In the recent article posted by the National Notary Association titled 2022 NNA Notary Census Part 1: A New Generation of Notaries we are finally starting to see some light being shed on what is happening within our industry but it's not exactly shining the light on the entire situation either. Point blank, our industry has been changing for a long-time now and it would not be very helpful for their following to hear it like it really is because the truth doesn't always get people to buy more courses, supplies, or conferences.
Within the article, we are introduced to the idea that the Pandemic gave our industry a boost in both work and workers, which was true, but that boost was not permanent. It would be nice to think that it was permanent but any Mobile Notary or Loan Signing Agent who has been in the industry for over a decade will tell you that Real Estate (which is primarily where most of us get our higher-paying jobs from) has always been feast or famine. Failing to include this information within such a positive spin may be misleading to those coming into the industry to make the best decision. Was it just forgotten or skipped over lightly for a reason? It could leave a potential Notary believing there is more room within the industry than there really is- which we are seeing a plethora of Notary Signing Agents really suffering because of being misled into coming into this industry unprepared (on many different levels). We are not saying there isn't hope, or any mal-intention, but why aren't we dissecting this more?
The article goes on to talk about one important topic but doesn't seem to really address the concerns of this topic at all: Influencers! If you don't understand who, or what, an influencer is then please let us educate you. An Influencer is someone who a person with the ability to influence potential buyers of a product or service by promoting or recommending the items on social media. This means it is someone who may be able to convince you to purchase something you would normally not purchase.
One of the most popular things Influencers are doing to the Notary Loan Signing Industry as of late is stating how they "Make Six Figures," and can show you how they do it. But oftentimes, what they aren't telling you is they are getting paid one way or another just for making the video. Some of them may be paid through monetized YouTube Channels where advertisers pay them for their content or they may be getting up to 35% of the sale of the same course they took to learn how to do loan signings to turn around and sell it to you. Instagram and TikTok is also becoming increasingly popular amongst Notary Loan Signing Agent Influencers. It is easy for them to promote a video for just $50 to $100 to reach over 50K people with stories that pull at innocent people's heartstrings telling them how their life is so amazing because they make "Six-Figures," and they are getting money back from the sales of courses, advertisers placing ads within their videos, affiliate links for supplies they suggest, and advertisers placing ads within their pages that track you for up to 1 year so that if you buy the product they'll make money. Just check out any "High Ticket Item or Affiliate Marketing Video on Youtube." It's a way of life for some!
There is nothing wrong with affiliate marketing but if you thought automated text messages and Notary databases were a problem in our industry before Influencers entered the story there just wait! Unless we take control of that soon it is going to be the one thing that makes all of our lives a little more uncomfortable. We are not only competing with big tech anymore! We are competing with those who will keep bringing more and more people into this industry to saturate it and those who are just going to keep drilling at the bank accounts of others and not really doing the work!
The National Notary Association's article also addresses where the future may go with new technologies within the industry which all sounds hopeful but they aren't addressing the other big elephant in the room in the article either- RON. There are companies now who are aggressively swiping up as much business as they can and paying Loan Signing Agents just $25 to notarize Remote Closings. That doesn't sound too promising, does it? Don't worry, we've got information coming on that too!