I have been a Notary Public for about 12 years. Over the course of those years, I have had a lot of people ask me if being a Notary Public is worth it. Since you can only make $10 per signature (as per California law), why do I bother. Well, yes, it's true that you are only limited to $10 per signature. However, if you decide to be creative with everything, you can make pretty good money. For example, you can offer to
generate the
documents which you notarize for clients. You can learn how to do Living Trust documents, Power of Attorney documents, Living Wills, regular Wills, Grant Deeds, etc. For Living Trust Documents, clients are willing to pay $650 and up for the documents themselves, Power of Attorney, $65 and up, Wills, $100 and up and Grant Deeds, from $65 and up. You can
personalize these for your clients. This, however, does not include the price of the notary which is the extra $10 per signature. Also, there is the cost of
your mileage if you're willing to travel. There are people that can't get out that need your services such as those in hospitals, nursing homes, jails, and people who don't want to leave their houses for various reasons. You can also make extra if you are willing to go out and do notary services on holidays and on weekends. Get a ministers credential and perform weddings in which you can also notarize the marriage certificate. There are plenty of religious organizations online that can supply these for a small fee.
Becoming a Notary Public is pretty easy. Yes, there are some cost (Total probably around $300 - $400 for everything which includes the seminar, live scan, background check, supplies, etc.) involved, however, you can make this up with your first few assignments. Here are the ways in which to get started with your Notary Public business.
1.) Find a certified Notary seminar. The company that I used to take my seminar training was Golden State Notary. You can "Google" them to find their address and phone number. They give seminars throughout the southern California area in some very nice hotels. The price is also very reasonable. The seminar is 6 hours long and the best thing about this is that you can take the Notary test the same day. After the seminar, the "State" comes in and administers the test.
2.) You will also need to take a "Live Scan" (fingerprint check) and you will also need to be able to pass an FBI background check.
3.) It takes about 2 weeks to find out if you passed your Notary exam, and about 2 weeks to find out if you passed the Live Scan and your FBI background check.
4.) Order you Notary supplies.
5.) Start advertising (sites such as 123notary.com, notaryrotary.com, Craigslist, Google plus, your own website, and don't forget your business cards and car magnets. You can leave your business cards at senior citizen facilities, the nurses station at hospitals, on your neighbor's door, with your church secretary, etc).
I do know several people that are Notary Publics that are making from $5,000 per month and up. You just have to be creative (but still follow the law) and be willing to go beyond what other notaries are unwilling to do. I have a lot of clients that come to me or I go to them in the evenings and on weekends when all the other Notaries are closed.
