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3 strategies to take your Notary business to the next level

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Updated 6-30-23. Once you've got your Notary business off the ground and running, there comes a point when you're ready to take it to the "next level." Here are some strategies that Notaries have successfully used to get more clients, expand coverage areas and offer new services for customers.

1. Grow your client base by targeting different industries

Getting more clients is always a top priority, so marketing your services to a variety of industries is common sense.

Texas Notary Tonie Boaman, owner of Dash Notary and an NNA Notary of the Year Honoree, suggests approaching human resources departments in major corporations. They often need documents notarized as well as other non-notarial tasks, such as I-9 verifications (in states that allow you to perform them).  Becoming a company’s "go-to" Notary and document authority can provide ample repeat business.

Washington Notary Sandra St. Claire, owner of NotaryOnCall, recommends reaching out to medical offices and memory care units as places in constant need of quality Notaries.

These successful mobile Notaries also say that becoming an expert with the forms these industries use, such as living trusts or powers of attorney, can make you an asset to the hiring company by readily meeting their needs.

2. Expand your service area

“New Notaries need to decide their true range,” says Boaman, which means being realistic when determining where you are willing to travel for assignments. Instead of servicing too large a segment of her home state, Boaman chose to serve several Texas counties within her vicinity, which she clearly lists on her website.

Once you have established and become comfortable with your initial service area, you might decide to add coverage into surrounding zip codes, or make special travel exceptions to those outside of your range.

If you do decide to expand, make sure you have the resources to do so and that you reliably calculate additional travel expenses in order to set the right fees.

3. Offer additional client services

Many highly successful Notary entrepreneurs increase their income by finding new services — both Notary and non-notarial — to provide to their clients.

"I’ve had clients say to me, 'If I need something, I call Tonie,'" says Boaman, who markets herself as the "Universal Resource Queen."

In addition to her wide range of notarial services, Boaman performs hundreds of I-9 verifications a year, and is also a handwriting analyst, property inspector and wedding officiant. Becoming a "resource" to people in her community has helped Boaman secure a loyal client base and continue to build her business.

Like Boaman, St. Claire offers several non-notarial services, including mobile fingerprinting and wedding officiating.

"We are not just Notaries," says Sandra St. Claire. "We can take the skills we have as Notaries and apply them to a number of other things."

Early in her Notary career, St. Claire realized how easily clients could see the information she recorded about previous signers in her Notary journal. Seeing the potential for fraud, St. Claire designed, patented, and now sells the Notary Privacy Guard, a product designed to protect customer information entered in one’s journal. By identifying a problem and finding a solution, she found a unique niche within the Notary industry.

When preparing to add an additional service, make sure you have the time and resources to take on the new assignments.

No matter what strategies you choose to grow your business, be adaptable, and "always choose to move forward," advises Boaman.


Related Articles:

Notary business: 8 ways to earn extra money


12 Comments

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laurie@bradleyconsulting.com

06 Oct 2014

I would like to be able to view this article

National Notary Association

06 Oct 2014

Hello Laurie. We're sorry that you're having difficulty viewing the article. If you can please email us at social@nationalnotary.org and describe to us the issue you're having and what browser and device you are viewing the article in, we'll do our best to resolve the issue for you. Thanks and again we apologize for any inconvenience.

Judith A. Smith

07 Oct 2014

I have an older browser. Can't upgrade. So the article comes out overlapping each other. I have found if I print preview, it usually becomes legible to read. FYI

National Notary Association

07 Oct 2014

Hi Judith, Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention, and we're sorry you had some trouble viewing articles. If you can please email us at social@nationalnotary.org and let us know what browser version and device you are using, we will have our technical support team look into this and see if we can find a solution for you.

Martha Bramlett

17 Oct 2014

Thank you for sharing this information with us. I find it very useful and greatly appreciate it.

Linda Mattera

07 May 2018

Great article!

carrielynntyler@gmail.com

07 May 2018

Thank you very much for this article!

Christopher Blanc

23 May 2022

This was an interesting article, and gave some good advice on how we as notaries might grow our business in healthy ways.

Luz Rose

17 Jul 2023

CA. Notary Dash the same as Prestige Notaries...Looks like they don't like to pay for the jobs we do for them. It's very sad that the Title companies are in contract with these types of Notary Companies when they take a long time to pay or don't pay at all. I sent an invoice, called, emailed, and left messages on a job maid on May 6, 2023.

Regina L Martin

17 Jul 2023

Hi my name is Regina Martin I I had passed my notary test I'm interested in getting my own business open up I was reading information how to be a notary in different ways it's really interested in I know different types a notary I would like to get some ideas how to open up my own business started looking forward here and back

National Notary Association

18 Jul 2023

Hello Regina. You can find more articles with tips on starting a Notary business and different kinds of services to offer here: https://www.nationalnotary.org/notary-bulletin/blog/building-your-business and here: https://www.nationalnotary.org/notary-bulletin/blog/alternate-income-opportunities

Veronica Mayo

11 Jun 2024

Very useful information. Thank you!

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