Join Angela this Wednesday, November 9th for A Red Bench’s final live teleclass, when we’ll speak with Marla Dee–professional organizer, author, and creator of the Professional Organizer Training Program. Come learn the secrets to long term success that will serve you at whatever stage you are at in your business. You will be inspired and empowered to take the next BIG step to keep your business and yourself growing.

In this class you will learn:

• The natural cycles of growth and death that happen at 3, 5, 7, and 9 years.
• The balance between busy, burnout or broke – how to grow and still take care of yourself.
• How to tap into your personal genius and create your unique offering in the organizing industry.

**PLEASE NOTE: this class will be 90 minutes long instead of the usual 75 minutes.

Don’t miss out on A Red Bench’s last ever live teleclass! Click here to register! Remember, even if you can’t make the live call, registering will ensure that you receive a downloadable copy of the audio in your e-mail inbox within a few business days.

Check out Sharon’s website New Ink Copy for more information. Or follow her blog for other marketing tips and tricks!

“Regardless of whether you are new to the business or have years of experience, these workshops will help you focus on what’s really important and will teach you how to systemize, market and promote yourself and your services in a way that gets noticed AND gets you booked!”

For more information about this event, visit Lisa’s website!

If you’re interested in learning more, Liz will be holding a training on Thursday, June 2nd entitled “3 Pillars of Running a PO Business – Sales + Service + Raving Fans Retention”. The class will start at 9:00 AM and run until 9:45. For more information or to register, e-mail Liz.

Don’t forget, our next teleclass–Authentic Marketing with Michael Katz–will be this Monday, the 23rd of May. Click here for more information and to register.

Clear & SIMPLE’s Professional Organizer Self Study Course, which has previously only been offered as part of the five-day training, is now available as a standalone course for anyone anywhere who wants to get started in this industry with the best systems, expert guidance, and tools. This course has been completely updated, and includes: a comprehensive 125 page manual taking you through everything you need in your first year, customizable forms to help you start and run your organizing business, two audios (an audiobook version of Marla’s “Get Organized, the Clear & SIMPLE Way”, as well as a new audio entitled “Become a Professional Organizer”), and an assortment of her favorite tools for being an excellent professional.

If you order this course by March 5, 2011, you will also receive two special gifts: a complete line of C&S products worth $50, as well as a 30-minute personal coaching session with Marla Dee worth $90. Click here to register for this course, which will be come available on March 15th!

So a few weeks ago I would say I had a melt down.  It came after three straight weeks of 7am – 9pm days, I had not worked out or seen friends and had very little time with John.  I was really struggling and just found myself frustrated by so much to do.   

As organizers, we teach people how to manage their time, but it’s an ongoing process. Sometimes, I feel as if I am supposed to be perfect and not have a bad day or make a mistake.  Well, I am here to say even organized people make mistakes – we are only human.  Even though my life is pretty balanced; I dedicate evenings and weekends to myself, my family and frieds; things recently got a little out of control with so many outside forces.   When that happens it’s important to re-assess the situation and figure out what’s working and what’s not working and fix it right away.  Click here to read my plan of attack:

• I blocked out time in my calendar for myself.  This is in addition to evenings and weekends because that’s not usually just for me.  I have had a tough time getting to the gym and that’s really important to me.  Exercising is now on the calendar as an appointment with myself. 
• I asked John if he could cook one night a week.  I love to cook; its my release from the day and we make dinner nearly every night.  I use my Meal Planning Made Easy System to plan meals for the week making dinnertime and grocery shopping simpler.  That said, it would be so helpful for John to get dinner on the table once per week – he picked Thursdays! 
• I more clearly defined when I will work on each business.  Having two businesses, I have two of everything. Two websites, two newsletters, two blogs.  I now have dedicated time in my calendar to work on Savvy SOlutions and A Red Bench seperately so I don’t feel as if I am working on both all of the time.
• I let go of a few responsibilities and activities that were not necessary or bringing value to my life.  I am a busy person and I want to contribute and be involved with as many things as I can.  But sometimes, I get involved with too much and I found myself not enjoying a few groups and associations.  I’ve let those go, guilt free!

Sure as organizers we are organized, but that’s doesn’t mean I don’t have to manage our time just like everyone else.  The difference is, I actually took the time to figure out what wasn’t working and fixed it.  Something to think about for you and your clients. 

So if you feel stressed out much of the time and can’t remember when you had a minute for yourself attend our next business class called Reclaim Your Life with Life and Business Coach Cathy Clark or purchase our audios called Time Management is Broken and Do More With Less Time.  Both will help you prioritize and use your time wisely.

At A Red Bench; we bring the experts to you!

