How to Ask for Help Getting Started
how to ask for help getting started...
Asking for help is an artform. If you ask the right way, you get answers. If you do not, you might get a grouch answering your email.
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I get many calls and a great deal of email from people who ask me about getting started as a notary signing agent. The problem is that the email will state something like this:
Hi Brenda, I want to know how to start a business like yours. Can you tell me how to get started? TIA, Ned Notary
That's a really tall order. This type of request tells me that the writer is looking for a free one-stop place to get all the answers. I used to try to answer this letter each time. I was excited, I guess, that I had put together a plan that gave me a good start in the business and my ego was glad enough to share it.
I welcome most queries if they are short questions that I can give an answer to without writing out a large letter. Here are some ideas on how to get help:
Before you make a contact, do lots of reading and research
One time I received a call from a woman who was determined for us to stay on the phone for over an hour. She was excited and wanted to know everything in one day. I kept referring her to the links here in my blogs but she wanted to talk. I am not that good at talking on the phone when I am in my office. I am usually marketing or writing. I like to get the name and number and call them back when I am on the road.
Before you can ask questions, you have to know what the questions are. There is not a place free resource to make one stop and gain all the answers. You have to do a lot of research. If you were to do searches on Google.com, Yahoo.com, and MSN.com you would find an abundance of information.
At each of the above websites, I have inserted a hyperlink which will lead you to the search engine's return on the search: “how to get started as a notary signing agent”.
Other places to search:
Clusty.com
Altavista.com
Dogpile.com (Has more unique hits as of this writing.)
Okay, now that you have done your research...
Here are the keys to getting help.
Recognize that the experienced notary is busy most of the time. If they are not closing, they are marketing. It will be appreciated if you have two or three very focused and pointed questions.
If you have lots of questions, you should ask for a good time to get with them so that you will not feel slighted if they cannot talk for very long.
Never call the last week of the month. Never. You might encounter a curt notary.
Do not ask right off the bat "who are your good title companies and other clients? Where do you get your work? Who pays the most? " Those questions will turn off your would-be mentors.
Ask this type of question: What do you recommend, Solution A or Solution B?
That shows you have done a lot of your research and ground work.
Identify yourself FULLY.
Do not assume that having a certification from any establishment will garner you the respect that maybe it should with experienced notaries. Right or wrong, many of us think that the NNA certification is hardly worth giving second glance at. If you are in California, consider www.notaryclasses.com over the classes for the NNA. Most in the industry realize that the NNA test is open book and you can take it twenty times until you score high enough to pass.
Be very clear that experienced notaries network on the boards and via email all the time so don't knock one to the other.
Once, I was contacted by a person considering the career of professional notary. She was in Texas and she wrote me. She asked the blanket question "Please tell me everything..." I gave her quite a bit of information and links to look at. Then, she wrote my friend in Florida and said "I have contacted notaries in Texas but got very little help." Without realizing that the notary had already picked my brain, my Florida friend forwarded me the email and told the inquiring notary that she would probably get assistance best from me since we were both in Texas. I received the forwarded email telling me that I had not done anything for the woman. You can imagine how eager I was to help more after that.
Be prepared to pay for one on one training if you need a great deal. Because I get so many inquiries, I try to limit my help to calls in length of about ten minutes these days. After that, I feel it would be fair to pay me $35 per hour for one on one tutoring. The way I see this is that my resourcefulness is what has helped me be successful. The resources I have built and compiled have been a long time coming and I will gladly share ideas and where to get more information with you, but if you want the "intense" version, I must charge for the time involved.
================= TUTORING=======================
Currently, I will walk through a reverse mortgage with NSAs for an hour if you need to be tutored on those. My price is one NSA for $35 or two NSA's $55 one hour. I conference call on my phone. I also have a quick start guide for NSAs which I will provide you. I am in the process of writing up my notes on what loan signers need to know to be comfortable signing a reverse mortgage. Other tutoring options for one are here.
