National Association of Professional Organizers
Washington, DC

Janet Schiesl

The turnover of the NAPO-WDC board of directors on May 15^th marks the end of my tenure as chapter president, and this will be my last blog post in this position. I hope that I have made it clear what a wonderfully encouraging, professional group this is through my posts. I hope some of you feel the same way I do – The people of NAPO-WDC are a big reason for my business success.

I’d like to thank all of my fellow chapter members who have served as board members during my term. You have made it a pleasure for me to participate, and I have learned so much from the experience. It has definitely been a situation where I have received more than I have given.

Each year at this time a new board takes over. There is a learning curve for new board members and it’s back to business for the returning ones, but everyone comes to the table with new ideas and a new enthusiasm that will lead us into the next chapter year. I am confident that the 2013-2014 NAPO-WDC board will continue to lead our chapter forward and do great things.

Once again, it has been a pleasure to serve. See you in the audience at the next chapter meeting!

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

Do you ever pass up an opportunity and then think to yourself, “Gee, I wish I’d done that?”

Sometimes a missed opportunity comes in the form of a sale, if you don’t return a phone call fast enough, for example, or a prospective client winces at your quoted price. Maybe you’ve hesitated when asked to give a presentation to a group or don’t take a job that is a little outside of your comfort zone. How does that make you feel? Less than exceptional? Sometimes relieved? Both? We all learn something when we feel that we missed an opportunity, and vow to do things differently the next time.

Coming up is the biggest NAPO opportunity of the year – the 2013 NAPO Conference and Expo! It will be held in New Orleans later this month, and there is no better opportunity for a professional organizer to learn and grow their business. Ask anyone who went to the conference last year in Baltimore, and they will tell you. I know the cost of travel is keeping some from attending again this year or maybe new members are hesitating for fear of the unknown, but I just want to take a moment to urge you to reconsider. Many NAPO-WDC members are attending the conference and will return with a wealth of information and stories to tell.

If you choose not to attend, how will you justify this missed opportunity to yourself? I don’t want you to think, “Gee, I wish I’d done that.” I hope to see you there!

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

• 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.

• 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!

As the New Year begins, NAPO-WDC begins the chapter board election process. It’s always exciting to me to see members step forward with passion and enthusiasm to join the chapter leadership team. There are many reasons why people volunteer. What will your reason be? Maybe. . . to meet new people, to step out of your comfort zone, to learn a new skill, to lead, to jump start your business, to gain trust, to work as a team, to try something new, to be heard, to create a following, to make something happen.

Is being a leader worth the effort? Absolutely! You’ll get to know everyone, you’ll learn new things, you’ll gain professional relevance and you’ll be part of an awesome team.

NAPO-WDC exists on 100% volunteer efforts. We can’t do it without you! I encourage you to invest your time and talents into your professional association.  It’s important to the chapter and to your business success.

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

As members of NAPO Washington, DC, we are part of an association and we lead each other. Who are the leaders of this chapter? All of us!

Leaders are people just like you who step forward and offer to serve. Why? Because they want to lead; they want to be part of the action and part of the circle. They realize that who they hang out with helps to formulate their dreams. Those dreams lead to changes and those changes become a new reality.

Why all this talk of leadership? Soon the chapter will call for nominations for the next NAPO Washington, DC board of directors. Before you say, “that’s not for me,” please take a moment to consider chapter leadership. For most positions, the only qualification is chapter membership. You don’t have to be an experienced organizer or know much about chapter operations to run for a board position.

You do have to be interested in participating at a higher level and joining the circle of the leadership. Consider all that you could learn…so step forward, jump into the action and become a leader in the industry by joining this new circle!

For questions about the NAPO-WDC board of directors and the board nomination and election process, please contact the Director-at-Large, Judy Parkins.

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

Most of our day is spent doing little work. Responding, reacting, polishing . . .

The challenge is to find time for the big work.

Big work is the stuff that scares you, the stuff that is risky, and the stuff where you might fail. It’s also the work that is done when resources are low and time is short.

Don’t wait for big work to knock on your door. As entrepreneurs, we need to go out and find it. Inspiration can come from anywhere: a conversation with a colleague, revelation from a client, or a daydream of your own.

Find the time to start that “next thing” you have been thinking about. Big work is always available as soon as you decide to do it.

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

It’s so true. How do your clients remember the details of their experience with you? Of course some think you are brilliant! They can’t live without you! But what about the others? You can learn more from them than the happy customers. No one likes rejection or negative feedback, but the knowledge you will gain by asking them some detailed questions will be worth it. It’s all about keeping the lines of communication open and listening for those details that you can use to improve.

To do this you need to create an environment where all your current clients and prospective clients can give feedback easily. Make some of your contact direct and some indirect. Give everyone as much opportunity to communicate “the details” with you as possible. Have you tried some of these avenues for communication and feedback?

