National Association of Professional Organizers
Washington, DC

by Juli Monroe, 1 to 1 Discovery

Did you know that your social media needs will change throughout the life cycle of your business? Think about it. The various social media channels have different audiences and different purposes. So I think it makes sense that your needs would change depending on your business and its stage.

Let’s take a few examples. Facebook is an excellent tool for keeping loyal customers coming back to you. It’s also good for generating referrals. It’s not as good for reaching out to a new audience. Therefore, Facebook doesn’t seem like the best tool for a new business that doesn’t yet have an established client base. However, for a mature business, it can be excellent.

Twitter is good for reaching out to a new audience, which makes it potentially better for a new business than Facebook. However, it takes time to build a following, so again, it might not be the best place to put your time. However, are you getting ready to launch a new product or service line in an established business? Twitter might be a great tool for promoting it.

What about LinkedIn? It’s great for making new contacts, finding strategic partners and using Groups to establish yourself as an expert in your field. Sounds to me like it could be useful at any stage of business.

See how it works? You can look at the audience and nature of a social media channel and decide what it’s most useful for. Then you can look at your stage of business and your needs and map those needs to a channel. Which means that as channels change, and your business needs change, you’re ready with the knowledge to change with them.

Kind of cool? Anyone want to share how social media tools are affecting you in your unique business life cycle?

With more than eight years of networking and sales experience, Juli Monroe is a networking and business coach with 1 to 1 Discovery where she helps small business owners grow their business through effective networking and word of mouth marketing.

Juli’s approach to life and business revolves around building relationships, both in person and online. She uses Twitter, Facebook and other online platforms to maintain the relationships she makes in-person and to find new friends she’s yet to meet “in real life.”

She is excited to have published a book entitled, The Enthusiastic Networker (available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble), which helps readers find and build those relationships to support them forever. It also helps people find their unique networking presence and voice.

Our newest Corporate Partner, Juli Monroe with 1 to 1 Discovery, offers services geared to the professional organizer! As an experienced coach, Juli helps us learn how to network effectively and how to use social media well – skills that many professional organizers can benefit from. Juli offers a free first session with both Network Coaching and Social Media Coaching. Contact her today to see how she can help you take your business to the next level. Welcome, Juli! It’s great to have you!

Contact: Juli Monroe

Website: http://1to1discovery.com/

E-mail: juli@1to1Discovery.com

Phone: 571-220-1891

Facebook: www.facebook.com/1to1Discovery

Twitter:@1to1Discovery

• This year we grew our Corporate Partner Program to new heights, increasing their numbers and offering videos to them for the first time.
• We have continued to be a leader among NAPO chapters in our use of technology. We have a chapter blog, vibrant Facebook page and active Twitter feed.
• We have offered a wildly successful speaker program for chapter meetings in affordable meeting spaces.
• We set our sights high with membership renewal as well as new memberships, and we have grown in numbers since last year.

If you’d like to contact our President, you can email her at president@dcorganizers.org.

Monday, March 4, 2013 @ 6:30pm

Rock Creek Mansion

5417 West Cedar Lane

Bethesda, MD 20814

Dinnertime.  Unscrambled.

Is 6:00 pm the hour of greatest stress for your clients?  Are they overwhelmed with planning meals, getting dinners on the table, and organizing their grocery shopping without wasting a lot of food and money (the average American throws away 25 – 40 percent of the food they buy!).

As their coach, confidant, stress doctor do you often get asked for ways to help organize meals, the kitchen and restore family harmony?

Aviva Goldfarb has come up with a system for families for getting healthy meals on the table without a lot of stress, saving hours and dollars each week for tens of thousands of families. She will share simple but powerful techniques for taking the thinking out of dinnertime.  You will leave with tips and organizing tools that will help you help your clients take control of that 6:00pm hour and restore health and sanity.

Aviva Goldfarb is a Family Dinner Expert, author of two top-selling cookbooks and a fellow successful entrepreneur with her online business, the Six O’Clock Scramble.  She is a weekly contributor to PBS Parents’ Kitchen Explorer and is frequently featured in national parenting, lifestyle and health magazines and shows. Her foolproof meal planning system has helped thousands of families eat healthier with less stress and waste. Aviva has also worked with many organizers including through her partnerships with Unclutterer and the Clutter Diet.

