How to Become a Professional Organizer 1-2-3
Become a Professional Organizer:
Step by Step
The world is full of people who need help getting organized. If you are a "natural born organizer" and can
manage clutter, you can make money helping both individuals and businesses stay organized.
If you've ever seen an ad for the show "Hoarders", you know there are people who need serious help getting
organized. That said, there are also lots of smaller, less extreme job opportunities and potential clients
looking for a variety of different organized solutions.
In addition to organizing rooms in people's homes, you can help businesses set up filing systems or plan an
efficient office layout. Many people want assistance budgeting or planning schedules for different routine
activities. Focus on a specific niche that you can specialize in - for example garage or closet
organization.
What Do You Need to Start a Professional Organizing Business?
Get a separate business phone line - it's inexpensive (Were you aware that you can use an 800# for as low as
$2/month?). It's not professional to have customers calling you on your home phone. For
your business bookkeeping, you can hire a professional or you can do it yourself with affordable accounting software like Quickbooks Pro or
Quickbooks Simple Start.
You will need a business license, even if you work from
home. All you do is walk into city hall and apply (you may even be able to apply online at your city's
website, depending on where you live). If you have a name for your business, register the name with your county
clerk. Then you can open a business bank account so your personal and business
finances are separate.
Create a website (you do this for free) to
advertise your professional organizing service. Include information about your organizing experience and
specific benefits your offer to customers. You can make a more professional-looking site by simply adding your
company logo.
Don't have a logo yet? Design your own logo online. You can save a
good amount of money whil still achieving the professional image you want. You can get a lot of use out of
your logo by adding it to business cards, brochures and any other
business documents like invoices (free invoice form).
How Professional Organizers Find Clients:
Let people know that you're going into business by providing your newly-designed materials to friends and
business people you know in the community. Offer a first-time customer discount to encourage people to try out
your service. Join industry groups like the National Association of Professional Organizers, local
organizations like the Chamber of
Commerce and social networking websites like LinkedIn.
Get your business seen online by adding your business to the yellow pages and other local online directories.
Find out from organizing experts like Barry Izsak and Laurene Livesey Park how to get into
this fun and creative field. They can show you not one - but a variety of ways to make money, including
space planning, paper management, work systems, financial documents and more.
- How to start a professional organizing business with little or no money and the avoid costly mistakes
made by other new businesses.
- Learn the secrets to pricing your organizing services, including estimating, consulting, supplies,
travel and deposit.
- Tips on identifying prospective clients and developing a marketing plan and getting the best results.
Plus secrets to getting repeat clients and customer testimonials.
How to conduct a needs analysis, prepare a proposal
and win larger accounts with corporations.
- A simple way to increase profits: develop organizational products to sell to your clients.
Become a Professional Organizer
rated by entrepreneurs
Professional Organizer Business Resources:
Professional Organizer Marketing Tools:
Set up a simple website for under $50/year to
advertise your organizing services. Help people find you in the search engines: get listed in 20 search engines for free or in
300 search engines for $4.
Local Search
is becoming more and more popular. People are many times using online search instead of the traditional yellow
pages to find local businesses. Local Search sources that are affordable and receive substantial traffic
include: Google Local, Yelp, Super Pages and Insider Pages.
More Resources:
