Sign & Thrive

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When was the last time you kept a promise to yourself that nobody else knew about?

For most of my life, I couldn't have answered that question. I told people I was training for a marathon I never started. I called myself a business owner while doing none of the things business owners actually do behind the scenes. And I was broke, desperate, and nearly destitute the entire time.

The money was a symptom. The disease was that I had spent years breaking promises to myself.

In this solo episode of The Sign & Thrive Podcast, I unpack the half of self-love that almost nobody teaches. We hear endless advice about rest, boundaries, and protecting your peace, and I'm a fan of all of it. But there's no language at all for the kind of self-love that gets you moving toward your own dream instead of everyone else's.

I've been coaching notaries for ten years, and I can count on one hand how many people said they'd focus on their business "after this season" and actually came back ready to build. I still have fingers left. This episode is about why that happens and how to break the pattern.

What we cover:

• Why your confidence erodes without a single moment you can point to
• The confidence account, and why your mind records the broken promise but never the excuse
• How The Miracle Morning and the S.A.V.E.R.S. gave me a starting point when I couldn't build my own system
• Why your calendar is a ranked list of what you actually believe matters
• Prioritization as a learnable skill, not a personality trait, and why nobody ever taught us
• How order taker status keeps notaries reactive to rings, dings, and pings
• The three-layer system I run: weekly top three, daily big three, and my Daily Do's
• Five practical ways to protect your focus time without losing responsive, fast-answer business
• The oxygen mask principle for helpers who feel selfish prioritizing themselves

If you've been putting your dream on the back burner in the name of helping everyone else, this one is for you.

Ready to build your own Daily Do's?
Join me inside High Performance Notary on Skool and upgrade to VIP, and we'll build your routine together. Get the link at NotaryCoach.com

Mentioned in this episode:
The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod

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What Your Certification Doesn't Prove — Inside AGNP's Credentialing Program

Sign and Thrive Podcast for Notaries | Host: Bill Soroka

Anybody can buy a notary certification. All it proves is that you could afford the class and pass the test. It says nothing about whether you can apply what you learned when a real signer, a real document, and a real complication show up at the table.

That gap is what this episode is about.

Bill Soroka sits down with Lori Hamm, Executive Director of the American Guild of Notaries Public (AGNP) and former Notary Administrator for the State of Montana, to draw a hard line between three things the notary industry constantly confuses: education, certification, and credentialing.

Lori spent two decades on the other end of the phone at the Secretary of State's office — fielding calls from notaries who did everything the handbook told them and still didn't know what to do when a situation went sideways. That experience became the foundation of AGNP's credentialing program, the first evaluation in this profession designed to test applied knowledge rather than recall.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• The definitions that matter. Education is observation, instruction, and experience. Certification is proof of instruction at a single point in time. A credential asks a bigger question: what have you done with what you learned?
• Why the test is the wrong measure. Great test-takers freeze in the field. Terrible test-takers often have exceptional judgment. Testing measures recall; practice measures judgment.
• The E&O insurance data point that stops the room. The highest claim rates come from states with mandated notary training. Bill and Lori unpack what that actually tells us.
• "Finding a way to yes." Knowing your state's notarial acts cold isn't about knowing what you can't do — it's about legally serving the customer in front of you. Lori and Bill make the case that mastery is what lets you say yes.
• Inside the AGNP evaluation. Commission verification, insurance checks, education history, reference letters, and scenario-based questions calibrated to your specific state's laws — including gray-area scenarios where there is no clean answer, only judgment.
• Why AI-written answers are obvious. Lori explains how generic responses reveal themselves even after the em dashes get cleaned up.
• Real accountability. Annual renewal, six hours of approved continuing education, background checks, insurance verification, a signed code of ethics, and a credential that can actually be revoked. Unlike a certificate, which nobody can take back.
• How credentialed notaries are monetizing it. Members are using the credential to hold their pricing, overcome the "I'll find someone cheaper" objection, and win advocates inside law firms and title companies who fight for them in rooms they aren't even in.
• Why now. Deed fraud. Notary impersonation fraud. The explosion of remote online notarization and international transactions. Lori makes the case that the cost to the economy has become too large to ignore.

