AAPO member, Narelle Todd, has written a brilliant blog post about investing in yourself and your business at the AAPO 2010 Conference.  I encourage you to read it here.  I franky could not have said it better myself.

I heard a decluttering horror story which should act as a warning to one and all. There's a clear lesson in it.

Someone called a cleaning company to come and declutter.

During the session, the employee kept cherry-picking items she liked and asking if she could have them herself. Alarm bell number 1!

The homeowner was a distributor for a cosmetic company. The employee set aside some product for which she would pay on her return. After she left, she took some of that product with her, without paying. Alarm bell number 2!!

After the session, the homeowner felt uneasy and checked the garbage bags. There she found her son's birth certificate! Alarm bell number 3!!!

That sort of behaviour is highly unethical and something a legitimate Professional Organiser just wouldn't do.  AAPO members are governed by a Code of Ethics, so the public can be protected from this sort of poor service.

There is a happy ending to the story. The homeowner of course lost trust in the process, but has now found a reputable Professional Organiser to help her, and of course they are an AAPO member.

Come September 13th, Christchurch will be abuzz with Professional Organisers flying in from all around the world.  Of course there will be dedicated New Zealand AAPO members, Australians flying from all corners of the country, but also a return visit from a Japanese colleague and top-of-their-field POs from the US.

In particular I want to mention that in addition to our 2 outstanding keynote speakers, Angela Wallace, President Elect of NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) will be visiting.  Angela has agreed to be on the panel for the Ask an Organiser session.

If you haven't made your booking to be a part of this wonderful opportunity yet, don't wait any longer.  Click here to book or find out more.

I've been off visiting again.  This time it was to speak with the Mid North Coast Forum members.  I love that technology allows me to drop in on our Forum meetings all over, and I get to sit in my office.

Those Mid North Coast members are an enterprising lot, gearing up for their National Organising Week projects.  The local residents are lucky to have such pro-active people in their midst, with the chance to win not 1 but 5! makeovers.

Good luck to both our members and the lucky winners.

I've just returned from the AAPO Melbourne Forum meeting, and still so buzzed about what we experienced.  We had a visit from the renowned compulsive hoarding Psychology expert, Dr Christopher Mogan, who generously shared his knowledge and experience in this field.  He is genuinely excited about the role Professional Organisers can play in helping those with compulsive hoarding issues, and of course so are we!  It was great to see our members committed to their professional development and learning from the best.

Social media is a new and sometimes scary concept for many of people, so I thought I'd give you a summary of what social media is and why AAPO has decided to embrace it. In future articles I'll talk about how and why you should be using it for your business and give you some tips and tricks to make it easier.

What is social media? 

I like to think of social media as just another medium in which to communicate with people. Traditionally, we communicate face-to-face, on the phone, or using radio, print or TV. Now we can share the same content, but in a new way; instantly and online. Business has embraced social media as a new way of communicating with existing and potential clients – to promote products, get feedback, share information and provide customer service. Read more about the top brands using social media here: http://mashable.com/2009/01/21/best-twitter-brands/

Why is AAPO going to use it? 

AAPO's overall vision is “To be internationally recognised as Australasia’s premier industry association for leading and developing Professional Organisers”. Social media is just one of many tools AAPO will use to achieve this objective. By regularly 'appearing' in social media sites, the profile of AAPO will be raised and more people will become aware of AAPO's existence. There are three benefits to this:

• aspiring Professional Organisers will be encouraged to join AAPO;
• existing members will be provided with information on the industry and on AAPO’s activities; and
• thousands of disorganised people out there will learn how Professional Organisers can help them. 

What will AAPO talk about? 

AAPO will "talk" about a variety of things related to the world of Professional Organising. Sometimes we'll send out tweets with links to new organising products that might be useful to you in your business. Other times we may send out organising tips aimed at the general public. Often we'll link to articles or research on decluttering, organising or hoarding. We'll send out information about upcoming meetings, seminars and conferences, or a link to minutes from AAPO meetings or the AGM. Basically, we'll "talk" about whatever we would talk about in real life. 

There are a few things we won't "talk" about - we'll avoid sending out messages with any political, religious or otherwise controversial content. We will strive not to promote one of our members more than others. And we won't talk about anything to do with our industry that paints it in a negative light.  

