Evolving Beyond the Stamp

Are you ready to see your business as more than just a quick ink press? In this episode, Eddie Montes Travis and Marylyn Lee Trotter explore how modern professionals are transforming their services to meet today's demands. We look at the vital shift from being a simple witness to becoming a valued consultant in the legal and financial space.

• Diversifying Services: Learn how to add value by offering specialty services like fingerprinting, permit running, or apostille processing to increase your income streams.
• Digital Transformation: Explore how Remote Online Notarization is changing the landscape and why staying tech-savvy is no longer optional for those who want to lead.
• Brand Identity: Understand the importance of marketing yourself as a specialized professional rather than a generalist to attract higher-paying, loyal clients.
• Relationship Building: Discover why networking with local attorneys and title officers creates long-term stability compared to chasing one-off appointments.

Scaling your career requires a mindset shift that values expertise over the physical act of stamping paper. By embracing new technology and expanding your skill set, you can secure your future in an ever-changing market. Please remember to subscribe and like the podcast!

Show Notes:
• Expanding service offerings beyond traditional signatures.
• The impact of digital tools on business growth.
• Transitioning from a generalist to a specialized professional.
• Strategies for building lasting professional relationships.

Buy Becoming a Notary on Amazon

Notary Knowledge Reference Guide and Notary Bible on Amazon

Your Sunday Notary Reading:
Notary Public Foundation: Essential Guide to Core Duties, Ethics, and Commissioning on Amazon

Your Monday Notary Reading:
Notary Operational Excellence: Mastering Certificates, Journals, Ink, and Copy Certification on Amazon

Your Tuesday Notary Reading:
Notary Fraud Shield: Real-World Tactics, Red Flags, and Refusal Strategies on Amazon

Your Wednesday Notary Reading:
The Mobile Notary Blueprint: Launching and Managing Your On-Demand Business on Amazon

Your Thursday Notary Reading:
Notary Niche Navigator: Your Guide to Loan Signings, Apostilles, I-9s, and More on Amazon

Your Friday Notary Reading:
Notary Law & Liability: Understanding State Regulations, Insurance, and Avoiding UPL

Your Saturday Notary Reading:
The Future Notary: Mastering RON, eNotary, and Complex Scenarios on Amazon

Quick & Easy Solutions: How to Increase Mobile Notary Business for More Success & Profit: with 37 Professional Tips on Amazon

Executive Producer Derrick Spruill
Writers Marylyn Lee Trotter and Eddie Montes Travis
Graphics & Illustrations by Eddie Montes Travis
Music by Thomas Bynum
This Show is Produced by Magnificent Workz
Business Solutions

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Are you looking for an edge, flexible income, and immediate professional respect? Discover the hidden opportunity of becoming a public official with the book, Becoming a Notary by Derek Sproul. This beginner's guide provides the universal roadmap to launch your new career. You will learn the core mission of deterring fraud, the essential tools of the trade, and exactly how to protect yourself while building a respective business. Get your copy of Becoming a Notary on Amazon and step into a rewarding profession. Welcome to Notary Knowledge.

SPEAKER_03 0:39

Yes, welcome everyone.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

I want you to imagine just for a second trying to build this highly lucrative six-figure professional services firm. But there is a catch, right? There's always a catch. Right. The government legally caps the absolute maximum revenue you can make for your core service at exactly $2 per transaction.

SPEAKER_03 1:02

$2. I mean, structurally, that just sounds like an impossible business model. It's a volume trap.

SPEAKER_02 1:07

It really is. It sounds like, you know, trying to build a restaurant empire where you're legally only allowed to sell 99 cent french fries. And you can't even upsize them.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

Good luck with that lease.

SPEAKER_02 1:17

Exactly. But this isn't some hypothetical business school thing. This is the actual statutory reality for a notary public in a state like New York.

SPEAKER_03 1:26

Yeah. And yet, despite those incredibly stripped caps, thousands of people are out there building massive multi-tier professional enterprises.

SPEAKER_02 1:34

Aaron Powell Before we really get into how they do that, a quick reminder: if you want to see our faces, check out our video podcast, No Notary, with Eddie Montes Travis.

