Build Your Network

The most effective marketing is “word-of-mouth.” In a recent survey, 85% of executives stated they will not take “cold calls.” Of that number, however, 80% indicated that they would take such a call if a third party had made a connection. Networking allows connections to be made.

Building professional relationships to grow your business doesn’t happen overnight. Just as one session will not get a client organized, attending a few chamber mixers will not guarantee new business.

Never expect to “make a sale” when attending a mixer. The goal is to have people want to know you, not run from you. To expand your market, look for those who have the contacts that will make ideal clients. When meeting someone for the first time, listen before you speak. By learning about their businesses, it will be easy to assess whether or not you will make a good team together.

Expand your network beyond just one organization. And most importantly, get involved. Joining an organization will not guarantee business, but being active is the best way to meet others.

Weekly industry exclusive groups like Business Network International and Le Tip insist on attendance and keep the competition out. Dr. Ivan Misner, founder of BNI, suggests that the most successful networkers are those involved in several groups, including the local chamber of commerce, business organizations such as Rotary, professional organizations like NAPO, and charities.

Who knows the clients you are looking for? Find out, and join forces.

Building a successful business takes more than knowledge of your profession; it takes an investment of your time. If your business is ready to grow, start networking and you will most likely meet people who will become millionaires along with you!

By Dolores Kaytes
Highly-Organized
NAPO-LA Director of Professional Development

Upcoming Meetings:

Having a web presence is essential in today's marketplace. Domain name. Server. Flash. Tom Spiglanin, Ph.D., will untangle the jargon and tell you how to grow your business using the internet. Create and develop a good website. Improve the visibility of an existing one so yours comes up first in any search engine. You have questions; Dr. Tom has answers.

Increase your base of knowledge about today’s technology. Our own award-winning technology guru Jodi McDaniel and IT consultant Roseanne Murphy, Master Certified Novell Engineer, will bring us up to date on the latest in PCs, PDAs, peripherals, and software. Increase the value of your services to your clients. Learn more to improve your own efficiency.

The Chapter would like to thank Paul Wormser, the Director of Archival Operations at the National Archives in Laguna Niguel, for his participation in our May chapter meeting. He shared his great wealth of information about the National Archives and provided the attendees with a fascinating overview of the collection, record keeping, filing, digitalization, and maintenance of local historical documents and artifacts.

Welcome Laura

Say hello to Laura Johnson, the new Publisher of The Los Angeles Organizer. Laura is enthusiastic about her new duties and has plans to make the newsletter more vibrant and fun to read. So introduce yourself to Laura at the next NAPO meeting and let her know how much you enjoy your chapter newsletter!

Thanks, Laura, for volunteering for this important position.

Publisher's Note: It's my pleasure! Over the next few issues, I will be doing some experimenting with the design of the newsletter. If you like what you see, let me know by sending some POSITIVE FEEDBACK! If not, be patient - it may change next time!

18th Annual
SF Regional Conference
Saturday, October 28

The San Francisco chapter of NAPO will hold its 18th Annual Regional Conference - "Transforming Lives" – on Saturday, October 28, in Newark, California, at the Newark/Fremont Hilton Hotel.

Organizing transforms lives, creating simplicity, order, clarity, and balance. The effects of this process ripple out from organizer to client to the entire community. This Regional Conference is designed for organizers who want to enhance their professionalism, be more effective with clients, and learn new techniques. Join in for this journey of transformation.

Begin the day with dynamic keynote speaker Ric Giardina, author of Become a Life Balance Master. Ric is president of The Spirit Employed Company, which provides principles and techniques to individuals to help them create and maintain life balance and develop a personal style of gentle self-discipline that will naturally increase productivity and enhance a sense of fulfillment.

The day will also consist of 18 educational workshops filled with subjects such as: marketing techniques, expanding your business, personal and professional development, and technology, to name just a few. Breakfast, lunch and a networking reception are included.

For more information, contact Doreen Kleindienst
Chair, NAPO-SF Regional Conference
Email: dkorganizing@sbcglobal.net
Phone: 510-538-4782

Robin Davi began her organizing business, Simply Arranged, in 2001 and is a proud member of NAPO. She has served on the NAPO-LA Board of Directors as Secretary, Treasurer and President and is currently serving as Past-President.

Her combined studies in home economics and business gave her a unique perspective on organizing. She is just as effective helping a homemaker organize a kitchen as she is teaching a business executive how to manage paper.

More than 20 years of experience in office management have taught Robin the value of being organized -- from the client's point of view. She honed her problem-solving, time-management, paper-management, and space-organizing skills in the real world and now shares these talents with her organizing clients.

