Organized Assistant » Marketing

Three Types of WordPress Websites

Janet — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 14:16:22 +0000

It’s been quite a while since I blogged about any client projects, but that’s not to say we haven’t been busy here at Organized Assistant®! We’ve actually had a lot of different things on the go, and I can’t wait any longer to tell you about some of them. Above is a screenshot of a website we recently created for Neaten Up With Nancy. As a new organizer, Nancy opted for our Basic WordPress Package, choosing the Yukon Theme by iThemes for her design. WordPress is ideal for starter websites, because it’s easy for most people to add new content as needed, and we can easily give it a new design later on without rebuilding the entire site. We’re especially proud to have been selected by some seasoned organizers to redo their older HTML website in WordPress, including Pat McArthur of Home Definition. Pat’s original website looked like this: After implementing a new design created by Snapdragon Design, her site now looks like this: I’m excited about learning to develop mobile versions of WordPress sites as well, and had fun creating this one for Smart Space Organizing: I can’t wait to mobilize my own sites when I get a break in my schedule! I guess it’s a case of shoemaker’s children syndrome… But don’t let me scare you off if you’ve been thinking about contacting us about a new website or other project! I have some great people working with me, and we’re committed to helping you enhance your online presence in any way we can.

How to Find Great Guest Blogging Opportunities

Janet — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:30:10 +0000

In last week’s post, I gave you 6 Reasons to be a Guest Blogger. Now that I’ve (hopefully) convinced you that it’s worth your while, this week I’ll keep my promise of letting you know where you can find potential hosts, and how to approach them. 1. Your Organizing Colleagues If you know other professional organizers who blog, ask them if they would be interested in having you as a guest – you can even offer them the same opportunity in exchange! If you’re concerned about sending potential clients to your competition, talk to someone in a different region or who offers different services than you. To connect with other organizers who blog, see who has been participating in the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival or join the Organized Bloggers group on Facebook. 2. Just Google It! You probably use Google to find information about everything from where to buy comfortable dress shoes to how to install shelving in a closet, and it can be equally useful when searching for blogs who welcome posts from guest bloggers. Simply enter “be a guest blogger” in the search box, and you’ll get millions of matches. To narrow it down, add another keyword to your search, e.g. “be a guest blogger” productivity or “be a guest blogger” organizing. 3. Sign up for My Blog Guest It only takes a few minutes to sign up for this free service. Once you’re a member, you can search the database for blogs that might be a good fit for you, check out any blogs of interest, and get in touch with the owner through the private messaging system. There’s also a message board where you can let others know what you have to offer in terms of expertise. This service is also useful if you’re looking for guest bloggers, but that’s a story for another day! No matter where you find a potential host blog, take the time to check it out and make sure that:

the blog is good quality and one you will be pleased to be associated with
the audience is a good fit for you
there actually is an audience – look at Alexa for traffic statistics, and check the blog itself for comments and other signs of engagement

Once you’ve decided that you’d like to write a guest post for a particular blog, there is a right and wrong way to approach the owner. In some cases, you can submit your post through an online form, but in others you must go through a screening process first. Always check the blog for any submission guidelines, and follow them to a tee. When contacting a blog owner about writing a guest post, introduce yourself but instead of making it all about you, focus on how your post will benefit their audience. Provide a link to your blog so they can get a sense of your writing style. It’s a good idea to have a few posts pre-written before you make contact, and suggest some topics for them to choose from. Keep in mind, however, that in most cases guest posts should be original content, and not just a reprint of something you’ve already published on your own blog or that is readily available on article directories such as EzineArticles. I have a number of guest bloggers lined up for Your Organizing Business, and look forward to welcoming my first guest for 2012 this Thursday. Feel free to contact me if you’d like to be considered as well!