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Just put yourself in the place of the person you need to get information from and be considerate of what they may think and feel about your call. If you do that, you'll soon be on your way to having a friend for life. Notaries really are good people.
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The following is a good common sense guide to get you thinking about what you need to know. When you know what you do not know and the right questions to ask you will be prepared to make contacts so that you can get good and useful replies.========================================
are you prepared to contact established notaries for assistance?
for better results, have this information available
before approaching someone for assistance
PLANNING FOR FOR A SIGNING AGENT BUSINESS
Do you have a business plan? Will you be making one? People who are serious about starting a business have some kind of plan sketched out.
(TIP: If you do not know where you are going with a business, you are sure never to arrive!)
--Before making the call, seek info on a business plan...Find help on making a business plan at http://www.sba.gov/.
BUSINESS AND NOTARY QUESTIONS
Have you ever run a small business? If not, do some study on small business management so that you can ask develop and ask good questions about the notary business.
Do you have your notary commission? Before you make contact, you need to know about what it takes to get a commission in your state. If you are already a notary, be clear on your notary rules before making the contact.
If so, how long have you been a notary? If you have been a notary ahwile, this will be easier for you, however, the notary part is only one piece of the puzzle. It's the base...do study and know your notary rules, who to contact for help and be clear on what the correct acknowledgment and jurat verbiage is for your state.
Do you already carry errors and omissions insurance? Check out notaryrotary.com for this type of insurance. You need it if you are a notary professional.
Do you know all your notary rules? Yes? No? This is a big deal to experienced notary signers. Be sure it is a big deal to you before you consider a career as a professional notary.
Professional notaries must know their rules. If you do not know them, be sure to have a self-study program in place. (Find help on notary rules through your Secretary of State's office (or the office your state has for this type of assistance to notaries. Look at this link on my website to locate your office if you need help. http://www.texnotary.com/tooltime/sos.htm )
Do you have a background in law office, mortgage, real estate, or title work?
Do you have a paralegal degree?
If you have any of the above, this will be easier for you, I think. My background was the real estate, mortgage, title.
What is your background in notary work (if you have your commission)?
If you have already been handling loan documents you don't need to be tutored through the educational process...you just need to know how to market yourself.
Places you can get more information, buy books and take classes:
http://www.50statenotary.com/ (Book and other resources)
http://www.amrsigners.com/ (Book)
http://www.signingregistry.info/ (Book)
http://www.notaryclasses.com/ (California/classes and newsletter)
http://www.wildsignings.com/ (Book)
READ FORUMS
What forums are you reading? Here are the most popular public forums:
http://www.gomobilenotary.com/
VIABILITY OF A SIGNING BUSINESS FOR YOU
No one except you can decide if there will be enough work to support you plust the others already in your area working as a notary signer.
Do you know what your competition will be like in your area?
Check to see how many notaries are already doing this kind of work in your area here:
http://www.123notary.com/
http://www.notaryrotary.com/
http://www.notaryfind.com/
http://www.notarydepot.com/
Have you checked to see how many mortgages are being done on a monthly or weekly basis? (If you know how many signing agents there are in your area, and then you go to your local county property records and look at the deeds of trust and home equity loans which have been signed each week in the recent months, you can figure out if there is a place for you to fit in. If you live in Florida or California, the odds are that there are plenty of loans being done. Still, you need to remember that you are in competition with other notaries. This makes a difference.
A couple more tips...
Before you contact someone for assistance, be prepared to tell them your name, phone number, location by zip code (maybe even your address) and other pertinent information to assure them you are not just another loan signer looking to snoop into their own business practices.
Be aware that if you contact a nearby neighbor you probably will be met with snappish answers. You would be that person's competition. Our business is very competitive.
FINALLY: There is no need to reinvent the wheel so I will not put all the information here again that you will find at this resource. BEFORE you make contact to ask for help Go to www.notaryrotary.com. Click on the orange search button. Search for message #33325. Read the entire thread.
posted by Brenda Stone @ 6:13 AM
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