Robin’s expertise includes home offices, paper and file management, records retention, and residential organization, including closets, kitchens, and garages. Robin can find a home for any item that needs one and can organize anything that needs attention.

Let Robin teach you how to conduct a whole-house assessment, create and implement a home filing system, or properly organize an entire kitchen for maximum function -- from the pantry to under the sink. Learn how to re-purpose items in a client’s home as well as teach your clients new habits, systems, and better ways to stay organized.

Bid high on the Silent Auction clipboard to win an hour of time with Robin. She has a wealth of information to share with you!

NOTE: The Silent Auction is a regular fundraiser for our NAPO-LA chapter and is held at most chapter meetings. During the meeting, the Silent Auction Volunteer will be announced and a clipboard will be circulated. Anyone can bid by signing the sheet as it goes around.

Claire Flannery, Editor with Wanderlust

By Susan Culligan
Got to Get Organized
NAPO-LA Director of Communications and Technology

Congratulations to our Volunteer of the Month for May, Claire Flannery, our intrepid newsletter Editor herself!

Claire was voted May Volunteer not only for her outstanding job in getting that month’s newsletter out under very difficult circumstances but also for her ongoing service to the chapter as GO Week coordinator for two years’ running and for managing the very important job of editing the newsletter.

Claire’s background is in newspaper publishing, serving as a regional sales manager for The Boston Globe in Los Angeles, one of a number of jobs she held at the paper over her 31-year career. She used to enjoy helping people get their offices in order and has continued to specialize in organizing offices in her business.

When The Globe sent her to L.A. ten years ago to open the West Coast sales office, Claire fell in love with the area and decided to stay put when she took early retirement. Once she attended a NAPO-LA meeting, Claire was certain organizing was for her and was lucky enough to assist Dorothy Breininger, among other veteran organizers, working mostly on relocations. She values her work as an assistant as an important foundation for her own business, Simplify, which she launched three years ago.

Claire’s main passion (besides organizing, of course) is travel and writing about her travels. She has had several articles on her travels published in The Boston Globe’s Travel Section, and she continues to volunteer with her husband for Traveler’s Aid at LAX. She’s been to 70 countries so far, including Vietnam, China, Australia, Egypt, and Brazil, to name just a few. Where to next? She’s not sure exactly, but has a trip planned for next spring to Machu Picchu and the Galapagos.

An asset to our chapter, Claire says she gets a lot out of her membership, but perhaps we’re the ones who really benefit. Congratulations, again, on a well-deserved award.

To volunteer, contact Mishele Vieira
Email: mvieira@napola.org

Jean Furuya Passionate about Educating POs

by Deborah Kawashima
creativeOrganizer
NAPO-LA Director of Marketing

The purpose of educational programs for Professional Organizers is to bring a high level of professionalism to the industry, as well as to provide guidance and support through courses and hands-on experience.

Jean Furuya of The Office Jeannie specializes in business consulting, paper management, and filing systems for small businesses and home offices. She has earned her CPO-CD from NSGCD and is a PTAC (Paper Tiger Authorized Consultant).

In this article, one of an on-going series of interviews with Golden Circle members, Jean shares her passion for continuing education.

"Education keeps you informed and in the loop," exclaims Furuya. "Using any of the following educational resources can help you jump-start your business and move it forward, no matter what experience you bring into your new PO business."

NAPO Chapter Member:
“Other POs can be your biggest source of referrals,” insists Furuya. She encourages POs to learn more about each other and each other’s specialties and to develop valuable relationships. “Getting involved teaches you to be more professional, more businesslike, and more confident.”

New Member Orientation:
NAPO-LA requires new POs to attend a formal mentoring program. “It prepares them for putting the professionalism into organizing,” states Furuya, “as well as providing information on the protocol of calling yourself a PO.”

MET Classifieds:
This is a listing of chapter POs available to provide guidance, advice and support. Those listed are qualified to mentor, coach, or train new POs in marketing, home workshops and chronic disorganization.

Q&A:
Interactive and informative teleconference for POs to have questions and concerns addressed by veteran NAPO members.

Chapter Volunteering:
“Volunteering is an added benefit of being a NAPO-LA member,” observes Furuya. “When you are on the board or in a leadership role, you build relationships, get exposure for your business and gain valuable skills.”

Go Month:
Volunteer program held once a year to raise community awarenesss of the benefits of getting organized.

Silent Auction:
Fundraising program where veteran POs share their areas of expertise with other POs.

