Business 101

Two years ago (May 2010) I got the “crazy” idea to start a blog about simple organized living. I knew that I had PLENTY to say, but I had no idea if anyone besides Dave and my mom would read what I wrote.

However I made up my mind… and after about 4 months of hashing out design details, adding content, and uploading images, SimpleOrganizedLiving.com was born in September of 2010.

At the time, my main motivation behind this blog was to provide an online resource for my organizing clients, coaching clients, and all the women who came to my workshops and speaking engagements.

This blog was supposed to be a TOOL FOR MY BUSINESS… but it ended up BECOMING MY BUSINESS!

I now work full-time on my blog and as a virtual assistant for a few other blogs.

I’ve had the privilege of sharing my life with you and getting to know many of you on a very personal level… some even “in real life”! I’ve enjoyed sharing hundreds of tips, ideas, photos, recipes, printables, giveaways, and so much more. 

I feel blessed to do something I love… but even more blessed to know that there people (besides Dave and my mom) who actually read my blog on a daily basis, implement my ideas, and are committed to creating a simple, more organized life!

Can you believe that over 2 MILLION people have visited Simple Organized Living!

Yeah, Nora is really excited about that too

To date, I’ve been able to offer every bit of information completely FREE… and I plan to continue doing so, thanks to my amazing sponsors and advertisers.

Free is good… right!

However, over the past several months, I’ve received quite a few emails from loyal readers asking if there was any way they could donate a small amount of money to show their appreciation for the tips, ideas, and advice they’ve gleaned from SimpleOrganizedLiving.com. Some were so persistent that they actually mailed me gift cards or sent money to my personal PayPal account!

Thank you, THANK YOU!

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So, as Simple Organized Living continues to grow, and as I continue to incur more and more expenses, I’ve decided to set up a ”Show Your Support” page for anyone interested in supporting SimpleOrganizedLiving.com (via monetary donation, advertising, promotional opportunities, or even just a kind note of encouragement).

This is by no means a “request” for donations, but rather a place for anyone who is interested to show their support. If you’ve benefited from my blog in any way, please click over to my new Show Your Support page to discover all the many ways you can help to support me (most of which won’t cost you a penny).

At the very least, I’d love for you to leave a comment with one tip, idea, recipe, project, etc. that has helped you to simplify and organize your life. And of course, you may feel free to leave any suggestions for future blog posts too

Thanks so much for your continued support!

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One of the hardest parts of running a business (at least for me) is deciding what I’m going to charge for my services… and then making sure I actually receive payment for those services.

I don’t want to seem greedy or money-hungry — but at the same time, I’m not willing to work for free. As many of you know, there are lots of expenses involved in running a business, so it’s essential we receive timely payments from our clients.

If you’ve ever struggled with clients who won’t pay, here are a few ideas to help you collect those payments — and prevent future problems.

Make it really easy for them to pay.

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Even though PayPal takes a small fee, it’s often the best payment option for many small businesses because it is safe, secure, well-know, and fast. Plus, they accept all major credit cards, debit cards, and work with most banks, so it’s really easy for your clients to pay.

State your payment terms clearly.

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Before you even enter into a working partnership with a client, make sure you are BOTH clear about the fees charged and your payment terms.

Will you charge any mileage fees, tax, shipping, handling, etc? From the client’s perspective, it’s really annoying to have all sorts of unexpected fees tacked on to their bill.

When do you expect them to pay? Will they pay immediately once the goods/services are received? Will you bill them at specified intervals? Will you require a full or partial pre-payment?

Go over all these details with your clients and include your payment policy in a Client Agreement Form that both you and your clients sign before doing business together.

Require pre-payment.

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I don’t require pre-payment for all of my services, but I do require a full pre-payment for all my coaching services.

I have found that most clients don’t think twice about a pre-payment (or partial pre-payment) and it’s a nice security net for business owners.

Invoice promptly after the goods/services are provided.

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Don’t allow too much time to lapse before you send out your invoices. I like to do mine on a weekly basis just so I stay on top of things and don’t forget.

Plus if you wait too long, there’s the possibility that the client will forget — or even change locations.

Offer a discount/reward for clients who pay in full.

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Depending on the type of products and services you provide, you might want to try offering a small discount or an extra reward for clients who pay up front and pay in full.

Even though you’ll take a small hit financially, you’ll save so much time — plus that money will be available for other uses several weeks or even months in advance.

Establish a follow-up procedure.

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Hopefully you won’t have to use this procedure, but it’s good to have one set up just in case.

How long will you wait until resending the invoice? Will you contact them by phone, email, letter? Will you send the issue to a collection agency if necessary? Do you even know who to contact if you need to contact a collection agency?

