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Become A Professional Organizer

Become a Professional Organizer and enjoy one of the fastest growing small businesses! Here's where you'll discover what it takes to start a rewarding and profitable Organizing Service.

As a Professional Organizer for 7 years, I can assure you that this is one "hot" niche. If you think about how our world has become mass collectors of material possessions, you don't need me to tell you that the need for help with decluttering and organizing is huge.


Are You Considering The Professional Organizing Business?

I have been a Professional Organizer for seven years. The most appealing aspects (beside the fact that I like to organize) are flexibility and variety. By flexibility I mean you can work any hours you choose. If you market your business well, you can also work as much or as little as you want to. As for variety, every organizing situation is different. Every client, home and office has different organizing needs.

When I decided to become a Professional Organizer and start It's About Time Organizing Service, there were very few organizing resources. There were just a few books, one "How to Become A Professional Organizer" manual and definitely no TV programs about getting organized! The internet had little information on how to become a Professional Organizer, although I did find NAPO, the National Association of Professional Organizers, which was just starting out.

My how things have changed! This is great news for you. Never has there been a better time for you to become a Professional Organizer!

Professional Organizer Resources

I have a library of organizing books but the most used volumes are my two "How To" Guides. Not only do I have an offline Organizing Service (It's About Time), but Home Organize It! has evolved into a Web-based organizing business as well. This is a great way to balance what can be a "feast-or-famine" business.

At this time, I am not aware of a "How To" Guide specifically for starting an online organizing business. However, The WAHMs Masters Course, A Work At Home Mother's Guide to Successfully Building A Real Business On The Net, is now available as a free download. Even if you are not a WAHM (Work At Home Mom), there's loads of helpful information about starting any type of Internet business, packed into this fun-to-read e-book.

Believe me, I did not know how to use a computer just a few short years ago but with with the SBI! software that I use, I have been able to promote my local organizing service both locally and globally. How cool is that?

Okay, back to How to Become a Professional Organizer. Every organizer runs his/her business differently based on preferences and personalities. This is one of the reasons that the organizing industry is so diverse and successful. There are talented people all over the world finding their niche in the organizing industry. There are still just a handful of "How To" guides but they are really COMPREHENSIVE!

In the Become A Professional Organizer Start-Up Guide Kit and Maria Gracia's Ultimate Guide for Professional Organizers, much of the start-up research has been done by these "seasoned" organizers. Why not take advantage of this and spend your time deciding on the name of your business, your organizing niche and how you will market your services?There is so much information packed into each of these guides that I suggest that you just start with one of them initially.


What Is Included In The Guides?

You will benefit from the Becoming A Professional Organizer Start-Up Guide/Kit if you are thinking you would like to become a Professional Organizer and are looking for steps on how to get started, attract new clients, market your business and how to determine what to charge. It is written in a clear, easy-to-follow style.

The kit also includes forms and sample business letters. It covers legalities, materials and equipment you may need. Believe me, this guide provides you with just about everything you need to become a Professional Organizer and get your new business started.

The other guide that I own is the Ultimate Guide for Professional Organizers. Maria's Guide answers just about every question you might have about how to become a Professional Organizer and the organizing business. Starting with "What is a Professional Organizer?" to discussions on education, certification and specialties, this guide covers it all...well almost. Coverage on Web-based organizing business is weak but I imagine someone will publish something soon. Maybe it will be me? Who knows.

The Ultimate Guide also has forms, advertising templates, sample business letters and ideas for your business card. It helps you decide whether you need an office, if you should join NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) and how to charge.

There is so much content in either Guide that I could not possibly cover it all here. If you have questions or are unsure of anything about how to become a Professional Organizer or whether you should start this type of business, your answers will be in either one of these. The wealth of information provided is staggering. All you need to supply is the motivation, creativity and marketing skills (which there are lots of excellent resources for too!). You can't go wrong with either of these Guides!


Marketing Your Professional Organizing Service

Marketing a Professional Organizing Service is very different now than it was just two or three years ago! I started out advertising in the local newspaper classified ads, distributing flyers and by word-of-mouth referrals. Although these can still be effective, I think the best marketing tool you can use today is having a Web site. Don't panic here! If you are on a tight budget, I will guide you on how to put up at least an informational Web site (inexpensively) in just a bit. This is an area in which I did MONTHS of research and have found what works as far as promoting a local service business using the internet.

Let's take the Site Build It! Program (do-it-yourself site building) and compare it to buying a Yellow Pages Ad for one year. Click Here and scroll about a third of the way down the page to the Comparison Chart. Go ahead and check it out, I'll wait right here.

Oh, you're back? Great! Pretty convincing stuff there, right? You probably read a bit about the benefits of having a Web site for a service business and I would like to tell you about an invaluable resource that you can download for free. It is called The Service Sellers Masters Course.

Don't worry about the name, Masters just means you will "Master" the Marketing for your Service Business if you follow the 10 Steps. Click below for this invaluable free download. I guarantee you will refer to this over and over again!

Maria Gracia's Ultimate Guide does include excellent information about marketing your Professional Organizing Service and she refers over to her husband's "Give To Get Marketing" site which is helpful. However, the internet and Web site building have changed dramatically since her Guide was published, so I encourage you to consider using Site Build It! if you decide to have a Web site.

With Site Build It! you will not have to learn "html" or anything "techie", you just have to provide the information you will want prospective clients to know. It's a bit of work, yes, but after all you ARE building a business! There are a few other quality site building programs out there, but none of them come close to offering such a complete package at such a low cost.

Go ahead and Compare for yourself.

In addition, you may decide to offer organizing products (from which you make commissions), or link to related services (from which you earn referral fees) on your Web site, which can add additional income streams while you are out organizing with a client! The potential here is huge! For just a bit more on how building Home Organize It! has helped me achieve balance with my Local Organizing Service, please see the section written specifically for Prof. Organizers.



Wrap Up

Okay, let's wrap it up for now...

If you are serious about starting a Professional Organizing Service, do your research first. Check out the Become a Professional Organizer Start-Up Guide Kit or the Ultimate Guide for Professional Organizers.

You will spend more time on marketing your service than on any other aspect if you are going to succeed. The future of local services, or any local niche for that matter, is on the net. Don't waste your money on stagnant Yellow Page ads...a Solo Build It! Web site costs far less and gives you total control on how you market your Professional Organizing Service.

Download the Service Sellers Masters Course. Print it out and put it in a binder. Grab your favorite beverage and read your PO Guide and the SSMC from cover to cover. When you finish your first read-through of each, it's time to start!

Follow each of these, step-by-step doing what makes sense for your Organizing Niche. If you are still unsure about starting a Professional Organizing Service after this research, then perhaps there is another niche calling you and this is just part of the journey.

One more thing before I go... building a business takes time, determination and motivation. With the endless opportunities and information available to us these days it is very easy to get side-tracked. Once you have decided to pursue a Professional Organizing Service or any other niche business, do what works for you to remind yourself to stay the course.

Put a yellow sticky on your computer monitor and on your bathroom mirror that says "FOCUS"

Write out a special "mantra" and put it where you will see it everyday. My first "mantra" was: "You don't have to get it right, you just have to get it going!"

My latest mantra is a series of words that I have come to know as the 5P's: Passion, Preparation, Persistence, Patience, Prosperity. Be Passionate about what you do, Prepare to do your best, Persist through the inevitable challenges, be Patient in the process and Prosperity will be yours.

I wish you all the best on your journey to Become A Professional Organizer.



Becoming a Prof. Organizer Start-Up Guide Kit

The Ultimate Guide for Professional Organizers

NAPO

Service Sellers Masters Course-Free Download



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