Professional Organizer’s Think Tank

Organizing the Business of Professional Organization

I am SUPER excited that you are starting your professional organization business! Our lives spin

faster every day, and your organizational skills are needed more than ever! I know you know

how to organize, so let’s jump right in to getting your business organized… so you can get out

there and help others get organized!

Lesson 1 – Set Your Business Goals. {8 minutes}

Lesson 2 – Name Your Business. {10 minutes}

Lesson 3 – Make your Business Legal. {7 minutes}

Lesson 4 – Keeping Track of Clients & Jobs. {13 minutes}

Lesson 5 – Setting Your Prices & Business Hours. {18 minutes}

Lesson 6 - Conducting New Client Interviews. {22 minutes}

Lesson 7 – Advertising That Works. {15 minutes}

Lesson 8 – Packing Your Car for a Job. {17 minutes}

Lesson 9 - Customer Follow Up. {12 minutes}

Lesson 10 – Expanding Your Business. {18 minutes}

Lesson 1 – Set Your Business Goals.

Click here to listen to Lesson 1

Goal Setting Questions:

Do you want to be an author?

Do you desire to speak to groups of people?

Are you interested in having a team to manage larger organization jobs?

Are you more comfortable organizing residential or commercial spaces?

What niche organization job do you LOVE (like organizing photos or paper)?

Do you want to build an online presence and a blog?

How many jobs can you do in one week?

Is there a dollar amount you are striving to earn weekly, monthly or annually?

Five years from now… how do your envision your business?

Lesson 2 – Name Your Business.

Click here to listen to Lesson 2

Find a name.

o Check for your name with .com in the URL.

o Check your name on all social media sites. One site you can use to check is

UserNameCheck.com.

o Blue Host is a great place to start your blog. This 2 minute video will show you how to

get your URL, hosting and Wordpress installed on your site.

o If you’d like help setting up and understanding blogging, check out my 10 lesson course

for blogging.

Create a tag line – bring your client into a conversation.

Create your business card.

o Do you know why you should hire me?

o What can I do for you?

o Who is my ideal client?

o Would you refer someone to me? For what service?

o Line 2 is a second phone line for your business.

My Business Cards:

Lesson 3 – Make your Business Legal.

Click here to listen to Lesson 3

Setting up your business:

I used an online service like Legal Zoom to set up my LLC. They have a simple 3 step online

process.

Then, after you have your LLC set up, you need to get a federal EIN number for your business –

which can be used in place of your social security number. Here is an article to help you.

If you are going to sell or resell physical products, you’ll need a vendor’s license. {This is

different in every state.}

Now the fun stuff – we need to get paid!!

Get a square reader and install the app on your phone to take credit cards on the spot. {Note:

PayPal now has a reader, too.}

Set up a PayPal account for online transactions.

Open up a separate checking and savings account for your business at your local bank. Get a

debit card for that account.

Lesson 4 – Keeping Track of Clients & Jobs.

Click here to listen to Lesson 4

Freshbooks has been an amazing software choice for my business. Here are the features I like and use

most:

Integrated information from my computer to the app on my phone. I prefer to key in

information at home.

Client information on my phone and all my team members’ phones at the same time.

Drop down billing items to select each organizer and their hourly rate.

Then, Freshbooks will pull the organizer’s hours into a bill I can pay!

Freshbooks allows my bookkeeper to keep up on who is organizing for whom and when!

It can take PayPal payments and emails the invoices, eliminating the need for paper invoices.

Tracks customer information (including notes) and has an option to ask for a review.

Mail Chimp is newsletter service that I use.

My new client packet includes:

A brochure (below).

2-4 business cards (in lesson 2).

A contract (below).

Note: I keep 10 packets in my car/ work bag at all times.

My contract as an example:

Here is my trifold brochure:

Lesson 5 – Setting Your Prices & Business Hours.

Click here to listen to lesson 5

Price Setting Questions:

What dollar amount do you want to START charging? $35, $40, $45?

How many hours do you want to organize in ONE session? 2 ½, 3, 4, 5 +?

How far are you willing to drive for a job? A certain amount of miles or time?

How often will you revisit your rates? I revisit mine in January, May and August.

If a client wants to do their whole house – would you do that over the course of a few months or

in a few days?

Do you want to offer consultations, and will they be free?

Lesson 6 - Conducting New Client Interviews.

Click here to listen to lesson 6

Questions for you to think through:

You need to get inside the head of your disorganized client and what they need.

What areas will you target first? I target the laundry room, kitchen, home office and

master closet. {Remember the husband.}

Are you willing to work with hoarders?

New Client Interview Questions:

What ONE area is frustrating you the most?

LISTEN to their stories.

You need to immediately begin to put your clients at ease. They want your help, but

they also want to know they are normal and OK.

Relate your strength in organizing to their strength in their profession.

Stress the SYSTEM over their deficiency.

If you have a team – mention them in your responses.

What is your time frame for getting organized?

What is your organization budget?

New Client Follow Up Suggestions:

Will you send a text reminder?

Google the location so you know how much drive time to budget.