SPEAKER_03 1:41

Highly recommend it. And don't miss Maryland's 90 seconds of notary too. Great quick tips there.

SPEAKER_02 1:47

Absolutely. So our mission today is exploring this massive shift, the evolution from a simple transactional clerk, someone who just, you know, checks an ID and pushes an ink stamp into what the industry calls a strategic professional services enterprise.

SPEAKER_03 2:01

Right. We are looking at the modern architecture of trust, how smart operators completely bypass statutory caps, how they evolve into premium specialties, and uh the legal landmines that can just destroy it all overnight.

SPEAKER_02 2:16

It is a wild ride. And to understand how these empires are built, we've got to look at those baseline constraints first. I mean, the state fee schedules are just eye-opening.

SPEAKER_03 2:24

They really are.

SPEAKER_02 2:25

Like we said, New York caps an acknowledgement at $2, Florida's better at $10, California sits at $15. But if your whole business is sitting in a storefront waiting for someone to hand you two bucks for a stamp, you are competing entirely on volume and proximity.

SPEAKER_03 2:39

You're a commodity at that point. Right. If you charge $2 and the guy down the street charges $2, the client just goes to whoever is closer, you have zero pricing power.

SPEAKER_02 2:49

So how do you escape that?

SPEAKER_03 2:50

You have to separate the highly regulated act, the actual notarization, from the completely unregulated service of logistics and convenience. Um you introduce travel fees.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

Right, but even travel fees are this bizarre patchwork.

SPEAKER_03 3:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:04

Right? You can't just charge whatever you want everywhere.

SPEAKER_03 3:06

Definitely not.

SPEAKER_02 3:07

Like in Maryland, the state caps your travel fee at the federal mileage rate, which is what, around 70 cents a mile? Plus a strict maximum flat fee of $5.

SPEAKER_03 3:17

Yeah, you are not building a huge margin on that.

SPEAKER_02 3:20

No. But then you look at Nevada and they have these hyper-specific hourly caps.

SPEAKER_03 3:25

Nevada is actually fascinating. They cap it at $15 an hour during the day and $30 an hour at night with a two-hour minimum. But the kicker is that the state legally protects the notary's time.

SPEAKER_02 3:36

Wait, really? How so?

SPEAKER_03 3:38

If you and the signer agree on that travel fee, right, and they cancel while you are driving there, you are still legally entitled to collect that fee.

SPEAKER_02 3:46

Wow. That's a level of protection you just don't see often.

SPEAKER_03 3:49

It's rare. But the real leverage, the real money happens in states like California, Florida, and Texas. They basically operate on an open market travel fee system.

SPEAKER_02 3:59

Meaning there's no cap.

SPEAKER_03 4:00

Essentially, yes. There is no statutory cap on what you can charge for the convenience of driving to a client as long as you meet two very strict conditions. The fee has to be explicitly itemized separately from the notarial fee, and the client has to agree to it in advance.

SPEAKER_02 4:17

That changes the entire game. So in Florida, ink stamp is 10 bucks, but the travel fee to rush to a hospital at 9 p.m. on a Sunday for a medical directive, that might be $150.

SPEAKER_03 4:28

Exactly. You are no longer selling the stamp. You are selling speed logistics, emergency convenience.

SPEAKER_02 4:34

Okay, so you master the logistics, suddenly you're making, you know, $50 to $100 an appointment instead of $2. The classic next step is the real estate market, right? Yeah. Becoming a notary signing agent.

SPEAKER_03 4:44

An NSA route. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:45

That's huge. You guide borrowers through mortgage closings, paying anywhere from $75 to $200 for a single sitting. Which sounds great, but I see a massive structural flaw here.

SPEAKER_03 4:58

The macroeconomic roller coaster.

SPEAKER_02 5:00

Exactly. If your entire revenue is tied to mortgages, what happens when the Fed hikes interest rates to 8%?

SPEAKER_03 5:07

Volume just flummets. Nobody is buying, nobody's refinancing, your phone stops ringing.

SPEAKER_02 5:13

You aren't even a business owner at that point. You're just a passenger on the Fed's ride.

SPEAKER_03 5:17

Which is exactly why the smartest operators don't stay in real estate. To recession proof the business, they expand into what we call tier three, non-notary and complementary trust work.

