About six months after I started working as a Notary, another friend told me she wanted to get into the business. I offered to help her get started and offered all variety of advice, suggestions, and recommendations.
She is very much a product of the Internet. She wants to believe what people tell her. She wants to believe the best in people. She also wants to be sure that she always knows exactly what she should be doing in any situation – she does not do well in ‘gray’. Unfortunately for her, there is a lot of ‘gray’ in being a Notary. By which I mean, there is no one way to do everything and no two Notarization gigs will ever be the same.
In her search to find the exact way to do all things Notary, she stubbled across and one day told me about this guy who was promising to show Notaries how to make 6 figures a year for a small fee (read that as a few hundred dollars) – turns out, he is not the only one doing this. I have never subscribed to any of these programs or websites or whatever but have now spoken with multiple Notaries who have. I have since seen a number of ads about this. The reality is that, yes, you CAN make $100,000 a year or more as a Notary Signing Agent. However, this is not out of the gate. This is not likely in your first year nor even in your 2nd or 3rd year either. Being a Notary is NOT a get rich quick plan.
I understand that there are a couple of folks selling programs on how to be a Notary – not all of these programs are the same, not all of their programs are realistic, but there are a couple of programs that are legit. Because I don’t have personal experience, I will not make any recommendations.
I will tell you this: After 6 years (this being 2026), I am nowhere close to making $100,000 a year as a Notary Signing Agent. And, trust me, it is not from lack of trying. Admittedly, rising Interest Rates have not helped, but I am sitting between $30,000 and $40,000 a year.
If you read on the forums, you will find a few threads about this very topic. Several Notaries talk about their income in frank terms. One talks about making $60k a year after 7 years but admits to having struggled a lot during the first few years. Another Notary talks about making $100k a year, but only after, I think, 10 or 11 years.
So, is it possible? Yes, of course it is. It just won’t likely to be as easy as I suspect it is presented in some of those sales pitches. If you are still unsure, do the math. You probably know the market rate for an NSA in your area. Figure how many Signings it would take to make $100,000 in a year. While you’re doing this consider that different markets have different market rates. For example, the Market Rate in Dallas (where I live) is different that what you will find in San Antonio or Miami or Chicago or San Francisco. The greater the Market Rate, the less work you have to do to reach that goal. Also, know that the Market Rate is what the Title Company pays vs what a Signing Agency pays and those rates can be very different.
If you want $100,000 to be your goal, great. Do it. I recommend looking at setting your initial goal a little bit differently though or maybe just a little more realistically. Try setting your sights a little lower when you first start.
My first goal was 1 Signing a day (on average), then 2 a day, etc. I eventually got to a point where I was regularly conducting about 12 to 15 Signings a week and then up went the Interest Rates and down went the number of Signing opportunities I received every week. What goes up, must come down. Interest Rates will come down and the gig load will go up. Patience is a good thing.
The bottom line to me is that there is no formula to guarantee you X number of Signings per week / month / year. Not to mention sometimes you are sick, you might be on vacation or conducting another Signing or simply doing something else when an opportunity comes in.
I am not going to tell you not to pay for one of these programs, but I am going to tell you that without personal knowledge of what they teach, based solely on what I have been told they teach, I would avoid them. There are other ways to learn that will cost you a lot less.
Thanks in part to the folks making these claims, mostly during Covid, our industry saw a huge influx of folks becoming Notaries and trying to make that $100k. 6 years later, we are seeing that many have walked away. For those of us who have stuck it out, our fortunes have improved. It takes time, patience, perserverance and sometimes some luck. It helps if you have other sources of income too.
I would love to hear from you about your experience with these kinds of programs – good or bad. Are they worth it? Are you making $100k? If so, how long did it take. Share.
TX Notary Guy 
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