less likely to easily loose.

Quality customer service is one more way to set yourself apart and become a successful notary.

Quote:

Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again and bring their friends. - WALT DISNEY

Sometimes You Need the Patience of Job

The Book of Job in the Bible details how the righteous man Job endured severe trials with great patience. He never once allowed himself to loose his cool so to speak. Patience can come in handy in the notary field.

You may have to wait hours for loan docs, encounter a borrower who is a reader or your client may be older so it may take them longer to understand the notary process. Three times last week I had to exercise GREAT patience.

First, I had a client that needed three documents apostilled that were destined for Croatia. She was older and failed to realize that she would need identification in order for her documents to be notarized so I had to reschedule our appointment until she was able to get two credible witnesses with ID that could vouch for her identity.

Second, a client needed an inability to appear affidavit notarized by her finance who was incarcerated. The detention center was in San Bernardino, which is an hour from Long Beach. Not only was this a distance but the staff at the jail was extremely slow.

Jail notarizations in Los Angeles County usually take no more than 15 minutes but this one took an hour! I left at 11 a.m. and did not return until 3 p.m. so it was a long day.

Lastly, on Wednesday the borrower was quite quite a talker. The loan should have taken no more than an hour to sign but it took 2 hours! No matter how I tried to move things along he just would not budge. Very nice gentleman but just lively.

As they say, patience is a virtue and may need to be exercised from time to time in the notary profession.

Successful Notary Tip #9 - Use Your Embosser

What sets one notary apart from another? Some may think a notary is a notary so one has to work to distinguish oneself. One way to do this is to use an embosser with gold seals in addition to a notary stamp.

The embosser impresses the same information that is on your notary stamp - your name, commission number and state of commission on to the gold seal. So few notaries use gold seals that your client will be instantly impressed.

I also use my embosser when I attach a loose leaf certificate to a document. I make an impression through both documents so that one can tell the documents belong together. This is useful in deterring fraud.

Gold seals are also important for documents being used internationally, especially in an international adoption. International governments favor gold seals.

Work to set yourself apart - use your embosser!

Successful Notary Tip #8 - Just Try It!

When it comes to marketing your business there are no hard and fast rules. What works for one person or business may not work for another. If you have a marketing idea the best thing to do, if it's in your budget, is to give your idea a try.

Some people will swear against cold calling, canvassing, mailers, e-mail marketing, networking groups and promotional giveaways but then there are others that have built their business using these techniques. Since the notary business has been slow in my neck of the woods I decided to give cold calling a try.

Cold calling is definitely not on the top of my list of favorite things to do but I figured it could not hurt. To my surprise the response I received was 99% positive. Because I am offering a service and not trying to sell anything, the person on the other end of the phone was happy to learn that I was available to perform mobile notary services.

So next time you have a marketing idea give it a try!

Successful Notary Tip #7 - Canvass Your Area

Before the loan industry enabled notaries to become Loan Signing Agents notaries mostly worked for the public notarizing general legal documents.

Well, as of 2008 there has been a significant slow down in the amount of loans being processed, which results in less work for Loan Signing Agents.

It is always important to market your services, and even more important during slow times. In order to drum up business a fellow notary and I decided to canvass our local business districts. We focused on businesses we knew would use our services, such as lawyers, CPAs and financial planners.

Initially, it was a nerve-wrecking experience because we were confronted with no soliciting signs at every turn but we decided to proceed anyway. We let the person at the front desk know we were mobile notaries in the area and we were available for all their notary needs. We handed them a business card and a freebie (ie. desk calendar).

To our surprise almost everyone we encountered was happy to receive our information and thanked us for stopping by. We got questions about our availability and the cost of our services. And most importantly, we never once got thrown out of a building.

So if notary work in your area has decreased take some time to canvass for business. You may be pleasantly surprised with increased revenue.


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Successful Notary Tip #6 - Always Be Marketing

New Series: Successful Notary Tips

New Website Launch - InmateNotary.com

The Document Diva is happy to announce the launch of a new website catering to the needs of inmates, lawyers and inmate family members. We have recently launched InmateNotary.com!

We provide mobile notary services to jails, courts, detention centers and prisons in Los Angeles and Orange County.

Most jails offer professional visiting hours M-F so we can usually process the signing of the documents within an hour. An attorney need not be present the day of signing. We handle the signing and notarization.

Common forms needing notarization by inmates are powers of attorney, affidavit of inability to appear, health care directives and financial documents.


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Bride or Groom Unable to Appear?

Caught on the Wrong Side of the Law

Notarizing Foreign Language Documents

Qt - Can a notary notarize a document in a foreign language with which they are not familiar?

Answer - In California, the answer to that question is yes. According to the 2008 CA Notary Handbook "a notary public can notarize a signature on a document in a foreign language with which they are not familiar, since a notary public’s function only relates to the signature and not the contents of the document."

A notary does not have to be able to read the document but they must be able to communicate with the customer. An interpreter can not be used so if the notary is unable to communicate with the customer then the customer should be referred to a notary public who speaks their language.

Customers have told me that they have had notaries refuse to notarize their document because it was in a foreign language. It is a wise notary who makes oneself familiar with the rules and regulations governing their appointment.