Notaries serve an important function in legal transactions by witnessing the signing of important documents and verifying the identities of the people involved. As a notary public, you have the potential to build a lucrative career by offering your services to authenticate signatures on legal paperwork. There are many creative ways to make money as a notary, both through traditional offline work as well as modern online opportunities.
Offline Notary Work
If you are interested in providing notary services in person, there are several profitable options to consider.
Traditional Notary Services
One of the most common ways to make money as a notary is by offering traditional notary services. This involves charging a fee to individuals or businesses each time you witness the signing of documents and affix your stamp and signature. Common documents that require notarization include:
- Powers of attorney
- Affidavits
- Mortgage paperwork
- Legal contracts
- Loan documents
- Wills and estate planning paperwork
Notaries typically charge a per signature fee ranging from $2-$15 depending on your state’s mandated maximum rate. By providing traditional notary services to members of your community, you can easily generate ongoing income.
Become a Loan Signing Agent
A lucrative way to make money as a notary is by becoming a loan signing agent. When individuals purchase homes, refinance mortgages, or take out commercial loans, they are required to sign multiple documents in the presence of an authorized loan signing agent.
As a notary focused on loan signings, you will travel to meet clients to oversee the signing of their mortgage paperwork or loan documents. Loan signings can take 1-2 hours and pay $75-$200 per appointment. By specializing in loan document executions, notaries can earn a comfortable income through this offline service.
Offer Mobile Notary Services
Another profitable way to make money as a notary is by offering mobile notary services where you travel to meet clients at a location of their choosing. Many individuals are unable or unwilling to visit a notary public office in person but still require documents to be notarized. As a mobile notary, you can provide convenience by bringing your services directly to a client’s home or business.
Mobile notaries typically charge higher per-signature fees due to the added convenience they provide. By marketing your mobile notary offerings, you can reach clients who wouldn’t otherwise utilize a notary’s services.
Network and Market Your Services
One of the most critical factors to generate steady income as a notary is networking within your community and marketing your services. Make sure to tell everyone you know that you are a licensed notary to spread the word about your services. Print professional business cards to pass out to potential referral partners including:
- Law firms
- Court systems
- Banks
- Real estate agencies
- Accounting firms
- HR departments
Notaries who actively network with local professionals and promote their services through word-of-mouth referrals can easily secure a steady stream of clients. This is one of the most cost-effective yet critical ways to make ongoing money as a notary once you have received your license.
Online Notary Work
In recent years, remote online notarization (RON) has made it possible for notaries to generate income digitally and virtually. If you are interested in online remote work, consider these money-making options:
Provide Remote Online Notarization
Remote online notarization (RON) has revolutionized the services notaries can provide. Through live audio-video conferencing platforms, notaries can now meet with clients seeking notarization of their documents completely virtually.
As an online notary, individuals can send you documents electronically to review before hosting a video call. Once on the call, the client displays their ID for verification and then electronically signs the documents on-screen while you witness their e-signature. This remote capability allows notaries to authenticate documents without being physically present.
Many states now allow remote online notarization, which provides incredible income potential. Online notaries can charge higher rates due to the convenience of RON, earning $25-$100 per online appointment.
Join a notarizing Platform
To easily secure remote online notary appointments, consider joining an established notarizing platform such as Notarize or NotaryCam. These platforms provide the video software infrastructure for RON services while connecting online notaries with clients seeking document authentication.
By joining a notarizing site as an affiliated notary, you gain access to appointments across your state. These platforms acquire notary requests from major banks and institutions and then assign covered appointments to available affiliate notaries. eNotarizing platforms allow you to make money conveniently from home while handling client acquisition.
Diversify Your Offerings
The most lucrative approach for generating notary income is to diversify your service offerings by providing both traditional and remote online options. By becoming certified to perform RON in your state while still offering in-person notarization, you can appeal to a wider range of client preferences.
A hybrid model maximizes your profit potential compared to solely offering either traditional or online services. Advertise your dual notary capabilities to unlock more appointment opportunities.
Seek eNotary Certification
Certain states require notaries to pass an additional certification exam that covers best practices for online video notarization. Even if optional, consider pursuing official eNotary training and certification courses in your state.
Gaining specialized eNotary credentials can unlock higher earning potential with online appointment work. Certified eNotaries also tend to secure appointments more frequently through eNotarizing sites compared to non-specialized notaries. Investing time into an eNotary course can significantly increase your remote online income over the long term.
Creative Ways to Make Money as a Notary
If you are looking to make money as a notary beyond traditional services, here are some creative ideas to consider:
Offer Both In-Person and Remote Notary Services
As emphasized above, one profitable idea is to offer a versatile mix of both offline and online notary services. By catering to clients who prefer face-to-face document signing as well as those needing documents notarized remotely, you can make yourself available to a wider range of customers.
Diversifying your offerings rather than focusing on just traditional or just RON appointments maximizes your profit-making potential as a notary public.
Create a Paid Business Listing
Another idea for making creative money as a notary is by claiming and managing your business listing on sites like Google, Facebook, Yelp, and other directories. By registering your notary services on key sites, you can embed payment options to charge other businesses for priority placement when users search for local notaries.