Money is always a tricky subject for small business owners — especially if you’re doing business with friends and family — but by keeping everything professional and using a few of these tips, you’ll hopefully be able to avoid many issues and promptly receive your payments.

Have you ever had a client who refused to pay? How did you deal with it?

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top image source

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UPDATE: This giveaway is now closed.

Congrats to:

Stacey (swags11@…)

Amy (amyctilson@…)

I will email you shortly!

When I first started my business {almost exactly 5 years ago!} the first purchase I made was for quality business cards. I didn’t know a lot about business, but I remember being told that nice business cards automatically make you look more professional.

And it’s true, I still get tons of compliments on my cards whenever I hand them out at blogging retreats, business events, to clients, family, friends, and even just to people who need my phone number or email address.

I love my business cards — the rounded corners, the simple fonts, the fantastic colors, etc. I think they reflect ”Simple Organized Living” perfectly!

However, you don’t need a full-time business inorder to carry cards with you. Maybe you have an Etsy shop or other craft business; maybe you have a personal blog or website; maybe you are a tutor or give private lessons; or maybe you just want cards with your contact information, social media information, family information, etc.

Whatever the reason, I think it’s a great idea for everyone to have some type of card. And if you DON’T already have cards… or if you would like to update your current cards, today’s giveaway from Next Day Flyers should do the trick!

With their custom design options, you can pretty much create any type of card you want! Plus, their prices are really reasonable… but of course, FREE is better than reasonable, so make sure you take a minute to enter the giveaway below!

The Giveaway:

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Today, two lucky Simple Organized Living readers will win 250 rounded corner custom cards from Next Day Flyers.

How to Enter:

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1. {required} Leave a comment on this post. What type of card would you create? Business, personal, hobby, family, general information?

2. {optional} Like Simple Organized Living on Facebook, and then leave a separate comment letting me know you did {or that you do already}.

If you are reading this in your email or feed reader, please visit the actual blog post to enter. Email entries, Facebook comments, and Twitter messages will NOT be counted.

Prizes:

(2) 250 cards from Next Day Flyers as described above.

This giveaway ends at 10:00 pm on Monday, 3/19/2012 and is open to all U.S. residents 18 years or older. I will use And the Winner Is to select the winning comments at random. Winners will be notified by email and noted at the top of this post. Winners must respond within 48 hours of notification to claim their prize or I will choose a new winner. Please see my full disclosure policy and contact me with any questions you have. Good luck!

104 comments →

I’ve been working for myself for almost 5 years now — and it definitely hasn’t always been easy, or even always enjoyable. There were many, many days when I wondered why I was working so hard for “nothing” — and I often thought about returning to the corporate world, just because working for myself was really overwhelming and stressful at times.

However, I’m so glad I stuck with it and fought through those difficult months {and years} of long hours and hardly any pay… because now I’m doing what I love, working from home, AND actually making money

Yes, I make money doing my job and I suspect that you also make money at your job — after all, that’s what a job is!

Should I Work For Free?

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While I’m certainly NOT against volunteering, charitable giving, bartering, or offering free/discounted services when the opportunity presents itself; I often have to remind myself and others that this is MY JOB, and I can’t work for free!

You would never expect a plumber, electrician, web-designer, or accountant to work for free; so why should I be expected to work for free just because I’m a stay-at-home-mom who “sits at my computer all day”?

Maybe I have a more flexible work schedule than most traditional jobs, maybe my daily commute is shorter, and maybe my office dress code allows PJ’s until noon — but this is still my job. I’ve worked REALLY hard and have made tons of sacrifices to get where I am today. I have goals and dreams too — and I’m not going to reach them by always working for free!

Yet I’m always amazed at how many people expect me to work for free! 

I frequently get emails with 3 or 4 images of someone’s room/closet, the dimensions of their space, and a novel-length message describing what their issues are and how they would like their space to function. The emails conclude by asking me to reply with a few design ideas, links to organizing products I would recommend, and any other advice I am willing to give them — all for free of course!

I get just as many requests asking me to donate my services for certain organizations, speak for different groups of people, write for other websites, and train people to become professional organizers… all out of the goodness of my heart. And while I am generally a pretty nice person, I just can’t do that all for free.

I’ve even been asked to put advertisements on my blog… for free! Maybe I’m wrong, but isn’t the whole concept of advertising to PAY someone else to promote your products? Yeah, I don’t do that for free either

In these situations, I usually just send a quick email explaining that although I would love to help them with their requests, I’m extremely busy and can’t always offer my services for free. I make sure to direct them to any blog posts that might be helpful for their situation… and I also provide links to my services and my advertising information.

