We have moved!

We have cleared the clutter, cleaned house and have moved over to a new website.

Our new home incorporates our organizing services as well as our mentoring & training site.

Please come on by and visit us over at:

http://theprofessionalorganizer.com/organizer-u/

Rubbermaid Contest

Join me Tuesday 1/11/11 at 11am ET on Twitter for a Rubbermaid Get Organized Party!

It’s part of Rubbermaid’s 2 week Organizing Bonanza:

A 2 Week Spree of Organizing Fun to Kick Start Your New Year’s Resolutions

The Rubbermaid Organizing Bonanza is a two week organizing event. It’ll be hosted on Rubbermaid.com, the Adventures in Organization Blog, Twitter and FaceBook. So log on to learn organization tips and tricks. Plus, you could win one of the 49 prizes we are giving away! Grab your computer, cup of coffee and roll up your sleeves for some organization inspiration.

I’ll be hosting Tuesday’s party and judging one of the photo contests.

See the full schedule HERE!

See you on twitter!
Follow me at @organizeatlanta to see the questions for give-aways and discussion.

– Allison

Become a Professional Organizer

New Years / Get Organized Month Special
Now $59 through Jan. 31 at midnight eastern.

The Organizing FUNdamentals ebook will get you started and on your way to an awesome career as a professional organizer!

The Organizer U. DIY Start-Up Guide covers all the essentials you need to jump start your business.

The ebook guide includes:

• Business essentials
• Marketing 101
• What to do once you get the job
  • questions you should ask client
  • what to pack in a toolkit
  • resources
• Principles of organizing and how to explain them to clients
• Best practices for PO s
• Forms to get you off the ground and soaring:
• You can begin any time and learn at your convenience

Are you ready to start your organizing adventure?

Bonus #1   – 2 Follow-up 30-minute mentoring calls with Allison Carter that you can use for one year from the time of your purchase

Bonus #2 – Sample forms for “Daily Work Summary” and  “Assessments”

*This is an electronic download. You will receive your download links after purchase.

Click HERE to go to the download page at our e-store.

M.O.M.S. Webinar

Moms Organizing and Marketing Strategies

Date: Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Time: 8:00–9:15 PM ET

$25.00

Hosted by NAPO San Antonio

Approach family organizing with confidence!
An organized family starts with an organized mom!
Veteran organizer Allison Carter, CPO^® presents strategies for helping families get reasonably organized (no Martha Stewarts here.)
In this class you will get great ideas on how to organize the various areas that are the biggest trouble spots for parents.
In addition, you’ll get Allison’s best methods for reaching the Mommy crowd and marketing your services to them.

What you’ll learn:

• Best practices for organizing and storage: Reduce, re-use, re-use again

• Make it fun

• Managing mounds of daily papers

• Storage/tech for photos, art and keepsakes

• Family calendar in the age of tech

• Chores & the truth about chore charts

• Toys

• Books & resources to share

• Marketing strategically

• Speaking opportunities that really sell

• Networking and/or social networking

Bonus – The first 50 Everyone who registers will get a set of PowerPoint slides & handout for you to present at your own Moms seminar!
It’s not stealing if we give it away!!

Bio: Allison Carter, CPO® runs The Professional Organizer and launched OrganizerU.com to fill a void in the organizing industry. “When I started, it seemed like there was no where to turn to learn the business. I had to figure everything out the hard way. So when I got up and running, I made it my business to help others getting started,” says Carter. Over the years she has earned a reputation as an industry leader and innovator. She served on her local NAPO chapter board for 6 years, she held several NAPO committee chair and committee positions, and is the instructor for two NAPO classes.

* This webinar may be eligible for CEUs.

* A certificate of attendance will be emailed to attendees.

* There will be code words for people who want to listen later and get a certificate of completion.

Register HERE on the NAPO San Antonio Website

Q & A: Can I call myself a professional organizer?

Q: Is it necessary in the state of FL to join NAPO in order to call your self a professional organizer if in fact you are a designer and Allied member of ASID?

– Bobbie L.

A: Great question. Unlike some other industries, at the time of this writing there is no supervision or standardization in the organizing industry. Essentially anyone can print a business card or put up a website and call call herself a professional organizer. The industry is still in an adolescent stage, only 25 years old, and still setting standards.  But we’re getting there. The Certified Professional Organizer^® exam became a reality about 3 years ago. Only those who complete the requirements and pass the exam can call themselves a CPO^®. It is likely that we’ll see more changes in this direction over the next few years. NAPO, the National Association of Professional Organizers is already making proposals to create an industry standard like ASID. So stay tuned. But as for now, you can call yourself a professional!

How to put the Professional in Professional Organizer:

1. Behave professionally. Be courteous and treat clients with due respect.
2. Charge a professional rate for your services.
3. Do business in a business-like fashion: get licensed by the state/county, pay taxes on your income, carry insurance if needed.

– Allison

Webinar: Back to School/Work Tech

Whether you love technology or hate it, there are some great programs and tools to help you with organizing.

Technology moves fast… sometimes too fast. Summer has come and gone, and it’s time to “hit the reboot button.”
From task lists and calendars, to contacts and note-taking, we’ll cover the latest and greatest tools to keep you organized no matter where you go. Come prepared to take furious notes so you can get the import…ant things done!

Brandie Kajino, the Soho Solutionist, brings you the ins and outs of using tech tools to help you get organized and stay that way.

Date: Wednesday October 13, 2010
Time: 7:00pm ET / 6:00pm CT / 5:00pm MT / 4:00pm PT
One Hour + Q&A time
* Class will be recorded so you can listen to the download later.
* Certificates of attendance/completion will be available for Professional Organizers and others seeking CEU credits. Code words will be used so you can get a certificate even if listening to the recording.
***Register at: http://www.organizingclasses.com/***

Who class is for: Professional Organizers & the public interested in technology tools to help keep them organized & back on track

What you will learn:

* An Organizer’s favorite software tools
* Over 30 tools you can use online, on a computer, or on a mobile phone
* Learn about several website which help you organize your club or help a friend in crisis

Register at: http://www.organizingclasses.com/

Go Virtual!

