“The Successful Notary” – 12/07 Newsletter – Happy New Year

by Sharon Hassler, Founder/Webmaster, GoGetNotary.com

GOODBYE, 2007!

2007 has been an interesting and discouraging year with the collapse of the subprime mortgage industry. The resulting deluge of foreclosures nationwide and a downturn in the real estate market has affected all of us. From the calls I’m receiving, some notary signing agents who have been around for a few years are still getting enough business to keep the lights on but many newer notaries are struggling and some are giving up. I hate to see this happen, but anything related to the real estate market is cyclical, and the ups and downs are not for everyone.

If you are a struggling signing agent, consider other opportunities, such as non-loan signing work (see below) or field services that may help you keep that “self-employed” title. Visit SOFI-USA.com for field services info. To get an idea of the types of jobs available, visit and join the SOFI-managed yahoo group, FieldRepsNeeded. You can learn more about what’s involved in this work by visiting the websites of some of the companies looking for field reps. If you’re also a real estate agent, do a Google search for “property preservation” to find info on assisting lenders with foreclosed properties. And don’t forget to check out our articles under Additional Income on the GoGetNotary.com site.

UPDATE YOUR WEB PAGE (AND WEBSITE)

Recently I received calls from a title company and a lender who said a couple of notaries on our site are no longer handling signings. They suggested I contact them and ask the notaries if it was okay for us to remove their pages or to post that they’re currently not accepting loan signings. The companies who are still closing loans don’t want to call five or six notaries before they find one who’s still accepting work. My suggestion for all of you who are active is to log in and revise your web page to let companies know you’re still in business. Perhaps under the heading “Additional,” say something like “UPDATED 1/2/08: Still actively seeking mortgage/loan signing work! I look forward to assisting you with your closings.” Then every month or so, log in and revise the “updated” date so companies know you’re currently open to assignments. If you have a website, this advice applies to your site, too.

DISCOUNT FOR NNA MEMBERS

We’ve arranged for the lowest GoGetNotary membership discount ever for National Notary Association members: Check the Marketplace section of your January 08 NNA magazine for details and the special NNA coupon code.

INTERNET MARKETING EBOOK FOR NOTARIES

This is still a work in progress. I need to incorporate some recent Google formula changes and I’m also working on a video to show you how and where to set up and manage your own website. If you want an affordable, professional shortcut instead of doing it yourself, contact the notary industry expert, NotaryWebsites.com.

ARTICLES

Featured Notary for January 08 – by Sharon Hassler, Founder/Webmaster, GoGetNotary.com. Meet Maria Ganci, a Certified Notary Signing Agent in Mastic Beach, New York. With over 10,000 loan signings under her belt, Maria offers some valid insight into what it takes to be a successful signing agent. She has the advantage of being tri-lingual: fluent in English, Spanish and Italian!

What You Think About Is What you Bring About – by Kelly Robertson, Instructor, Coach, Mentor. Kelly brings her own unique take to a recent incident when a friend gave her a wake-up call while both were supposed to be on a relaxing retreat.

Changes to California Law Pertaining to Notaries Public – from the California Business Portal website. We noticed a lot of visitors finding our site while searching for the changes to the California notary law, so we decided to quote it here. Changes are effective Jan. 1, 2008.

Additional Non-Loan Signing Ideas – by Laura Vestanen, Mobile Notary, Notary Signing Agent. Here’s another excerpt from Laura Vestanen’s book, “Marketing Your Non-Loan Notary Services.” Laura gives the types of documents that may need notarizing, contacts you should make and where to advertise. These ideas should get you thinking outside the loan-signing-agent box and thinking notary public work.

Tis the Season…To Be Excellent! – by Carol Salter, Notary Public and Office Coordinator, McKee Medical Center. Carol has recently put her home on the market (yes, good timing—she knows) and it reminded her of previous times when notaries handling her closings had not followed procedure. See both sides of this experience from a professional’s viewpoint.

Notaries Public Are Formidable! – by Virginia (Vikki) Watanabe, Notary Signing Agent, Virtual Bankruptcy Assistant. Upbeat as ever, Vikki shares her thoughts about the industry and offers everyone a pat on the back for their service.

AS ALWAYS…

Let us know if you have any suggestions for improving GoGetNotary.com. We appreciate your feedback! And Happy New Year!

©Copyright Sharon Hassler. All rights reserved. Sharon Hassler, Founder/Webmaster for GoGetNotary.com, is a former loan officer, real estate agent and marketing consultant. She served as Communications Manager for First American Title-Arizona for 11 years. For more about Sharon, visit GoGetNotary.com/Get/Sharon.