Finding the right balance between home and career is challenging. Who or what receives the majority of your attention, time and energy?  Your husband? Your kids? Your work? Your household? Worries? Finances? Friendships?  We are all busy trying to get every little thing done and often feel stretched thin, overworked and under appreciated.  On this call, with Cathy Clark, the Professional’s Personal Coach, you will learn how to determine what is really important, how to say no to tasks and activities that don’t support your goals and how to stay in balance with life spins out of control.

I saw Cathy speak a few weeks ago and she is truly inspirational.  Not to mention, I just moved, am trying to get settled and business is going great leaving me with little time for me.  I myself am finding it difficult to stay balance.  I am really looking forward to this class on November 3rd at 3pm EST. 

Click here to register.

Potential clients and prospects are everywhere.  But what should we do after we meet them, how do we follow-up?    Consistent follow-up and communication is key to growing your database, but is so often forgotten or just simply not done well.   The fact is with each contact follow up you make, you increase the odds that a client will act on your offer.  So get in front of them on a consistent basis.

To get the ball rolling, here are three tips you can use right now to stay in better touch with your clients.

1. Create a newsletter:  I will be the first to tell you a newsletter is time consuming, but every time we send our newsletter we get a new client, a product purchase or inquiry.  Use a tool like Constant Contacts and start communicating on a consistent basis to your database.  Consistency is key here.  For more information on creating your own newsletter, purchase our audio recording called Launch and Sustain Your Newsletter.
2. Use Send Out Cards: I would be lying if I said I could get a card in the mail on time and that’s for my Mom’s birthday.  So the thought of actually coming back to my office and sending thank you card, or nice to meet you card, to a potential client is just not going to happen.  Then I discovered Send Out Cards and all that changed.  I absolutely love this product!!!  I’ve created campaigns and can send a thank you card in a few seconds.  It’s just that easy.  For more information on  staying in touch using note cards, purchase our audio recording called Rise Above the Rest with Relationship Marketing.
3. Free Information: A great way to grow your database is to offer free tips and information on your website.  The key is to have the person enter their contact information in order to get the tips.  A simple and effective way to increase your database.

Every touch point is an opportunity to grow your business and increase profits.  Get back in touch with potential clients today and consistently stay on top of your database.

A Red Bench offers business training to Professional Organizers and small business owners.

That said,  I love being an entrepenuer and owning my own business. Sure it takes a lot more time that I had originally thought, and the pay sometimes isn’t as consistent, but the good news is I work when I want and get to travel as often as I like and don’t have to ask anyone for permission.  I love that. 

Sometimes though, burnout sets in and it;s time for a change.  How do you know when its time?  Here are a few signs:

1. You dread getting up in the morning and have a tough time getting out of bed. 
2. You dread going to be bed because you have to work again tomorrow. 
3. You dread Monday and its just Friday evening.
4. You just can’t get excited about work or anything related to work.
5. You complain about work a lot.
6. You are making excuses as to why you’re not making more money, getting new clients, etc. 
7. You have a hard time imagining what the future holds for you and your business. 
8. You feel frustrated often due to work related issues and events. 

Business owner burnout is common.  Even when you love your work, we all go through times when we just want to quit or give-up.  Our next A Red Bench Business Training Expert is Pam Narvaez of Direct Effect Coaching will talk us through Reinventing Your Career. 

There are signs to know it’s the right time to make a change, listen to them rather than feeling angry and frustrated.  Click here to register. 

A Red Bench provides business training and classes to professional organizers and small businesses.

Since we offer training to professional organizers, and other service based professionals, we had to get some answers on this new phenomenon that is changing the way small businesses market their business.  We had an Embrace Social Media, a TeleSummit a few months ago and it was a huge success and I learned so much on each of the eight expert calls.  How to use Twitter effectively and not lose your mind, how to create content around keywords and the do’s and don’t of a blog. 

Our Embrace Social Media, a  TeleSummit Audios and Transcripts will be available soon, so stay tuned or email us at info@aredbench.com to be the first to hear of their release.  But in the meantime, here are a few of my own takeaways from the event. 

• Engage People and Be Interesting:  My best status updates are the ones where I pose a question and get lots of answers from my friends.  This has been the beginning stage of several information products I have in the works.  By asking interesting questions you get people to engage and participate with you.
• Listen:  Don’t just talk all the time, listen to what’s going on, make comments and contribute.  A great thing to do is send people Happy Birthday wishes to let them know you are thinking of them. 

It’s up to you if you want to participate, but there is a lot of opportunity out there and the world has certainly become a lot smaller with so many friends waiting for more information.

We will launch the Embrace Social Media, a  TeleSummit Audios and Transcripts one at a time or you can get all eight very soon!  More details coming soon!