Welcome to the Technology issue of the Professional Organizers Blog Carnival! You’ll find lots of great tips here for using technology to organize today’s busy lives and for organizing your (or your clients’) technology. Be sure to read the posts and leave some comments – it’s a fun way to network with your organizing colleagues!

Five Productive Jobs for Evernote by Margaret Lukens

Over time, Evernote has proven its usefulness again and again. The more I use it to deal with those information bits on the desk and in the brain, the more I love it.

How to Manage and Organize your Social Web by Elaine Shannon

Site-Saving Bookmarklets: Keeping Up With Online Reading While Reducing Paper Clutter by Julie Bestry

If you’re a voracious web reader, it sometimes seems like you have only two alternatives: paper (printout) clutter or an endlessly scrolling tower of bookmarks. These nifty bookmarklets offers the chance to keep up with your reading without cluttering up your home, office or computer.

3 Firefox Add-Ons That Increase Your Productivity by Deb Lee

Getting Organized in the Google Era by Jeri Dansky

This book, which was published earlier this year, talks about ways to use technology effectively. Do you organize information – or just search for it when you need it?

Technology and You! by Ellen Delap

Ergonomics in the Office – Using your computer safely by Clare Kumar

Technology brings many benefits, but using it safely is critical. Set up a comfortable workstation and enjoy maximum productivity.

Cozy Up To Cozi by Janice Russell

TeuxDeux (To Do – an online list maker) by Margarita Ibbott

Are you a chronic list maker?  Do you feel a sense of accomplishment when you cross that item off your list? How about writing a list out electronically that you can access from any computer? Find out about a simple and easy to use on-line list maker from TeuxDeux.

Before wrapping up this month’s Carnival, I’d like to welcome two new Professional Organizers Blog Carnival Star Bloggers, who have each contributed to 10 Blog Carnivals to date:

In her post, Clutter-free gifts: Technology, Lelah Baker-Rabe tells us how to

Help the tech-savvy people in your life stay clutter-free with some thoughtful gifts of technology that won’t add to their box of random cords and cables.

Digital photographers are sure to appreciate Geralin Thomas‘ Four Steps to Organizing Your Photos.

Congratulations, Lelah and Geralin, and thank you to everyone who took part in this month’s Carnival.

Next month, our theme will be Bathroom Organizing – please submit your posts by noon EDT on October 12, 2010. In November, we’ll celebrate Food, Glorious Food! so get ready to submit your posts about organizing refrigerators, pantries, recipes, or another related topic.

Photo: joiseyshowaa

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Professional Organizers Blog Carnival for September 2010: Technology.

Welcome to the first Professional Organizers Blog Carnival for 2010! We’ve had a record number of submissions this month, and I’m sure your reading time is limited, so I’ve decided to split this month’s Carnival over two days. As you read today, I hope you’ll get acquainted with your fellow organizers while picking up some great ideas for your clients or yourself.

Christmas may now be just a fond memory, but we know it will come again next year, so let’s start off with a couple of Christmas-related posts.

Terry (The Mommy Organizer) shares some tips for Christmas Storage, stating that:

Putting Christmas decorations away isn’t so difficult with a little planning and a few organizing tools.

Cari Pemberton tells us about a unique and clutter-free gift that will last long after the decorations are put away, in Giving vs. Getting.

Whether you think of it as New Year’s Resolutions or simply making plans for the year ahead, in January most people are focused on making positive changes in their lives, either personally or professionally.

Angela Esnouf describes a great goal-setting method in The most productive afternoon of my life, saying:

This technique has helped me and my clients time and again.  It’s a perfect way to kick off the year.

Ellen Delap identifies that most popular resolution and shares some ways to achieve it successfully in her post, Top New Year Resolution: Spend More Time with Your Family.

Sarah Welch recommends a similar approach in 2010: The Year of Baby Steps.

January represents not only a new calendar year but a new semester, and Jodi Granok tackles that subject in Students – Get Organized for the New Semester!

For many people, a new year presents a chance to implement new time management strategies, and that was a very popular topic this month.

