Organized Assistant

Are You Pinteresting?

Janet — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 14:20:07 +0000

New social media sites are cropping up all the time and it seems like I’m being invited to join something-or-other nearly every week. Since it’s unrealistic to try and maintain an active presence everywhere, I tend to wait and see whether a particular site is going to be worth my while before jumping on the bandwagon. Such was the case with Pinterest. If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, here’s how Pinterest describes itself:

Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes. Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

You can almost think of Pinterest as an online bookmarking service, but instead of saving titles of blog posts and web pages that you like, you save an image from the page along with a note about it. Once pinned, the image retains a link back to the original website. You can pin images from any website, and you can even “repin” images that other users have pinned, whether you are following them or not. A lot of my clients and other contacts were talking about Pinterest, so I signed up, but didn’t immediately see it as a business marketing tool. I quickly realized that Pinterest is a great way for professional organizers to showcase their organizing projects and their favorite organizing products. Here are just a few of the really great boards I’ve seen:

Geralin Thomas: New Professional Organizer Info
Heather Burke: Organize - Laundry Room
Heather Shute: Room for the love of reading
Clare Kumar: Organized Under the Stairs
Helena Alkhas: Office Organizing

I decided to create a few boards to reflect my personal interests so I could get a feel for how it works, and it didn’t take me long to realize why Pinterest is so popular and so addictive. I was having trouble figuring out how I could use it to promote Organized Assistant®, however, until Clare Kumar suggested that I post some Before and After screenshots of websites I’ve redesigned. It’s not a complete collection as I haven’t always remembered to take a Before screenshot, and the pictures have to be posted online somewhere in order to pin them to a board, but I think I’m off to a pretty good start! I’ve also created a Professional Organizers Blog Carnival board with links to all the Carnivals, going back to the very first one in June 2009. Over the past few weeks, Pinterest has been making big headlines, not just in social media circles but on major business websites like Forbes, Fast Company, and The New York Times, and I’m convinced that it’s going to be an essential marketing tool for promoting your organizing business. Are you on Pinterest? If so, please post your user name in the Comments section, and let us know how you’re using it.

Professional Organizers Blog Carnival for February 2012: Organizing for Pets

Janet — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:22:01 +0000

According to various studies conducted around the world, more than 60% of households have one or more pets. Since there’s a pretty good chance that you’ll be working in such a home during your organizing career, this month’s Blog Carnival is dedicated to Organizing for Pets. Having lived with dogs and/or cats for most of my life, and currently adapting to living with one of each, I am truly delighted with the wealth of information submitted by this month’s participants, and I’m sure you will be too. Let’s start by welcoming our newest participant, Jill Hively with her fabulous post, Kitchen Zones: Don't Forget Your Pets. And, our returning bloggers: Ellen Delap - Fido and Fifi need organizing Jane Woolsey - Cool Pet Toy Organizer Alys Milner - Organizing Fido and Fluffy Jeri Dansky - A Special Kind of Hook: Leash Holders Jacki Hollywood Brown - Organizing Horse Health Records Margaret Lukens - When It’s Raining Cats & Dogs – Caring For Pets in an Evacuation Linda Vanderkolk - Doggie Treats - Containment is the Key Linda Samuels - Creating Expectation Audrey Cupo - Are You an Organized Pet Owner? Janine Adams - Store things near where you use them Tracy Hoth - Spot's Special Spaces Clare Kumar - Pet Ownership Checklist - How to be sure a pet really fits into your life Please read as many of the posts as you can, and be sure to grow your network by leaving comments and following your colleagues on Twitter. We’re now accepting submissions for next month’s Professional Organizers Blog Carnival, when our topic will be Procrastination. The submission deadline is Monday, March 12 at 10:00 AM EST.

