From working a hectic 9-to-5 to shuffling kids between home, school and extracurricular activities, many busy individuals have less and less time to manage and organize their households. As a result, some have begun to rely on professional organizers to help them do everything from organizing home offices and tidying garages to de-cluttering living spaces and even organizing household documents and files. If you have a passion for order and organization, become a residential professional organizer and you can help everyone from busy bachelors to on-the-go families.
Instructions
1. Determine whether you want to work for a professional organizing company or become an entrepreneur by starting your own professional organizing business.
2. Learn tips, tactics and techniques for helping your residential clients get organized by signing up for a professional organizer certification program. The Board of Certification for Professional Organizers, which is affiliated with the National Association of Professional Organizers, offers a voluntary program to help give professional organizers the standards, tools and support they need to be successful. Companies such as Clear & Simple and QC Design School also offer classes and programs for professional organizers.
3. Develop a customer profile that outlines the types of clients you plan to target with your residential organization services. Consider the ages, genders, marital status, incomes, hobbies and interests of potential clients and the reasons they would hire you as a professional organizer for their homes. Your target market will help you identify which services to offer and price them, as well as how and where to advertise them.
4. Identify the companies in your area that offer residential organization services to a similar clientele. Take note of the types of services they offer, how much they charge and the tactics they use to attract clients to their businesses. Find a way to differentiate your residential professional organizing business, which may include offering monthly organizing packages, providing discounts to new or expectant parents, or offering a complimentary "clutter consultation."
5. Come up with a list of services you plan to offer your residential professional organizer clients. Services may include setting up filing systems, sorting through items for yard sales and donations, creating storage solutions, organizing photographs, helping with home staging, or designing and organizing closet spaces. Decide whether you want to charge by project or by hour and whether you'll allow customers to put you on a retainer for your services.
6. Protect your business. Register your business as a legal entity in your state at your local taxation office. Contact a local insurance agent to purchase general liability insurance to protect your business.
7. Hire a designer to create a logo, website, business card and brochure template for your residential organizing business. Your brochure and website should include before-and-after pictures, information about your certifications and education, testimonials from previous clients, your services and pricing, as well as your email address and phone number.
8. Promote your residential organizational skills online by blogging about home organization on your website and by acting as a guest writer on local blogs about buying, renting, organizing or decorating living spaces. You can also purchase advertising space through these online publications. Set up social media profiles on popular sites such as Twitter and Facebook, and share organization tips, pictures and videos with your fans and followers.
9. Use offline marketing methods to connect with potential customers. Join local business and community organizations, host free home organization seminars, place door hangers on doors in residential areas you want to target, and leave business cards in local businesses and on bulletin boards.
Tags: your residential, professional organizer, organizing business, professional organizers, professional organizing, your business, home organization
