By Marcy Tiberio on July 21, 2016 in Building Your Business
Updated 10-4-19. There is nothing more satisfying for entrepreneurs than seeing their business grow. And that is no less true for mobile Notaries than it is for a tech start-up. The question is, how do you start growing your business? Here are some tried-and-true “smart” approaches that have worked for me.
Find New Customers
First and foremost, growing your business means getting new customers. Typically you will be working directly with paralegals, schedulers and escrow officers, or other professionals who need Notary services. Invite a potential client out to breakfast or lunch, or bring snacks to their office. Find a way to get them to sit down and talk to you. Tell them about your experience, give them a few pens and sell them on what value you bring to their business. Make sure you ask them what they want in a Notary and what you can do to make their job easier. Don’t make it a “me” conversation. Make it an “us” conversation.
Be a joiner. Join your local Land Title Association or Bar Association, or any organization where your prospective customers might be, and get involved. Try sponsoring events. Realtors and attorneys are always hosting or attending golf tournaments. Many times, when you sponsor an event, you can make marketing materials available, and you get the attendee list. I once sponsored a real estate seminar for the local bar association. At the event, I raffled off one free signing. That allowed me to get my foot in the door immediately with one company and collect business cards from people I could contact later.
Retain Existing Customers
The best thing you can do to retain clients is to provide top-notch customer service. When you’re hired for an assignment, perform to the best of your ability and meet your deadline so that your client trusts you as their “go-to” Notary. Also, if you make a mistake of any kind, as humans do from time to time, ensure that you correct the error as quickly and professionally as you can. As they say: It’s not the mistake that matters, it’s how you recover from it.
Beyond providing stellar customer service, the human relationships you build are equally important. Every time I do business with a new company, I mail them a “Thank You” card. I also include a business card so they have my information handy for the next signing. Make sure you touch base periodically, and ask for feedback about your service and how you can get more assignments from them. If they are local, swing by with some cookies or candy a few times a year. If they aren’t, send them a holiday card or a “have a nice day” email. These things will keep you at the forefront of their mind, so when they think of a Notary, they think of calling you.
Expand Your Services
It’s never a good idea to depend solely on loan signings for your income. Finding new outlets for general Notary work is vital. To get your name out there, make sure you have listings on all of the Notary directory websites as well as Angie’s List and Yelp. Paid listings will put you at the top, but reviews are just as important. Let your clients know where they can review your business online. Including a “review us” link in your email signature, is a great reminder to customers that they can post a review of your Notary services.
Nursing homes, hospitals, jails and rehabilitation facilities always need Notaries. Stop in these places from time to time, and leave plenty of business cards. Don’t forget the court system. Many times people testify over the phone when they can’t make the court location and Notaries are used to verify the identity of the person on the phone. There are different views on whether a Notary needs a website, but if you really want more general consumer work, you need a website. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy or cost a lot of money. Once it’s up and running, do a little research or spend a little money to hire an expert to help make your site stand out.
Market Your Business
Marketing your Notary business is an ongoing activity. Your goal is to constantly keep your name before potential customers so you are the first person they call when they need a Notary. You don’t necessarily need a logo or a business name. Just be sure the name you use is professional along with your email address. No one needs to know you are @crazycatlady or that your nickname is Lumpy.
I find that promotional items are a great marketing tool. Order pens with your information on them and leave them at local restaurants or at the bank. Use them during signings. People ask all the time if they can keep my pens. Have flyers made and put them up at the library, doctor’s office, community center, nursing home and grocery store — virtually anywhere that has a bulletin board. If you have a logo, get it printed on T-shirts, baseball caps and tote bags. You are now a walking billboard for your business.
Look for inexpensive advertising such as church bulletins or school play programs. Don’t forget those associations you’ve joined; see if you can advertise in one of their publications. Tell everyone what you do and make sure you explain it. You might be surprised to find out your cousin’s wife’s sister-in-law owns a title company and they might be surprised to find out what you do.
Ask your fellow Notaries. Share ideas of what you did that worked. Tell them what didn’t work. Just because what you thought was a great idea didn’t work for you, doesn’t mean it won’t work for someone else. Just keep plugging along. It could take weeks or months to see the fruits of your labor. Don’t get discouraged. Keep thinking up new ideas and try them out. With persistence, patience, ingenuity, gratitude and a bit of luck, your business will be booming before you know it.
Marcy Tiberio is a NNA 2015 Notary of the Year Honoree and owner of Professional Notary Services, Inc., in Rochester, New York. She can be reached at marcy@professionalnotaryservices.biz.