Over the past few years, I’ve attended a number of Better Business Expo trade shows, where I’ve made some interesting connections in various industries. One of the exhibitors recently reached out to me about writing a guest post, and I am very pleased to introduce you to Ownr, a company that helps Canadians to start and grow their businesses.

Whether you’re just starting your career as a professional organizer or you’ve been in the industry for a while, having an excellent strategy for growing and promoting your small business is essential. With the right marketing and promotion techniques, you can go from zero clients to a full schedule, or upgrade from smaller, low paying jobs to landing the high paying clients you dream of.

If you’re just beginning to research a career as a professional organizer, you might be wondering what the job entails, exactly. Professional organizers help people and organizations create systems they can keep up with to manage clutter in any space in their home, office, or even digital spaces. They tidy messes, but more importantly, they help their clients implement a structure that will prevent the mess and disorganization from rearing its ugly head again.

Under the broad umbrella of a professional organization business, there are many specializations you can pursue. Maybe you’re better at tackling the organization of homes than offices, or you really want to focus on specific problem areas such as closets or garages. Deciding how you will specialize is an important first step to promoting and marketing your business.

Define your target market

Clearly defining exactly who is in your target audience will make your marketing efforts much more fruitful than if you try to reach anyone and everyone at once with your message. Once you’ve decided on your area of specialization as a professional organizer, think about who your ideal client is. How old are they? Where do they live? What is their lifestyle? What problem do they have that you can solve with your services?

Defining your target audience in very specific terms will allow you to craft your communications and marketing efforts to speak directly to that ideal client. If you know as much as possible about them, your communications will resonate with them, increasing your chances of landing them as your next customer.

Develop an unforgettable brand

Once you know your target audience, you can begin developing your branding. If you’re like many entrepreneurs, the first thing that comes to mind when you hear branding is your logo. But your brand is so much more than that: it encompasses the voice and tone that you use in your communications and marketing materials, the fonts and colours that you use, the specific services you offer, and much more. It refers to the overall feeling and impression that customers are left with after interacting with you, whether it’s on your social media channels, in a newsletter, on your website, or in person. You can think of your brand as the personality of your small business.

Since you have a well-defined vision of your target audience, you can make sure that all of your branding is designed to appeal to that dream customer.

Get the most out of your social media channels

You can leverage your social media channels to market your business without necessarily spending any money. Using your Instagram for business promotions is something entrepreneurs should definitely consider.

Before and after photos are such a powerful visual tool for getting new customers and Instagram is a perfect place to share them using industry-specific hashtags. Whether your target clients are private individuals or businesses, chances are they or their employees are on Instagram and ready to discover you.

Instagram recently rolled out a storefront feature allowing customers to shop from businesses directly on the platform. Even though you may not be selling a physical product, this feature is a great new way to engage with your customers. You can put things like consultation sessions or hourly organization services in your storefront as a way to encourage new customers to get in touch with you.

Become a valuable resource in your industry

As an entrepreneur, becoming a thought leader in your industry and community, no matter how small, is a highly effective way to build trust in your brand and services. Creating a website is an important step for any professional organizer as it communicates your professionalism and the legitimacy of your business.

Once you choose the best website builder for your needs, create a blog to share your industry insights and to give people a reason to keep coming back to your site. A blog will also help boost the SEO ranking of your website, so make sure you write blog posts that include keywords related to your professional organization business.

You might also want to launch a regular newsletter with organization tips and tricks to give your subscribers a taste of how working with you will help them.

If you’re comfortable in front of a camera, you can even start a YouTube channel sharing some of your insights. Not only does it help to prove that you know your stuff, but it’s also a good way to reach new clients and even make a little bit of extra money from monetizing your channel.

If you’re ready to register your business and begin your career as a professional organizer, Ownr can help. It’s a simple, affordable way to get started, saving you time and money so that you can focus on the important aspects of entrepreneurship.

Photo by racorn / DepositPhotos