Since becoming involved with the industry, I’ve seen many people become successful organizing consultants, but sadly, I’ve seen many others who started an organizing business only to shut it down after a few years, or even a few months. Sometimes there’s an unforeseen change in health or family situation, but often it’s because they lacked the skills required to effectively manage a business.
I’ve blogged previously about the benefits of creating information products, whether they’re related to organizing or to one of your other interests, but even if you’ve developed a product, unless you have a very popular website, you may have found that you’re not bringing in nearly as much income as you’d hoped. Why not increase your earning potential by hiring a sales force?
I know how important it is for professional organizers and other service-based small business owners to generate earnings over and above their professional fees, so when I learned that my client Judi Suraci of Organized Homes had become a consultant for Tomboy Tools, I invited her to share some information about the company.
This past fall, I had the opportunity to reconnect with Karen Shinn, whom I met at the 2002 POC Conference, when we were both starting out, and got to know quite well when we served on the National Board together. When I heard about Karen’s latest venture with her business partner, Gail Shields, I just had to share it with my readers, so I asked them to answer a few questions.
More money exchanges hands in December than at any other time of year, but if you don’t sell products, how can a savvy business person get in on the holiday shopping frenzy? Many professional organizers get on board by selling gift certificates for their services, but is it really a good idea?
As I mentioned in a previous post, affiliate programs can be an effective way to supplement your regular earnings. Because there is time and effort involved in locating and registering for suitable programs as well as creating and promoting your affiliate links, today I’m going to share a few questions to consider which will help you choose programs that are most likely to give you a good return on investment.
There is a ton of information online, including this blog, to help you start or grow a professional organizing business, but spending time researching various topics and sifting through all the search results can be very time-consuming. Even if you have lots of time on your hands, if you don’t know that you need to learn about a particular subject, how can you even begin to explore it?
A reader sent me the following question: There are a decent number of people in my town with good income, but the majority are low income, and I am concerned with getting paid. How do you go about getting a deposit up front? Is there some way to ensure that you get paid for your services?
I have previously blogged about using PayPal for receiving payments online, and E-Junkie and Practice Pay Solutions for selling and delivering digital products. A reader has requested clarification of these various services, asking “As far as Practice Pay Solutions, why would I want to use that over PayPal?”
One of the downsides of any business based on fee-per-service is that your income is limited to the number of billable hours you can work. For that reason, you should consider a business model that allows you to generate income over and above your professional fees.
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