How Unlimited Ink Notary Became One of the Most Successful Signing Services in America,
Not Just in Arizona!
Unlimited Ink Notary may, or may not, be your favorite Signing Service to work with as a Notary Signing Agent because we are perfectionist. Truth be told, it's none of our business how you feel one way or another unless you are a client. We love what we do, the Notaries we work with, and our clients love what we (you all and us) have created together.
We are always going to continue doing what we do best- providing excellent services to our clients and helping Notaries grow their businesses through adequate training by creating realistic expectations on how this industry really works.
If you found this page, you are more than likely looking for information on how to start or grow your Notary business, so we are going to tell you how we actually scaled a Notary business from being a single mobile Notary out in the field to a Nationwide powerhouse.
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How Did It All Start? Going From Mobile Notary to Signing Service.
My name is Ronnie Mickle, and I am the original Owner and Founder of Unlimited Ink Notary.
I remember the first time I ever heard about becoming a mobile Notary. I was working part-time at a beloved Martini bar in Los Angeles and building websites for people who just never paid their bills. I hated that I had to work so hard and chase money. I had taken the evening off and suggested to my best friend who was visiting LA to bring his sister to the Martini bar because I knew I could get us a discount on drinks. Back then I needed every discount I could get my hands on.
Well, that night I remember telling my friends about a storefront website I was building, and I was suggesting to the owners to add in Notary Services because there were so many clients calling their store asking for a Notary. The store owner was adamantly against it because they didn't want the
liability. However, as I went to take my first sip from the martini's we ordered my friends sister looked at me and said, "Yeah, I'm a Notary and I made like $10k last month.
That drink never touched my lips! And my story moving from being just a mobile Notary to a Nationwide Signing Service began.
Here's a streamline view of what I had to do to just become a Notary Public.
I'll get to what I learned along the way a big later...
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I had to obtain a background check, which isn't required in all States, just to become a Notary
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All Loan Signing Agents, however, are required to have an annual background check
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I had to take my state's Notary training requirements, which at the time was in California
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FYI, some states do, and some states do not have training - but we'll talk about that as well in a bit
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If your State requires training just to become a Notary this is not the same thing as becoming a Loan Signing Agent
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I had to apply for my Notary Commission with the State
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I had to get secure a bond at my State's minimum requirements
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I had to file my oath and bond and be sworn in
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I had to bet a Notary Journal & Stamp
After all of this was done, I had to take the National Notary Association's Certified Loan Signing Agent Exam, which prepared me for absolutely nothing I was about to face. It's just a rite of passage exam. If you are new to becoming a Notary or Loan Signing Agent I highly recommend you start your journey at the National Notary Association! Just note you will need more help.
In many ways, I was extremely lucky when I first started as a Notary Signing Agent!
And, in many ways, I fumbled my way through a lot of uncomfortable moments of learning to get to where we are today...
In some ways, I was extremely lucky because my best friend's sister was actually a Real Estate Agent and an Escrow Officer. While I continued to build websites for my clients and work part-time, I managed to make it to her office to start learning how to do closings part-time. They actually wanted to add in another Mobile Notary to their office. It took me a while to train in office. I started out just by preparing the files for in-house closings, sitting in and keeping the paperwork organized, and making copies for clients when the signing was complete. I was working there so I couldn't take notes during the closings. I hear lots of Notaries today asking if they can do a ride-along and it's actually against the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act to do so. Which is exactly why i was so lucky to get a part-time job at this office to learn.
Where I was unlucky is that I only saw one main lender's file and one Title/Escrow companies' documents. Although many of the documents in a Loan Package are similar - everyone formats things slightly differently and says them a slightly different way. As I moved into working as a contractor their files were easy, but I seriously started to frustrate other clients. My friend's sister only worked for her company, and I was only picking up closings that she couldn't handle in or out of office. Getting up to par was absolutely necessary!
I scrounged for any training I could find but at the time there just wasn't that much available.
Today You Can Scale Notary Business Clients Much Faster!
If you know what you are doing...
My Notary career changed rapidly from the time I started till about 2017 when I started to get aggressive. First of all, when I first started learning my friend's sister told me never to tell anyone what I was doing because everyone would want to do it! Boy, she was right. Now there's people on YouTube talking about how you can "Make Six Figures," doing loan signings left and right. Sadly, many of them aren't even Notaries or actually in this business and just are making money off of unsuspecting potential Notaries. The National Notary Assocation even details there's a small percentage of "Six Figure Notaries."
When I first started there were like two Signing Services in existence and before I knew it there were thousands. I didn't need a mobile printer or scanner back then but by 2018 I was full equipped because I was missing appointments. Around 2019 is when things changed for me, I landed my first big direct client. I had had direct clients before. But this one kind of changed my trajectory- they were national.
I started out kind of as the office golden Notary. I'd go anywhere they asked, do in-house closings, and pretty much anytime they asked. However, as they grew their need for me grew. Then it turned into, we need two of you. Can you train another Notary. Before I knew it, I was renting out hotels and training Notaries just for them. And in even a shorter time I was asked if I thought I could manage Notaries nationwide. Of course, I said yes!
Things Didn't Go Well at First!
But I figured it out...
Once I started going National with my Signing Service, about one month after, I was told that the Notaries outside of my immediate service area were just not up to their standards. I was told I had one month to turn things around or they would only be able to use me locally. So, I did what any business owner should do- I FOUND A SOLUTION ASAP!
I wound up finding the late Carol Ray from Notary2Pro. I had seen a few things about her online, but it wasn't until I called her that I began to understand that she had already trained 10,000 notaries out there already waiting for me to hire them. She sent me her entire database and then she offered any Notary that worked with me at the time 40% off if they would just take her course.
I kid you not- the next meeting we had with the higher ups at the Title Company told me that whatever I did seemed to have fixed the problem. Thus, Unlimited Ink Notary began to grow, which is fortunate- but the problem was as we grew, I found out about more loan products and Carol had only ever really trained on Buyers and Refinances. And I kept running into the same problems over and over again. Which is about the time I founded Notary Stars with Carol Ray's blessing:
The Secret to My Success Was a Just This
And Nothing More...
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I was naturally customer service oriented - I put my client's needs first
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I never put how much I earned before how much I was willing to do or learn
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I wanted to grow, and I allowed myself to make mistakes so I could find solutions, but I owned my mistakes
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I sought out training for myself and shared it with others
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I partnered with like-minded people along the way and realized that client's word of mouth will be your best growth tactic
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Trust is earned!
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I never turned down an opportunity to learn because learning increases earnings
This is really all you need in the Notary Signing Agent industry to really make it in my mind.