A Clever Way to Enhance Your Organizing Business

Janet — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:19:17 +0000

You provide a valuable service, but not everyone needs or can afford to pay for hands-on organizing, so maybe you also offer organizing seminars or workshops. My guest today is Audrey Cupo, who has found a great way to enhance her educational sessions with quality organizing products. A Complement to A BETTER SPACE I have been a professional organizer since 2004 when I began my business A BETTER SPACE, which is based in Bucks County, PA in the United States. I have grown my residential organizing business each and every year to include not only in-home services, but writing, public speaking and product creation. My product line called "U Can Do It" was created to help those I could not reach with my in-home services to get organized and stay organized. It has served me well and has enabled me to reach out to people all over the world. Recently, however, I felt that I wanted to do more education-based work and was considering developing another aspect of my business where I could go into people’s homes and educate a group of women around a dining room table about how to get and stay organized. I was in the process of formulating how I was going to do this when, one day, back in November of 2011, I was on a LinkedIn group site created as a place for professional organizers to share information. One of the members asked if we had heard about Clever Container? I had not but was curious. So I investigated further. Upon learning about this company and researching it thoroughly, I learned that Clever Container is the only company of its kind in the United States (and soon to go International) that provides an opportunity for those who love organization to help others get organized while having fun at the same time with in-home party demonstrations. Just what I was looking for! I signed on within three days. I am thrilled that I can now offer my existing clients good, quality organizing products as "a complement to A BETTER SPACE". I am also able to provide education in a group setting right in someone’s own home surrounded by their friends and family members. I now schedule organizing parties which are fun and educational at the same time. The hostess gets to earn free and discounted products to help them get organized as well. Another bonus for me is I can do vendor events. I have always wanted to participate in vendor events but found it difficult to do so with only information products to display on my table. Now, I can provide a product that is in line with my business and my passion. The response has been overwhelming and it is very exciting! My professional organizing business can now provide my own information products as well as physical organizing products from Clever Container. A BETTER SPACE has truly become a full service company! Are you interested in learning more? Simply visit www.4abetterspace.com/clever_container. If you like the products and want to place an order, you need to enter a Consultant ID #. My consultant number is 373. If you like what you see and want to become a Consultant, you have the ability to start your own CLEVER CONTAINER business and supplement your existing income. At my very first party, I sold $1000 worth of product (easily!) and as a consultant and host of that party, I got a commission, free products, discounts on additional products and free shipping. Contact me and I can help you get started right away. As a professional organizer, I think it’s the perfect complement to my business and I would love to have you on my team! Together, we can help others get organized just by scheduling parties. I don’t know about you, but I love a party! Audrey Cupo is a full-time Professional Organizer and sole proprietor of A BETTER SPACE based in Bucks County, PA. She specializes in residential organizing and focuses her business on helping busy moms and women entrepreneurs with home-based businesses get organized with her in-home services, writing and public speaking. She has created the her own "U Can Do It" product line and is an independent consultant for Clever Container.

Are You Active in Your Professional Association – or are you just a member?

Janet — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:00:37 +0000

People join professional associations for various reasons. Some join because they feel it gives them credibility. Others hope to attract new clients through the online directory. For many people, those are the only reasons to join, so they don’t see any benefit in actively participating in their association. I’ve even heard some people say

Why would I want to go to a meeting? It’s not like I’m going to get any business out of it.

Those people are missing out! Not only can you learn a lot from networking with your colleagues, active participation in a professional association can indeed bring in business. I became a member of Professional Organizers in Canada (POC) mainly for the reasons mentioned above, and although it was certainly worthwhile in both of these areas, my relationships with other members brought me far greater benefits than I could ever have imagined! Here are just a few examples:

I received referrals from members in other regions who received inquiries from prospective clients in my area.
I was hired by a member who specialized in home staging to organize her home office, and by a home organizer to help organize her email and computer files. Professional organizers don’t all have the same skills or offer the same services!
Several organizers offered me subcontracting opportunities on projects that were too large for one person to manage alone, or where they needed someone with expertise in office organization.
I was also able to bring in other organizers on my larger projects, or when I needed someone with expertise in home organization.
One member left the organizing field to pursue other interests. This led to my being interviewed for a local radio show as well as an article in our local newspaper, which directly brought in new business.