6 Reasons to be a Guest Blogger

Janet — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:23:17 +0000

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ve probably noticed that once a month or so, I welcome a guest blogger. It’s usually a professional organizer, but may be anyone who is able to share some insight on a topic of interest to my audience, often one I don’t feel qualified to cover myself. In fact, guest blogging is quite popular throughout the blogosphere. Perhaps you’re wondering why someone would go to all the trouble of writing something, just to give it to someone else to post on their blog. Unless they’re being paid for their work, you might think they’d be better off publishing it on their own blog, but there are actually many benefits to guest blogging. Here are a few: 1. Reach a Broader Audience According to one of our polls, attracting new readers is the biggest challenge faced by many bloggers. Being a guest blogger for someone with a similar target audience to your own is an excellent way to get your name and your expertise in front of a bunch of potential new readers. 2. Grow Traffic to Your Own Blog As a guest blogger, you will normally be allowed to include a brief bio and link to your own blog, so those who find your post of value will often click through to learn more. 3. Grow Your Subscriber Base Once those new readers have landed on your site, there’s a good chance they’ll become subscribers, provided that your blog is engaging. You’ll find lots of tips on Your Organizing Business to help you make sure your blog represents you and your business as effectively as possible. 4. Improve Your Search Engine Positioning Although Google keeps changing the factors it uses to determine where your blog will appear in the search results, backlinks from related sites remain very important. Social sharing now plays a role as well. Since blog posts tend to be shared frequently on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media sites, a guest post on a popular blog may benefit you more than a listing on an infrequently accessed directory site. 5. Build Relationships Guest blogging is a type of joint venture, where both parties receive something of value. While the guest blogger receives the benefits listed in this post, the host has an opportunity to take a break from writing and give their readers another point of view. 6. Write About Something Different Ideally, your blog is written for a specific audience – your target market – but you have a wealth of knowledge that goes far beyond what they would find useful. Guest blogging allows you to put on a different hat and explore another topic. Many of my guest bloggers have done just that, such as when Janice Russell shared her Secrets to Growing Your Organizing Team. I did the same thing recently when I wrote a guest post on Paper-based Tools for Organizing Your Job Search for Promotion Career Services. I plan to talk about ways to find guest blogging opportunities in a future post, but for now, why don’t you consider writing something for Your Organizing Business? I would especially love to hear from someone who is actively using Google+ or Pinterest as a marketing tool, but would welcome other topics of interest to professional organizers as well. Please contact me and let me know what you have in mind and we’ll go from there. Have you ever been a guest blogger? Did you find it beneficial? Please share your experience (and a link to your post, if you like) in the Comments!

Develop Your Blogging Plan

Janet — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:10:43 +0000

I’ve heard a number of organizers say “I just don’t have time to blog,” but often, half the battle is planning ahead. Deciding in advance what you’re going to blog about will give you an opportunity to think about how you’re going to address a particular topic, and to write at least some of your posts ahead of time. The key to successful blogging is to continuously create compelling content, and with a new year just around the corner, now is the perfect time to begin working on your editorial calendar, so I’d like to share a few helpful resources. Blogging Planner & Calendar A great way to get started is to download your free Blogging Planner & Calendar from Blog Energizer. The 2012 planner has a full page for each week with a grid for you to schedule your posts as well as blog-related emails and promotional activities and other notes. Each weekly page also includes special dates that might inspire a blogging idea, such as Clean Out Your Computer day (February 13), Simplify Your Life Week (first week of August) and Procrastination Awareness Month (April), as well as a blogging tip, like

Improve your titles. Add specific info – like price, time investments, results – instead of generalizations.

Throughout the Blogging Planner & Calendar, you’ll also find full-page articles to help you with a particular aspect of your blog, such as “Growing Your Traffic.” This has been one of my favorite blogging resources for several years, and I encourage you to download a copy. Blog Post Ideas plug-in for WordPress If you have a self-hosted WordPress blog (if you don’t, we need to talk!), you can install this plug-in, also from Blog Energizer. You’ll find it especially valuable if you like to draft your posts right within your blog dashboard, because each time you go to create a new post, you’ll be presented with a topic idea. You can configure it to display topics related to home, business, and/or health, depending on the focus of your blog. You can purchase the Blog Post Ideas plug-in for WordPress for only $4.00, or receive it free with any WordPress Package from Organized Assistant®. Other Sources of Blogging Ideas There are entire blogs dedicated to inspiring bloggers and other writers. Here are a few that offer topic ideas:

If you think about it, your daily life is probably filled with things you can blog about! Consider the following questions:

What have people asked you in workshops, emails, and consultations?
What have people in your target market posted in forums or on social networks?
What organizing products do you use or recommend most often?
Do you work with complementary service providers? Who are they and what do they do?
What organizing books have you read lately? How about other books that might be useful or inspiring to your clients?

