Last week I shared how I like to Reflect, Release, and/or Rejoice the prior year's energy before I make plans for the year ahead. 

This is an important step, and it took me awhile longer than I had hoped for, but the December 2020 end of month/year/quarter was epic, to say the least. 

It's a good time to be in this business! I love doing loan signings for first time homebuyers. And 80% of my appointments that last week of December were just that-brand new homebuyers!

I also had an opportunity to train a new loan signing agent/escrow assistant, and I think she's going to be fabulous at this work. 

Now that the year has ended, and I took the time I needed to release and rejoice, I've been able to look at 2021 and what I want to create for myself and others.

In this blog, I'll share my process with you. 

It's not the only way. Take what works for you, and ditch the rest. My own process is a conglomeration of many others I studied and read...

So here we are, at the end of an absolutely bizarre year. 

It's difficult to label it as anything else but 'bizarre." The definition seems to fit perfectly: "very strange or unusual."

As mobile notaries and loan signing agents, it's been especially strange AND unusual.

Who would have thought a global pandemic and economic crisis would have triggered an epic mortgage boom with two main tributaries- refinances and home purchases?

For many of us, this has led to a record breaking year of production and revenue. For others, it's been the annihilation of their business because of their need to stay at home. 

At the same time, those who have chosen to stay home for their health, may be enjoying other rewards, like deeper connections, finished books (whether written or read), a cleaner home, and more peace of mind.

Walking this line between triumph and defeat is exhausting. There's been a heavy emotional tax to pay for the roller coaster known as 2020, and it's a tax we may be...

When I finally decided to take my mobile notary and loan signing business seriously, I already had 26 business failures under my belt. 

These days, I've come to appreciate each and every one of those failures for the lessons that they were. I've learned that after each new failure, there isn't a period - it's not the end. There's actually an expectant comma, eager to experience what fails next.

The truth I've learned in this long, long, long, “becoming” process for me, is that if you aren't failing, you aren't trying enough. There is no shame in failure, but you have to learn that for yourself.

I’ve also learned that progress is better than perfect. If you wait until you know “everything” about something before you try it, or you wait for the “perfect” time to move forward, you end up stuck.

And, I’ve learned, there are no safe sidelines in the game of life. There is no such thing as a spectator here. You’re a player in the...

Available November 7, 2020 and authored by Bill Soroka and Sandra Long

There is a huge disconnect within the notary community on how to best utilize LinkedIn to grow their business. On the same note, LinkedIn played a critical role in my ability to connect with the clients that have provided for a multiple six-figure income in this business. We're in the most relationship-centric business I have ever experienced, and guess what- professional relationships start on LinkedIn!

For that reason, I partnered up with one of the leading LinkedIn trainers in the world, Sandra Long, to write a book on exactly how a Notary Public can use their LinkedIn profile to build their business and personal branding, share their wisdom, and get known as the notary expert in their area, and connect with the dream clients that will take their business to any level they desire. 

Thus, Supercharge Your Notary Business With LinkedIn: How Mobile Notaries and...

Nice to Meet You, Will You Marry Me?

One of the biggest ironies I’ve experienced as a notary coach is how many of my students and mentees absolutely despise selling, yet slip right into selling in their first email or message to a prospective client.

“Hi Mary,

LinkedIn suggested us as contacts and I think that would be great. I am a trained and certified Loan Signing Agent that prides myself on excellent customer service. I love what I do because I get to help people’s dreams come true. There’s really nothing I won’t do for a customer. I like to meet early in the morning, and I am also available late at night. You can see my profile on SigningAgent, and I have references that can back this up. I am your go-to mobile notary when you have a loan signing need.”

Now, there’s nothing wrong with the info that was provided. Passion, customer service, and personality, are cornerstones to a successful business. But the delivery, and timing, and...

Everyone Needs a Coach

There was a time in my life where I believed everything I needed to learn could be taught in a book, a seminar, or an online course. I avoided coaches for four main reasons:

• I thought I was pretty smart and I should have been able to figure this stuff out without any help. I let my ego get in the way!
• If this coach already wrote a book or had a course, why would I need to pay them for coaching?
• I spent most of my life financially broke, hopping from one start-up to another, so I couldn’t afford one anyway. 
• And, this is the big one, I felt like a fraud, and I harbored the crushing weight of multiple business failures, so I was afraid I would be “found out.”

I was blessed, in 2005, to be introduced to a business coach that allowed me to pay on a sliding scale, helping to make our sessions more affordable at $100 per hour. When you’re making next to nothing, a hundred bucks an hour might as well have been a thousand dollars...

Stop Apologizing! 

You never have to apologize to anyone about how you choose to operate your mobile notary and loan signing business (outside of notary integrity/legal issues-that's a different story). 

This is your baby. Or as I say, my business is my masterpiece. 

It's the vehicle that is taking you to your dreams. You do not owe anyone an explanation about how you choose to fuel that vehicle, or what color you choose to paint it, what you decide to pack inside it, or who you take along with you, the route you decide to take, or the destination you are headed to. 

This business is yours. 

The dream is yours, no matter how big, and no matter how small. 

This business as a mobile notary and loan signing agent is powerful because it can be anything you need it to be. 

You don't have to apologize to me because you don't want to work 14 hours a day, make three hundred grand a year, and drive an average of 6,000 miles per month. I get it. Maybe I...

The Need For a Website

Here's what is real:

If you want to create a notary business that will last through time and thrive, regardless of the economic environment, you're going to need a website. 

This is especially true for those using General Notary Work (shifting toward Specialty Notary Work), as a revenue stream. 

Do you love this work? Do you love the lifestyle this business allows? Are you enjoying the income, or even just the possibility of unlimited income? Do you love helping your customers, on both their best days...and their worst?

Then you might say that by not taking the steps to create sustainability, like building a website so your customers can find you, is doing you, your dreams, and your customers, a tremendous disservice.

And, if you've already bought-in to the importance of a website, how much thought have you given to your site structure and the customer's experience on your website?

If you're like me, I originally put about...

No matter how long you've been a Notary Public, you won't want to miss this completely free training presented by Laura Biewer.

Laura has been a Notary Public for 16 years, and a Certified NNA instructor for 14 of those years. She also still works her business full time as a high performing mobile notary and loan signing agent and coach to notaries all over the country.

I'm proud to call Laura a friend, and a collaborator, partnering on several projects designed to help notaries be of service and build the business, and lifestyles, of their dreams.

In this presentation, Laura shares insights on why your notary journal should be your new BFF.  Even if you are in a state that does not require a journal, it is in your best interest to do so.

And, if you are an NNA certified loan signing agent, you have agreed to maintain a journal as part of the Code of Conduct.

Now, if you're already among the millions of us that have embraced the importance of the Notary Journal,...

One of the beautiful parts of owning your own mobile notary and loan signing agent business, is the flexibility you have to grow additional streams of revenue. 

There really are so many different services we can provide!

A favorite for many notaries is to become a wedding officiant. It is rewarding, because you are helping couples on their happiest days. And, it can be lucrative as well, especially if you do it right. 

Taken seriously, being a wedding officiant can be an excellent source of income. What does it mean to take it seriously?

• Get trained and deliver a magnificent ceremony. 
• Have a website and professional presence. 
• Take pride in the part you play on a very special day. 

No, not every state automatically makes you eligible to be a wedding officiant just because you become a Notary Public (Some states do!). 

But, just like any other human being that wants to become a wedding officiant, there is a process to become one, and ...