Who This Episode Is For

New notaries wondering which notary training course to take. Experienced notaries stacking certifications without seeing income growth. Loan signing agents and notary signing agents looking to differentiate in a crowded market. Notaries building a mobile notary business, a notary signing agent business, or a specialized practice in estate planning, trust delivery, apostille services, fingerprinting, field inspections, or permit running. Title companies, escrow officers, attorneys, and lenders who need to identify qualified notaries and can't tell the difference from a directory listing.

If you're trying to raise your notary fees, stand out from low-cost competitors, get more signings, build referral relationships with estate planning attorneys, or figure out whether another certification is actually worth the money — this conversation is for you.

Resources Mentioned

• American Guild of Notaries Public — americannotaryguild.org
• NotaryCoach.com — notary business training, coaching, and community
• High Performance Notary — Bill's coaching program for notaries building serious businesses
• Rethinking the Notary — Bill Soroka's book on the future of the notary profession
• Legacy Vault Partner Program — for notaries serving the estate planning industry

Connect

Subscribe to the Sign and Thrive Podcast for Notaries for weekly conversations on notary business growth, notary marketing, monetization strategies, industry standards, and interviews with the people shaping this profession.

Leave a review if this episode gave you something to work with. It helps other notaries find the show.

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What happens when your notary business finally starts working — and you still can't figure out where the money goes?

That's exactly where Bill Soroka found himself the year his revenue came in at $364,000. He was driving 400 miles a day, running nine to twelve appointments five and six days a week, grinding harder than he ever had. And in November of that year, he almost couldn't pay his rent.

In this episode, Bill gets real about the financial pattern that nearly swallowed his best income year whole, why earning more doesn't automatically mean keeping more, and the book that finally gave him a system that worked.

You'll hear about the concept of lifestyle inflation and why it shows up at every income level — not just for six-figure earners, but for notaries depositing $150 checks too. You'll learn the core idea behind Mike Michalowicz's book Profit First, how Bill adapted the system to fit the way his brain actually works, and why automation turned out to be the piece that made everything stick.

This isn't a lesson in financial theory. It's an honest, sometimes embarrassing, deeply personal story about growing up broke, building a thriving notary business, and still managing to spend every single dime of it — until one system changed the whole trajectory.

Bill also shares what became possible once cash reserves started building: the investments, the opportunities, the dream trips, and the doors that opened simply because he finally had the financial foundation to say yes when the right moment showed up.

If you've ever had a solid month and wondered where it all went, this episode is for you.

What you'll take away from this episode:

Why lifestyle inflation is a documented psychology pattern and not a discipline problem

How the Profit First system works and why the core formula flip changes everything

Why Bill didn't follow the system exactly as written and what he did instead

The Qapital app and how automated savings buckets made the whole thing sustainable

Why working hard is a requirement but not a complete strategy

What actually became possible once the financial foundation was in place

Pick up Profit First by Mike Michalowicz on Amazon. And if you want to keep building with a community of notary professionals who are serious about creating real income and real wealth through this work, join us at skool.com/notary.

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Everybody in the notary world says the same thing: there are too many notaries and not enough work. In this episode, Bill Soroka makes the case that oversaturation isn't the real problem at all, and that the belief itself is keeping you stuck in the wrong waters.

Drawing on the landmark business book Blue Ocean Strategy by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, Bill breaks down the difference between the crowded, cutthroat Red Ocean most notaries are fighting in and the uncontested Blue Ocean waiting for the notaries willing to think differently. You'll hear how brands like Cirque du Soleil, Southwest Airlines, and Yellow Tail wine created entirely new markets instead of fighting for scraps in old ones, and exactly how that same thinking applies to your notary business.

Then Bill gets specific with two Blue Oceans straight out of our own industry: how he, Laura, and Jen built the very first estate signing training and certification program during the loan signing slowdown, and why mobile fingerprinting is one of the biggest under-the-radar opportunities still wide open today.

Inside this episode:

• Why "oversaturation" is really a differentiation problem in disguise
• The five moves that separate a Blue Ocean notary from everyone else
• How specialization raises your value, narrows your competition, and clears up your marketing
• Why authority dissolves price competition
• The mobile fingerprinting opportunity almost nobody is talking about yet

If you're tired of racing to the bottom and being first to click on orders blasted to a thousand other notaries, this is the episode that shows you how to build your own waters.