Member Spotlight:
Lets other POs know who you are and what you do.

Assistant's List:
Gain hands-on experience plus get paid for it!

NAPO National Education Teleconference:
Earn certification points:

• PO 001: What does a PO do?
• PO 101: Starting an Organizing Business.
• PO 102: Home Organizing.

National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization (NSGCD):
“NSGCD is the meat and potatoes of POs,” confides Furuya. "They focus on the various concerns associated with chronically disorganized clients and help POs gain insight into the many different issues, including how to work with CD clients more effectively.”

For more information, contact Jean Furuya
Email: jean@theofficejeanie.com
Or visit the NAPO-LA Chapter Website

Working with Seniors

By Beverly Clower
Office Overhaul
NAPO Founding Member

Assisting the senior population can have unexpected revelations that constitute "red flags."

The act of engaging a professional organizer is sometimes in itself a signal of concern about life transitions, which may include:

• acute awareness of vulnerability after loss of a spouse
• rapid changes in health or mental acuity
• an accident or other event which produces overwhelming concerns

Disorganization may be a new symptom or a chronic situation suddenly turned critical.

In my volunteer work with the elderly, (the agency and) I often know more about a client’s mental and physical status than anyone. Organization is not the most urgent need of these clients; contact with someone from the outside is.

My primary goal here is to raise awareness of the professional organizer’s critically important role in a senior citizen’s life -- not the role we signed up for but the one that becomes part of the package by virtue of visiting this fragile class of clients in their homes and forming relationships with them. The significance of the “red flags” noted below is not that I saw the flag, but that I was sometimes the only person who could have seen the flag:

• A check stub for a large amount of money payable to a new acquaintance
• Frequent phone calls for personal help -- “Please come help me find my ring” (found in the toe of a shoe) -- an alert to changing mental status
• Increase in need for service visits
• Unusual confusion and disorientation
• Seemingly impaired judgment
• Smell of smoke on arrival -- a burnt potholder
• “I gave some bearer bonds to my new broker and he hasn’t called.”
• Automobile records that reveal several recent accidents

Transition from independence to near helplessness can happen overnight. It is, therefore, prudent to acquire the name of a contact person early in the relationship. The client may consider this an “emergency” contact, but “red flags” are not a 911 issue. Still, they can become life threatening. Ideally, the contact person is aware of the professional organizer’s on-going role, and the client has given permission for communication between the two.

A professional organizer, due to the personal nature of the service and access to private records, is positioned to notice changes in memory and astuteness, as well as to recognize changes in lifestyle. A client’s dizziness today might relate to her mention of visiting the emergency room last week.

Last year’s Los Angeles Times series on abuse by conservators of the elderly was shocking. Equally disturbing is that elderly persons living alone who do not have a conservator may compromise their health and well-being by making detrimental decisions. Though we cannot fill the role of conservator for them, we can be a liaison between recognition of problems and the appropriate solutions. It comes with the territory.

For more information, contact Beverly Clower
Email: bevclower@verizon.net

School Program Yahoo! Groups

By Deborah Kawashima
creativeOrganizer
NAPO-LA Director of Marketing

We are happy to announce an official Yahoo! Group dedicated to the NAPO-LA in the Schools program. Membership in this Group will be by invitation only to NAPO-LA members who participate in the NAPO-LA in the Schools program.

Fall school presentations, as well as upcoming teleconferences, will be announced via this email group. It will also be an excellent forum for sharing our experiences and ideas on getting kids organized.

If you are interested, consider this an invitation to join. Simply copy and paste the link below to sign up. If you don't already have a Yahoo! ID you will have to create one.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/napolainschools/join

In addition to the NAPO-LA Yahoo! Group, a separate Yahoo! Group has been established for use by NAPO chapters nationwide. This is an informal network of organizers who have expressed an interest in developing a NAPO in the Schools program in their own chapters. A teleconference for NAPO national members will be held in August and will provide all the info needed to start a program. Use this link:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/organizingst udents/join

To volunteer, join or ask questions, contact
Deborah Kawashima
Email: deborah@creativeorganizer.com
Write "NAPO Schools" in the subject line

Many professional organizers from all over the U.S., Canada and other countries are making money helping their clients implement Taming The Paper Tiger software. In many cases your clients can pay for both the software and your services to install, train and convert them to The Paper Tiger in just weeks, especially when they consider the amount of time (& money) they lose each year to lost productivity. The most recent data suggests that the average business person loses over 150 hours per year just looking for lost information! For a complete list of The Paper Tiger features, click here: WHAT IS THE PAPER TIGER

Kiplinger’s Taming The Paper Tiger software is being offered to NAPO-LA members by the Monticello Corporation for just the cost of shipping and handling -$6.95! This is not a trial version, but rather a complete working copy with all the training materials, “time-saving” file folder tabs, etc. You will not be billed anything further.

