If you’re thinking about establishing an organizing business, you’ll find lots of helpful information right here on Your Organizing Business and elsewhere on the Internet, but sometimes it’s really helpful to have a comprehensive guide to keep on hand as a reference manual, both as you get started and down the road.

As a professional organizer, you can get paid to do hands-on organizing, to give people organizing ideas, or both. The FabJob Guide to Become a Professional Organizer holds nearly 300 pages of valuable information on this rapidly growing field, including:

• Background about the organizing industry to help you decide if this is the right career for you
• A room-by-room guide to home organizing and reducing clutter, with proven systems for deciding if something is treasure, toy, tool or trash
• Tips for organizing businesses, including workflow management, filing systems, and space planning
• Personal organization and time management strategies
• Advice to help you start a professional organizing business, set your prices, and attract customers
• Marketing techniques, from public speaking to article writing

You’ll also read profiles of a number of industry experts, including Laurene Livesey Park, former President of Professional Organizers in Canada (POC), and Barry Izsak, former President of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO).

Originally developed as an e-book, the FabJob Guide to Become a Professional Organizer is now available in a printed version for just a few dollars more. The print book includes a bonus CD-ROM with forms and checklists you can use in your organizing business.

Other FabJob guides that may be of interest include:

• Become a Home Stager
• Become an Interior Redesigner
• Become a Life Coach
• Become a Business Consultant

As an affiliate for FabJob.com, I will receive a small commission on any purchases originating from this post. Although I have not read all of the guides mentioned above, I have read some of their other publications and am confident you will find them to be helpful resources.

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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?

Anne Blumer solves that problem for you with her new book, Get Rich Organizing: The Professional Organizer Survival Guide to Launch, Manage, and Grow a Profitable Business. As a seasoned professional organizer with multiple certifications and founder of the Professional Organizer Training Institute, Anne is certainly qualified to write about this subject!

The book contains a wealth of up-to-date information on working in the organizing industry, including certification, membership in industry associations, professional organizer specialties, desired characteristics, and even what’s involved in a typical day. In addition, it covers topics that are important for all businesses, such as writing a business plan, setting fees, legal and taxation issues, as well as marketing and branding.

That in itself would make this a useful reference, but Anne does not stop there.

The second part of the book is devoted to specific aspects of working with clients. Many of the books I’ve read do not address the organizing process, assuming that you wouldn’t become a professional organizer unless you already had organizing skills, but there is a world of difference between organizing for family and friends while you hang out together and organizing for strangers who are paying you good money for your expertise! This book will help to prepare you for a wide range of organizing projects and challenging clients and help you avoid embarrassing or costly mistakes.

The thorough information is supplemented by a dozen forms you can adapt as needed for your own business, for needs assessments, letters of agreement, and much more.

Most chapters include exercises to encourage you to put the information into practice, and in some cases, the assignment is to prepare a workshop based on the information in the chapter. I especially like this approach, because having material already developed means you’ll be able to accept when someone asks you to speak on short notice.

Does the title “Get Rich Organizing” put you off? It shouldn’t! Sure, running your own organizing business is all about doing what you love, but you won’t be in business very long if you’re not making money at it. And if you can get rich while you’re doing it, wouldn’t that be a good thing?

I have to admit that I was shocked when I first saw the price of the book, but now that I’ve read it and seen how packed it is with valuable information and resources, I am confident that it will help you earn back the cover price many times over.

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There have been quite a few major events for professional organizers this fall, and since many of you can only spare the time and funds to attend one (or maybe not even that), I’ve recruited some special people to let you know what you’ve missed. We’ve already heard about the POAA and AAPO conferences, and today Janine Adams is here to tell us all about the recent NSGCD Conference.

I had the brain on my brain after attending the annual conference of the National Study Group on Chronic Disorganization in sunny Los Angeles, October 1 to 3. I’m a conference junkie (this was my fourth organizers’ conference in the past year) and NSGCD is always one of my favorites. This year’s conference did not disappoint.