For example, law firms searching for notaries may need to have their business appear at the top of the listings. You can earn income from local firms by providing paid priority placement on your managed business listings on search engines, review sites, and online directories.
Become a Facebook Ad or Google Ads Manager
If you have experience with either the Facebook Ads or Google Ads platforms, consider offering your services to local businesses who want to advertise their services but lack digital marketing skills. Many offline companies need help driving website traffic or client inquiries but don’t know how to effectively leverage sites like Facebook or Google.
As a certified notary familiar with online advertising, you can charge businesses monthly retainers to concept, manage, optimize, and report on ad campaigns targeting their regional customer base. This can be a consistent stream of income for tech-savvy notaries.
Promote Your Services on Social Media
While most notaries rely on word-of-mouth and business card distribution for finding clients, actively leveraging your social media networks can surface new income opportunities. Post about your notary services and pricing on neighborhood Facebook groups or regional subreddits. Creating posts showcasing your offerings as a notary public helps spread awareness to potential new customers.
You can also run inexpensive social media ads promoting your notary services and targeting local community members who may soon need documents notarized. Driving attention to your business through deliberate and ongoing social promotion efforts allows notaries to make money from untapped markets.
Maximizing Your Income Potential
To build a lucrative career as a notary, focus on implementing strategies to maximize your earning potential over both the short and long term:
Specialize Your Offerings
Rather than providing generalized notary services, consider specializing your offerings to maximize profitability. For example, solely focus on becoming a loan signing agent to earn a higher income per appointment. Or exclusively provide mobile notary offerings for increased convenience fees.
Targeting specific segments like real estate transactions, legal documents, or remote online notarization allows you to charge premium rates and streamline your operations. Find an in-demand niche, specialize accordingly, and watch your income rise.
Network and Build Relationships
As emphasized earlier, consistently networking within your community and building professional relationships is critical for driving notary income. The more law firms, court clerks, bankers, attorneys, and real estate agents that you engage with to spread awareness of your services, the more referrals you will receive.
Make sure to collect business cards and email addresses at local events to continually expand your professional network. While networking is time-intensive, it pays major dividends for notaries over the long run by funneling recurring appointment opportunities.
Leverage Social Media for Promotion
While traditionally word-of-mouth and printed collateral have been key client acquisition strategies for notaries, don’t underestimate the power of Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and other networks for promoting your services.
Create a business page highlighting your notary offerings then leverage both organic content posting and social media ads to drive awareness from those needing documents notarized in your region. Maintaining an active social presence establishes credibility while surfacing new income opportunities.
Join Professional Notary Associations
Consider becoming a dues-paying member of both your state and national notary associations, such as the National Notary Association. Professional affiliations grant access to specialized training, certification programs, exclusive job boards, member directories, and other resources.
Joining an association not only fosters your education and thought leadership, but also gets your notary services in front of other members searching for document notarization locally. Paid memberships and active participation in notary associations maximize income over time.
Tips for Success as a Profitable Notary
Implement these best practices for ensuring success and making consistent money through your services as a notary public:
Tell Everyone You’re a Notary
This was noted earlier but deserves reinforcing: proudly share the news that you are an authorized notary with all personal connections, friends, family members, and professional acquaintances. Hand out business cards wherever you go and ask others to help spread the word.
Many notary jobs originate from casual referrals, so consistently informing others about your services is critical for income generation.
Promote Your Offerings on Social Channels
While you should certainly tell people in person about your notary capabilities, don’t neglect to promote your services across all your social media profiles. Update your professional LinkedIn profile to feature your status as a certified notary then leverage your Facebook, Nextdoor, and other networks to run ads highlighting your document notarization offerings targeted locally.
Promoting across both online and offline channels maximizes discoverability for new clients seeking notarization.
Provide Excellent Customer Experiences
Income potential within the notary industry grows exponentially through client referrals from those receiving excellent service. Ensure each interaction is positive by thoroughly explaining each step, maintaining eye contact, actively listening, and offering a great overall experience.
Follow up after appointments asking if any other assistance is needed. The better the impression left with clients, the more recurring income that notaries can generate over time.
Continually Pursue Professional Development
Finally, the most successful notaries continue advancing their credentials, education, and knowledge throughout their entire career. Seek additional certifications within specialized services such as loan document witnessing, electronic notarization, or foreign language translation.
Pursuing ongoing professional development allows you to charge higher rates due to increased expertise levels translating directly into more money earned. Continual learning is key.
Conclusion
Notaries serve an essential role in authenticating the identity and signatures of clients completing vital paperwork. By pursuing this career path, you unlock immense potential for steady and meaningful income.
While traditionally notaries have primarily earned money through offering basic document witnessing services, the rise of remote online notarization has expanded money-making opportunities exponentially in recent years.
With strategic preparation and marketing along with delivering outstanding customer experiences, notaries can establish extremely lucrative and fulfilling long-term careers. There are more ways than ever to generate income within the notary profession if you approach the opportunity thoughtfully and creatively.
By specializing your offerings, networking consistently, promoting across digital channels, joining professional associations, and pursuing ongoing education, your income-earning potential as a notary public is boundless. Now is an ideal moment to begin maximizing the many ways to make money with notary services.