The possibilities are endless! Still feeling overwhelmed? Contact me for a free consultation. I help a number of professional organizers with their blogging strategy, and would love a chance to speak with you to explore ways we can work together for your blogging success in 2012.

Bored of your Blog? 10 Ways to Spice Things Up

Janet — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 15:28:00 +0000

Do you sometimes feel like you’re just churning out articles week after week, looking for new ways to say the same old thing? Maybe you’re in a blogging rut! Although there’s a lot to be said for consistency, doing something a little different will spice things up for you and your readers alike. There’s no rule that says all of your blog posts have to be in the same format. Here are 10 ideas for you to consider:

Create a game for your readers to play, like Geralin Thomas did in Hoarders Quiz: How Well Do You Know A&E’s Hoarding Experts?
Share one of your favorite quotes, like Monica Ricci did in Quote: Who are they?
Post a photo that speaks for itself, like Marcia Francois did in Wordless Wednesday – neat stack of clothes
Embed a video, like Elaine Shannon did in Admin Day – Dealing with the Dirty Dozen
Announce an achievement, like Lisa Montanaro did in Lisa Montanaro Chosen as Moderator of Golden Circle Ask the Organizer Panel for 2012 National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) Conference
Compile interesting content by others, like Julie Bestry did in Paper Doll Organizing Carnival: The Inaugural Edition
Ask your readers a question and share their answers, like Stephanie Calahan did in Creative Uses for 3M Post It Notes
Profile a colleague, like Krista Colvin did in The Organizer's House... featuring Clare Kumar
Invite someone to be a guest blogger, like Heather Burke did in Monday Guest Post: Karen Donaldson
Host a contest, like Laura did in Menu Plan Monday – Oct 31/11 + Giveaway

If you’re stumped for topics to blog about, check out our new Blog Post Ideas plug-in for WordPress and get 540 ideas for less than a penny each!

Are Your Tweets Timely?

Janet — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 12:51:09 +0000

Twitter is a great tool for busy professionals whose schedules often keep them from attending live networking events. You can take part in conversations at whatever time best suits you, even if the other parties aren’t online at the same time as you. Although convenient, this is not without its drawbacks. The most obvious is that you can’t answer time-sensitive questions. If someone is looking for a restaurant in Pittsburgh that’s open at 11:00 PM on Sunday night, they aren’t likely to welcome your suggestion on Monday morning, even if you know where they can get the Best Cheesecake Ever. A second problem arises if your followers aren’t online when you post your best content. Of course, it will still be there when they log in, but they might not go back far enough in their feed to see your posts, especially if they’re following a large number of people and don’t use Formulists or another way of organizing the people they follow. The situation is compounded if you like to post a lot of retweets and/or links to other content. I’m very sorry, but if I go into my Twitter account and see 10 or more tweets in a row from you, chances are I’m not going to look at any of them, unless I am a rabid fan. There might be some really good stuff there, but I’ll probably miss it, just because you’ve flooded my newsfeed. Fortunately, none of these challenges are insurmountable. In the case of the time-sensitive question, don’t assume it’s too late for you to answer. You can always ask if they found what they were looking for. Even if they did, or if they no longer need it, they’ll probably appreciate your asking, and you never know where a conversation might lead. Much to my delight, I’ve recently discovered a solution for the second problem as well. Timely is an online tool that analyzes your last 199 tweets, determines when you tend to get the most engagement, and suggests the best times for you to tweet based on those results. If you use a service like HootSuite or TweetDeck, you can use those results to schedule your tweets to be posted at that those times, even if by then you’ll be busy with your client or tucked in for the night. You can even take things a step further, and create a Timely account. Choose how many posts you want to make per day (1, 2, 5 or 9) and whether or not you wish to schedule tweets on weekends. Then, instead of typing your tweet into the Twitter site or your usual app, enter it in Timely, and it will be scheduled for publication at the time when it’s likely to have the most impact. There’s even a bookmarklet available, so when you’re reading a great blog post that you want to share with your followers, you just click on the bookmarklet and it will "create a Timely" with the title and URL for the page you’re on. Simply edit it to incorporate your own words and any hashtags you want to include, and add it to your queue. For every tweet you post using Timely, you can see how many people clicked on your link, who retweeted it, and the potential reach as a result. You can even add multiple Twitter accounts and multiple users! I think it’s pretty amazing for a free service, but there’s a pro version available for $9.99 more if you’d like priority email support. I still use TweetDeck for sending replies, but am beginning to use Timely more and more for my regular tweets. My followers benefit, because they’re more likely to see the valuable content I share, and they’re not getting it all at one time, and I benefit from the increased engagement and exposure. It seems to be a win-win situation! For more tips on using Twitter to grow your business, check out my Basic Guide to Networking on Twitter.