Joan Kosmachuk shares an interesting approach to looking at how your time is spent in Organizing your Time – start with a pie chart, and Elaine Shannon helps you identify where you’re wasting time in Are you a victim of the “Time Hijackers”?.

Ramona Creel helps you to make the best use of your time in Learning To Delegate More Effectively. Ramona says,

Delegation can be a tricky business. You don’t want to simply “dump” distasteful work on someone else — but you need to make sure the job gets done, and it doesn’t need to be done by you. Delegating can become a particularly sensitive issue when it is lateral — asking a fellow colleague, freelance consultant, family member, or friend for help. But by approaching delegation in the right way, you can make the experience enjoyable for both parties.

For formal time management training, Anne Blumer is Introducing the GO System.

That’s it for today! Be sure to come back later this week for Part 2 of the January Professional Organizers Blog Carnival, and to find out what’s in store for next month.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Professional Organizers Blog Carnival – January 2010 Edition, Part 1.

Here it is – the 7^th Professional Organizers Blog Carnival, and the last one for 2009. We have a record number of professional organizers participating this month, and I’d like to thank those who are joining us for the first time, as well as our regulars and everyone in between! Grab your favorite beverage and get ready to read and enjoy!

Since it’s the festive season, it’s no surprise that many of this month’s entries are related to holiday preparations.

In A Few Thoughts on the Holiday Season, Jane Veldhoven gets us thinking about what’s really important to us at this time of year, and how we can maximize our enjoyment of it.

Jacki Hollywood Brown has some great ideas for Clutter Free Gift Giving, and reminds us that:

The holidays can be one of the happiest times of the year as we enjoy the company of our family and friends. It is also one of the most clutter-generating times of the year. Take a look at these gift ideas to reduce clutter and save you time and money.

You can read additional clutter-free Christmas gift suggestions from Angela Esnouf in her special series, beginning with Angela’s Advent, Day 1.

Joan Kosmachuk tells us how to Simplify your Holiday Decorating with Live or Edible Decorations, and Lelah Baker-Rabe suggests a few simple things you can do to create a year-round gift wrap station to minimize stress and maximize efficiency, in her post Preparing for every day: Gift wrap station.

If you’re looking for a unique way to keep track of Christmas card lists for yourself or your clients, check out Jeri Dansky‘s Forget the Address Book: Use an Address BOX.

Of course, this is also a good time for making plans for next year. Elaine Shannon tells us all about her own Planning Day, saying:

I love organizing so much that I have organized some planning around my 2010 goals. Yes the organizer is organizing herself. So many people wonder why they are not moving forward in their business but don’t have a score card to compare it to. By failing to plan as we know you plan to fail. With a few strategies you can take charge of your new year and meet your goals..whatever they may be!

While you’re making those plans, you might find it interesting to read about other organizers’ success strategies. Anne Blumer tells us how she got to where she is today in her post, Ask the Organizer Panel, and Angie Weid shares The Story Behind Organized Solutions, saying:

This post is sharing a story of being kicked down, learning to stand back up and keep on working toward success.  My hope is that it encourages fellow organizers to be strong and succeed.

Lisa Montanaro offers some eye-opening information in Coopetition: A Fantastic Way To Boost Your Business, a sneak peek of “Don’t Go It Alone: It Takes a Village to Run A Successful Business,” which she’ll be presenting at the 2010 NAPO Conference in Columbus, OH.

Looking for interesting organizing resources? Be sure to read My Brain Book from Hellen Buttigieg and PaperBackSwap.com from Michelle Deo.

Janet Baker discusses the why’s and how’s of Indexing Your Document Management Filing System is Worth it When You’re on the Road.

If you’re curious about hoarding from the client’s point of view, you won’t want to miss Geralin Thomas‘ Anatomy of a Client.

Deb Lee tackles The Myth of Work/Family Balance, asking:

Is it realistic to think that work/family balance is possible?  Can you be a great parent and a great employee (or entrepreneur) at the same time?  Can a family where both parents work achieve this balance?

Janine Adams wraps up this month’s Professional Organizers Blog Carnival with a look at her favorite social networking site in Why I Love Twitter.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this month’s edition. As you visit your colleagues’ blogs, be sure to take a moment to leave a comment or two and get to know one another.

