There’s a reality about the notary profession that most people outside of it never see....

A huge percentage of notarial work happens behind the scenes, privately, and without any real oversight.

And here's the thing, there's an estimated one billion notarized documents every year.  

No public database of notarizations.

No centralized quality control.

No routine audit of whether the work was done correctly.

And, frankly, most of the time, that’s fine…

Until it isn’t.

And here's part of the problem:

In many states, the threshold to become a notary is exceptionally low. 

A short application. 

A modest fee. 

Maybe a basic exam (Sometimes not even that). 

And once commissioned, a notary can practice for years, even decades, without anyone ever reviewing their work. 

That means a notary can be doing things incorrectly or non-compliantly for a very long time…

And no one ever knows.

It’s not a problem…

Until it’s a problem.

Until a document is contested in court.

Until a pr...

Each month, thanks to NotaryAssist, we’re giving away one of their professional fashion backpacks to members who are active inside our free Skool community. 

If the winner is also a paid NotaryAssist user, they get $100 cash on top of it!

The way to win is to show up, participate, and use the tools we provide to help you reach your goals in 2026.

That’s it.

Now, here’s why this matters enough for me to lead with it as we head into the new year.

Bookkeeping is where too many notary businesses stall out because there’s no system in place.

So we see the same problems over and over:

• Not knowing how much you actually made

• Scrambling at tax time (Or year end…Just saying!)

• Forgetting mileage

• Storing receipts in shoeboxes

• Invoices going out late (Or not at all)

• Having no idea who has paid you and who has not

• Avoiding your numbers

This is considered “normal” in small business ownership, so it’s not just you. You aren’t flawed. 

It’s just a systems ...

Most people are looking for the next exciting opportunity. Fingerprinting isn’t that. And that’s exactly why it works.

Everyone talks about opportunities:

• New niches. 

• New add-ons. 

• New ways to pivot when the market shifts.

Very few people talk about what actually holds a business steady. Fingerprinting sits in a different category than most notary work. It is not trendy. It does not come with hype cycles. It does not rely on persuasion or clever marketing.

It is required.

That distinction matters more than most people realize.

Loan signings are transactional. They can pay well, but they are tied to market cycles and volume you do not control.

GNW and other specialty appointments are episodic. Of course, they matter. Of course, they are valuable. But they come in waves.

Fingerprinting is different. This is ongoing compliance work. It supports systems that must keep running.

• Government

• Healthcare

• Education

• Financial services

• Immigration

  ...

If you don’t have the results you want as a notary entrepreneur, you don’t have a time problem.

You have a prioritization problem.

And you’re not alone. 

We all have way too much on our plates, and most of it doesn’t actually move the needle on our goals.

In the notary world, that problem is amplified because so much of what we do feels legitimate, necessary, and helpful.

Phones ring. 

Emails ding. 

Clients need things. 

People want answers.

It all feels important.

That’s where Eisenhower’s decision-making matrix becomes incredibly useful. 

The Eisenhower Decision Matrix

So let’s slow this down and make it practical, because once you really understand this framework, prioritization stops being a guessing game and starts becoming a skill that you can gradually improve with practice.

According to the matrix, there are only four kinds of tasks in your world.

1. Important and urgent.

2. Important but not urgent.

3. Urgent but not important.

4. Neither urgent nor import

   ...

Most mobile notaries I meet have something in common: 

They’re multi-service and multi-talented.

In addition to notarization, they offer other services like: 

• Apostilles. 
• Trust deliveries. 
• Certified translations.
• The Legacy Vault. 
• Fingerprinting. 
• Real estate work. 
• Insurance. 
• You name it.

But the challenge they have is talking about their services. 

For one, it’s not always appropriate to discuss other services at the signing table, depending on our client agreements and relationships. 

Second, most notaries are intimidated or afraid to even mention other services even if it would be helpful to their signers. 

That’s the problem I’ve been working to solve with Linda Benningfield over the last few weeks, and we landed on something I think is going to change this industry in a pretty meaningful way.

Linda is a Canva template designer and I asked her to crawl inside my brain and extract this concept I had for a “leave-behind” brochure, or postcard for notaries to l...

