Amanda Johnson

A great real estate industry website is a great foundation for marketing your business, but it won't do the job all together, will it? Now days, in addition to having a website, you also need a Facebook fan page, a blog or two, status on Yelp, and a twitter following. And that's just the stuff you need to update before you leave the house in the morning! Don't get me wrong, social media is great, and it's wonderful to have so many people "like" Elite Signing Services, but I still believe that face to face interation is still necessary in today's real estate market.

My husband and I own a nationwide Mobile Notary company that my husband started ten years ago. We offer notary services across the country, and make sure to only use the most Elite notaries available. The "nationwide" part is mostly due to web presence, online networking and social media. Our website is like our business card or our storefront where it shows our presence, and who we are. Isn't it true these days that you aren't really a business unless you have a website? The local and main part of our business comes from plain and simple years of hard work and quality in our profession. It comes from contacts we've known and worked with the last decade. We are involved with Placer County Association of Realtors and Placer County's YPN Network. My background in sales stems from being an account executive with World Savings (remember them!!)/ Wachovia for ten years. I still use my same sales principles today when calling on new clients. Clients are so surprised to see a notary business with a sales rep! It worked for me then, and it worked for me now. I absolutely love social media, and think its phenomenal for my business, but there's still nothing like getting out there in the field and meeting people. Except these days, I don't have to sit down with a loan package and make 3 calls to my underwriters to see if it's something I should bring in or not!

A website and FB fan page are half the battle. The other half comes from hard work, experience and customers that vouch for your good reputation. Build the website, build your facebook page and community, build your online profiles and blogs, then get out there and also build your business with as many tools as possible.

Always be Networking is the new " Always be Selling". They both go hand in hand, but the best way to sell is to network.

As a wholesale loan representative for a major lender, we were taught to always sell. "Always be Selling," they told us. Ask for the sale whenever you see a client. Wear your name tag to the grocery store. Leave a business card wherever you go. Sell. Sell. Sell.

Fast forward a few years, and the latest buzz is networking. It works! Networking allows us to always sell ourselves as a professional in the field that you excel in, but in a less agressive way. "Always be networking" is a great way to live, especially if you are self employed like many of us in this industry are. Networking can take place anywhere. At networking mixers, Association of Realtor meetings, online at ActiveRain.com, at the gym, soccer games, the local dive bar, etc. The best part about networking is that you can choose how subtle or strong you'd like your message to be. As long as you relay the message of who you are, what you do and how well you do it, networking is sure to help you get your name out there and "Always be Selling."

When I set out to run Elite Signing Services, I wanted to develop a different kind of professional notary business. My husband has been a signing service owner for over ten years. I have a background in loan origination. I decided to take my experiences from lending and loan origination to develop a signing service that plain and simply " gets it".

Before my current position I was a Senior Account Executive for World Savings / Wachovia Mortgage for nearly ten years. During that time I worked mainly with mortgage brokers and their loan officers, but also real estate agents to beat deadlines and make miracles happen in the form of loan approvals. Working as the middle stopping point between the loan officer and the escrow officer, one thing was always clear to me - it takes an army to close a home loan. I say that because there are so many key players involved. Everyone has to do their job and all the pins have to line up perfectly for every deadline to be met and for the loan to close on time. There are many points in the timeline that we don't always have control of. One of those key points is when exactly the documents will get to the title company.I also saw how hard the escrow officers worked on a daily basis to play timeline catch up once documents were delivered to title. If I had a penny for everytime a loan officer scheduled a notary to be at a signing when documents weren't even close to be ready, I'd be a millionaire. Well ok, I'd have a few thousand extra dollars. Let's face it, no one likes the last minute scramble, and nobody likes to be unprepared.

There are so many factors that could delay or modify loan documents. There are also quite a few unknowns when originating a loan. As a loan officer, we don't always exactly know the appraised value of a home until the appraiser completes his report. We don't know the status of a client's credit report until the credit report is pulled. We don't know exactly when documents will hit the title company until they do. We don't know for sure a customer will sign loan documents until they are finished signing them. While I spent my ten years as a wholesale mortgage loan executive working to make miracles happen despite the first two unknowns, I am now working to make the latter two unknowns a lot less stressful to my clients.

How does a signing company work with unknown document delivery times and then unknown of sending a stranger to represent you as a loan professional and help close your loan? The first issue is easy. Our Advance Reservation process lets our loan officer "reserve" an approximate signing date and time with our ageny by letting us know a few key factors - zip code, transaction type, where, and a range when documents might be ready. We then start working IMMEDIATELY to secure at least two experienced and ELITE notaries for that specific zip code, that should be available within the time range. We also offer 24/7 online ordering and follow up on all our transactions.

As a loan originator, there was nothing more frustrating that working for weeks or sometimes months on a loan, only to have it go to title where a notary I wasn't familar with performed the accomodation signing, and commented about the loan or convinced the borrower not to sign. Because these instances still haunt me years later, we have developed questionaires, interviews and trainings to make certain we send out only the best notaries for your clients. I wish someone had done the same for me and my loan officers.

We are available 24/7 to request, schedule and check status at www.elitesignings.com

We are nationwide, and are wherever you need us to be!

Amanda Johnson,

916-878-6637

Elite Signing Services

Nationwide Signing Agents - Your Transaction's Silent Hero. As a ten year veteran of wholesale lending origination, I know first hand the tremendous amounts of hard work that go into getting a set of loan docments to the signing table. Hours and hours of work are invested into every loan by the real estate agent, loan officer, loan processor, escrow officer, escrow assistant, appraiser and the lender's staff. The list goes on and on, and every player involved plays a very important role. We choose our appraisers, escrow companies, lenders based on their ability to deliver great, efficient service, and their experience. They are handpicked to ensure a smooth transaction. After all these careful choices and hours of hard work invested, don't let your transaction fall apart at the last point of customer contact: The Loan Signing.

Signing Agents are Notaries Public who are skilled and experienced in loan and real estate sales document signings. Nationwide Signing Service companies employ Signing Agents and examine their level of expertise and customer service on an ongoing basis. We do the background work so you don't have to. Signing Agents are skilled in making the customer feel comfortable and at ease with the big transaction in front of them in the loan documents. The understand that borrowers don't speak real estate transaction lingo as often as we do. Many times, they are the only face to face contact a borrower may have during the entire transaction. Choose your Signing Service and Signing Agent carefully. They are many times the last team member involved in your transaction and in your customer's eyes, represent your level of customer service.

Visit www.EliteSignings.com to help make your transaction close smoothly!

Being self employed in the real estate industry means we are always working, always networking, right? We network at chamber meetings, at BBQ's with friends, and even at the gym. What if you found a gym that understood your networking needs? Bingo! If you live in Roseville, have I got the place for you! TruFitness in Roseville is doing their part to help their members network while getting fit.

Tru Fitness in Roseville, California is not your normal health club chain. With over 80 classes a week to choose from, it allows you to devote time to your health no matter what your schedule is like. Combine their extensive class schedule with caring and encouraging instructors and a family like staff that takes the time to get to know each and every one of their members, Tru Fitness truly is in a class all of their own. But don't leave your business identity at the door when you walk into Tru Fitness. With member networking nights and group challenges that allow you get to know and befriend your co-sweaters, this health club goes the extra smile to help its members get their business message out. After all, when you sweat with someone five to six times a week, you get to know them quite well! What a great way to improve your physical health as well as the health of your business, and burn some calories.