What will AAPO members get out of AAPO using social media? 

There will be two main benefits for AAPO members: 

• As you know, anything that raises the profile of the industry as a whole will have a positive effect on all members, including you. But to be more specific, we hope that you might even get some business from it. Here's an example of how this might happen: 

Disorganised Dennis is an active user of Twitter, and has seen a few tweets from AAPO - mostly sending out useful articles, hints and tips on how to get organised. One day, after having a particularly disorganised day, Dennis decides to find out more about this organisation that keeps giving him these free tips. He navigates to the AAPO website through Twitter. On the front page of the AAPO website, Dennis sees yet more tips on how to get organised, some of them written by Organised Annie. "Annie sounds like she knows what she's talking about," thinks Dennis, and clicks through to Annie's site. Before you know it, Dennis has called Annie and is her newest client. 

The best bit about this is that this kind of marketing is FREE! It just took Annie a few moments to come up with some tips, and send them to AAPO to be added to the site. The key here is that you need to be active on AAPO's new website (you have your profile up there and if possible you regularly add to the content of the site). That way, whenever prospective customers find themselves on the AAPO website, you'll be top of mind. 

• Secondly, AAPO will send out specific information aimed at our members. Some of this information will also be included in the monthly newsletter (although not all of it), but if you're following AAPO’s social media content, you’ll get this information instantly. 

How is AAPO going to use it? 

Twitter and Facebook are the two most popular social media tools in use at the moment, and AAPO has an account with both. AAPO's Twitter handle (that's Twitter name to the rest of us!) is @AAPO_inc. If you're on Twitter and you're not already following AAPO, do it now. And you can find AAPO on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/aapoinc. If you're using Facebook, go and "Like" us now. If you follow us on Twitter and Facebook you'll soon see first hand exactly how AAPO will be use social media to achieve its objective of being internationally recognised as Australasia’s premier industry association for leading and developing Professional Organisers. 

Twitter will be used to update followers with short, concise messages, often with links to other sites of interest, on a daily (or almost-daily) basis. Facebook will be used to interact with followers and to post entries that need a little more space. 

Hopefully that answers some of your questions about AAPO and social media. Watch this space, as I'll be back to talk more about how social media could enhance your business offering. 

Claire Lane, AAPO Social Media Coordinator

Thanks Claire!

Please say hello to the AAPO Committee for 2010-2011.  You can meet them here.  I'm looking forward to our very first meeting on Wednesday afternoon.  We'll be looking ahead, making plans and putting them into action.

Thank you to all those who are setting aside time from running their own businesses to contribute to their industry.

Professor Michael Kyrios, the keynote speaker at AAPO's very first conference in 2006, has called for a taskforce on compulsive hoarding.  What do you think?  And if you agree, who should be on that taskforce?

Read the Age article here.

As I look back on the year that’s past I feel a great sense of pride and gratitude.  Pride for the work that’s been undertaken by all our dedicated members and gratitude for the support I've received.

So with pride and gratitude, I list AAPO’s accomplishments for the 2009/2010 year.

