We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Michael Campbell. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Michael below.
Michael, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?
Entrepreneurship can be extremely lonely.
It often feels like you’re climbing a steep mountain all by yourself.
Upon launching The Bay Area Notary, I never anticipated that I’d meet so many unique families and interesting business owners.
I’ve had the pleasure of servicing professional athletes, renowned investors, and even politicians.
But the most notable amongst my list of past clients are: The “Crypto King” and founder of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, as well as the founders of OpenAI – Sam Altman and Greg Brockman.
It’s not every day that you have the opportunity to meet those who have had such a profound impact on the world of tech.
There’s been countless surprise encounters and memorable appointments over the years, but as a Silicon Valley native, these are two that I’ll never forget.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
The Bay Area Notary was birthed out of necessity.
I’m a 3rd generation real estate broker that owns and operates a family owned boutique brokerage that’s been in existence since the 1950’s.
As you can imagine, reputation is everything.
Throughout the pandemic there were countless instances in which the title company orchestrating our closing, would send out an unexperienced, unprofessional notary for my clients’ signing.
This led to numerous errors and delays.
Ultimately, this is what motivated the inception of The Bay Area Notary.
We set out to solve our own issue: raise the bar for professional signing services by providing an exceptional client experience.
From that point forward, we blossomed into the highest rated independent mobile notary business in the state.
Touting over 600 Five-Star reviews across our two California locations.
As cool as it would sound to say that The Bay Area Notary is a team of rocket scientists who wake up everyday and solve the world’s toughest challenges, that’d be a far stretch from the truth.
In all honesty, we simply mastered the basics, and maintain an unwavering commitment to placing our clients first.
Our team has facilitated over 10,000 aggregate signings and not one of which has been denied or rejected due to notarial error.
We’re exceptionally thorough and pay extreme attention to detail.
This is what separates us from the millions of other notary businesses that have come before us.
But I must say, although it’s extremely satisfying to add more 5-Star reviews to the growing list, what I’m most proud of as a small business leader is the difference we’ve made in our clients’ lives.
For so many families, we are the only notary service provider that took the time to prepare and explain to them various life-essential documents, such as: Power of Attorney, Last Will and Testament, Advance Health Care Directive, Medical Power of Attorney, and more.
Walking them through each form and answering all of their questions.
The gratitude and thanks we receive every time we’ve gone above and beyond to ensure our client is well informed and taken care of, is priceless.
As we continue to expand, our highest priority is to remain an invaluable resource to the communities and families we serve.
Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.
The Bay Area Notary has not morphed into our main business; it wasn’t created to do so.
However, it has undoubtedly fueled more real estate transactions.
I primarily operate as a real estate broker and advisor.
I secured my notary commission and launched our signing service company to aid our existing clients.
Never in a million years did I anticipate that notary clients would turn into real estate clients.
One of my most expensive listings currently on market – $998,000 – came by way of a notary client who mentioned they’d like to sell one of their short-term rental investment properties.
Separately, I’ve referred multiple notary clients that own property, to my father who is a real estate attorney. He’s been able to aid them through the eviction process; and a handful of these clients circle back seeking help with property management.
Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?
What’s worked best for us is: turning 1 client into more clients.
When you provide an exceptional client experience, word spreads just as quickly as it would have if you were to provide an abysmal client experience.
With this in mind, we put our best foot forward each and every time we have the opportunity to serve a new client.
This has been the secret sauce to us racking up over 600 Five-Star Google Business Reviews.
These reviews have helped build our dominant web presence, which has snowballed into rapid organic growth that continues to roll in new business with minimal paid advertising.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thebayareanotary.com/
- Other: Google Business Profile, Location 1: https://share.google/FIFsAByQrgrDDImuyGoogle Business Profile, Location 2: https://share.google/CDjjBQNswGjQHmhAl
Image Credits
Michael C. Campbell Jr.
Michael C. Campbell Sr.