Those things didn’t just happen because I paid my membership fee and stuck a logo on my website! I was very active in the association, attending Chapter meetings regularly and even serving on the National Board as Director of Membership for three years. During that time, the organization grew from fewer than 100 members to over 500, so I got to know hundreds of members, even if our only contact was by email. Even though I haven’t been a professional organizer or a POC member for several years now, I attribute much of my business success to the knowledge I gained and the contacts I made during that time. If you’re new to the industry, I highly recommend you not only join, but actively participate in your professional association. If you are involved with your professional association, please leave a comment to let others know the benefits you’ve experienced! If you’ve decided professional association membership is not for you, please leave a comment to explain why.

Three Types of WordPress Websites

Janet — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:16:22 +0000

It’s been quite a while since I blogged about any client projects, but that’s not to say we haven’t been busy here at Organized Assistant®! We’ve actually had a lot of different things on the go, and I can’t wait any longer to tell you about some of them. Above is a screenshot of a website we recently created for Neaten Up With Nancy. As a new organizer, Nancy opted for our Basic WordPress Package, choosing the Yukon Theme by iThemes for her design. WordPress is ideal for starter websites, because it’s easy for most people to add new content as needed, and we can easily give it a new design later on without rebuilding the entire site. We’re especially proud to have been selected by some seasoned organizers to redo their older HTML website in WordPress, including Pat McArthur of Home Definition. Pat’s original website looked like this: After implementing a new design created by Snapdragon Design, her site now looks like this: I’m excited about learning to develop mobile versions of WordPress sites as well, and had fun creating this one for Smart Space Organizing: I can’t wait to mobilize my own sites when I get a break in my schedule! I guess it’s a case of shoemaker’s children syndrome… But don’t let me scare you off if you’ve been thinking about contacting us about a new website or other project! I have some great people working with me, and we’re committed to helping you enhance your online presence in any way we can.

NASMM Conference Opens New Doors for Professional Organizers

Janet — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:32:14 +0000

As a blogger, I’m committed to sharing all types of information that might benefit you in Your Organizing Business, so when I heard about the recent National Association of Senior Move Managers conference, I was eager to invite an attendee to tell us about it in a guest blog post. Robin Blinder was happy to oblige, and I’m pleased to welcome her here today. The annual conference of the National Association of Senior Move Managers was in Austin, Texas this month – January 12^th through the 15^th. As a professional organizer who is also a senior move manager, this conference is one of the ways I continue to educate myself, recharge my business batteries, and network with those throughout the country whose professional life has taken the same fork in the road. This was my second NASMM Conference, and once again, NASMM did not disappoint. First, the venue – the Hyatt Regency in Austin, Texas – was a wonderful place to attend a conference. Great halls for the nearly 400 attendees to gather for keynote sessions, meals, and events like the 10^th Birthday Party of NASMM, excellent rooms for breakout sessions, and a myriad of open meeting areas for networking and small group meetings. Austin showed up with weather that was warm enough for walks along the river or across the bridge. And there were plenty of restaurants and nightspots to visit with new friends or old friends reunited. Fun times! This year’s educational sessions were superb. I started out my conference time with Thursday’s pre-conference sessions – “Speak Up! And Present Your Way to Success” and “Winning Sales Strategies for Senior Move Managers.” Both sessions, taught by renown experts in our field, gave me tons of ah-ha moments & things I could implement to grow my business. There were four keynote general sessions – one more than last year, and each of them touched a different area of my business. Friday’s opening keynote, “Differentiate and Dominate” by John Jantsch of “Duct Tape Marketing” fame, helped us to think of our business and our marketing strategy in a whole new way. Saturday’s keynote, “My Client Has Dementia: Now What?” by Teepa Snow, was phenomenal. Teepa delivered some tough information in a very entertaining way. Sunday’s keynotes, Jeremy Solomon’s keynote on dealing with diversity in the aging market and Tim Richardson’s “Rich Service” presentation, both gave me a number of take-away points to apply. But that wasn’t all! The 24 breakout sessions during the conference were so rich that I bought the CDs in order to catch the sessions that I wasn’t able to attend. The topics hit on business topics like marketing, sales, human resource & finance, tactical topics for SMMs like estimating, space planning, and disbursing client belongings, and client-centered topics such as family communication, client “potholes,” and decision-making. There was definitely something for everyone, and many of the sessions also applied to my organizing business. If you’re a Senior Move Manager and have not attended NASMM’s Annual Conference, join us in St. Petersburg next January 20^th-23^rd and experience for yourself the tremendous value it brings to you and your business. If you’re a NAPO or ICD member and have thought about adding senior move management to your services, come to St. Petersburg and see what this growing field can add to your business. Hope to see you next January in sunny St. Petersburg, Florida! Robin Blinder is a Professional Organizer and Senior Move Manager serving the Tampa Bay, Florida area. You can find more information at http://www.consideritorganized.com.

