You’ve probably never heard of the Quadrangle of Trust. I made it up last year. 

I made it up because there is an insider term called the Triangle of Trust that consists of the three most trusted advisors for consumers;  Attorneys; Tax advisors (CPA); Wealth advisors (Financial planner). 

All of these advisors make important additions to anyone’s advisory team, but to me, the missing piece, the crux, if you will, was the fourth leg of the table-the notary public. Which makes this triangle of trust...

The Quadrangle of Trust.

As notaries public, we’re not advisors. In fact, we spend most of our career avoiding advice of any kind. 

It’s outside our purview. 

And still, simply because of the office we hold as a notary public, we have the trust of the public. Which makes our referral list extremely valuable. 

Notaries get in more doors than any salesman (or advisor) ever will. In fact, we’re invited in, welcomed in, and sometimes our clients even bake us cookies...

The ability to give feedback that supports positive outcomes and allows for the preservation of relationships is a skill that should be regarded as a superpower. 

The challenge is that most people who request feedback ask the wrong people and in the wrong way. 

And most people who give feedback aren’t the ones who should, and then they offer what I call “fluffy feedback” anyway. 

It does no one any good and it’s a waste of time. 

How to Ask for Feedback

First, ask the right person. Seek someone who has the results you want or who has experienced something similar to what it is you want feedback on. 

There’s a big difference between opinions and good counsel. 

For example, don’t show your travel itinerary for Switzerland to your mom who's never left her hometown and ask for her insights and feedback. 

In business, don’t ask for feedback on your website from those who don’t have a great and effective website of their own. 

Don’t ask someone who has never published a boo...

I know social media isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. And not everyone enjoys writing longform blog articles. 

And I suppose that’s okay…

Still, these forms of communication are effective for both building relationships (they allow your prospects to get to know, like, and trust you more), as well as for boosting online visibility with search engine optimization strategies. 

I hear lots of questions about what you’re supposed to talk about in this type of content, so I thought I’d share twelve prompts about you and the city you live in. 

The Posting Formula: Consistency Matters

When it comes to social media posts and blog articles, consistency is more important than quantity (usually). If you’re a guru of all things social, post like crazy (it does actually work). 

But if you’re new to this, or don’t enjoy it, pick a rhythm and stick to it, no matter what it is- once a day, once per week, once per month-whatever. 

Start where you are and you can scale later. 

When it comes to your...

“How can I make more money as a notary public?”

It’s one of the most common questions I hear, especially now that the loan signing boom has ended (for now).  

The answer to the question comes in many forms. The standard way of answering is, “it depends on what your state allows for notarial fees and travel.”  

Or, we might talk about how important it is to ride the wave of the next big boom for mobile notaries as a Certified Notary Trust Delivery Agent.  

Both are true.  

But, there’s far more to this notary-entrepreneur thing.  

This business isn’t just about knowing how to sign, date, and stamp a piece of paper.  

It’s about people and how you treat them. It’s about the efforts you take to make sure your clients are in competent hands, genuinely cared for, and how well you provide a smooth and efficient transaction.  

You must always remember that you and your clients are human beings simply having a notarial experience. 

As I reflect back on my own mobile notary busines...

One of the benefits of owning both a signing company and an active notary directory is having a direct line of communication with hiring parties for notaries. 

Almost daily I am speaking to estate planning attorneys, real estate agents, lenders, and escrow officers to showcase the world’s best notaries on Gotary.com. 

One of my favorite questions to ask in those conversations is, “what challenges have you encountered with notaries in the past?”

You might think “mistakes” was a popular answer, but it wasn’t. In fact, aside from several nightmare stories about how notaries have responded to their errors, mistakes didn’t even make the top ten list. 

When asked how they resolved issues with notaries, most people I talked to said they love working with notaries that are professional, with a great attitude. With these two qualities, nearly any adversity can be overcome. 