SPEAKER_02 5:27

Okay, what does that look like in practice?

SPEAKER_03 5:29

Well, they leverage the institutional trust they already have, their background checks, their commission to offer services that are always in demand. Take live scan fingerprinting.

SPEAKER_02 5:37

Oh, that's brilliant. That taps into corporate HR compliance, right?

SPEAKER_03 5:40

Exactly. Healthcare workers, teachers, security personnel, they all require mandatory fingerprinting. And that is completely independent of the housing market.

SPEAKER_02 5:48

Right. People always need jobs.

SPEAKER_03 5:50

Always. And you see the same insulation with apostal services. An apostle is an international certification for documents, and um it is notoriously complex.

SPEAKER_02 5:59

Aaron Powell Oh, navigating a foreign consulate is a nightmare. Like if a company is setting up in Germany, the document authentication is brutal. You need local clerk certification, the Secretary of State, the U.S. Department of State, and then the consulate.

SPEAKER_03 6:12

And one missing staple or signature, and the whole package is rejected. Exactly. So that bureaucratic friction, that is what you monetize. Clients will gladly pay $75 to $300 a document because you know the exact sequencing. You save them weeks of delays.

SPEAKER_02 6:28

And there are other ways to monetize that time too, like permit running.

SPEAKER_03 6:31

Oh yeah, huge for commercial developers.

SPEAKER_02 6:33

Right. A construction crew sitting idle costs thousands a day. Paying an independent professional $150 to physically sit at City Hall and grab a building permit is a massive ROI for them.

SPEAKER_03 6:43

And you just interleave those with field inspections. Lenders pay $35 to $40 for someone to drive by, take five specific photos, and submit a digital report. It takes 10 minutes and you just map it along your route.

SPEAKER_02 6:55

Plus, if you're commissioned in Florida, Maine, Montana, Nevada, South Carolina, or Tennessee, you can legally solemnize marriages. People get married in any economy.

SPEAKER_03 7:04

Truly diversified. But you know, there is one niche that sits at the absolute top of the mountain, the ultimate premium service.

SPEAKER_02 7:13

Trust delivery and estate planning.

SPEAKER_03 7:14

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 7:15

This one fascinated me. A client pays an expensive estate planning attorney thousands of dollars. My first thought was why would that high-end attorney outsource the actual signing to an independent notary?

SPEAKER_03 7:28

It seems weird, right?

SPEAKER_02 7:29

Yeah. Isn't that like a Michelin star chef plating a masterpiece but handing it to an Uber Eats driver to bring to the table?

SPEAKER_03 7:35

It does seem counterintuitive until you look at the law firm's internal economics. Executing a living trust isn't just one signature, it's six to ten individual notarizations, coordinating witnesses, initialing dozens of pages.

SPEAKER_02 7:48

It's highly administrative. It can take a full hour at the client's dining room table.

SPEAKER_03 7:52

Exactly. And that attorney is billing what, $400, $500 an hour? For them to drive to a client's house and point at signature lines for an hour and a half, they are losing money.

SPEAKER_02 8:02

So they outsource it.

SPEAKER_03 8:03

Right, to a certified notary trust delivery agent, or CNTDA, for a flat fee of $150 to $300. It frees up the attorney to take on new clients while ensuring the execution is flawless.

SPEAKER_02 8:16

And the market for this is staggering. There are um an estimated 50 million American families who still don't have a will or a trust.

SPEAKER_03 8:25

Endless growth potential.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

But how does a solo notary actually convince a powerful law firm to hand over their clients?

SPEAKER_03 8:32

B2B positioning. They use a marketing framework called the 3V's vision, value and volume. They don't walk in asking for a favor, they walk in as a strategic partner.

SPEAKER_02 8:41

Oh, I love this. You sell them the vision of a streamlined practice where they never have to leave the office. You show the value of their reclaimed billable hours, and you prove you have the capacity for their high volume.

SPEAKER_03 8:52

You become the polished external extension of their firm, but um hitting that level creates a new bottleneck.

SPEAKER_02 8:57

Geography.

SPEAKER_03 8:58

Yep. If you have three law firms sending you deliveries plus apostoles, you physically run out of hours to drive.

