We recently connected with Cynthia Braun and have shared our conversation below.
Cynthia , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?
I joined NAPO ( then it was called the National Association of Professional Organizers) in September of 2002. I went to my first meeting in NYC and found the other organizers very excited when talking about the type of work they did hence I got excited to start my business as an organizer too. NAPO has a referral system when you’re a member so I was a member for a month and then I got an email from an organizer out west in California and she needed organizers for her client who was moving from California to Long Island,NY. So I responded quickly and got the job. Was I excited to find out that it was a 2 week job!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Since I had gone to interior design school and feng shui school I have many ideas to help my clients get their homes decluttered and organized. When I first meet with the client I get a tour of their home and ask them key questions about their home. Like what tasks do you do in this room?, what do you incision this room to look like? Etc With this information I physically and mentally go through the items in the room and decide what to do with each item: does it stay, get donated or is it garbage. As we go through the entire room the transformation happens.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
I was a professional sales person in a very large company. The company was being sold so we all knew that the sales force was going to be replaced. That is when I started investigating different fields and see what was out there that I can do. I went to my annual obgyn appointment that year and there was a magazine on the table to read as you wait to be called into the drs room. In that magazine was an article about Julie Morganstern who was Oprah’s professional organizer in the 90’s. As I read the article I was intrigued about what she did on a daily basis. All the tasks that I’ve been doing for years for family & friends in their homes
What’s been the best source of new clients for you?
When I first started in 2002 I didn’t even have a website. What I did to market myself was to do free 2 hour presentations in libraries, retirement villages and mom groups on “How to organize your home for easier living”. After many years of presenting I then added workshops in my home with a more brief presentation and then followed by lunch and then a tour of my home,showing all the organizing techniques I personally used. Then came social media and websites. Luckily my husband was a software developer so he was able to build my website with all the information I provided him. It still is maintained by him today while I give him changes quite often. Once Google was a prominent search engine I advertised on Google. This has been the largest source of new clients, being number 1 in the search in my demographic area. I’m also naturally ranked high also. After Google my next source of new clients is Facebook where I post regularly on 20 different mom groups. I post many before and after photos to get a great response.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.OrganizeYourLife.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OrganizeYourLife