Come join the conversation in Bill's free High Performance Notary community on Skool, where we talk about and implement this stuff every day.

Join us on Skool for FREE here

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What if one book could open the door to the estate planning attorneys, paralegals, and trust professionals you've been trying to reach for years?

In this solo episode of the Sign & Thrive Podcast, Bill Soroka shares the personal story behind his newest book, Rethinking the Notary, and why he believes it could reshape the future of the notary profession.

This one is different from anything Bill has released before, because the book isn't written to notaries at all. It's written to the estate planning professionals YOU want to partner with, and that's exactly what makes it such a powerful marketing tool for mobile notaries and loan signing agents who are serious about growth.

Bill gets vulnerable about the moment that inspired the whole thing, a final appointment in a home full of family, food, and balloons, and how that experience revealed the gap between credentialed notaries and the estate planning firms who need them.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why Rethinking the Notary transfers credibility to you instead of asking you to pitch yourself
• How to use the book as a leave-behind that turns office pop-ins and drop-ins into real conversations
• The liability and capacity issues that make estate planning firms need a credentialed notary partner
• How to stop being treated like a stamp and start being seen as a professional partner
• A full walkthrough of the Estate Planning Partner System, including the Fab 100 prospecting framework, the AI prospecting prompt, the 90-Day Action Plan, the Chemistry Check Meeting Framework, and more

If you're a notary entrepreneur looking to build a thriving mobile notary business, break into estate planning work, and develop the marketing and relationship skills that actually move the needle, this episode is your roadmap.

Rethinking the Notary is available now on Kindle, Audible, and paperback. Learn more about the book and the marketing bundles at the link below.

Explore the book & Bundles Here

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Quit Hiding on Zoom Calls: How to Tell the Difference Between Traction and Distraction

Description:

Your calendar is packed with trainings and Zoom calls, and every one of them feels productive. But feeling busy and making progress are two very different things, and sometimes that call is just a comfortable place to hide from the harder work you already know you should be doing.

In this episode, Bill Soroka gets honest about the endless parade of trainings, webinars, and Zoom sessions that fill a notary's week, and why not every one of them is meant for you. Some are sales pitches dressed up as education. Some are genuine training you can act on. And some are simply a way to avoid the revenue-generating work that actually grows your business.

Drawing on Nir Eyal's framework from Indistractable, Bill breaks down the line between traction, the actions that move you toward your goals, and distraction, the actions that quietly pull you away while still feeling responsible. You will learn why distraction almost never looks like distraction, and why it is really about escaping discomfort more than it is about technology.

You will walk away with six questions to run any call through before you give it your time, and one simple test that turns a call from distraction into traction.

You are the CEO of your business, and your time is the most valuable resource you have got. This episode is about protecting it.

In this episode:

• The four kinds of calls filling your calendar, and how to tell them apart
• Why "feeling busy" is not the same as building your business
• The traction versus distraction line, and the real reason we get distracted
• Six questions to ask before you stay on any training call
• The one implementation habit that changes everything

Go and get it.

Connect with Bill and the High Performance Notary community:
 Website: NotaryCoach.com
 Community: Skool.com/notary

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What happens to your family if you don't make it home tonight?

That's the question at the heart of this conversation with Jon Braddock, CEO of My Life & Wishes and creator of the Legacy Vault. Bill and Jon dig into the Certified Legacy Vault Advisor (CLVA) program and why it's becoming a blue ocean for notary entrepreneurs who already love estate signings.

Jon shares the story that started it all... the 10-month "morbid scavenger hunt" his family endured after his father-in-law passed away, including the safe deposit box they almost never found holding 752 paper shares of IBM stock worth $130,000+. It's a gut punch that makes the problem real: a will or trust covers the documents, but it doesn't cover the 125 questions a grieving family has to answer in the first 48 hours.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why most estate plans leave families lost (and what the Legacy Vault actually solves)
• The "I'm not a salesperson" myth, and why this is about conversations, not selling
• How the 4-module certification bootcamp works, plus the CLVA credential you can put after your name
• The math behind total pricing freedom: How a 5-minute setup can add $24,000+ a year to your bottom line
• Why now is the best time to get in, and the mission to protect a million families

This isn't about adding another service. It's about earning a seat at the table alongside attorneys, financial advisors, and estate planners... and becoming the final gift a family didn't know they needed.