SPEAKER_02 9:04

You hit the geographic ceiling, so you have to transcend location entirely. Which brings us to remote online notarization, or Auron.

SPEAKER_03 9:15

A total paradigm shift.

SPEAKER_02 9:16

The idea that you can sit in your living room in Florida and legally notarize a commercial lease for someone sitting in a coffee shop in Tokyo. It's wild.

SPEAKER_03 9:25

It is. And COVID really forced the issue. States slashed the red tape. Today the economics are great. Florida and Nevada Cap Online acts at $25, Maryland and Ohio at $30.

SPEAKER_02 9:37

But you don't scale by just doing the webcam notarizations yourself.

SPEAKER_03 9:41

You become a middleman, you build a nationwide signing service, you secure massive clients-like national title companies, and you dispatch the assignments to a vetted network of contractors across all 50 states.

SPEAKER_02 9:52

You become the dispatcher. But man, managing remote contractors is a huge liability. If a contractor misses a spousal signature on a $5 million commercial loan, the rate lock expires and your agency takes the hit.

SPEAKER_03 10:04

Which is why you implement ruthless quality control, specifically mandatory scan backs.

SPEAKER_02 10:08

Ah, right. Before they drop the papers at FedEx, they have to scan and upload the whole package.

SPEAKER_03 10:13

Exactly. The agency audits every initial date and stamp before the client ever sees it. If there's an error, the contractor drives back immediately.

SPEAKER_02 10:21

And the digital platforms themselves go way beyond just looking at a license on Zoom. These KBA, right?

SPEAKER_03 10:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:27

Knowledge-based authentication.

SPEAKER_03 10:29

Yes. The system dynamically generates specific questions from the signer's credit history, like which of these four addresses did you have a mortgage on in 2014?

SPEAKER_02 10:37

Stuff only they would know.

SPEAKER_03 10:38

Exactly. Then they layer on AI credential analysis. The AI analyzes the microprinting on the ID, verifies the holographs, and checks the barcode to catch sophisticated fakes.

SPEAKER_02 10:50

And the digital seal itself isn't just a JPEG, it applies an X.509 digital certificate. It's a cryptographic wrapper. If anyone alters a single digit after the notarization, the seal visibly breaks.

SPEAKER_03 11:02

It's incredibly robust, but um, operating at this level introduces severe legal risks. A single misstep here doesn't just cost you a client, it can cost you your freedom.

SPEAKER_02 11:12

The biggest landmine being UPO, the unauthorized practice of law.

SPEAKER_03 11:16

This is the most vital boundary in the profession.

SPEAKER_02 11:18

Think of it like a pharmacist. You might know exactly how a drug works. You know the side effects, and you know it's perfect for the patient. But it's a fundamentally illegal for you to prescribe it. Your job is to fill the prescription safely, not write it.

SPEAKER_03 11:33

Perfect analogy. For a notary, the boundary is the difference between legal information and legal advice.

SPEAKER_02 11:39

Right. So information is objective. This document is titled A Poor Over Will, or the attorney's sticky note says sign here.

SPEAKER_03 11:47

But the second you cross into subjective customization, it's a crime. If they ask, will this trust help me avoid capital gains taxes? And you answer it, you just committed UPL.

SPEAKER_02 11:58

Even recommending which preprinted form to use at a hospital crosses the line. And the penalties are devastating. In South Carolina, UPL is a felony. Up to a $5,000 fine and five years in prison. Wow. In California, it's a misdemeanor, but it comes with massive fines, revocation of your commission, and unlimited civil liability.

SPEAKER_03 12:15

Stay in your lane, fill the prescription, don't write it.

SPEAKER_02 12:18

Exactly. But there's a secondary threat, too. Corporate employers. This is the misconception of commission ownership.

SPEAKER_03 12:24

Oh, this happens all the time.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

A logistics company hires you, pays for your state application, your surety bond, your stamp, and your journal. A year later, you quit. The boss says, leave the stamp and journal here. The company paid for them.

SPEAKER_03 12:38

And legally, that boss is a hundred percent wrong. A notary commission is a public office. It belongs exclusively to the individual on the certificate. It doesn't matter who bought the physical supplies.

