However, if you want longevity, a great reputation and have your clients say great things about you, stick to what you do best. Think seriously about referring prospects who are not your target market.



There are many ways you can refer clients on to your colleagues:

• 

Affiliations:
 This is where you agree to recommend a specific service or product provided by another organiser for a fee.
• Lead Referrals:
 You qualify your potential client and recommend an appropriate organiser for a pre arranged fee.
• Recommendations: 
You recommend an appropriate organiser as a gesture of good will.

When using any of these methods, make sure that you have a clear communication with the organiser prior to forwarding their details to your prospects. If this is to be a reciprocal arrangement, make that very clear too, that you would like the opportunity of servicing their clients in an area that is not their niche!



Personally, I am happy to recommend and not expect a ‘cut’ from that recommendation. I will only recommend other organisers who exhibit the same values & integrity of my business. It is imperative to put the clients needs first and only pass on details if this is in the clients best interests.



Remember to work to your strengths. If you are a gifted & talented wardrobe organiser but loath paperwork & filing, find a colleague, that you’re happy to recommend, who loves it! 

However, some of the things we could list in our job descriptions has me wondering…. What won’t you do? Are there things that you are not able or would not want to do.

I attended the training Kit Anderson gave at the 2009 AAPO Conference in Brisbane. Kit was the President of ICD, the Institute for Challenging Disorganization. She spoke about the sorts of things that we could be faced with such as animal hoarding, food hoarding & others. From this training I started to develop a list of things that I am either not prepared or not equipped to do.

This ‘will not do’ list also helps  to filter your enquiries and allows you to quickly decide whether you will be able to help the enquirer or not.

It’s okay to know the things you can’t or won’t do, there will be other Professional Organisers who target that market. I love working with people with ADHD, I know there are some of our colleagues who would rather not!

What you decide you can, or cannot do may help you to decide your ‘niche’ market! This in turn will help you hone your skills in areas that are of interest to you and best serve your clients.

Homer & I arrived in Christchurch very late on Friday night. We dropped off our bags at the hotel and went off to explore this beautiful city at 2:00am! I wanted be carefree & irresponsible, after all, this was the first time we’d been away together without the children. We walked around the Cathedral, peered into a pub, and shared a happy meal! We returned to the hotel and were fast asleep by 3:15am. Not exactly a great nights sleep as our world started to rock at 4:35am. Measuring 7.1 on the Richter Scale, we were thrown out of bed as the fifth floor of the hotel wobbled about like jelly!

Living through this experience has qualified me to be known as a ‘Quaker’! According to locals, the world is now divided into ‘Quakers’ (those who were there) and ‘Non-Quakers’ (those who weren’t) Was it scary? Yes indeedy, very! However, I would not have missed that experience for anything. An earthquake can certainly put things into perspective! (I am very blessed to have a husband, family and job that I LOVE.)

Unfortunately, the earthquake and subsequent aftershocks did a lot of damage throughout the South Island.  Fortunately, it has happened now and the likelihood of another big one is remote. As a result, our Conference has been postponed until 9th & 10th February 2011. I have another 5 months to wait to meet my hero, Julie Morgenstern! I was so excited to be able to attend this year. I’ll be delirious by the time February rolls around!

In the meantime, we’re going to be very busy. You are the first to know about our brand new Training Courses & Workshops for Professional Organisers.

ANNOUNCING NEW TRAINING COURSES FOR ORGANISERS

Below is a list of current Training Courses & Workshops available for Beginners right through to the ‘Old Hands’! Please note that if you are thinking of doing the Absolute Beginners Intensive, there will be a small price increase in February 2011. You can still get the October & November Workshops at the old price.

1. Absolute Beginners
2. Next Step *new*
3. Top Rung *new*
4. Beyond Disorganised *new*
5. Mentoring

Click here to find out more and to book

With this in mind I am happy to tell you that I have put aside some time to do face to face Mentoring at a special Conference price!