3 Ways to Attract Readers to Your Blog

Janet — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 12:52:39 +0000

When we asked our readers to identify their biggest blogging challenge, the number one answer was “attracting readers.” It can be very discouraging to spend valuable time researching a topic and writing what you think is an amazing post, then to get no comments, retweets, or other indications that anyone even read it. Sometimes it’s enough to make you wonder why you’re blogging at all! Before you throw in the towel, ask yourself the following questions. 1. Do you blog strategically? Is your blog about you and your interests, or do you consider the type of information that your target market is looking for? When you answer your ideal client’s most pressing questions, using terminology they can relate to, you stand a much better chance of them finding your blog and sticking around to read it. 2. Do you read and comment on other blogs? Do you know what blogs are popular with your target audience? If not, find out! If you do, make a point of reading them as well. Leave comments that demonstrate your subject knowledge, without giving a sales pitch. Most blogs allow you to include a link back to your own blog, and people who see value in your comments will often click through to explore what you have written. 3. Do you take advantage of social media? After you’ve spent time and effort to write a new blog post, don’t just put it up there and hope someone notices! Promote your blog posts on Facebook, Twitter, and any other social media sites that are popular with your target audience. Even if you only use Facebook to stay in touch with friends and family, it’s a great way to make sure they’re aware of what it is that you do and how you can help the people they know. Make it easy for others to promote your content by taking advantage of one or more of the many social sharing tools that are available. I’ll be expanding on these strategies and more in my session on Blogging: Beyond the Basics at the POC 2011 National Conference in Toronto this November, and I hope to see you there! In the meantime, please let me know how I can help you with your blogging strategy. What is YOUR biggest blogging challenge?

A New Website for the Atlanta Hoarding Task Force

Janet — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 15:38:30 +0000

Last year, I blogged about the importance of connecting with other resources in your area, particularly if you`re working with hoarders. In that post I mentioned that hoarding task forces and coalitions are forming in various communities in order to provide the public with information about the resources available to help hoarders and their families. I consider the work of these groups to be vital, especially now that television has opened so many people`s eyes and minds to hoarding issues. I was therefore thrilled when Judith Kolberg, Director of the Atlanta Hoarding Task Force (AHTF), asked me to convert the organization`s website to WordPress, to enable group members to easily update information and post news items and events. The AHTF, which was formed in 2009, includes professional organizers, therapists, and providers of supplemental services such as biohazard services. Their mission is to make resources and services available to metro-Atlanta compulsive hoarders and their families, and to educate those who encounter people who are hoarders. As a non-profit corporation with a small budget, the AHTF opted for our Basic WordPress Package and selected the Yukon Theme by iThemes. This gave them an uncluttered, easy-to-navigate site on which to present information about hoarding and the Task Force itself, with the ability to easily incorporate new material in the future. If you`re looking for hoarding-related books, websites, or videos, be sure to check out the new Atlanta Hoarding Task Force website. Where do you get information about resources for hoarders in YOUR community?

Is Your Blog Well-Organized?