How to Find Great Guest Blogging Opportunities

Janet — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:30:10 +0000

In last week’s post, I gave you 6 Reasons to be a Guest Blogger. Now that I’ve (hopefully) convinced you that it’s worth your while, this week I’ll keep my promise of letting you know where you can find potential hosts, and how to approach them. 1. Your Organizing Colleagues If you know other professional organizers who blog, ask them if they would be interested in having you as a guest – you can even offer them the same opportunity in exchange! If you’re concerned about sending potential clients to your competition, talk to someone in a different region or who offers different services than you. To connect with other organizers who blog, see who has been participating in the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival or join the Organized Bloggers group on Facebook. 2. Just Google It! You probably use Google to find information about everything from where to buy comfortable dress shoes to how to install shelving in a closet, and it can be equally useful when searching for blogs who welcome posts from guest bloggers. Simply enter “be a guest blogger” in the search box, and you’ll get millions of matches. To narrow it down, add another keyword to your search, e.g. “be a guest blogger” productivity or “be a guest blogger” organizing. 3. Sign up for My Blog Guest It only takes a few minutes to sign up for this free service. Once you’re a member, you can search the database for blogs that might be a good fit for you, check out any blogs of interest, and get in touch with the owner through the private messaging system. There’s also a message board where you can let others know what you have to offer in terms of expertise. This service is also useful if you’re looking for guest bloggers, but that’s a story for another day! No matter where you find a potential host blog, take the time to check it out and make sure that:

the blog is good quality and one you will be pleased to be associated with
the audience is a good fit for you
there actually is an audience – look at Alexa for traffic statistics, and check the blog itself for comments and other signs of engagement

Once you’ve decided that you’d like to write a guest post for a particular blog, there is a right and wrong way to approach the owner. In some cases, you can submit your post through an online form, but in others you must go through a screening process first. Always check the blog for any submission guidelines, and follow them to a tee. When contacting a blog owner about writing a guest post, introduce yourself but instead of making it all about you, focus on how your post will benefit their audience. Provide a link to your blog so they can get a sense of your writing style. It’s a good idea to have a few posts pre-written before you make contact, and suggest some topics for them to choose from. Keep in mind, however, that in most cases guest posts should be original content, and not just a reprint of something you’ve already published on your own blog or that is readily available on article directories such as EzineArticles. I have a number of guest bloggers lined up for Your Organizing Business, and look forward to welcoming my first guest for 2012 this Thursday. Feel free to contact me if you’d like to be considered as well!