Spaces are limited to just 5 ‘Blast’ sessions as follows:

• Monday Lunch – 12:30pm
• Monday Afternoon – 5:00pm
• Tuesday Lunch – 12:30pm
• Tuesday Afternoon – 5:30pm
• Wednesday Afternoon – 2:00pm

(Only 1 session per person)

This is your opportunity to get all the answers to the questions you have been dying to ask! The Blast Session lasts just over an hour and you will get tailor made solutions, motivation and ideas you never realised you had in you!

Click here to book in and to see the other specials waiting for you.

My phone has been ringing hot with questions from new, and not so new, Professional Organisers asking if they should go.

Well you should be asking yourself a few questions, starting with “Is this a business or a hobby for you?” This is  a question that is discussed at length during our Training. If you’re confused by the question, you should come to Training, if you know the answer you will probably be going to Conference already!

Small Business is the back bone of this country and I, for one, take the business of my business very, very seriously. I want to provide the best possible service for both my clients and training Professional Orgnisers. I want to deliver the most outstanding training so that you, in turn, can deliver your best results for your clients.

Attending Conference this year will provide the opportunity to network with the biggest names in our industry, Angela Esnouf, the President of AAPO, Wendy Davie the immediate past President, Roz Howland the Vice President, Narelle Todd who also specialises in Organiser Training, Karen Koedding who is running hugely successful competitions with both Marbig & Howards Storage World, Wendy Hanes who knows all there is to know about Compulsive Hoarding, and then there is Rebecca Mezzino who is flying all over our great nation advising all sorts of institutions on how to get organised. These are people you should want to be around. These really are the best that Australasia has to offer.

Attending Conference this year will give you more tools to have an even more successful business. Brilliant speakers are lined up to share with us the strategies that they use to grow their businesses and tips on how to make our businesses shine.

This year we also have two huge names from America, Dorother Breininger of A&E Hoarders TV show AND (my heart stops beating in excitement at this point) Julie Morgenstern who wrote, amongst other titles “Organising from the Inside Out”. This book changed my life and I’m as nervous as a school girl at the thought of meeting her. My only hope is that I am able to speak normally and come across as competent! (I really am VERY excited).

Now, if this is not enough to whet your appetite and get you clicking your way to attending then think of this. Whilst attending last years Conference in Brisbane, I was so full of ideas one night, that I could hardly sleep (sorry to my room mate!) At 3 o’clock in the morning I was under the covers with my notepad using my phone as a torch. I had to get my ideas out onto paper, now was the time to write out a speech about my favourite topic (and one I know way too much about!!) and have it ready for submission to present at next years Conference ‘”Understanding your ADHD Clients”. This has turned into not only a talk but also a workshop.

If you want to know what is in that speech, you should really come to Conference as I am presenting it there!

AAPO Conference 2010, it really will be YOUR Time To Shine!

Is your business big enough to shine?

Bookings & payment must be received 7 days prior to the start date

Each topic builds on the one before.

1. Becoming a Professional Organiser
2. Business or Hobby?
3. Processes, step by step information
4. Getting Clients
5. How to Present yourself in Public
6. What’s Your Speciality?

Weekly Class                                                                                                   Virtual Teleclass

10.00am – 11.15am                                                                                       7.15pm – 8.30pm

Details of course are available here Beginners Training Course

3 of Australasia’s leading Professional Organisers are heading to Melbourne to answer all of your questions about getting started and staying motivated in your business.  Angela Esnouf of Creating Order, President of AAPO, Narelle Todd of Successful Living, and Sarah Cottman of Heavenly Order are all Accredited Experts who have a passion for professionalism in the Organising industry.

All 3 businesses already provide  a Mentoring service and have decided to join forces to give you all the information you could want or need!  Just one idea , short cut or tip from your time with these ladies will bring a great return on your investment of just $99!

Come & spend some time with like minded people to find out the secrets of running & maintaining your Professional Organising business.

$99 for 99 Minutes

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

10am to 11.39am

Inner City Melbourne

Investment: $99!

To book, call Sarah on 02 999 77 135 or 0414 209 771

or email sarah@horder.com.au

Experts who care about your success, who will give you the inside information . Don’t miss it!