As the Carnival continues to grow, I’d love to know what you’d like to see in the future. Specific topics for each month? Two separate carnivals, with one dedicated to organizing and the other to business ideas? Or just keep it the same?

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Professional Organizers Blog Carnival – December 2009 Edition.

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?

There are several ways to look at it. Let’s start by looking at the benefits of selling gift certificates:

• Selling gift certificates can be an effective way to generate income at a time of year when clients are too busy with festivities to focus on getting organized.
• If you accept PayPal, you can receive payment and deliver the gift certificate by email, saving both you and the purchaser the time and hassle of going out.
• The recipient of the gift certificate may be someone who would not normally do business with you. In this way, the gift certificate also becomes a form of advertising.
• If the recipient requires services over and above the value of the gift certificate, you have the opportunity for additional sales.

So far, so good. But that’s not the whole picture!

As a normal rule, you probably don’t agree to work with a client until you’ve conducted an initial consultation over the phone, if not in person. Although the consultation is an opportunity to sell your services to your potential client, it’s also a chance to determine whether it’s appropriate for you to take on the job. How can you commit to working with someone without that direct contact? What if you show up for the first meeting and determine that you’re incompatible or that you don’t have the specialized skills needed for that particular client or situation? Will you be prepared to offer the purchaser a refund?

A similar dilemma may arise if the recipient of the gift certificate has no interest or desire to use your services. You may not be obligated to return the money, but is it ethical not to?

When I was a professional organizer, people frequently asked me about buying a gift certificate for a friend or family member. I generally discouraged them, pointing out that the disorganized person has to want to change for the service to have any lasting impact. I made exceptions on three occasions:

1. The gift-giver discussed the idea with the recipient before buying the gift certificate. We had met previously so I knew I would be comfortable working with the client, and vice versa.
2. Two daughters purchased a gift certificate for their mother for an in-depth consultation. It would then be up to their mother to decide if she wanted to follow through with follow-up services. It took her nearly a year to book her consultation, and I never heard from her again after that.
3. An executive wanted to buy the services for his son, who was also his business partner. I met with the father on a day when the son was out of the office to get a good understanding of what would be required. We agreed that I would provide a “blank” gift certificate which he would present to his son, who would make all arrangements with me, and that the father would pay the bill. That was the last I heard from either of them. (I can only assume that the son was not on board with the idea; I only hope his father gave him something else instead!)

I hope this information will help you decide whether offering gift certificates is right for you and your business. If you’ve already made that decision, please let us know what you decided, and what led you to that decision.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on The Pros and Cons of Offering Gift Certificates for Organizing Services.

Now that it’s December, many of us are looking ahead to the new year, and starting to set goals to grow our businesses, buy a new home, improve our relationships with others, or make other positive life changes. At the same time, we’re trying to come up with clutter-free gifts for our clients and loved ones. I have a suggestion that may help you achieve both at the same time!

Don Giberson is a Master Law of Attraction Trainer and Coach, and the President and founder of DreamCrafters. I’ve known him for several years, and as well as him being one of my clients, I’ve participated in some of his programs, and can honestly say that they’ve helped me grow my business to where it is today.

Don has created a Mastering Life and Business Library which consists of all the recordings and handouts from all 13 of his programs – that’s over 62 hours of audio and more than 460 pages of notes, checklists and worksheets to help you create the kind of life you want. Don normally sells his Mastering Life and Business Library for $297.00 (although the total value is over $2000), but for a limited time, he’s offering it for the low price of $97.00.

This special offer includes a second Mastering Life and Business Library that would make a wonderful gift. When you make your purchase, you’ll receive an attractive gift certificate which you can print out and give to your recipient, along with a brochure outlining all of the programs that are included in the Mastering Life and Business Library. This would be a great way to enhance someone’s life, as well as your own, without creating any clutter!

For more information about the Mastering Life and Business Library and this special offer, visit http://www.dreamcrafters.ca/dreamlibraryoffernew.

Please visit Your Organizing Business to read and comment on Make Your Dreams (and Someone Else’s) Come True.