SPEAKER_02 12:50

Right. The Texas Attorney General issued an official opinion on this. Employers cannot retain a seal or journal. California and Florida have laws in their government codes forbidding it.

SPEAKER_03 13:00

Because that journal contains public state records. If an employer locks it in a desk, they are effectively stealing state property. You have to stand your ground.

SPEAKER_02 13:08

Speaking of standing your ground, it is time for a brand new segment. Good question. What would you do?

SPEAKER_03 13:14

Oh, I love this segment. Let's hear them.

SPEAKER_02 13:16

All right, rapid fire. Scenario one. Tara in Texas is at a hospice facility, and the signer is heavily medicated. What do you do?

SPEAKER_03 13:24

You have to assess awareness and willingness. If they can't communicate clearly that they understand the document, you absolutely cannot notarize. Safety and ethics first.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

Good call. Scenario two. Liam in Louisiana shows up for a real estate closing, but it's literally the wrong house address on the paperwork.

SPEAKER_03 13:41

Halt the signing. You call the title company or the agency immediately to re-verify. Never alter the document's property address yourself.

SPEAKER_02 13:48

Right. Okay. Patrick in New York is asked to notarize a prenup, and the groom asks if a certain clause is standard.

SPEAKER_03 13:55

Classic UPL trap. You ID the signer, you witness the signature, but you offer zero legal advice on the clauses. Tell them to call their lawyer.

SPEAKER_02 14:04

Hannah in Hawaii arrives for an appointment, and the signer is clearly on a very strong herbal high.

SPEAKER_03 14:10

Yeah. Impairment is impairment. Whether it's legal or not, if they are high, they cannot consent legally. You have to walk away.

SPEAKER_02 14:15

Makes sense. Last one. Sarah in Virginia is called to a hotel to notarize an NDA for an A-list celebrity.

SPEAKER_03 14:22

Privacy is paramount. You follow all your state's journal requirements, but you absolutely do not leak that information, take selfies, or post about it online. Professionalism wins.

SPEAKER_02 14:34

Great answers. So before we wrap up, we encourage you to buy the Notary Knowledge books by Derek Sproul and visit the Notary Knowledge website. And please rate the show, subscribe, and share it with others.

SPEAKER_03 14:45

Yes. And if you have questions for a segment, email your questions to Derek at Dereksspruell.com. We will try to answer as soon as possible at the end of our shows.

SPEAKER_02 14:54

But as we look toward the future of all this, I want to leave you with one final provocative thought. We are entering an era of smart contracts on the blockchain and AI generating deepfakes that look incredibly real.

SPEAKER_03 15:07

It's terrifying, honestly.

SPEAKER_02 15:08

It is. If technology can perfectly mimic a human and a blockchain can instantly verify a transaction, what happens to the human notary? Do they become an obsolete relic?

SPEAKER_03 15:18

It's the existential question, but honestly, the reality might be the exact inverse. As digital spaces become completely untrustworthy, it creates a profound crisis of trust.

SPEAKER_02 15:29

Yes. And in a crisis of trust, the physical human element doesn't lose value. A vetted state commissioned officer sitting across the table, looking you in the eye, confirming you aren't being coerced, that becomes incredibly rare.

SPEAKER_03 15:44

It becomes the ultimate anchor of truth in a digital world.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

It stops being a $2 commodity and becomes the absolute premium service. So remember, you aren't looking at a bureaucratic technicality. You're looking at the foundation of a human architecture of trust. Time for the credits. Executive producer Derek Spruel, lead writer Marilyn Lee Trotter, Graphics Eddie Montez Travis, Music Thomas Bynum. Produced by Magnificent Works Business Solutions.

SPEAKER_03 16:08

Amazing team.

SPEAKER_02 16:09

Truly. This is notary knowledge. Until next time.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

Ready to unlock your notary potential and boost your income? It's time to move beyond basic notarizations. In Notary, Niche Navigator by Derek's Brule. Learn the most profitable specialized services. Learn to master high-demand areas like loan signings, international apostles, and I 9 employment verifications. This essential guide offers new ideas to help you become the gota expert in the field. Grab your copy of Notary, Niche Navigator by Derek's Brule today, and start building your empire.