Ready to learn more about becoming a Certified Legacy Vault Advisor? Click the link to visit NotaryCoach.com.

Guest: Jon Braddock, CEO of My Life & Wishes, creator of the Legacy Vault
Host: Bill Soroka, founder of NotaryCoach.com

#NotaryEntrepreneur #LegacyVault #EstatePlanning #CLVA #SignAndThrive #MobileNotary #NotaryBusiness

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You're already invited to the kitchen table. It's time to claim your seat. Bill Soroka makes the case that notaries are the missing fourth corner of the Quadrangle of Trust, and shows how to help families and earn a new income stream doing it.

👉 Watch the 2-minute video and get certified: https://www.notarycoach.com/partner

Most estate plans transfer wealth, but almost none of them transfer clarity. A family can do everything right, set up the will, fund the trust, check every box, and still leave their loved ones lost when the day comes. No idea which accounts exist, what the passwords are, who to call, or what their loved one actually wanted. Jon Braddock calls it the Morbid Scavenger Hunt, and it happens every single day.

There's over a billion dollars in unclaimed life insurance sitting in state treasuries right now, and an estimated $70 billion in unclaimed assets overall, much of it simply because families never knew it existed. Notaries are uniquely positioned to close that gap, with the proximity, the trust, the volume, and the timing other professionals spend years trying to earn.

In this episode:

• Why the Triangle of Trust is really a Quadrangle, and where the notary fits
• The hidden gap in nearly every estate plan
• Why notaries reach the families attorneys and advisors never will
• What the Certified Legacy Vault Advisor program actually is
• How to spark the conversation without ever feeling like a salesperson
• Why you know far more people than you think
• How notaries keep 100% of every $495 Lifetime Membership sale

About the program: The Certified Legacy Vault Advisor program trains and certifies notaries to bring the Legacy Vault to the families they serve. It's four things working together: a live and on-demand bootcamp, a real CLVA certification and digital badge, a private community of 100+ partners with twice-monthly live calls, and exclusive access to offer the Legacy Vault Lifetime Membership, available nowhere else, where you keep 100% of every sale with total pricing freedom.

🔗 Learn more and get certified: https://www.notarycoach.com/partner

📘 Mentioned in this episode: Rethinking the Notary by Bill Soroka, written for the attorneys, legal document preparers, and firms who hire notaries, and for the notaries who want to know the standard being set for this industry: https://www.notarycoach.com/rethinkingthenotary

About the host: Bill Soroka is the founder of Notary Coach and the author of 8 bestselling books helping notaries serve more clients, earn more income, and build businesses that thrive beyond loan signings. Learn more at https://www.notarycoach.com

Chapters
 (00:00) The Quadrangle of Trust
 (02:30) The problem hiding in every estate plan
 (05:00) The Morbid Scavenger Hunt
 (07:00) A billion dollars in unclaimed policies
 (09:00) Why notaries reach the families nobody else can
 (12:00) Proximity, trust, volume, and timing
 (15:00) What the CLVA program is
 (18:00) The Lifetime Membership and keeping 100%
 (21:00) "But I'm not a salesperson"
 (23:00) You know more people than you think
 (26:00) The conversation and the Tammy video
 (28:00) A turning point for the profession
 (31:00) The mission to protect one million families
 (33:00) Rethinking the Notary, and claiming your seat

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What do 33–55 million documents a year have in common? They all need an apostille.

If you're a notary wondering how to grow your income without being chained to your state's borders—this episode is your roadmap.

Bill Soroka is joined by Judi Lawrence, widely known as the Queen of Apostilles, to break down one of the most underutilized (and lucrative) opportunities in the notary profession: becoming an apostille agent.

Judi is the founder of Center City Notary & Apostille in Philadelphia and co-creator of the World of Apostilles course. Together, Bill and Judi are also co-authors of the Amazon bestselling book, "Your Passport to Apostilles: 116 Tips to Build a Thriving Business as an Apostille Agent."

IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL LEARN:

✅ What an apostille actually is—and how to pronounce it (APPLE STEEL, anyone?)
✅ The history behind the 1961 Hague Convention and why countries are still signing it in 2024, 2025, and beyond
✅ Why Canada, China, Vietnam, Algeria, Bangladesh, and Egypt joining the treaty is a massive opportunity for apostille agents right now
✅ What a Competent Authority is and how apostilles are officially issued
✅ Why 50% of apostille rejections are caused by notarial error—and how being a notary gives you a serious edge
✅ How e-apostilles are changing everything (and why Montana is the one state leading the charge)
✅ The difference between apostilles for Hague countries vs. embassy legalization for non-Hague countries
✅ Why apostille agents can work from literally anywhere in the world—the beach, an RV, mid-flight
✅ How to build a nationwide network of couriers so you can serve clients in all 50 states
✅ The 3 biggest misconceptions stopping notaries from pursuing apostilles—and why every single one is wrong
✅ How to price your services WITHOUT a legislated fee cap

WHO NEEDS APOSTILLES?

The answer might surprise you. People need apostilles for destination weddings, international adoptions, studying abroad, relocating to another country, powers of attorney, real estate transactions, business formation in foreign countries, FBI background checks, inheritance claims, and more. The demand is enormous—and most of the public has no idea where to start.

That's where you come in.

RESOURCES MENTIONED:

📘 Book: "Your Passport to Apostilles" — available in paperback, audiobook, and Kindle on Amazon or at NotaryCoach.com
🎓 World of Apostilles Course: NotaryCoach.com/apostille
👥 High Performance Notary Community on Skool: skool.com/notary

Whether you're brand new to apostilles or looking to sharpen your expertise, this episode gives you a real foundation—and a clear path forward.

Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a fellow notary who's ready to grow.

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Most notaries know estate planning is important…

But when the moment comes, they freeze.

What do you actually say?
 How do you bring it up without sounding awkward… or worse, salesy?

In this episode of the Sign & Thrive Podcast, we’re breaking that down in a practical, real-world way.

Because estate planning isn’t just about documents.

It’s about protecting families.
 Avoiding costly probate.
 And making life easier for loved ones during some of the hardest moments they’ll ever face.

And here’s the part most notaries overlook:

You are already in the room when these conversations matter most.

Home purchases.
 Refinances.
 Power of attorney signings.
 Trust documents.
 Major life transitions.

You’re not just witnessing these moments…
 You’re part of them.

Which means you have a unique opportunity.

Not to sell.
 But to help.

In this conversation, I’m joined by John Knickerbocker of AmeriEstate, who shares a simple framework that makes estate planning conversations feel natural and professional:

Identify → Qualify → Tee-Up

This isn’t about becoming an estate planning expert or stepping outside your role.

It’s about recognizing the moment, asking the right questions, and connecting people with the help they need.

Inside this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why most people delay estate planning (and what it really costs families)
 • What happens when there’s no plan in place
 • The emotional impact on families — and the relief when a plan exists
 • Why notaries are uniquely positioned to help
 • The mindset shift from “salesperson” to “trusted resource”
 • How to identify when someone may need an estate plan
 • How to qualify the opportunity without being intrusive
 • How to “tee up” a referral so the client is ready and open
 • How to avoid the common mistake of “lazy referrals”
 • Why having a go-to referral partner changes everything

We also introduce a simple, practical system you can start using immediately:

The 3-Tier Estate Planning Referral Approach

• Tier 1: Local estate planning attorneys and professionals you trust
 • Tier 2: Nationwide or multi-state referral partners like AmeriEstate
 • Tier 3: Do-it-yourself options for clients who want to get started on their own

When you combine this system with the Identify, Qualify, Tee-Up framework, you’re no longer guessing what to say.

You’re showing up prepared.

And when you consistently help people in this way, something powerful happens:

You build trust.
 You stay top of mind.
 You create more opportunities to be hired and referred.

This episode is about more than estate planning.

It’s about becoming the kind of notary people rely on when it matters most.

Want access to the full 3-Tier Referral System and additional resources?

Join High Performance Notary (HPN) for FREE and explore the Prosperity Hub:

https://www.skool.com/notary/about

Inside, you’ll find referral partners, tools, and training designed to help you grow your business and expand the value you bring to your clients.