Learn to give virtual classes to anyone anywhere!

Do you take teleclasses and attend webinars and wonder how you can do that too?
You can learn the secrets and tricks to putting on an outstanding virtual class and make money from anywhere.

Brandie Kajino, the Soho Solutionist and Allison Carter, CPO®, Certified Professional Organizer, show you the ins and outs of virtual classes: Webinars, Teleclasses and On-Demand classes in our new webinar:

How to Make Money with Virtual Classes

Join us June 17 for this content-filled class.
We will cover the technical side, timeline of tasks, the systems, tips, tricks  and  resources.
This class does not cover how to teach a class or put together content.

Get more information and register HERE:
http://theprofessionalorganizer.com/organizeru/virtual/

– Allison

Do you need a contract to work with clients?

Question of the day for professional organizers and other professionals who may want to voice an opinion.

Q: Do you need a contract to work with clients?
From Jennifer, in Beckley, WV
Comment with your short, concise answers!

Tags: client, contract, Q&A

What to bring to a conference

The annual conference of the National Association of Professional Organizers begins tomorrow in Columbus, Ohio.

We bring you this compiled list of things to bring and the kinds of goals you can set to get the most out of your conference, or any conference or meeting you attend.

• Think about what you want to get out of conference. This will help determine  how you spend your time and with whom.
• A lot of people don’t know anyone. Reach out to unfamiliar faces, start conversations and learn how other people do what they do. If you want to have a more memorable relationship, ask questions besides what they do and where they are from.  Try asking if they brought a bathing suit, what their favorite class is, what books they are reading, etc.

• Use your time there to practice your elevator speech. You’ll probably
  meet at least 50 new people. Try out your elevator speech at least 20 times.

• Do take a photo with the president and others from your community. You can use them for PR.
  Good photos to take:
  A group of organizers who all live in the same geographic area. They all have their own little newspapers that
  will often run a photo.
  Organizers who are all have the same niche. If all the local Senior
  Organizers take a photo and submit a press release to a senior newspaper, it
  could see print.

The ultimate list ow what to pack:

* Lots of business cards
* Checkbook and business credit card (if you have one)
* Writing pad and pens
* Highlighter and sharpie pens – for hilighting conference handouts
* Return address labels for the sign up sheets at the many vendor booths
* Business card plastic sheets with three holes to organize all the business
cards you get, or a business card wallet
* A plastic envelope for brochures you collect
* Camera for PR & fun photos with the president and other organizers
* Name label for your conference notebook
* Big tote bag so you don’t have the exact same one that everyone else is
carrying.
* Luggage tag for (or something obvious to mark) the bag you might carry
around during conference.
* Bathing suit
* Exercise clothing
* Sweater/jacket for cold meeting rooms and cold nights
* Your hotel and airline reservation info!
* Post it notes/flags for marking the pages of your conference handouts

* chargers for your Cell phone, pda and other gadgets – marked with your name in case you leave them behind.
* A great attitude

After Conference:

• Avoid having a work day the day you return from conference. You’ll want some time to decompress, unpack, and process all the information you learned.
• Contact all the people who offered extra resources for you in their workshops and get the info.
• Fill out your evaluations so you get CEU credits
• Chat with others on the NAPO chat and find out what the best sessions were that you missed so you can get a copy of the recording.
• Send emails or handwritten notes to the people you met and would like to keep in touch with.

See you in Columbus!

I’ll be teaching a workshop on Making Money from Virtual Classes.
The corresponding workbook will be available starting on Saturday 4/24/10 at http://tinyurl.com/napocon2010

– Allison

Tags: conference, NAPO

Organize for a Workplace Move Webinar

We have a new class for professional organizers, HR professionals, office managers and administrative assistants:

Get Moving! Organize for an Office Move

The most important part about an office move is preparing the clients themselves.
This presentation will help you organize a smooth move for your office clients.
Organizer Janice Simon knows firsthand all the ins and outs of preparing an office.
She was the “Move Coordinator” for her department at The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.
As move coordinator, she helped her department move from a larger space to a smaller but better organized space.

You will learn to:

• Prepare clients for an office move
• Establish a “records retention” policy for the office
• Handle sensitive date during a move
• Pare down office desk “shrines”
• Create a “move team” to transition after move

Date: Thursday April 1
Time: 8pm – 9pm ET / 5pm – 6pm PT
* Listen live from your phone or via the internet where you may also view the presentation
* When you register you also receive access to download the recording.
* Handouts of the presentation are provided for all.
* Certificate of attendance and a certificate of completion will be provided so that those listening to the recording may submit the class for CEUs.
Price $25.00
Register by March 25 for early bird price of $19.00 (enter code: move to receive discount)

Registration:

About Janice Marie Simon, MA, CPO®

Janice Marie Simon is an in-house organizer for The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX.
In addition to her in-house organizing work, she runs The Clutter Princess and write a blog at www.theclutterprincess.com.
She is in the inaugural class of the Certified Professional Organizers.
Janice has been a member of NAPO since 2001 and has held offices in the local NAPO-Houston chapter.
She has served as Conference Program Chair for NAPO’s 2009 Orlando Conference; past chair on the Conference Program for NAPO’s 2010 Columbus Conference and is NAPO’s new Education Committee Chair.
Before joining MD Anderson, Simon worked at the Galveston school district as a media coordinator and a journalist at the Galveston County Daily News, where she covered crime, arts, and education.