If you can’t be first, create a new category in which you can.

That’s the first thing that came to my mind when I read Stuart Posner’s reply to a post on NotaryRotary about proper signing agent attire. Posner, who posts under the web moniker “Signing_Doc”, told an inquiring peer, “over my slacks, I wear a short lab coat (white with pockets) and above the left pocket are the words ‘Doc’ Stuart Signing Agent.”

Doc is a play on “docs”, the industry abbreviation for documents. But Posner carries it all the way—and not just with the coat. His motto is, “I Make House Calls” and he markets to lenders by going to their office and handing out little prescription bottles of placebos to cure “the end of moth ills.”

Posner seems to understand what Tom Peters, management expert and co-author of the 1982 best-seller In Search of Excellence, meant when he said, “Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me, Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You.”

This emphasis on differentiation is even more vital now in the face of a cooling industry and an ever-growing pool of signing agents. But, as the NNA brought up recently in an issue of its online newsletter NOW, can you go too far?

Dan Mlotkowski knows the answer to that. Like Posner, he’s branded himself in his pursuits, only instead of a clever get-up, Mlotkowski has opted for none: he’s Naked Dan. Though he specializes as a handyman, he got a notary commission in May of last year to diversify his services. The NNA did a story on him for the Bulletin and received a nasty backlash.

“Every publication has, that has done a story on me.” Mlotkowski says. “Several local papers published pieces and people wrote in that they canceled their subscriptions. They got people wrote in that it’s totally unprofessional.”

Mlotkowski thinks that many readers of publications who feature him have a misconception of what he does. It doesn’t help that most publications treat him as a novelty item and don’t bother to paint him in the context of the naturalist Florida community in which he lives.

“That’s the thing people don’t understand,” he says, “they have two of the biggest clothing-optional resorts here, so there is a crowd here that has a need, know what I mean?”

Mlotkowski knows that whatever his dress or undress, what he does is a job. He’s timely and professional and goes out of his way to provide those around him with what they want.

“To get what you want, you have to give people what they want,” advices Diana Pemberton-Sikes, a wardrobe and image consultant and author of a series of fashion how-to products, including Bussiness Wear Magic, an e-book that brings together business attire, etiquette, and tips on how to arrange your office. “And what they want, at least initially, is someone they can relate to or someone who fits the perceived image of the role.”

And since there isn’t a stereotype of the notary signing agent, who’s to say you can’t give people what they want and make yourself memorable while at it?

Of course, in the Notary Public Code of Professional Responsibility, the NNA advices notaries to refrain from advertising themselves in an “undignified and excessively commercial manner.” But to mobile notaries who rely on signings as a main source of income, this silent and dignified stance is a death wish, especially in these times. To them, marketing and differentiation techniques are becoming crucial.

And to them, professor of marketing at Berkley David A. Aaker hits the right note when he says, “branding adds spirit and a soul to what would otherwise be a robotic, automated, generic price-value proposition.”