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Interview With . . . Judy Brown Organized Forever British Columbia, Canada by Maria Gracia 1. How long have you been in business? Nearly 7 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.) No, however I once was an officer at the National and the Local levels in the Canadian organization. 4. Why did you become a professional organizer? I had been writing newspaper columns on self-development and getting organized, so I decided to branch out and do hands on organizing using the skills and training gained in my personal and professional life. 5. What type of organizing do you specialize in (home, office, etc.)? I do both residential and office organizing. Setting up filing systems for both home-based and small business clients forms a big part of my services. I am also a trained hospice worker and have had training at the university level in counselling, so I help bereaved families sort and dispose of estate assets. 6. Do you sell products, services, or seminars? Please describe. I sell services, online decluttering one on one with clients all over the world. I specialize in hands-on organizing, time management coaching, estate asset inventory and disposals to clients in the Fraser Valley and Canyon. I also do speaking seminars and workshops. 7. Have you written a book(s)? If so, what is the title(s)? Knitting Notes is my first book published this year. Many of my clients do hobbies and crafts and knitting is very popular. I designed the book as a personal journal with lined-guided pages to provide knitters with a way to plan and record details of 41 projects. Clients using the book are telling me they like having all their knitting notes in one place and are more motivated to complete each project so they can paste in the picture of the finished item. Most are surprised that they are also writing about what’s happening in their lives as they use the journal. For five years, I had a very popular online class entitled Conquering Chaos, I am in the process of converting it to an ebook of the same name. 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? Yes, I have a free ezine entitled Organized Forever Tips. Visitors can sign up to receive it on my website. It is sent out once a month. 9. Do you have a web site? If so, what is the address? Yes, I welcome all who may be interested in commonsense tips and advice to visit my site, Organized Forever at: http://www.organizedforever.com 10. Is travel a big part of your business? Travel is a big part of my business as I live in a rural area. The closest town is about 12 miles away and I serve a greater surrounding area of distances up to 65 miles away. 11. Who is your primary target audience? Professional people and home business owners in general, but I have clients from all walks of life and of varying ages and situations. 12. Describe your typical workday. I schedule a weekly maintenance day where I clean my computer and organize digital files. I do not book outside appointments or organizing jobs and use that day to do follow up of leads and make phone calls. 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, you can make money with this, a lot of money actually. Unfortunately, it is hard for a one person business to keep up with the administrative work and market effectively so you can get out there and do the jobs that bring in the money. Actual hands-on work can be very tiring if you are doing it all by yourself with each client. I heartily recommend new PO's create an organized solution such as seminars, products or books, booklets etc. to generate income to go along with the hands-on jobs. 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)? I accept referrals from other organizers and have had many of those from PO's that don't serve my area. I try to stay away from the free workshop thing, but I have set up a table at various networking events and had a table at a drug store for a special women's health event. Although I didn't get paid for these events, I did get to meet a lot of people and by having a free draw for an organizing tool. I got a list of prospects to follow up with. I have spoken (for an honorarium) at two libraries and am booked to do two more this month at the same libraries. I find that satisfied clients have been a good source of new business. I have had success with a joint venture with an Interior Designer and a Cleaning Service. 15. Which one marketing technique have you found works the best for you? Please describe. My website. I provide tips and advice, articles and a private area for clients. 16. Describe a successful, creative marketing technique that you use, or that you've used in the past. I made a powerpoint presentation of before and after pictures that I run when giving seminars. I find speaking engagements to be a good way to attract clients and the pictures always get a lot of attention on my sample table (brochures and biz cards and suggested reading lists too.) 17. Do you feel that networking plays a big role in growing your business? Yes, a very big role, I have developed contacts in related non-competing fields, interior designers, real estate agents, cleaning people, auction houses and paper shredders (smile). They run into my target market in their own work and I want to be sure that my name is the first one that comes to mind when they encounter a client of theirs who could use some help getting organized. 18. What do you do to generate referrals? I usually give a percentage to other PO's who refer people to me that results in a job. I generally send a little inexpensive gift to clients that refer me to someone who uses my service. 19. What do you find to be the most exciting part of your business? I just love seeing how my help changes someone's life. Clients are so grateful and the fact that I can motivate them to continue with the systems and routines after I leave is so inspiring to me. 20. What do you find to be the most frustrating part of your business? That as a one person business owner, there are just not enough hours a day to do all I want to do. I have set things up to allow time each week to market and follow up. Turning my course into an ebook has been taking a back seat to the hands-on organizing which discourages me sometimes because I want it finished NOW. Guess I have to take another look at my office admin schedule. 21. Describe your greatest success in this field. Helping a widow suffering from depression who had been unable to do anything in the way of housework for three years. At the end of our work together we got the house (a big one) all sorted out and decluttered. She was embarassed to have me see her home at first but during our sessions her mood lightened and we had a lot of laughter going on which was just what she needed. At the end of it all she was motivated to take up some craft hobbies she hadn't done in years and began selling some of them. 22. As a professional organizer, do you have a funny story to share? Well the oddest thing I came across in the middle of a pile of boxes and junk in a garage were two metal boxes. I asked the client what these were just as I was about to open them. I couldn't help but laugh when the client said it was her mother-in-law and her husband! (ashes) I suggested she find a more fitting resting place for them and actually we both had a good laugh then. 23. As an organizer, what professional organizing information or tools are you always on the lookout for? As I do a lot of file organizing I am always picking up folders and filing equipment. The other thing I do is keep an eye out for non-cluttery, useful little gifts to give clients. I also read everything I can find about it all. 24. Looking ahead, what do you see as your greatest challenge? Getting my books and booklets created and out there, then marketing effectively to ensure they sell. 25. What is your best tip for people interested in becoming professional organizers? Don't even think of becoming a PO unless you get advice from professionals like accountants, other successful business owners and anyone who is aready in the PO business. Then it is really important to set up your business properly, getting all the needed licenses and most important, your business plan. Create one, even it is only one page. It will guide you as you set up your PO biz and keep you focused if you set time aside at least once a year to tweak it. 
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