• Membership has grown slightly, with 200 active members and more pending.
• 4 members have achieved Accomplished accreditation level and 18 members have been awarded Expert level.
• The 2^nd Dymo NOW (National Organising Week) with increased participation by industry partners and a commitment to develop and grow this celebration of organising further.
• The 2009 Conference in Brisbane was our 4^th, and a great success, with record attendance and a high degree of delegate satisfaction.
• An Affiliation agreement between AAPO and NSGCD was signed at the conference, and we were honoured to have the President of NSGCD, Kit Anderson, in attendance and sharing her expertise.
• The President’s Award was presented at the conference to Wendy Davie for her commitment to the innovation and growth of the organising industry on a global scale.
• Our 2010 Conference is to be held in Christchurch, as we are truly an Australasian association.  Registrations are well underway and it’s bound to be an engaging learning and networking experience.
• Our Chapters became Forums in a name-switch aimed at better reflecting the role these networks play for our members locally.  As well, we welcomed new forums – Northern Beaches, Mid-North Coast, Hobart and Christchurch. For all our members who find it difficult to attend a forum meeting in person, we now also have the Virtual Forum.
• AAPO’s new website was launched with many improvements over the old one.  Members can now add events and news items directly.  There’s a quiz to engage the public and a President’s blog to update members and public alike on industry and AAPO happenings.  The online discussion forum is more user-friendly and the members only resources are increasing all the time.  The biggest changes and improvements to the website are those not visible to the naked eye.  The “back end”, with its CRM capabilities and ease of use, has received a significant boost, making administration quicker and easier, and most importantly more secure.  Not all has gone smoothly and there are still more improvements we’d like to see.  I'm pleased to say those changes will take place within 2 weeks.
• Our Public Relations sub-committee has developed a strategic plan, now approved and under implementation.  AAPO recognises this vast area is vital to AAPO and its members.  As well as media releases sent out on behalf of AAPO, there is the media release template available to all members to create their own announcements.
• AAPO now has a Social Media Co-ordinator, overseeing and facilitating AAPO’s presence on Facebook and Twitter.
• Our newsletter is growing and improving and the advertising policy means more value for our members.
• AAPO has called for quotes to have our logo made more user-friendly.  The logo will not change, but our members and their graphic designers will be able to use the new format in more ways, saving our members time and reducing marketing costs.
• After some hiatus, AAPO’s annual survey of members was reinstated.  The valuable information we gained will enable us to market to potential sponsors as well as deliver the services and programs our members want most.  I encourage all members to participate in such surveys when they occur.  The survey results will be available online soon.
• I was pleased to represent AAPO at the NAPO Conference in Columbus, Ohio, in April this year, strengthening our IFPOA (International Federation of Professional Organizing Associations) alliances, meeting with other international NAPO members, and attending conference sessions.  Some of these conference sessions have already been reported on, and more are still to come.
• Earlier this year, a President’s Skype Call was announced, allowing all members the opportunity to participate in one-on-one discussion and have any questions answered or criticisms heard directly.  As no members expressed interest in that call, I can only assume the membership is pleased with the way things are working.  This may be reinstated in the future, but for now has been shelved in favour of President’s Visits to Forums.  So far, I have visited the Virtual and Brisbane Forums and look forward to more soon.
• Member Benefits have grown.  The committee is always on the lookout for new ways to bring discounts or other benefits to the membership.  There will even more announced in the next newsletter, due within days.  All members now receive a Member Card which they can produce to receive discounts from our partners.

Moving forward, AAPO has more work to do in all the areas already mentioned, as well as Professional Development, and in creating affiliations and alliances with industry partners.

All in all, it’s been a productive year for AAPO.  We do not get to this point without a team of dedicated behind-the-scenes volunteer members.

I’d like to thank all AAPO volunteers – the Forum Co-ordinators and their assistants, the Sub-Committee members, our Newsletter Editor and Social Media Co-ordinator.  Without your participation and enthusiasm, we cannot move forward.  I’d like to thank my Committee, who work hard, take their positions seriously, give great advice, are always supportive and respectful.  Thanks to Karen and Sarah, who have offered to continue in their positions, and to Anne who stepped in at short notice and is now taking a break from committee life.  Thanks to Bec Johnston who is committed to her role and can always be relied upon.  Thanks to Rebecca Mezzino who, after years of hard work on the Committee, is stepping aside but who I know will be working for AAPO in other capacities.  Thank you to Wendy Davie, my Immediate Past President, who has opened doors for me and who knows how to get things done.  And thank you to my Vice President Roz, who always thinks of everything, encourages and questions, and helps me see clearly.

I must also thank Debra Clark, from Admincorp, who keeps AAPO ticking along.  She is always wise, always patient.  Her good work allows the elected Committee to direct their energies to strategic planning, instead of being weighed down by administrative tasks.

Thank you for the confidence you’ve placed in me as your President.  I have enjoyed serving in my role and facing its challenges, and have grown and developed because of it.  I wish AAPO tremendous success in the coming year.

- Angela Esnouf, June 30^th, 2010

For decluttering tips, don't take your advice from the Australian Labor Party. Much better to consult a Professional Organiser.

In the meantime, it's election time for the Australasian Association of Professional Organisers.  Members should seriously consider making a contribution to their industry association.  Now's the time to get those nominations in quick.