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Interview With . . . Eileen Stevie Stevie Organizing Services, Inc. Cary, NC by Maria Gracia 1. What is the name of your company? Where are you located? How long have you been in business? My name is Eileen Stevie of Stevie Organizing Services, Inc.. I'm located in Cary, North Carolina and I've been in business for two years. 2. Is this your primary business, or a part-time business? This is my primary business. 3. Are you a member of NAPO? (Please indicate if you're an officer.) Yes, I am a member of NAPO. 4. Why did you become a professional organizer? I love to organize people and things - always have. The more I read about organizing and worked with people I realized that clutter and disorganization really can cause a lot of stress and frustration for people. I enjoy giving them information and helping them get organized. 5. What type of organizing do you specialize in (home, office, etc.)? I do residential organizing - any room in the house, attics, garages, and home offices. I have also worked with small businesses. I am a Productivity Trainer and Authorized Consultant with Paper Tiger Software. 6. Do you sell products, services, or seminars? Please describe. I sell Paper Tiger software and now GO System Seminars to help people get organized in their home or office. I do many speaking engagements in my area. I am a member of Toastmasters International and that has really given me a great deal of confidence to do seminars, workshops, and presentations. 7. Have you written a book(s)? If so, what is the title(s)? No, not yet. 8. Do you publish a newsletter? If so, is it a print newsletter, or an e-zine? Is it free, or is there a charge? Not at this time. 9. Do you have a web site? If so, what is the address? Yes, my web site address is www.organizeclutter.com 10. Is travel a big part of your business? Just in the Triangle area - Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Durham, North Carolina. 11. Who is your primary target audience? Right now I am focusing on helping women in their homes get organized, especially with the piles of papers most mothers have to deal with every day. 12. Describe your typical workday. Typical day would include one or two consultations with new prospective clients, phone calls, sending out information to phone requests, and often working on my next speaking engagement. 13. Every person interested in entering the professional organizing field is wondering, "Can I make enough money doing this?" What is your outlook on this question? Yes, I think you can make enough money doing it. It will just take some time. It is a lot of work, but I enjoy what I am doing. I constantly change and update my goals for this year as well as the future. 14. Which of the following marketing vehicles have you used to help you grow your business (direct mail, newspaper advertising, free workshops, radio, television, web site, e-zine, telemarketing, yellow pages, joint ventures with other professionals, publicity, other: please describe)? Newspaper advertising, yellow pages, magnetic car signs, clutter support groups, web site, networking with other business people. 15. Which one marketing technique have you found works the best for you? Please describe. Web site and magnetic car signs. My web site has been up since January and people are now finding it and calling me. I get calls when people see my phone number on the side of my car as I'm driving around town. 16. Describe a successful, creative marketing technique that you use, or that you've used in the past. Sending out packets of flower seeds in the spring to all my clients as a little thank you and also to remind them it's spring cleaning time - time to clean out the junk. 17. Do you feel that networking plays a big role in growing your business? Yes, when I started I joined many, many groups and now they are generating business for me as I have gotten to know people. 18. What do you do to generate referrals? I am starting a back to school campaign to try and generate more referrals from my previous clients. I will offer them a free hour of organizing for any 3 hour job they refer me to. 19. What do you find to be the most exciting part of your business? Meeting a new client and starting to work with them. Getting to know them and coming up with ways to help them. Whether it's finding a handyman for them or a financial planner. People are so different. 20. What do you find to be the most frustrating part of your business? People who call and make an appointment and then when you call to confirm the appointment they give you some vague answer about having to go out of town or something. Then when I call back a week or so later they say they don't have the money or some other excuse. They aren't ready - they aren't in enough pain to get organized yet. 21. Describe your greatest success in this field. Working with a client who has just turned her life around. When I first met her, her home looked awful, but now she's cleaned it up and her home is on the market and she has just done a fantastic job of getting rid of things and it has just been amazing. 22. As a professional organizer, do you have a funny story to share? As I was working with a client in her office, I asked if she had ever lost anything. I meant had she ever lost any data on her computer- had it ever crashed on her. But instead of talking about her computer, she said, yes she had lost everything she owned once in a flood. She came out of it with only her two children and herself. You just never know what you'll find out about someone when you work with them. 23. As an organizer, what professional organizing information or tools are you always on the lookout for? New information on filing and handling paper in the home and office. New products that come out to help organize paperwork. 24. Looking ahead, what do you see as your greatest challenge? Constantly looking ahead to generate new clients. While working with clients I have now and being busy with them, I also have to look ahead and constantly be thinking of new marketing and trying to generate new leads. 25. What is your best tip for people interested in becoming professional organizers? Try it, if they can. Just go ahead and start doing it and see what happens. You just don't know until you try something. 
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