One thing I love about the NSGCD conference is that it’s relatively small: there were 115 folks in attendance. That’s small enough to really get to know people. NSGCD subscribers are such smart, compassionate, fun people. From the very first one I attended, I always felt like I was among friends. Another bonus: The food at NSGCD conferences is always great (and plentiful). And the meals are included in the conference fee.

So why was the brain on my brain? Mostly because of the presentation called, “Change Your Brain, Change Your Life,” by renowned brain researcher, Daniel G. Amen, M.D. He spoke about keeping our brains young by avoiding certain behaviors (including smoking, drugs, excessive caffeine, sleep deprivation—he says that at least seven hours of sleep each night is essential) and embracing others (like a healthy diet, vitamins, fish oil, new learning, sex and exercise—he recommends table tennis). For me, the talk was enlightening and I gleaned information that will cause me to change some behaviors. And I’ve already spoken with some clients about what I learned from Dr. Amen.

But Dr. Amen wasn’t the only great speaker on the agenda. The two-day conference was full of them. In her lively presentation, Catherine “Ross” Roster, Ph.D., NSGCD Research Director, gave us an update on the association’s current research projects and encouraged NSGCD subscribers to get involved in two new projects: one with artist Corinne Botz, who will create art from objects of significance donated by people. The project, titled “The Secret Lives of Objects” can use the help of 20 to 25 NSGCD subscribers to identify clients who might wish to participate. The other project is to create a new Clutter Quality of Life Scale (CQLS), a self-assessment tool designed to measure the impact of clutter on an individual’s life and the consequences of clutter. Dr. Roster pointed out that the CQLS will be a great way for POs to engage clients in discussion of the impact of clutter, as well as quantify progress with their clients.  If you’re an NSGCD subscriber interested in participating in NSGCD research projects (you can earn service points!), email Catherine Roster at roster@mqt.unm.edu.

Also on the program was Tracey Greene Mintz, a social worker who, in a surprisingly entertaining presentation, advocated for the elderly in her talk on mitigating relocation stress syndrome in elderly clients. On the second day, Nancy Schlossberg, Ed.D., a vibrant 80-year-old and expert on change and transition gave two enlightening sessions on transitions. Because of a personal obligation, I had to take an early flight, so I missed Mark Odom’s talk on “Overcoming Resistance: Understanding and Engaging Reluctant Clients.” I was also sorry to miss the panel discussion on collaboration that ended the conference. In my opinion, one of the hallmarks of NSGCD is its reaching out to other disciplines to offer us different perspectives on our work. This particular panel included Tammy L. Chalmers, CFO of Crime Scene Steri-Clean, whose company specializes in clean-ups for hoarders; Marie K. Lee, Ph.D., a cognitive behavioral therapist; Margaret Riley, Neighborhood Improvement/Code Enforcement Manager for the City of Buena Park, California and the co-chair of the Orange County Task Force on Hoarding; Sheryl Vito, a Senior Social Worker with Orange County Adult Protective Services; and another social worker for older adults, with the City of Huntington Beach, Senior Services. To me, that’s an exciting panel. I truly wish I could have heard them, but I can always purchase CDs or DVDs of the conference sessions.

If you find yourself working with chronically disorganized clients and don’t feel equipped with the tools to make progress with them, I strongly recommend investing in NSGCD. The teleclasses throughout the year are great and the conferences truly rock. Mark your calendars now: Next year’s conference will be September 23 to 25 in Austin, Texas. Keep your eye on the conference page on the NSGCD website for more information as it becomes available.

Janine Adams, CPO®, CPO-CD® is owner of Peace of Mind Organizing in St. Louis, Missouri. Together with life coach Shannon Wilkinson, she’s the co-creator of the e-course Declutter Happy Hour. On Twitter, she’s @janinea.

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