6 Reasons to be a Guest Blogger

Janet — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:23:17 +0000

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ve probably noticed that once a month or so, I welcome a guest blogger. It’s usually a professional organizer, but may be anyone who is able to share some insight on a topic of interest to my audience, often one I don’t feel qualified to cover myself. In fact, guest blogging is quite popular throughout the blogosphere. Perhaps you’re wondering why someone would go to all the trouble of writing something, just to give it to someone else to post on their blog. Unless they’re being paid for their work, you might think they’d be better off publishing it on their own blog, but there are actually many benefits to guest blogging. Here are a few: 1. Reach a Broader Audience According to one of our polls, attracting new readers is the biggest challenge faced by many bloggers. Being a guest blogger for someone with a similar target audience to your own is an excellent way to get your name and your expertise in front of a bunch of potential new readers. 2. Grow Traffic to Your Own Blog As a guest blogger, you will normally be allowed to include a brief bio and link to your own blog, so those who find your post of value will often click through to learn more. 3. Grow Your Subscriber Base Once those new readers have landed on your site, there’s a good chance they’ll become subscribers, provided that your blog is engaging. You’ll find lots of tips on Your Organizing Business to help you make sure your blog represents you and your business as effectively as possible. 4. Improve Your Search Engine Positioning Although Google keeps changing the factors it uses to determine where your blog will appear in the search results, backlinks from related sites remain very important. Social sharing now plays a role as well. Since blog posts tend to be shared frequently on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites, a guest post on a popular blog may benefit you more than a listing on an infrequently accessed directory site. 5. Build Relationships Guest blogging is a type of joint venture, where both parties receive something of value. While the guest blogger receives the benefits listed in this post, the host has an opportunity to take a break from writing and give their readers another point of view. 6. Write About Something Different Ideally, your blog is written for a specific audience – your target market – but you have a wealth of knowledge that goes far beyond what they would find useful. Guest blogging allows you to put on a different hat and explore another topic. Many of my guest bloggers have done just that, such as when Janice Russell shared her Secrets to Growing Your Organizing Team. I did the same thing recently when I wrote a guest post on Paper-based Tools for Organizing Your Job Search for Promotion Career Services. I plan to talk about ways to find guest blogging opportunities in a future post, but for now, why don’t you consider writing something for Your Organizing Business? I would especially love to hear from someone who is actively using Google+ or Pinterest as a marketing tool, but would welcome other topics of interest to professional organizers as well. Please contact me and let me know what you have in mind and we’ll go from there. Have you ever been a guest blogger? Did you find it beneficial? Please share your experience (and a link to your post, if you like) in the Comments!

Professional Organizers Blog Carnival for January 2012: Organizing and Health

Janet — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:16:35 +0000

At the start of the new year, many people focus on developing a healthier lifestyle. Like most goals, staying healthy is much easier when you are organized, so our first Professional Organizers Blog Carnival for 2012 is all about Organizing and Health. You’ll find lots of practical tips here to use in your own life or when working with clients. As usual, I’d like to start things off by introducing our latest Professional Organizers Blog Carnival Star Blogger. With her post, Family, Friends, Nature & Clutter, Linda Samuels has now participated in 10 Blog Carnivals. I’d also like to recognize Ellen Delap as the first person to have participated in 25 Blog Carnivals! With her post, Organizing and Exercise, Ellen is our very first Professional Organizers Blog Carnival Superstar Blogger! Congratulations, Linda and Ellen! Joining us for the first time this month is Moreen Torpy with Organizing for Your Health. Welcome, Moreen! And there’s lots more great information for you here: Hazel Thornton - Organizing to De-Stress a Major Illness Lelah Baker-Rabe - Keeping ahead of your health Natalie Conrad - Gather Your Medical Information Leslie Josel - Students and Stress: Organized is the Way Julie Bestry - Vital Signs: Organizing For A Medical Emergency, Part 1 Jeri Dansky - Pillboxes with a Dose of Cute Sue West - Organize for Dr.’s Appointments: 6 Tips Linda Vanderkolk - Organized for Healthy Living - 3 Tricks Clare Kumar - How to be healthy, happy and productive at work Tracy Hoth - Is Your Closet Affecting Your Health? Janine Adams - Just do something Heather Burke - Tuesday Tip – Organizing Your Medications and Supplements Lauren Giammarco Silveira - Your Health and Your Home Connected I hope you’ll take some time to read the posts, leave some comments, and get to know the bloggers! It’s a great way to grow your network and pick up some great advice at the same time. Be sure to join us next month when our topic is Organizing for Pets. The deadline for submissions is Monday, February 13.