This is a way to introduce you to a GREAT PRODUCTIVITY TOOL for your clients - they will LOVE YOU for it! The product has been in the market for over six years in major corporations, government agencies (federal, state & local), non-profits, small businesses, etc. Visit our website for a partial customer list at www.thepapertiger.com
Now you can start making money and building your business selling, installing, training and converting your clients to this amazingly simple yet powerful tool!

There are three different ways for you to make the software available to your customers/clients.

1. Paper Tiger Affiliate

The Paper Tiger Affilliate

2. Paper Tiger Authorized Reseller

Call 800-430-0795 or email sales@thepapertiger.com

3. Paper Tiger Authorized Consultant (“PTAC”)

www.4ptacs.com or call 800-427-0237

To place your order for The Paper Tiger single-user (not for resale) software for a TOTAL COST of $6.95, CLICK HERE

Let Children Paint

Use painter drop cloths in children's rooms or on the dining room table so that the little ones can paint and create without ruining anything.

A.D.D. Clients

When working with A.D.D. clients, have them get a good night's rest and ask them to eat a high-protein meal before you get there. This will help them to focus during the organizing session.

About the TIPS Program:
NAPO-LA has instigated a TIPS Program managed by the chapter's Golden Circle members. Ann Gambrell is the chair and invites all chapter members to submit their organizing tips via email, postal mail or on index cards that will be available at the monthly chapter meetings for deposit into the “Organizing Tips” box.

TIPS are requested in two categories:

• "Tips from Pros" are organzing tips for clients/the public.
• "Tips of the Trade" are tips for organizers to use in their businesses.

When submitting TIPS, you are invited (optional) to include your name, business name and contact information. This will serve to promote you when the client/public TIPS are posted on the NAPO-LA website's home page. A link to the “Find an Organizer” section of the website is in the works. “The Tips of the Trade” will also be included in the chapter newsletter.

Email your TIPS to gambrellann@aol.com

NAPO-LA members Chris McKenry of Get It Together LA! and Christine Reiter of Time Strategies were both interviewed for a recent article about cleaning out closets that ran in the Pasadena Independent. To read the entire article, click on this link: CLEANING CLOSETS

August 10 Meeting Planned

By Jean Furuya
The Office Jeanie

If you are working consistently and on an on-going basis with chronically disorganized clients, you are invited to participate in an informal support group for members of NAPO-LA.

Our next meeting will be Thursday, August 10, 6-8:30 pm. The topic will be "Setting Boundaries with our CD Clients."

Please RSVP to Jean Furuya
Email: jean@theofficejeanie.com
Phone: 310-316-1753

By Marilyn Crouch
Avenues to Organization

Q&A Conference Call
Level 1 - August 3

The Mentoring, Education and Training (MET) program is offering a Q&A Conference Call – Level 1 for new and aspiring organizers to have their questions and concerns addressed and answered by two veteran NAPO members. The conference call will be held on Thursday, August 3, from 6-8 pm. This is a great educational opportunity!

Here's what past participants have said about the call...

“The veteran organizers were fabulous - direct, candid, and full of great information. I feel I got a ‘leg up’ on some of the important issues for me."

"We had plenty of time to ask questions. It was fantastic for us because there were so few people and we could each ask a lot of questions. Also, the convenience of the conference call was enormous."

"The best part of the call was hearing the questions from the other participants; there were many great questions that I hadn't thought of prior to the call. The call was excellent and effective. It served my purpose."

Register for this Level 1 Q&A Conference Call

Q&A Conference Call
Level 2 - September 7

Would you like to take your business to the next level? Are you feeling burned out, need a change or a new challenge? This informative teleconference call is for you!

Jean Furuya and Ann Gambrell will facilitate this call and answer any questions you may have about your business, clients, etc. You will also benefit from the interaction with other organizers on the call and will have an opportunity to get new and fresh ideas for your business. Join in to learn from the knowledge and expertise of other organizers.

Register for this Level 2 Q&A Conference Call

The MET Program Classifieds for July-September are on the NAPO-LA website. They are an excellent opportunity for advertisers to share their knowledge and for others to investigate ways to move their businesses forward. If you would like to grow your business in 2006, check out the MET classifieds for an experienced organizer who can help you get to where you want to go! Click below for details:

Met Classifieds