Sometimes these people become clients, sometimes I never hear from them again, and sometimes they respond back saying how offended they are that I would ever think to charge them for my advice and my time!

After all, I’m JUST a stay-at-home-mom who sits at my computer all day long!

If you work from home, you know as well as I do that there are many pros AND cons of this type of work – especially once you throw kids into the mix!

And just like most jobs… it’s just not worth all the time and hassle to do it for free — at least not for me!

I suspect I’m not the only work-from-home-person who has run into these issues before!

And while I sometimes feel rude, money-hungry, or like I’m a horrible person when I explain that I can’t work for free; I just have to remind myself that this is my job!  

I love getting a great deal as much as the next person, but I also feel like my services have value and shouldn’t just be “given away” for free — at least not all the time!

Finding Balance

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Now before you leave thinking bad thoughts about me, let me reassure you that I definitely DO donate lots of my time, my services, and my money to people and organizations I have a personal connection with or causes I feel strongly about.

I also happily respond to tons of emails and comments each month with helpful information for readers looking to start up a blog, start an organizing business, or just with general questions {seriously, LOTS of emails!} I don’t mind doing this at all because I know how many questions I had when I first started my blog and my business… and I still go to other more experienced bloggers with my own questions.

I have no problem being helpful or providing information, I just don’t understand why some people expect me to give up hours and hours of my time for free — like I have nothing better to do.

Yes, I love my job… yes I love being helpful… but no, I can’t work for free! 

What are your thoughts on working for free?

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54 comments →

About a month ago, I shared the REALLY simple way I organize all our tax documents.

I still use that method for both our personal tax documents AND for my business tax documents… and so far, I don’t have any reason to change or alter this system.

However, I’ve also been using Outright.com for the past two years to help me stay on top of my small business tax information.

If you’ve never heard of Outright.com, it’s a completely free program {at least for now!} that allows small businesses to easily organize, track, and categorize expenses, mileage, income, depreciation, and a variety of other tax information.

Here are a few features I love about Outright.com.

• It compiles all sorts of graphs and reports to help track your income and expenses

• It tells you approximately how much you owe in quarterly taxes

• It visually shows you who your best customers are, where you’re spending the most money, and what areas of your business are most profitable

• It has the ability to link with your PayPal, Ebay, and bank accounts so all your financial information is in one place

• It provides printable 1099, Schedule C, and other documents for tax purposes

• It calculates and keeps track of sales tax {I don’t utilize this feature… but it’s still cool}

• It provides “pro services” for $9.95 per month, but I’ve been extremely happy with the free version and currently see no reason to upgrade for my own business.

Oh, and there is also an Outright App for smart phones that allows me to access all my information on the go!

You can watch a video tour here… or sign up for your free account at Outright.com.

If you run a small business or are trying to start a small business, I’d definitely recommend trying Outright. {And no, I don’t get anything for recommending this service… I just REALLY like it and figured some of you might too!}

Do you know of any other free tax programs on the web?

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I recently posted a list of my Pro’s and Con’s For Working From Home and running my own business — and while that list will look a little different for every work-from-home person;  the general ideas seemed to resonate with many of my readers {just read the comment section!}

Based on my past experiences, it’s quite difficult to take any amount of time off from my business {especially since I’m a one-woman operation} but it’s also 100% worth it every time I do. Even taking a few days off to relax, spend time with family and friends, and do something out of my “normal routine” seems to give me a fresh perspective and even more energy to get back to work when I return home.

So as we enter another very busy holiday season — and as I enter a period of maternity leave — I’ve been thinking long and hard about what steps I’ll need to take in order to continue generating a decent income, keep my business running, and prevent possible issues {all while being as “hands-off” as possible}.

Head on over to the Turnstone blog to read my suggestions for successfully taking time off while still running a business.

When was the last time YOU took time off?

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I recently blogged about the Pros and Cons of Working from Home and running your own business; and whether you have 500 employees, 50 employees, or are the only person on the payroll, if you also run a business, you know all about the many time management challenges that come with this extra responsibility.

One of the main reasons I wanted to start my own business is so that I could have some control over my schedule and be able take time off when I wanted to. Sometimes this works, other times it doesn’t, but if I’m not careful and if I don’t make a conscious effort to run MY business, over time,  my business might just start to run my life instead! {can anyone relate!}

So if you are starting to feel overwhelmed, overworked, and over-tired; click on over to the Turnstone blog to see how I’ve implement a few simple tips into my business plan to make sure I’m the one running the business and NOT the other way around!

By implementing a few of my tips, you’ll be more productive, have more free time, and you won’t let your business run your life — sound good to you?

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