As of the end of December, My Organized Biz will be closing as b5media discontinues Bizzia and the business blogs.  I’ve been writing this blog for several months and hope I’ve brought you helpful information about organizing your business, your office, and your marketing. 
 It has been enjoyable blogging here and getting to know so many of my readers.  As with  many opportunities in life, there comes a time to go on to something else.
I shall be activating two business blogs I established at Blogger some time ago and will publish future business and organizational tips there so that my readers will have information to refer to.  …read more

As one year comes to an end and another begins, it’s time to take stock and see where you might make changes.  Also, you’ll want to do some organizing for 2010.
Consider practices and products that weren’t so successful this past year.  It might not be your fault at all but is due to the changes in the economy and spending power of your customers.
What can you do this year to minimize losses and even drive up profits?

Discontinue unprofitable products
Brainstorm for new products/services that meet people’s needs in a changing economy.
Assess what promotional practices worked. 
Discontinue those that didn’t meet with success over …read more

At the end of each month, I present a round-up of five posts that have been popular or have generated interest at My Organized Biz. 
Here are 5 for December:
Organizing Your Packaging for “Green” Products
Organizing a Studio in a Loft
Pearl Harbor Day – December 7
More Organizational Tips from a Reader
Reader’s Response to Internet Disfunction Post
Did you have a favorite post?

Developing a brand or recognition of your name and/or business has become a hot topic nowadays.  Focusing your interests under a related “umbrella” enables you to brand a wider group of activities.
I’ve written about a number of branding strategists at Home Biz Notes.  Perhaps none of them started out deciding to develop a brand, but slowly it has evolved for them and is worthwhile building upon now.
Susan Gunelius on Branding Your Business – The Playboy Way
Branding – The Elm Creek Way
Kyra E. Hicks Discovers Her Writing Niche or Brand
How Do I Brand My Home Business?
Can I Brand – The Trails End Quilters Way?
Have …read more

As the hours wind down toward Christmas Day, are you stressed out trying to meet business commitments, finish orders and get deliveries made, along with family holiday plans?  Or are you well organized so that everything is running smoothly?
If you still have much to do:

Prioritize and decide what really needs to be done and in what order.
Is there anything you don’t need to do until after Christmas Day…or even the holiday season?
Can you get someone to help you with these commitments?
Is there something else you can put off that you thought you needed to accomplish?
Take a few minutes, here and there, …read more

Many people with small or home businesses work at them around another job.  They may have a full or parttime job working for someone else.  How do they combine the two efficiently and productively?

Set down a business plan for your business.
Decide how you can get it started parttime, utilizing the hours when you’re not at another job.
If it’s an online business, it’s much easier to juggle your activities, fitting your business into the time slots you’re not at your “away” job.
If you’ve opened a business in your home, decide what hours you’ll be open…in other words, when you’re not away …read more

At Home Biz Notes, I wrote about, Plan an Open House to Generate Interest in Your Business, possibly between the holidays or right after the new year.  What steps do you take to organize one of these?

Decide on a date and time.
What will you emphasize…new services, products, reintroduction of current ones (see list on Home Biz Notes post).
Put up notice in your place of business.
Tuck notices into purchases.
Send out cards/announcements which you can make on the computer.
Possibly plan a program.
Do you need someone to help?
Will you have special decorations?
Whatwill you give as door prizes or hand-outs (keeping them within a …read more

In reorganizing our multigenerational home, now that granddaughter is away at college, my daughter found she could utilize the loft area for her sewing and fabric design studio. 
(One side will retain a bed and space for Kara.)  However, the sprawling sewing nook and storage in the living room will be moved to the loft.
This has become an extensive  project as the family:

Repainted the walls, which involved looking at many paint chips.
Finished the floor (there was only a subfloor before)
Built permanent railings on either side of the chimney for the portion overlooking the living room.
Decided to paint the remainder of the …read more

The challenge – organizing your work so you’re productive when the weather outside lures you away from the keyboard, sewing machine, easel, billing, bookkeeping…or other necessary tasks to keep your business on track.
How can you take advantage of everything?

Get up extra early so that you can get the absolutely necessary work done before breakfast.
Organize your “to do” list so that the priority items are on top.  When those are done, you can play, then get to the not so important items afterward.
Before being lured away from work, make a commitment to stay up later that evening to make sure everything …read more

Take time out from organizing to remember Pearl Harbor Day or learn about it and significance to our United States heritage. I don’t remember the day Pearl Harbor happened, but I recall when the war was over.  Our teacher, at the one-room school, learned of the occasion and let us out from school immediately, so we didn’t have a full day.The siren at the local firehouse was sounding, people in cars blew their horns as a friend and I walked along the road toward our homes. My mom was excited because it meant Uncle Al would be coming home.  By then her …read more