Connect with her on Twitter @thescramble and on Facebook.

Ask the Expert” Focus Group

If you are new to organizing, attend the “Ask the Expert” session. It is an informal gathering where new organizers can receive free advice on owning an organizing business from members of the Golden Circle, a prestigious designation within NAPO for experienced organizers.

The February NAPO-WDC chapter meeting was held on Monday, February 4, 2013, in Fairfax, VA.  There were 30 members and 7 guests in attendance.

The meeting started with active networking.  Members visited the Corporate Partner Meet and Greet tables hosted by Shelf Genie and 123 Junk and the Ask the Experts table.

Janet Schiesl welcomed everyone.  Kimberly Gleason introduced our 7 guests.

Terri Fischer introduced our Corporate Partners in attendance:

Helen Long from Partners Estate Sales spoke about their full-service estate sale services.  They offer custom solutions to meet clients estate sale needs.  Partners Estate Sales offers complimentary consultations and consignment services.  Contact Helen today to get started!

Educational Program

Pierrette Ashcroft introduced the educational program: Organizing Your Estate for Your Incapacity and Beyond  by Christopher Guest.

Christopher talked about the legs of the estate planning tri-pod: Last Will and Testament, Advanced Medical Directive, and Power of Attorney.  With planning, directions are given to your loved ones and assets are distributed according to your desires.  Without planning, it generally increases the cost to your estate and assets may not go to who you want to receive them.

Important items to consider in estate planning are:

• Keep the documents updated as your life changes.
• Talk with an attorney to determine if a will or trust is the the best option for you and your family.
• Talk with your fiduciary about his/her responsibilities and if they want to fulfill the role.
• Communicate where documents are stored with your fiduciary.
• Your fiduciary should know how to log-in to your on-line accounts for bill pay, photos, music, movies, etc.

Chapter Business Meeting

Current and past chapter board members participated in a leadership forum to discuss the benefits of being a leader in NAPO-WDC

There’s a new book club forming in Virginia, and the first meeting is February 21st.  Contact Amy Mykityshyn for more information.

MARCPO planning is starting soon, and we still need Marketing and Expo chairs.  Contact Andrea Hancock if you are interested in volunteering for a chair position or to be on a committee.

Our door prize winner was Keri Myers.

The next meeting will be March 4, 2013, in Bethesda, MD.

As I listened to Christopher Guest speak at our February NAPO Chapter meeting about estate planning and advanced medical directives, little did I know that the issue would hit very close to home for me in less than 24 hours.

The next day I was helping a client scan and organize documents in his home office. I was there for less than two hours when the process came to a screeching halt.

I collapsed four times and my weak knees may have saved our lives. It turns out the boiler had rusted and was emitting carbon monoxide (CO) into the house. The CO detector was not working properly, so we had no indication that the odorless gas was slowly poisoning us.

The firemen said that my client could have died within two hours if he had remained in the house. We both recovered completely after a trip to the ER, thanks to the Takoma Park Volunteer Fire Department and a few hours on oxygen.

Carbon monoxide is an odorless killer. Without properly working carbon monoxide detectors on every floor of your home and office, you may not know there is a problem until it’s too late.

Detectors for carbon monoxide and smoke should be replaced every 7 years. Often the manufacture date is printed on the back label. Check them and if you don’t know how old they are, it’s time to buy new ones.

In addition, plug-in or hardwired versions have batteries that should be replaced every 6 months and you should press the test button once a month.

As you can imagine, this was a wake-up call. I am updating my assessment form to add questions about CO and smoke detectors. I am also asking for client’s emergency contact information and discussing under what circumstances I should use it. My information is on the back side of my phone and I am making sure they know where to look for it.

Please learn from my experience. Make sure that you and your clients have working carbon monoxide and smoke detectors and discuss what to do if an emergency arises.

Pierrette Ashcroft, CPO® is the founder of Smart Productivity Solutions, LLC based in Washington, DC.

