Marketing Is the Job: 12 Ways to Start Acting Like It

If you want a successful notary business that actually pays the bills, supports your lifestyle, and makes you proud, you’ve got to make peace with a simple truth:

You are not just a notary. You’re a marketer.

Most folks don’t sign up for this business because they want to write email campaigns or post to social media. They sign up because they love helping people. Or they want freedom. Or they want out of the corporate grind.

But none of that matters if your phone isn’t ringing.

And your phone won’t ring just because you passed your exam, paid for a commission, or made a Canva flyer once in 2022.

It rings because people know you exist, trust that you can help, and remember your name when the time comes.

That’s marketing. 

Start With These 12 Marketing Moves

1. Adopt the Marketing Mindset

You have to think like a marketer. Every single day.

That doesn’t mean becoming manipulative. It means becoming visible, valuable, and intentional about telling your story.

You don’t have to sell your soul. You just have to tell people what you do, how you help, and why it matters. Again and again and again.

2. Learn the Skills

Marketing is a skill set. It’s not magic, and it’s not something you’re just born with. So if you’re feeling lost, good news… you’re not broken. You’re just untrained.

Learn how to write a decent email. Understand what makes a Google Business Profile and a website convert. Get a grip on basic prospecting, messaging, and online visibility.

You don’t need a degree. You just need direction. 

3. Electrify Your Desire to Promote

You’ve got to flip the switch internally and get excited about promoting your work. Because here’s the deal, and what is real-it’s the real deal: if you’re a great notary, it is a disservice to the public not to promote yourself.

There are notaries out there who don’t train, don’t care, and don’t follow proper procedure. You showing up for your business and getting hired over them is a win for the public.

So stop playing small. It’s not about ego. It’s about service.

4. Focus Your Efforts & Be Consistent

Marketing doesn’t work because you did it once. It works because you kept doing it on the days you didn’t feel like it, and even when it felt like no one was watching. 

Every day, you need to do something that keeps you top of mind, because you never know when someone will need you.

Most people think marketing is a light switch-they only flip it on when things get slow. But it’s not. It’s a campfire. You keep it burning, steadily. That’s how the results show up, year after year.

Pick 1-3 marketing strategies that fit your business and personality, and commit. Post weekly. Reach out daily. Update your online presence regularly.

Consistency builds trust. Trust builds business.

5. Cultivate the Right Attitude

There will be days your phone doesn’t ring. There will be emails that go unanswered and posts that get no likes.

Do it anyway. 

The results you want will come from the effort you put in today. You just don’t get to choose which day the rewards show up (so annoying!).

6. Embrace DIY Marketing (Especially at First)

Marketing help is expensive. Good help is really expensive. Until your budget can handle that, you’ll need to be scrappy.

You’ll stretch your comfort zone with tech. You’ll learn tools and tactics that feel clunky at first.  That’s okay. That’s how business works. There is power in the confusion. Embrace it. Tinker. And learn. 

DIY doesn’t mean low quality, it means you’re just learning how to fish.

7. Make Time for It

If you don’t schedule marketing, it won’t happen, especially if you’re already resistant to doing it in the first place. It’s amazing how busy and distracted you can make yourself when you DON’T want to do something. 

Block it on your calendar and treat it like the most important meeting of your day, because it is. 

This is the job, the most important job you have. Nothing else matters if you have no customers to serve. 

You’re the CEO, and your #1 priority is making the phone ring.

8. Budget for It

Set aside money for marketing. Like, now, even before you think you need it. 

It might be flyers, a CRM system, social media support, ads, or sponsoring a community event. Who knows what creative things you’ll come up with, but almost everything is either going to cost time, energy, or money. 

Even a small budget, well-used, can move mountains, though so start where you’re at with what you’ve got.

9. Use Offbeat, Guerrilla Tactics

Don’t get stuck thinking marketing only happens on TikTok or Instagram.

Old-school works. Word-of-mouth works. Flyers on bulletin boards, car magnets, postcards, handwritten thank-yous, business cards, introductions at your dentist office-they all work in this industry.

Stop waiting for permission. Have an idea? Try it. There are no rules. Be creative. Be bold.

10. Tell Everyone

Seriously. Everyone.

Your barista, your cousin, your chiropractor, your Uber driver. If someone’s breathing, they should know you’re a notary.

This isn’t about being annoying. It’s about planting seeds. 

When you add a new service or specialty, like apostilles or trust delivery, TELL PEOPLE. When you expand your service radius, TELL PEOPLE. When you hit your 25th five star review, TELL PEOPLE. 

Get what I’m saying here? 

Self-promotion is not a dirty word. Somewhere along the line, we started associating the term “self-promotion” with being sleazy, spammy, or narcissistic. So we shrink back. We tell ourselves, “I’m just not good at marketing” or “I don’t want to annoy people.”

But let me ask you this…

If you don’t believe in your business enough to talk about it… why should anyone else?

Self-promotion isn’t about ego. It’s about responsibility. If you truly solve problems (and as a notary, you do), then telling people how you help is not just smart, it’s generous.

As an estate planning attorney once told me, you’re never a bother if you’re bringing value. 

Tell everyone. 

11. Find a Tribe

You don’t have to do this alone. There are brilliant notaries out there sharing marketing ideas, templates, systems, and support. 

Surround yourself with people who are playing the same game you are, and playing to win in a loving, supportive, and collaborative way. 

12. Plan & Organize Your Marketing Efforts

A little structure goes a long way. Create a system for your outreach. Set up reminders. Track what’s working. 

For me, I created my Daily Do’s-8 daily activities I did every single day to get me in front of prospects like escrow officers, and then eventually estate planning attorneys. 

THAT daily effort is what earned me multiple six figures annually and made this whole career possible. Without that effort, I’d be just another notary complaining about over-saturation and low ball fees in some Facebook group. 

It doesn’t have to be like that. 

Marketing isn’t just about creativity, it’s about execution.

Inside High Performance Notary, we don’t just talk about this stuff, we do it. Together. Daily actions. Weekly rituals. Real strategies. And a whole lot of support.

If you’re tired of waiting for signing services to decide your paycheck… maybe it’s time to step into the marketing department of your own business.

We’ve got a seat saved for you when you’re ready.

Learn more about High Performance Notary and start your free trial here