That said, there are four behaviors that these hiring parties said are hard to overcome, especially early in a rel...

The World's Largest Business Directory

Think of the Google search engine like the world’s biggest business directory. 

To put this in perspective for you, Google gets 91.5% of all the internet search business in the world. 

Bing gets 3.19%. 

For fans of DuckDuckGo, they get only .55%.

For your notary business to thrive, you must be listed on the Google “business directory”.

This is what we commonly refer to as, Google Business Profile (GBP).

GBP is a suite of online services that Google grants to businesses of any size at no charge. You’ve likely seen this in action already when you search for “late night munchies near me,” or “nail spa in Tampa.” 

The information that comes up, with the hours of operation, menu of services, and customer reviews, is likely the Google Business Profile for those small, local businesses. 

This is the same series of information that could come up for your notary business too! 

All you have to do is set it up and tend to it throughout the life of ...

Shared experiences, like networking events, live training, workshops, conferences, travel, and the like, 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 five peer events every year, your business, life, and network will experience limitless expansion. 

I’ve found that live, in-person events create stronger bonds faster. But if that’s not in your budget (or desire), you can still attend AND participate in online events. 

For my own schedule, I’ve committed to five in-person notary peer events for 2024, and several online events. I'll share the growing list at the end of this article.

I happen to be in Philadelphia as I write this, touring the host hotel for Judi Lawrence’s Philly Notary Social (registration now open) in October, so I’ll share about this first. 

The Notary Hotel

It doesn’t get more perfect than that. The host hotel for Philly Notary Social is ...

Once you’ve accepted that consumer reviews are important to your mobile notary success, the next question you probably have is about how to ask for reviews and when to ask for them. 

Right? 

(And if you're still not quite sold on the idea of review-getting, read two of my previous articles here and here)

You can get as creative as you want with this, and you can find a style that matches your personality. 

If you’re uncomfortable asking for reviews, consider that 70% of consumers have left reviews before, and 90% of consumers use reviews to make buying decisions. That means you’re not asking for something out of left field here. They’re used to it!

More than that, most people want to help small business owners when they’ve had a positive experience. 

So let’s talk about it.

When to Ask For Reviews:

As a rule of thumb, you’ll only ask a client for a review when you’ve delivered five-star service and there is no question that the review you’ll receive will be four or five star qu...

Reviews play a big part in making sure you get hired by your prospects that search for a “notary near me.” 

Reviews are “social proof” that demonstrate that you’re a real business, and there’s less risk in hiring you because others already have. 

Plus, search engines use positive commentary, like reviews, to help them decide which profiles to highlight on their coveted “first page” of search results. 

So, the question often is, which platforms are better for customer reviews? 

Sometimes you don’t have any control over this. A customer that is compelled to give a review will simply post on whatever platform they want to. Nothing wrong with that!

All reviews are good reviews (even the bad reviews, if you respond correctly).

But, if you’re a smart small business person (which you are), and you’ve implemented a review-getting strategy, you’ll likely be able to guide some of your customers to the platform that serves you best.

Here are My Top Four Platforms For Customer Reviews:

Goo...

Do you ever wonder why online customer reviews mean so much for your notary business? 

It’s not some narcissistic desire for attention (usually). 

Reviews are important because…

Reviews = Revenue. 

Let me show you how.

Why Reviews Matter

There are two main reasons you should become a review-getting guru for your business.

The most obvious is social proof. Somewhere around 90% of consumers choose a business to work with based on reviews. 

I could end the article here because numbers like that, even if they’re skewed by 40%, are enough to put a period on the sentence. 

Reviews matter. 

People care what other people think. That’s why social proof works so well. When your prospects see that other people have taken the risk and tried you out, and were pleased with the results, it blazes the trail to booking your services. 

When you have great reviews (and lots of them), your prospects don’t have to think as hard. And that’s a good thing. Decision-exhaustion is real. Great reviews...