I believe that marketing your notary signing business is an ongoing process. I'm always keeping an eye out for opportunities to grow my services with other companies. But whether you're a signing agent, a mortgage broker, a title company, or a Realtor, you know it's been a challenge trying to stay afloat and stay busy in these difficult times. Like most others in this industry, my volume isn't what it once was.
So, I recently decided to go back to the beginning. When I started as a notary signing agent, marketing was a full-time job. I contacted hundreds of title companies and signing services, I listed my services anywhere that I could think of, I called, wrote, emailed, and knocked on any door I could to drum up business. I networked and I asked for referrals. But after about six months of heavy marketing, I was able to focus almost all of my time and energy on handling closings. For seven years, my marketing has been about maintenance. But for the last few months, I've felt the need to do more. If you've seen your business slow down as well, maybe my plan of attack can help you too.
For starters, I felt it was important to remind my current clients that I greatly appreciated their business. You can never go wrong with simple, personal, handwritten thank you cards. Every one of my clients called or emailed me to say thanks.
Next, I made sure to update and freshen up my profile at the different sites I list my signing business. Nothing says "out of business" more than a profile that hasn't been updated in a year.
Sometimes I'm so focused on this blog that I forget that it's also important to participate in other places. Working by yourself, working from your home, it becomes so easy to isolate yourself. Forums like those at
Notary Rotary,
123 Notary, and
Notary Cafe are great for networking, being a part of the community, and just making yourself visible. So, I've increased my activity a little at a few of these sites and will continue to do so. I encourage everyone to do the same.
Here in Michigan, many purchase closings are "split closings." The buyer and the seller are both represented at the closing table by their own title company. It can make for some, um, interesting challenges. But it's also an opportunity to shine in front of another title company. If the other closer is an employee of the title company, I'm extra motivated to make a great impression. And after the closing, I make it a point to find out if they ever use contract closers. This has recently provided me with an exciting potential lead (fingers crossed).
And if the other closer is also a contract closer, it can still be an opportunity. Most contract closers that handle these split closings are the cream of the crop. There's just too much potential for disaster with an inexperienced, unprepared closer. So it can be an outstanding learning tool to watch how other quality closers handle their signings. I feel like I'm always learning something. Conversely, I did recently have the misfortune of sitting across from a closer that was sadly and painfully over their head. In that case, I later contacted that title company to offer my services as a contract closer. And no, I would not and did not mention that I watched one of their closers go up in flames. It should NEVER be about anything except what you can do for them.
Next, I browsed the forums for companies that have gotten positive feedback or that are actively looking for notary signing agents. I signed up with about 10 new companies in the last three to four weeks (at MY fees). I also followed up with companies that I signed up with in the past that have never called me for a signing. Two have already used me.
Finally, in all the above cases, I made it a point to emphasize what I think is a unique selling point for using my services. The
Michigan Notary Network. Not only did I offer my services as a notary signing agent, I also stressed the fact that if I wasn't available for a closing, I could provide them with the name of another experienced, quality signing agent in the Metro Detroit area that could.
Florida,
Texas,
California,
Wisconsin, and
Ohio all have networks. If you aren't networking with other great closers in your area, you should.
So, does an effective marketing blitz work miracles? Maybe not, but I can tell you that last week was one of my best weeks of the year. I don't think that's a coincidence.
My hometown of Plymouth, Michigan was recently transformed into the fictional town of Woodsboro for the filming of Scream 4 (also known as Scre4m). Celebrity sightings included Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Hayden Panettiere, Emma Roberts, and Wes Craven.
With foreclosures continuing to rise, U.S. homeownership has fallen to a 10 year low of 66.9%. Conversely, apartments are filling at double the rate of 2009, with a vacancy rate of 6.6% compared to 8.2% at 2009 year end.
If you're looking to start as a notary signing agent or if you've recently started, Brenda Stone's free eBook is a terrific place to begin. There are great tips on researching your area, how to price your notary signing agent services, how to market yourself, where to find sample closing documents, and much more.
Goldman Sachs & Co. will pay $550 million, the largest against a Wall Street Firm in history, to settle fraud charges claiming they misled buyers of mortgage-related investments. Unfortunately, a half a billion dollars is less than 5% of Goldman Sach's 2009 net income of $12.2 billions.
What kind of business blog keeps you coming back? One that focuses on relevant industry topics or one that promotes the writer or their business? Personally, I try to make my blog about posting on topics and providing content that others in the industry might find useful. I've always felt that some business blogs (and a few mortgage industry and signing agent blogs) miss the mark by focusing too much on self-promotion.
HubSpot Blog, a wonderful blog I've just discovered about how to market your services on the Internet, just posted a FREE eBook called "2010 Online Marketing Blueprint: A Multimedia Guide to Growing Your Business Online." The 26 page eBook provides instructions, how to videos, and links to other resources. Topics include:
Last night after a very late closing, I attempted to enter my house using the keypad on my attached garage. My code would not work. I tried 30 times with no success. Now normally this wouldn't be a problem. My car has a button that opens my garage door and my key chain has a key to my front door. Except my car is in the shop for repairs so no button and no key with me! Drats! Call to my best friend at 11 p.m., "did I give you a spare key to my house?" "No." Drive 20 minutes to my parent's house, no key either. Back to my house, try the pad 10 more times, no luck. My solution? I grabbed my notary seal from my bag and decided I was going to smash my garage window with it. Hey, it has a handle, it's metal, it would do the trick. As I fired myself up for the break in, I decided to try the keypad one last desperate time. To my complete shock, my garage door decided to open. Once inside, I was able to reset my code. Whew. Glad it didn't come to that, but good to know that there are other possible uses for a notary seal.
Well, don't wait until the last minute or anything. The U.S. Senate finally passed an extension of the federal homebuyer tax credit. The bill now awaits President Obama's approval. If signed (and there's no reason to expect otherwise), the bill will extend the tax credit until September 30th, 2010. As it stands, buyers had to close by Wednesday to qualify. The credit only applies to those homebuyers who entered into their contract by April 30th, 2010.
