This is article two of this series, if you haven’t read article one; make sure to check it out: “The Break Away From The Corporate Cubicle Series Article One The Virtual Assistant.”
This article is a sneak peek into another small service business, and another “hidden profession”—
To be a Professional Organizer. If you love to organize, tame clutter, or a messy closet is your muse, you look forward to creating filing systems, enjoy being creative with solving an organizing dilemma with storage systems, and have a knack for making your household run efficiently, then this might just be the gig for you!
Becoming a professional Organizer can be a good supplemental income choice since you can arrange what freelance jobs you take on, and when you do them. Now you can get paid to organize home and offices. But, as with any profession you will need to get the word out about your services and market yourself.
(1) Professional Organizer: According to the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO), the official definition of a “Professional Organizer” is someone who “enhances the lives of clients by designing systems and processes using organizing principles and through transferring organizing skills. A Professional Organizer also educates the public on organizing solutions and the resulting benefits.”
Professional Organizers have the knowledge, skills, and expertise to solve their client’s organizing needs, providing their clients with organizing information and ideas along with solution suggestions to organizing problems.
(2) The Tools: You will need transportation to get to and from the client’s homes and/or offices. At your Home office you will need a phone, computer, and Internet connection. Certainly business cards and a website would be a good investment.
If you already know some people who could use your services, that would be a great way to get your first “client” and then you can leverage that to get clients that are friends and family.
(3) The Know-How: There has been a recent bloom of resources for this industry. We are now noticing not only some excellent books, there are also online courses, and NAPO (see below for their website) has an online training program and a certification. There are even some Professional organizers who will coach you to opening your own part-time business. We recommend that you research these options, if you think this may be an industry for you.
There are also some specializations within the industry, sometimes a Professional Organizer will also tout a particular specialty such as helping people with time-management or moving/relocation organization, even closet organization specialists. So perhaps you create a niche within this industry for yourself—something in demand that sets you apart from other Professional Organizers.
(4) Resources: For the purpose of this article we will focus on general resources where you can sleuth the industry as a whole, to see if it might be for you. NAPO even has a referral program that connects individuals interested in becoming a Professional organizer in touch with people who are already Professional organizers so you can ask any questions that you might have as to whether or not it is a part-time business for you, or supplemental income option and all about getting started.
The National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO)
The National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization (NSGCD)
Get Organized Now! Has a free newsletter for Professional Organizers
http://www.getorganizednow.com/po.html
By The Secrets For Money Team
© Copyright 2008 by Secrets For Money™
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Related Articles: This is article two of this series, if you haven’t read article one; make sure to check it out: “The Break Away From The Corporate Cubicle Series Article One The Virtual Assistant” Located in The Secrets For Money Archives.
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