Fast Track Method™ Training Program
Become Institute for Professional Organizers™ Trained and an Expert in Your Area

Layer One

Plan and Launch

Your Professional Organizing Business

Self-study Program

Already registered? Access your course materials here!

Complete Layer One and earn the designation of Trained by the Institute for Professional Organizers™ or choose to earn the designation of Certified by the Institute for Professional Organizers™ by completing Layers One and Two.

$997

Includes a 160+ page manual and viewing web-based videos. Anne Blumer, CPO® guides you through the manual, sharing her experience-lessons learned, and enthusiasm for the curriculum. Layer One is a prerequisite to Layers Two and Three. You will learn:

What is a Professional Organizer?

Introduction to Professional Organizing - Understanding the Professional Organizer Industry Associations and Credentials

Provides an overview of the history of the organizing industry and of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO), identifies the characteristics of a professional organizer and characteristics of a business owner, explains the benefits of NAPO membership, and reviews the requirements for industry certification. reviews the requirements for industry certification.

Assessing Your Skills as a Professional Organizer and Business Owner

This session will review your skills, prior experience, and education as it relates to the field of professional organizing.

Plan and Launch Your Professional Organizing Business

Writing Your Business Plan

Your business plan is often an afterthought if it is ever addressed at all. In this session, you will learn the value of writing a business plan and how it can save you from costly mistakes and help you attract your key client.

Job Agreement and Business Policies

An explanation of the components of a job agreement and a form template that you can tailor to meet your business needs. Business policies and client boundaries are also reviewed.

Rate Structures – How to Charge for Your Services

Establishing your fee continues to be the one area where many professional organizers undervalue their services. Learn how to determine a reasonable market rate and earn the income you desire and how to communicate your value to clients.

Business Basics - Equipment and Materials

Review of forms, materials, and equipment needed to start and manage your professional organizing business.

BONUS #1

To be a successful professional organizer you need more than organizing skills. You need the tools to run a successful business. You will receive the following business and client forms saving you endless hours of research and work:

Business Plan Form + an Action List to Launch Your Business
Field Materials Checklist
Service and Fees Agreement + Business Policies
Client Initial Intake Form + Client Process Checklist
Client Assessment Forms (Residential + Business)
Client Organizing Plan of Action Form + Sample + Product Resources
Client Keep/Let-go Criteria Checklist
Client Maintenance Plan Form + Sample
Client Satisfaction Form to capture client testimonials

Name and Register Your Business for Maximum Impact

People make an impression in the first 2 seconds they meet someone. If your business name is the first way to introduce yourself to a prospective client, what impression will you make?

Marketing & Branding Your Organizing Business

You will learn about creating your brand, understanding why you need an elevator speech, developing your network of strategic alliances, developing a successful website, the 30-minute marketing formula, and writing your business marketing plan.

BONUS #2

100 Actions to Magnetize More Clients

BONUS #3

You receive three PowerPoint presentations for you to deliver and gain clients instantly!

Organizing Workshop: The A.R.T. of Paper Management - Instruction on how to present a workshop on organizing household paper information including:

How to create a paper processing center
How to identify what paper to toss and what to keep (and for how long)
The A.R.T. of paper management (Action and Reference systems)
How to make files and use file system products
Products that can help track finances and financial papers

Organizing Workshop: Time Management - Instruction on how to present a workshop on time management including:

Roles and goals
Is time spent on urgent activities or important activities
Discover time robbers through a time mapping technique
Learn how to categorize and group activities to effectively manage your client's time
Identify and choose “one” time management system and tool that is right for your client, and why

Organizing Workshop: Declutter 101 - Instruction on how to present a workshop on decluttering including how to:

Stop cluttering and start organizing!
Identify organizing stumbling blocks
Maintain organization with 10 simple organizing principles

BONUS #4

Content for 12 marketing newsletters or blog posts.

Working with Clients

Phase 1 – Initial Client Contact and Your 30 Second Hook

Preparing you for when a client calls and how to get an assessment scheduled.

Phase 2 – How to Effectively Conduct a Needs Assessment

The needs assessment discoveries will be your roadmap for clearly identifying your client's goals, needs, barriers, and expectations. This session will provide you with questions to ask your client that will help you to assess best their organizing needs to develop an organizing plan of action. Scheduling the Project: You will learn how to estimate how long a client project will take, and how to explain to clients the factors involved in your estimations.

Phase 3 – Completing the Client Project – 5 Steps to Organizing® Process, Organizing Plan of Action and Client Follow-up

A time-tested and easy to implement process that will not only give you a method for organizing your clients but also teach them the skills they need to maintain their accomplishments after you leave. How to recognize backsliding and effective ways to address it.

BONUS #5 Systems and Solutions

With our 5 Steps to Organizing® process, 5 Phases of Client Process checklists, and customizable forms you will be fully prepared and know how to implement a client’s organizing project with ease and confidence.

BONUS #6 Room-by-Room Residential Organizing

For every space in a home, you will learn the typical habits that cause disorganization, how to create organized zones, product solutions to aid organization, new habits to maintain organization, and the estimated time to organize. You will gain confidence that you can organize any space in a home.

BONUS #7 Professional Organizer Core Competencies

This training will equip you with core professional organizer competencies as a successful professional organizing business owner

You will earn and receive the IPO Trained designation and logo upon completion of your training and passing the Layer 1 exam.

Working with Clients – What I Know Now, I Wish I Had Known Then

This session will prepare you for specialized client populations with an in-depth look at real client case studies on Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Chronic Disorganization (CD), hoarders, students, and seniors. Safety for the professional organizer and client is also covered.