It’s a New Year – Time to Fire Up Your Business!

Janet — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 14:39:15 +0000

For many of us, the start of a new year is a time for change. Even people who don’t believe in New Year’s Resolutions generally see this as a time to set goals for the coming months. As a professional organizer, you probably support your clients in moving towards their goals, but who’s helping you with yours? You started your business because you’re passionate about organizing and helping others, but to be a successful entrepreneur, you also need to know about product development, budgeting, branding, marketing, networking, social media, video, and loads of other things. You can really spend a lot of time researching these topics and trying to find people you can really trust to give you the right information! Fortunately, Stephanie LH Calahan of Calahan Solutions, Inc. has pulled together over 20 of the best experts on productivity, mindset and business growth in an extraordinary program designed specifically to meet the unique needs of entrepreneurs who want to excel in business and in life. In Fire Up Your Biz - Enrich Your Life!, you’ll have the opportunity to learn from a number of your organizing colleagues along with other business experts. Take a look at this line-up!

Depressing Desks and Psychic Debris: Cleaning up the Work Space by De-cluttering the Head Trash (Regina Lark 01/18 @ 11AM CST)
Unlock the Secret to Achieving Your Profit Goals (Nicole Fende 01/19 @ 11AM CST)
Mindset Matters: Secrets to a Powerful Mindset (Des Gray 01/19 @ 7PM CST)
We've Got To Stop Meeting Like This: How to Run Meetings that Actually Get Things Done (Debbie Rosemont 01/25 @ 11AM CST)
Get the Right Support for Your Business, Inside and Out (Marcia Hoeck 01/26 @ 11AM CST)
Get Time and Tasks Managed Quickly (Michelle Panzlaff 01/26 @ 7PM CST)
Conquering Your Fear with a Knockout Punch (Dr. Shannon Reece 02/1 @ 11AM CST)
The 3 Surprising Keys that Open the Door to Small Business Abundance (Andrea Feinberg 02/02 11AM CST)
A Busy Family’s Guide to Getting Organized So You Can Live Your Best Life and Still Enjoy Your Family (Ellen Delap 02/02 7PM CST)
From Procrastination to DONE! (Carrie Greene 02/08 11AM CST)
5 Keys to Social Media Success: Do it Right, Stop Wasting Time and Get Results! (Janet Slack 02/09 11AM CST)
How to Overcome your Mental Money Barriers, and Break Free to Success (Georgina Sweeney 02/09 7PM CST)
Networking for Success (Heather Townsend 02/15 11AM CST)
Conquer Email Overload (Stephanie Shalofski 02/16 11AM CST)
Passion Management: How to Juggle/Prioritize all of the Passions We Have (Lisa Montanaro 02/16 7PM CST)
Five Secrets to Streamline Your Work Flow (Miriam Ortiz y Pino 02/22 11AM CST)
When Life Interferes: Making it through Life's Transitions as a Business Owner (Sue West 02/23 11AM CST)
TiME Strategies for the Busy Entrepreneur (Allyson Lewis 02/23 7PM CST)
Solopreneur Motivation Secrets: Create the Work Environment and Results You Want (Elaine Quinn 02/29 11AM CST)

That is already a lot of information, and Stephanie tells me a few more sessions will probably be added to the schedule soon. What’s really amazing is that it won’t cost you anything to take part in this program! And no, it’s not going to be just a series of sales presentations; the goal is to be ALL content and NO fluff! You’ll even have the opportunity to submit your questions when you register, so you know the experts are doing this to help you achieve your business goals for 2012. Sign up for Fire Up Your Biz - Enrich Your Life! today.