Janet — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 18:25:55 +0000

The more time readers spend on your blog, the more opportunity you have to make a lasting impression. To keep people on your blog longer, you need to ensure that they can find the information that interests them, quickly and easily. With that in mind, I've developed a questionnaire to help you determine how effectively your blog is organized. Do you use Categories to organize your posts? If yes, score 2 points. Categories act as a Table of Contents to your blog. Unlike a book, where related information is organized into chapters, you might blog about a certain topic several times over the span of many years. Organizing your posts into clearly defined categories will help readers find those posts with little effort. Do you have more than 12 Categories? If yes, deduct 1 point. Instead of being a helpful guide to your blog, a lengthy list of categories can be overwhelming and make it difficult for readers to decide where to go next. Categories should be fairly broad with minimal overlapping. If a post fits under three or more different categories, you probably have too many. Do you use Tags to organize your posts? If yes, score 2 points. If Categories are your Table of Contents, think of Tags as your index. Here's where you can get really specific. It's not unusual to have hundreds of tags on one blog, so you probably won't want to display a list as you do with Categories. What's more customary is a tag cloud, or a list of tags on each post which are linked to other posts with those same tags, as seen on this blog. Do you display your Blog Archives by date? Sorry, you don't get any points for this one. Archives by date have very little value to the reader. How likely is it that someone will go to your blog wanting to read that post you published last May? Unless it's related to a specific event, it's not likely at all. Do you even remember when you wrote your own posts? Do you show a list of Related Posts on each of your posts? If yes, score 2 points. WordPress and other popular blogging platforms offer a number of options for displaying posts which may be similar to the current one. The nRelate plug-in, which I use on this blog, allows you to customize how and where your related posts appear, in a number of different ways. Does your blog have a Search function? If yes, score 4 points. This, in my opinion, is the most important feature of all. People today are very busy and have very short attention spans. If someone is looking for specific information, they don't want to have scroll through pages of your archives just to find out whether you've ever covered that topic in your blog. A search box will let them locate wherever you've used a specific word or phrase, regardless of how you've categorized or tagged your posts. How did you do? What steps might you take to improve your score?

5 Sources for Blog Content You Already Have at Your Fingertips

Janet — Tue, 31 May 2011 15:44:18 +0000

The world is full of ideas and information you can use on your blog, but you don't always have to work hard at coming up with a topic, and then spend even more time researching it. If you've ever completed any of the following projects, take a look at them - you just might be surprised at the wealth of material you have on hand! Articles If you've written articles for your own newsletter or for other print or online publications, you may be able to re-use them on your blog. A short article can probably be reproduced as is, or with just a few updates, whereas longer articles can possibly be split into two or more separate blog posts with minor revisions to add an appropriate introduction and conclusion to each. Seminars, Workshops and Presentations If you do any public speaking, you've already spent many hours researching your topics and preparing your speaker notes. If the information is of interest to a live audience, it's sure to be equally useful to your blog readers. A short presentation contains enough material for at least one blog post, and longer sessions might become the basis for an entire series, spread out over a longer period of time. Any handouts that you've created can likely be crafted into blog posts as well. Books and E-books If you're the author of a book or an e-book, why not share an excerpt on your blog? In addition to providing your readers with some valuable information, you may find that people are more inclined to make a purchase when they have a good feel for what to expect. Videos Watching video is becoming one of the most popular online activities. According to comScore, Inc., 172 million U.S. Internet users watched online video content in April for an average of 14.9 hours per viewer. If you're taking advantage of this trend by creating how-to videos and posting them on YouTube or other video sharing websites, there's no reason you can't post those same videos on your blog. Video Showcase, a component of the Display Buddy collection of premium WordPress plug-ins, allows you to display thumbnail images of YouTube and Vimeo videos on your blog, which are clickable links to the videos themselves. If you'd prefer to embed videos directly in your posts, check out the VidEmbed plug-in. Not all readers will be willing to take the time to sit and watch a 10 or 15 minute video, so you might consider including a text version in your post as well. Audio Have you ever delivered a teleclass or been a guest on someone's podcast? Do you have a recording of it? That could also be great material for your blog, whether you use the whole recording or a selected excerpt. As in the case of video, you may want to include a text version for the benefit of those who prefer to read than to listen. These are just a few sources of material you've created that you may be able to repurpose for your blog. What others can you think of?