• Have an event. It doesn’t have to be expensive, just creative and fun.
• Create a newsletter and deliver it to your contact list at least once a month and don’t ask for anything.
• Pay attention to people who mention you online and engage with them. It’s as good as answering that ringing phone.
• Write thank you notes to your clients who would not expect one. Do it often.
• Make use of a blog. Don’t just have one, actually post useful information on it regularly. You may be surprised who’s reading it.
• Keep in touch with people in the industry for no reason but to say hi. They will remember you later.
• Contact every client who stops working with you and find out why.
• Stay in touch with people you used to work with. Don’t ask for anything, just stay in touch.
• Put together a list of services you can refer to others. Get to know these people who can also help your clients.
• Run classes for your clients. Maybe they will bring a friend (new client) with them.

I am not suggesting that you fill your to-do list with these action items. Pick the one that you are most comfortable with and commit to doing it. Then later, find another way to build on your success. Sometimes running a small business is all in the details that you present to your clients.

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

It’s that time of year. Whether you have children who are returning to school or not, when you turn the calendar to September, I think we all get that “back-to-school” feeling. It’s a time of new beginnings, of reassessing your goals or making new ones.

As my summer ends, I tend to refocus on business and recommit to my goals. Exploring the possibilities is always exciting (and a little scary). How do you challenge yourself to move forward in your business? Everyone does it differently. It’s one of the great things about being a business owner – you do want you want. That’s also one of the more difficult things about being a business owner – nobody is there to tell you what to do. So how do you create your own personal business goals?

1. Brainstorm the possibilities. Open yourself up to different options; find new resources and tools that can help you on your way to success.
2. Commit to a goal. Own it! Let other people know what it is. Write it down. Whatever you have to do to keep yourself moving towards the goal.
3. Have a realistic time frame. Finding the time could be the hardest part of achieving your goals. If it’s important enough, you’ll schedule bits of time to progress.
4. Break it down into mini goals. The same skills you use with your clients can be applied to your business.
5. Get support. At times “it takes a village.” Find people that will cheer you on and keep you accountable.
6. Get ready for setbacks. Progress never travels in a straight line. Riding the roller coaster can be scary and fun. It’s all in how you look at it.
7. Believe you can do it. The confidence that “you can” is essential.

As the chapter reconvenes after the summer break, this is a great time to try something new. Attend a chapter meeting with the resolve to connect with someone new. Find a more established organizer who you can learn from, or meet a new member you can mentor. Get to know our Corporate Partners and learn what they can offer you and your clients. Commit to broadening your education by attending the Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference for Professional Organizers in October. There are so many opportunities to spark your thinking. How will you recommit to your business goals in this autumn of possibilities?

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

NAPO-WDC chapter members recently gathered to celebrate our 2011-2012 chapter year. It was a fun evening honoring all those who stepped forward and offered their time and talents to benefit the chapter. So many people to thank – I won’t mention them all in fear that I will forget someone, but I do want to congratulate a few of our outstanding members.

First, I want to honor the winner of the NAPO-WDC Professional Organizer of the Year award, Maria White. Maria collected almost 5,000 pairs of shoes for Soles4Souls, getting the whole chapter and many local businesses involved.

Second, Heather Cocozza was voted by the membership as NAPO-WDC Volunteer of the Year. Heather participates in a leadership role in many chapter activities like BCPO chapter liaison, chapter blog poster, Ask the Expert facilitator and leader of the ever-popular Alexandria/Arlington Neighborhood Group.

We had so many people get involved this year, which strengthened our chapter and its ability to offer education and support to our membership.  If you missed the list of our accomplishments at the party, here it is:

• 10 Enthusiastic new members, for a total of 102 members to date.
• 94 Posts to date on NAPO-WDCs Informative new chapter blog.
• 6 New Corporate Partners, with a total of 14 Great Corporate Partners to date.
• 112 Excited people attended the Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference for Professional Organizers.
• 26 Remarkable chapter members and Corporate Partners participated in our GO Month project at A Wider Circle.
•  60 Passionate chapter members attended the NAPO conference in Baltimore.
• 9 years of educational conference recordings with over 450 individual seminars available.
• 8 Incredible Quantum Leap trainers in the chapter.
• 15 Tremendous CPOs in the chapter.
• 3 Neighborhood groups that offer awesome direction and friendship.
• 1 Fabulous book club.
• 8 Dynamic speakers who spoke at chapter meetings.
• 42 Golden Circle members who graciously gave advice at the Ask the Expert tables.
• 14 Energized members attended the new member brunch.

Of course, we’ve just gotten started. Our chapter year doesn’t end until the September 30th. But, with our upcoming summer break around the corner, the timing seemed appropriate to look back on our year.

We still have our “Favorite Things” June meeting scheduled along with a new activity – A White Elephant Sale. Over the summer the NAPO-WDC board of directors will be planning the 2012-2013 chapter year and look forward to starting off strong in September. Don’t worry; you’ll be hearing a lot from us in the interim. Registration for MARCPO (Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference for Professional Organizers) starts in June and don’t miss out on the early bird special pricing over the summer. Book club members will be meeting for the fiction book read in July, and of course, the neighborhood groups will get together. There is always something to do within NAPO-WDC.

If I don’t get a chance at the June meeting, I want to thank you for being a part of a great year for the chapter. Have a wonderfully successful summer and I look forward to seeing you again in the 2012-2013 chapter year.

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