As a Certified Professional Organizer® she provides organizational and productivity solutions to individuals and businesses. Pierrette uses her knowledge and over 20 years experience as a small business owner to teach clients how to reach their goals through time management, taking control of paper and digital files and incorporating technological solutions when appropriate.

Since 2010 Pierrette has served on the board of directors of the Washington, DC chapter of NAPO. She has been featured in the Washington Post, Washingtonian magazine and on News Channel 8.

That’s right! The Northern Virginia Book Club is back! All chapter members welcome!

Date: Thursday, February 21, 2013

Time: Soup & salad starting at 6:30pm, Discussion starting at 7pm

Book: “The 80/20 Principle: The Secret to Achieving More with Less” by Richard Koch

Location: The home of Amy Mykityshyn in McLean

RSVP & Directions: contact Amy at amymyk@verizon.net 0r 703-893-1693

• are not going to call.
•  are not going to read the writing.
• are afraid to take action.
• are too busy to do the work.
• won’t talk about it.
• think they can’t afford it.
• don’t care enough.

Are these your prospects? Do you want to spend your time trying to convert them to clients? Or should you be working on better appreciating the clients you already have? The clients who talk about their experience with you (and refer their friends) are not the people described above. They are not most people.

Look at the list at the top again. Maybe it describes you. Are you doing all you can do to be the best organizer/business owner you can be? Do you take the actions necessary to be considered an expert? It’s a matter of talking the talk and walking the walk. How do you want your clients or even your prospects to think of you? What you expect of yourself should be no less than what you expect of your clients. Make the call, Do the work, Read the writing, Take action!

Monday, February 4, 2013 @ 6:30pm

Kena Shriners

9001 Arlington Boulevard

Fairfax, VA 22031

Organizing Your Estate for Your Incapacity and Beyond: Making It Easy for your Love One’s

The January NAPO-WDC chapter meeting was held on Monday, January 7, 2013, in Bethesda, MD.  There were 35 members and 2 guests in attendance.

The meeting started with active networking.  Members visited the Corporate Partner Meet and Greet tables hosted by Four Sales, LTD. and Junk in the Trunk.

Janet Schiesl welcomed everyone. Kimberly Gleason introduced our newest member and our 2 guests. Terri Fischer introduced our Corporate Partners in attendance:

Andy Reiman from Modern Image spoke about his photo and document scanning services.  Modern Image offers document scanning for individuals and businesses.  They hand scan photos for the highest quality and offer restoration, photo montages, and upload services.

Educational Program

Pierrette Ashcroft introduced the educational program: Shattering the C-Myth: 5 Simple Steps to Landing Lucrative Corporate Clients™ by Angelique Rewers, ABC, APR – “The Corporate Agent”™

Angelique spoke about how corporate clients can significantly add to your bottom line.  Many organizers spend most of their time and money on marketing, so it is important to go for the biggest payoff.

Corporate clients want to work with small businesses.  They are interested in training, consulting, workshops, retreats, coaching, speaking, and done-for-you services.  Angelique provided five steps to use when trying to get corporate clients:

1. Get in the databases – Add your profile to Supplier Connection and the NYSE Big StartUP/Startup America Partnership.  You can also go to individual corporation’s website to get on their supplier list.
2. Speak – Speaking builds your visibility and credibility.  You can collect contact information, get market feedback, and build relationships.  A good resource to find places to speak is the National Trade & Professional Associations Directory.
3. Build relationships – Corporate people are busy, so bring value to them first.
4. Use e-mail – Again, people are busy so you need to be persistent; it might take twelve e-mails when you are reaching out to a company.  The e-mail should be about them, not you.
5. Pick up the phone – Don’t be afraid!  Do your homework and tell them why you are calling: an action and a result.

Chapter Business Meeting

It’s GO Month!  We are giving 4 presentations to the Building Better Futures Program and T.C. Williams in Alexandria.

The door prize winner was Jackie Kelly; she won two free passes to the Home and Garden Show provided by Shelf Genie.

The next meeting will be February 4, 2013, in Fairfax, VA.