One of the biggest reasons entrepreneurs spin their wheels is simple. We don’t stop long enough to notice that we’re spinning our wheels. We hit Monday with good intentions, we get lost in appointments or distractions, and by Friday we’re wondering where the week went. I’ve lived that cycle more times than I care to admit.

That’s why our motto inside the High Performance Notary community (HPN) is no more wasted weeks. 

And it’s not just a motto, it’s a framework you can build a dream business on.

The No More Wasted Weeks Framework

It starts with the Sunday Success Ritual, a distraction-free planning session where you review your prior week, celebrate wins, account for revenue and progress, button up loose-ends, and  choose the three priorities that will actually move your business forward this week (We do it together in HPN). 

These Top 3 Priorities are not busywork, nor are they daydream items. These are the real tasks or projects that move the needle on your business: bold, spec...

I quit this business more times than I can count.

Not just once.

Not even twice.

Honestly… so many times I lost track.

Every time things got slow, every time the phone stopped ringing, every time I felt overwhelmed or discouraged, I’d run straight back to the “safety” of a paycheck.

A w-2 job was predictable. 

It felt comfortable, at least for a bit (I never lasted more than a few months).

And it let me avoid the truth I didn’t want to face:

I wasn’t doing the things I knew I needed to do to grow my business.

I wasn’t reaching out to prospects.

I wasn’t talking about my business.

I wasn’t following up.

I wasn’t being visible online.

I wasn’t staying consistent with networking.

I wasn’t implementing anything I was learning.

• I was busy… but not productive.

• I was active…but not strategic.

• I was hopeful…but not honest.

Deep down, I wanted success… but I wanted it without all the work and the habits that create success.

And that disconnect led me into the ...

If you’ve been around me longer than five minutes, you’ve probably heard me preach about the Three Questions. 

They’re simple. 

They’re powerful. 

And they are the backbone of every thriving notary business I’ve ever seen, including my own.

Most people ask these questions once, then promptly forget them and wonder why the business feels slow.

But the notaries who keep these questions front-and-center build momentum, pipelines, and businesses (not side hustles) with real revenue, predictability, and staying power.

Let’s break them down.

1. How Do I Get More Customers?

The Question Most Notaries Ask… and Then Stop Asking

This is where almost everyone starts. Unfortunately, it’s where most people stop too. They think “getting customers” is the whole game. It’s not. But it is the gateway.

And customers only come from two places, no matter how complicated we all try to make it:

A: Online Visibility

This is the stuff everyone says they care about but very few people consistently ...

Shared experiences like networking events, live training, workshops, conferences, travel, and even online gatherings, create deeper bonds and forge the beginnings of tomorrow’s great collaborations and innovations.

Plus, they can be fun and educational.

If you commit to attending just five notary peer events every year, your business, life, and network will experience limitless expansion.

These events have the potential to mold relationships that can change everything for you.

Sometimes, it’s the content being delivered. 

Sometimes, it’s a single idea sparked by simply being in the room, full of energy and possibility.

And sometimes it’s the person sitting next to you.

You never know what kind of magic can happen when you show up and participate.

That’s why peer events are so much more than “feel-good” opportunities. They’re catalysts for growth, collaboration, and connection.

When notaries come together, we find our people. 

We share challenges and insights. 

We learn from ...

You may have resisted or ignored document translation services because you thought something like: 

• I don’t speak a different language-how would I do that?

• Or, Ugh, there’s so much research to find a legit & reputable service for this…

• Or, it’s too much work to find someone for every language I happen across.

• Or, yeah, I know I can do this, it’s on my to-do list, but…

Well, guess what? Today is your day to finally get this done! 

Translation services have been around for, well, a long time, let’s say. It’s a service that stands on its own because people need documents translated for myriad reasons. 

In our industry, working with documents so closely, this has always been on the periphery. But now, as the world flattens, and business (and life) goes global, and as the demand for apostilles and international authentication skyrockets, the need for translation services rises with it. 

Why Add Certified Translation Services

Picture it: 

You finish a notarizati...