Are you going to have a cancellation policy?

The First Job:

Walk through the whole house when you get there.

Have the client sign your contract.

Hour #1 – decluttering!!

Hours #2-3 – keep them going and verbally encourage them!

Hour #4 revisit all the “maybe” items.

30 minutes before you’re done, take all trash to the garage and donations to their car.

Create the invoice. Finish up the space and make a follow up appointment.

Other Notes:

Pack snacks & drinks for yourself.

Lesson 7 – Advertising That Works.

Click here to listen to lesson 7

My advertising preferences in order:

Find My Organizer

Home party events for a Thirty One Rep

Speaking in general

Blogging

TV appearances {very little}

Advertising that has NOT worked for me:

Angie’s List

Anything in print

School donations/ auctions

Advertising that I have NOT tried:

Google Ads {they do work, but the unknown cost scares me:) }

Groupons

Lesson 8 – Packing Your Car for a Job.

Click here to listen to lesson 8

Here is a link to my blog post with pictures of my work bag.

What I put in my work bag:

Black and white trash bags from Costco

Organizing Utility Tote from Thirty One – More info here

Foldable step stool

Paper lawn yard bags for overflow recycling

Windex, Magic eraser

Rubber gloves

Label Maker (I got mine from Walmart), batteries, and refills.

Command Hooks

Clear packing tape

Screw driver / cordless drill

Lip gloss, nail file, hair tie, bandaids

LOTS of Post-it notes – multiple colors

X-acto knife

Pen, pencil, highlighter and sharpies

Zip ties, tape measure

Scissors

10 quart and 20 gallon size Ziploc bags {Costco has the best price}

Protein bars and tissues

Furniture movers

Mophie Juice pack for my phone!!

Inventory I use:

Super big lazy susans

Standard plastic shoeboxes

Plastic shelving from Home Depot

Shoe organizers

Drawer organizers that fold flat

Uniform plastic bins that stack – just buy them all at one store at one time

More organization products I love

Lesson 9 - Customer Follow Up.

Click here to listen to lesson 9

“A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush.”

Excellent Customer Follow Up:

I know you’re nervous – but CALL!!! They WANT the help!

Send Thank You notes!

Have a quarterly mailing:

o January – (Dec 26) Boxing day!!!! Time to BOX up the older toys! End of the

year tax donations.

o March Madness – Decluttering.

o End of May – Summer organization.

o August – Getting your house ready for fall – go to the dentist, stock your home

office, plan for the holidays.

o November – Tips for surviving the holidays.

When you think of them, send a text or letter. {My cat treats work great!}

Send out an email with a free hour when they book a 5 hour session.

Set up a referral program. It doesn’t have to be written down, but know what you want

to do to thank them.

Lesson 10 – Expanding Your Business

Click here to listen to lesson 10

BONUS ideas!! More ways to grow your organization business:

Corporate office organizing.

Hire an assistant to work with you on jobs and at your home.

Focus on downsizing the elderly from their home to a retirement home.

Inventory, sell and clean out a home for an estate sale.

Stage a home for sale.

Organize a home for a move.

Create photo albums and scan photos.

Transfer VHS to DVDs and cassettes to MP3s.

Sell items on Craig’s List and Ebay for clients.

Upcharge for Goodwill and shredding runs.

Organize home or home based business file systems.

Maintain the filing systems of a home or business monthly or quarterly.

Bookkeeping.

House cleaning.

Organize kids’ school papers into a binder.

Color copy and reduce all kids’ artwork to fit in a binder.

Organize computer desktops and email.

Sync electronic devices.

Virtual Organization.

Sell eBooks.

Make printables and sell them.

Lisa is passionate about sharing her love of organization and the freedom an organized

life brings through her blog, speaking engagements and eBooks.

As a former teacher Lisa has the ability to make the complicated manageable. Her step by

step presentation style and humor will have you quickly transforming your business.

Lisa offers coaching and online classes to help every direct sales consultant and working

from home entrepreneur find their niche and target market.

You can find more information at www.organize365.com

In addition to her own eBook publications, Lisa has been published on dozens of blogs and

quoted in The Findley Courier and Ladies Day Journal. Lisa has been featured and

interviewed on Fox 19 Morning Xtra in Cincinnati; Living Dayton on WDTN, Dayton: Q102

in Cincinnati, and more.

Lisa Speaks on the Following Topics

10 steps to Organized Paper ~ How to organize Every. Single. Paper in your home

Organizing the Business of Direct Sales ~ Setting Office hours and using them!

Successful Direct Sales ~ Branding Yourself ~ Creating a personal brand to grow

your business.

Irresistible Stories ~ Using the art of telling stories to sell your services.

The idea Lady ~ Positioning yourself and business to fit your target market. A great

follow up to reading the book Who Moved My Cheese

The 10 selling “events” ~ Go BEYOND the parties and reach your customers

outside of home parties.

Selling through being the expert ~ TV, blogging, social media… the sky is the limit

when you become the professional.

Contact Lisa to speak for your group or organization!

Lisa Woodruff

lisa@organize365.com www.organize365.com