Let's Talk Business
A notary entrepreneur is someone who makes an independent living delivering value through their services. They create win-win relationships built on trust and conduct themselves with honesty and integrity.
In doing so, they're able to create a profitable business they can be proud of.
The purpose of this website, my podcast, and my Patreon membership site is to teach anyone who's interested - how to build a business they can be proud of.
But, to do this, the first thing we need to understand is that notaries, like you and me, we need to ask ourselves the following question, "Why is becoming a notary so important to me?"
This answer will be the driving force of your business and the one only way, I think, we can truly be successful.
With me so far?
Great!
Let's begin with a basic overview of what makes a great notary business.
In doing so, they're able to create a profitable business they can be proud of.
The purpose of this website, my podcast, and my Patreon membership site is to teach anyone who's interested - how to build a business they can be proud of.
But, to do this, the first thing we need to understand is that notaries, like you and me, we need to ask ourselves the following question, "Why is becoming a notary so important to me?"
This answer will be the driving force of your business and the one only way, I think, we can truly be successful.
With me so far?
Great!
Let's begin with a basic overview of what makes a great notary business.
If your goal is to build a successful, long-term career as a notary, we'll NEED to have the following:
Focusing on these three essentials is how you'll take your business, and your life, to the next level.
Now let's go over each one of these in a little more detail.
- Training, to master our craft and do our job well.
- Marketing, to build relationships and get clients.
- Organization, to manage your business and reduce errors.
Focusing on these three essentials is how you'll take your business, and your life, to the next level.
Now let's go over each one of these in a little more detail.
Training
Proper training is crucial if you want to be effective. There are three main types of training every notary should undergo:
1. Formal Training
Formal training includes training that provides essential information on state laws, proper procedures, how to detect fraud, and how to fill out a journal. Essentially, any training that helps you understand the duties and responsibilities of being a notary.
2. Specialized Training
This training is needed when trying to focus on a specialized line of work, like becoming a Signing Agent or learning about Remote Online Notarizations (RON). Choosing the right training here will highly depend on what strategy you choose to use to build your business (we'll go over business strategies in more detail later).
3. Business Training
This includes training on marketing, organizing efficient operations, using notary software, building a website, and anything else relevant to managing and growing your business.
Proper training in all three areas—formal, specialized, and business—is essential for success as a notary.
When you invest in training tailored to your goals, you build expertise and earning potential. Make ongoing training a priority throughout your notary career.
1. Formal Training
Formal training includes training that provides essential information on state laws, proper procedures, how to detect fraud, and how to fill out a journal. Essentially, any training that helps you understand the duties and responsibilities of being a notary.
2. Specialized Training
This training is needed when trying to focus on a specialized line of work, like becoming a Signing Agent or learning about Remote Online Notarizations (RON). Choosing the right training here will highly depend on what strategy you choose to use to build your business (we'll go over business strategies in more detail later).
3. Business Training
This includes training on marketing, organizing efficient operations, using notary software, building a website, and anything else relevant to managing and growing your business.
Proper training in all three areas—formal, specialized, and business—is essential for success as a notary.
When you invest in training tailored to your goals, you build expertise and earning potential. Make ongoing training a priority throughout your notary career.
Marketing
Sales and marketing is nothing more than having the ability to get people to like and trust you. By focusing on building relationships first, we can shift our thinking from, "How can I get work from my potential clients?" to "How can I add value and build a connection with my potential clients?"
This shift in thinking will yield better results long-term because of the law of reciprocity, which states that in society, people tend to want to repay favors, gifts, and kind deeds.
Therefore, all marketing (in my opinion) should follow this "give first" philosophy.
Here's an overview of the two main ways to market your business were you can apply this idea:
1. Direct Marketing
Direct marketing involves utilizing targeted promotional channels like mail, flyers, cold calls and networking events to directly reach and connect with potential clients.
2. Online Marketing
Online marketing allows you to use of online channels like social media, SEO, email, websites, and ads to reach and engage with your target audience.
Marketing is a huge topic and not one marketing strategy works for everyone. How you decide to grow you're business will depend on your goals, your geographical area, and your competition... just to name a few factors.
I don't plan on going into specifics here, but if you want to get deeper into marketing, I promise I'll give you an opportunity to ask me questions.
This shift in thinking will yield better results long-term because of the law of reciprocity, which states that in society, people tend to want to repay favors, gifts, and kind deeds.
Therefore, all marketing (in my opinion) should follow this "give first" philosophy.
Here's an overview of the two main ways to market your business were you can apply this idea:
1. Direct Marketing
Direct marketing involves utilizing targeted promotional channels like mail, flyers, cold calls and networking events to directly reach and connect with potential clients.
2. Online Marketing
Online marketing allows you to use of online channels like social media, SEO, email, websites, and ads to reach and engage with your target audience.
Marketing is a huge topic and not one marketing strategy works for everyone. How you decide to grow you're business will depend on your goals, your geographical area, and your competition... just to name a few factors.
I don't plan on going into specifics here, but if you want to get deeper into marketing, I promise I'll give you an opportunity to ask me questions.
Organization
Developing efficient systems that help you stay organized is essential to running a successful business.
Here are some areas in which systems help us stay organized:
Organization is not the most exciting topic...but it is essential. If you're ambitious, the more of these systems you have in place, the more efficient you'll become.
Here are some areas in which systems help us stay organized:
- Tracking orders and appointments
- Tracking client files and documents
- Billing and invoicing clients
- Bookkeeping and tracking your miles for tax purposes
- Proper notary journal entries, etc.
Organization is not the most exciting topic...but it is essential. If you're ambitious, the more of these systems you have in place, the more efficient you'll become.
I realize this information is very vague and there's a reason for that.
One thing I've discovered through conversations with my listeners is that it's very easy to get overwhelmed when trying to build a notary business.
The question, "What do I do next?" becomes a double-edged sword.
On one end, asking this question means you're thinking about your business...which is good.
On the other end, trying to figure out, "What do I do next?" without having a clear idea of what you're trying to achieve and how you want to achieve it makes trying to figuring out what you should do next an extremely difficult and frustrating task.
To increase your chances of success, you'll need to take a step back and identify the following:
It's an important part of building a business and one that should not be overlooked. Luckily it's not difficult to do and it's our next topic of conversation.
So...when you're ready, click here to continue.
One thing I've discovered through conversations with my listeners is that it's very easy to get overwhelmed when trying to build a notary business.
The question, "What do I do next?" becomes a double-edged sword.
On one end, asking this question means you're thinking about your business...which is good.
On the other end, trying to figure out, "What do I do next?" without having a clear idea of what you're trying to achieve and how you want to achieve it makes trying to figuring out what you should do next an extremely difficult and frustrating task.
To increase your chances of success, you'll need to take a step back and identify the following:
- What is your objective (why are you starting a notary business)?
- What strategy will you use to achieve that objective?
- What specific tactics will you use to implement your strategy?
It's an important part of building a business and one that should not be overlooked. Luckily it's not difficult to do and it's our next topic of conversation.
So...when you're ready, click here to continue.