07/30/2026
# There Are No Shortcuts Into This Business
People ask me all the time how I got started as a Notary Signing Agent. I give them the same answer every time, but no one has ever come back and told me they actually followed the process.
The truth is, there isn't a shortcut.
When I started, I sat down at my computer and searched everywhere I could think of. I searched for signing services. I searched Facebook groups where notaries gathered. I searched websites. I searched forums. I used the search functions to read the questions other notaries had already asked, because chances are someone had already asked the same questions I had.
More than anything, I was looking for company names.
Every time someone mentioned a signing service or title company—even if they were complaining about them—I wrote the name down. One bad experience doesn't automatically make a company bad. I would research the company, read every review I could find, and ask one simple question:
**Do they eventually pay their notaries?**
If the answer was yes, even if they sometimes paid slowly, I contacted them and asked how to sign up.
Then I signed up.
And I did it again.
And again.
Many companies required lengthy applications, contracts, certifications, and onboarding. It was exhausting.
For six solid weeks, I did almost nothing else.
I spent fifteen and sixteen hours a day in that chair. I got up only when I absolutely had to. There were nights I literally fell asleep sitting at my computer, woke up, and started again the next morning.
I was relentless.
At first, the larger title companies wouldn't work with me because they wanted two years of experience. That didn't stop me. Every few months I contacted them again and updated them.
"I've completed 100 signings."
Later...
"I've completed 500."
Then...
"I've completed 1,000."
Experience changes conversations.
Today, I stay busy.
No, I didn't follow all of the advice that says you have to market constantly forever. I built relationships with signing services and a handful of title companies that hire their own notaries. Would I like higher fees? Of course. But I also value consistent volume.
You'll rarely find me complaining about companies taking too long to pay. Occasionally I've had to ask about a missing payment, and I don't think we should ever have to chase money we've earned. But overall, I'm willing to accept slightly lower fees if it means steady work.
That's a business decision each person has to make for themselves.
There's another part of my story that's personal.
I believe God led me into this business.
I'm not trying to convince anyone else of that, and I know discussions about faith aren't always welcome in notary groups. But for me personally, this career has been a blessing.
I can't stand behind a counter all day.
I can't do physically demanding work anymore.
I watched children for thirty-eight years, but I reached the point where I no longer felt I could safely care for a house full of little ones if there were an emergency. I can't get down on the floor to play like I used to, and I don't feel comfortable carrying babies around all day.
I also can't spend eight hours a day typing. Writing my book took six months, and by the end of it my wrists hurt so badly from carpal tunnel that I needed a break. Two months later they're finally feeling better.
This business allows me to keep working using the abilities I still have.
So let me ask you something.
**Why do you want to do this?**
Will you be good at it?
Do you genuinely enjoy meeting people?
Do you enjoy helping people?
Just the other day I met with an elderly couple who struggled to write their names. The gentleman also needed help completing his ID verification selfie on his phone. I simply slowed down, stayed patient, and helped them through it.
When we finished, the Realtor told me I had gone far above and beyond.
Honestly, I didn't feel like I had.
I just treated them the way I would want someone to treat my own family.
That's what this job is supposed to be.
I truly believe that if this business is a good fit for you—if you'll approach it with integrity, patience, and a servant's heart—there's room at the table for you.
But here's the reality.
There are already a lot of notaries competing for the same assignments, and that's one reason fees are so low.
If you're getting into this because someone promised you'll make six figures your first year...
Please don't.
Yes, we all need to earn a living.
But if money is your only motivation, you'll probably become one of the people who drops one signing the moment a higher-paying one comes along, overbooks your schedule hoping something cancels, or treats borrowers like they're just another appointment on the calendar.
Our industry doesn't need more of that.
It needs professionals who keep their commitments.
People who show up.
People who care.
People who remember that every loan package represents someone's home, someone's refinance, someone's inheritance, or someone's fresh start.
So if you're looking for an easy way into this business, I can't help you.
No one is recruiting us.
No one is handing us customers.
You have to build it yourself.
You have to earn your reputation one signing at a time.
There are no shortcuts.
You have to muscle your way in.
