Welcome to the new
BCPO® Newsletter Editor:
Debbie Carney, CPO®
BCPO: Tell us about life as a CPO® in your market.
DC: It boils down to one word — validation — for myself, my clients and the organizing industry as a whole. Even though I’ve been in business for 18 years, I wanted to be certain that I possessed the body of knowledge and skills required to qualify for the credential.
It has made a huge difference! I am more confident and our clients are more confident in hiring us as well. I belong to the North Coast Ohio Chapter of NAPO, which was chartered only about 2 years ago, I believe, and we are a small group, so there is plenty of business to go around.
BCPO: Do folks in your area know what a PO or a CPO® is?
DC: Yes, finally! I rarely get that “quizzical look and tilt of the head” reaction anymore when I tell people what I do for a living, and that is so nice. I make it a point to “assure” all prospects that I am certified, and they are always more confident in hiring us once they know that there is an accreditation and that we have it. It truly gives you instant credibility!
As soon as I learned that I had passed the CPO® exam I sent out a Press Release, re-did all my marketing materials, and notified all of my clients, friends and family. I was also interviewed in the local paper’s “Ask the Expert” section and was able to talk about the growth of the organizing industry, and what BCPO® certification was all about.
BCPO: How many of your colleagues are CPOs?
DC: According to the BCPO’s Directory, there are 6 of us in Ohio. It could be that there are others who have not logged into the CPO® database and entered themselves in the directory, but those are the only ones I’m aware of.
BCPO: And most important, you are a busy entrepreneur in a down economy, what made you decide to take on this sizeable volunteer job the instant the request came out?
DC: I’d been looking for a way to help out and this is seemed like a perfect fit for me. This is a great opportunity to get to know more about the organizing industry itself and network with fellow Professional Organizers, which is something I have always wanted to do. I’m really looking forward to it!
News and Announcements
It’s true that we are in a down economy, but the truth is that clients need us more now than ever! For example, business managers have more work to accomplish with fewer staff to help them, and they need to find ways to get that work done faster and more efficiently. To keep costs low, they will have to outsource. That’s where we come in! There is no better time than now to get your CPO® designation.
Why now? Because our clients are being more concerned about how they spend their money, and our credential can be a big selling point.
We’re conscious about how we spend our money as well. If you want to get the most bang for your buck as an investment in your future as a Professional Organizer, consider sitting for the BCPO® exam and giving yourself an added advantage in the marketplace.
The next available testing window is February 1–28. Applications for those interested in taking the February 2009 CBT examination must be received by February 23rd, 2009.
Are
You
on…
We're exploring various social networking sites for both CPOs and potential CPOs. Aside from networking with your peers, you might use these groups to explore the CPO® possibilities with your peers and share information about study options and opportunities. If you're experienced with social networking platforms, and are interested in volunteering to help get these groups up and running, please contact Scott Roewer at website@certifiedprofessionalorganizers.org
CPO® TIP
Some have inquired as to what the BCPO ®is doing to get the CPO® abbreviation recognized on Google and other search engines as associated with professional organizing.
If you Google BCPO, at this moment, the BCPO® site comes up #3 and 4 -because our site is chock full of the words "Certified Professional Organizer" and "Certification for Professional Organizers" as well as CPO and that gets picked up by the search engines.
If you Google CPO, at this moment, our site comes up as item #12, with everything from Certified Corn Products to Chief Petty Officer to an acronym finder site - it stands for a lot of things all battling the same search engine. BUT, here's what you can do once you obtain your CPO® credential…
- Put CPO® on your web site on the same page as the words Certified Professional Organizer.
- Have a link from the letters CPO on your site to the BCPO web site.
- Be sure to include CPO® on all your marketing materials — the search engine spiders will keep finding it more and more.
Some folks don't realize how generally young the Professional Organizing industry is, and Certification for Professional Organizers is even newer. As more and more organizers are certified, and display CPO® on their websites and as a part of their business credentials, it will naturally become more associated with Professional Organizers.
We are creating an entry for Wikipedia for CPO®, BCPO® and Certified Professional Organizers, which should also help put us higher in the search engines. If you have had any press with regard to your goal to become certified, email public_relations@certifiedprofessionalorganizers.org so we can use your good PR to help legitimize the Wikipedia entry.
The Board of Certification for Professional
Organizers
(800) 556-0484 • info@certifiedprofessionalorganizers.org www.certifiedprofessionalorganizers.org