Fonts made easy on your Apple Computer

How to use the Fonts Panel Shortcuts on your Apple Computer to create great looking documents and emails.

When working in Apple Programs such as Pages, Numbers, Keynote and Apple Mail, the Font Panel is a quick, easy way to manage your font styles and colors. Whether you want to simply preview all the font styles that are available or you want to add styles and colors to your writing it's easy. Here is a short video demo to show you how to use these shortcuts to apply some of the following styles:

Apple User Tips Demo: FONTS

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Tips for Professional Organizers

Increase traffic to your professional organizing website

Professional Organizers like many other solopreneurs, face the challenge of not only having to perform the work but are also responsible for creating an on-going pipeline of new clients. Effective marketing, networking & advertising is essential to keeping a business thriving. Online “brochures”  or websites are powerful vehicles for generating leads. With a little effort and learning in how your site is constructed combined with a clear focus on content posted you can increase  your online visibility resulting in more visitors helping to keep that pipeline flowing.  

Search Engine Optimization

SEO is “the process of improving the visibility of a website or webpage in search engines via the "natural" or un-paid algorithmic search results” Wikipedia   It is a great “equalizer” because it allows the owner of a small company  to build a strong presence on the internet and compete with the “big boys” simply by applying targeted SEO techniques.   

The key is understanding how search engines work. Google and others are all about relevance to the specific words that are input. The links that appear are a direct result of the EXACT words searched. But how exactly did those results rise to the top? Keywords, or the words searched, were “built” into those website or webpage in headlines, blog content, HTML code, and graphics to mention a few ways. Taking the time to construct your site with your target audience in mind will go a long way in increasing your online visibility. 

Some site construction tips:

• Title each page of your website with keyword rich titles specific to YOUR audience
• Place keyword rich content in the opening sentences of your website  
  and, try not to make it look like you are just dumping keywords in the copy
• Label all graphics and alt tags on your website with keyword rich names
• Get quality sites to link into yours

Specializing is a good thing! 

Internet searches benefit those who specialize. Think about it, if you put in a search for “golf clubs” you’ll get tens of millions of results. But if you are the manufacturer of a special kind of left handed putter you’ll end up with targeted visitors who are looking for “exactly that item.” So think about what your specialty is in your organizing business. Think about who your ideal client is. Do you love working on kitchen organizing projects with a particular focus on pantries, or prefer closet organizing specializing in helping people in small apartments or houses manage their lack of storage space? What might that targeted client want to know? What might they be searching for online? When you have that identified create matching content reflecting your expertise and specialty in the area throughout your site.   

Posting blogs is a terrific way to target a specific audience. Each blog page is a separate distinct web-page on your site capable of showing up as a separate search result. So posting blogs that are directed to your market broadens your visibility with each and every page posted.  If you love panty kitchen organizing, then do a series on tips and tricks for organizing a pantry. Be sure to focus on writing copy that is keyword heavy targeting your ideal client and location. The more you can tap into what your ideal client might be searching for online the more likely you will be seen by those potential clients if your website content matches their goals & objectives. 

So when crafting your marketing strategy for your business consider focusing on SEO for your website. You'll increase your companies presence on the internet helping to keep that pipeline of work flowing. 

For additional SEO and other technology & organizing articles, tips, resources and information be sure to visit    TechOrganizing.com

Update on January 12, 2012 by Alix L.

Applying SEO techniques benefits all companies (not just Professional Organizing firms)

This post was written for the Professional Organizing community but the tips mentioned work with any company wanting to increase their firms visibility on the internet. 

Beyond those tips posted here there are many additional SEO techniques that can help. Things such as posting video on your website and consistently adding new content regulary help improve your companies presence on the web. 

Our goal at Lionheart is to help small companies run their businesses smoothly and effeciently. We hope you found this post helpful. Please feel free to post a comment, your own tip or if you have a question or comment send me a note. We would love to hear from you!

Thanks, Alix

Create Professional Looking Documents by Adding Custom Colors to the Apple Color Palette

Use Your Own Company Branding & Logo Colors

While most Apple Computer users know that you can access the colors palette window by selecting "Show Colors" from the Menu Bar (in most programs) what many do not know is that you can save your own custom colors for future use.

Personalized to Reflect Your Brand

Say for example you've got a website with your own special version of blue that matches all of your marketing materials or you have a logo and you want to use that same color in other programs on your computer so you can color coordinate email signatures or other business documents - You can,  it's easy,  here's how. 

1. Open up the colors palette from within the Apple Program (Pages, Mail, Keynote, etc.,) by selecting "Show Colors" from the menu. Depending on the program in might be in the Format Menu or the View Menu.

2. Next, open up the website page or photo, or logo, or whatever image has the color you want to capture. You'll need that graphic up on your desktop so you can grab the color to then save to the colors palette. Make sure the Colors Palette Window is still visible next to the item - you may have to re-select the program you used to access the palette window to bring it back up.

3. In the color palette window select the little magnify glass (it's located near the top left of the window just under the color wheel. When you click on it the curser turns into a magnifying glass. 

4. Move the curser (which is now looks like a magnifying glass) over the specific color on your computer you want to capture. You will see the inside of the magnifying glass actually change colors as you pass over items on your desktop.

5. Once you are on the specific color you want, click your mouse or trackpad to select the color. That color will now be in the large rectangular box in the color palette window. 

6. To save that color for future use select the little small circular "dot" at the bottom of the colors palette window and drag it down to see rows of blank palette squares.

7. Now drag your "new" color from that larger big rectangular color swatch (next to your magnifying glass) and place that new color in one of the little squares. That color is now saved and you can access it anytime you open up the color palette window. 

Here's a 40 second Lionheart how-to video demo:

Beautiful Branded Marketing Materials

Now that you've got that color saved you can use it for your email signature or for your business docs to give all of your marketing and communications a professional polished company branded look. 

Tech Skills Professional Organizers need to know • NAPO Conference

Tips & Techniques for Technology Solutions in the Organizing Industry

Are you are a Professional Organizer who wants to learn more about Technology and Organizing? Do you want to add Technology Organizing to your service offering but not sure if you have the skills and want to learn more? Then be sure to check out the National Association of Professional Organizers Annual Conference this March 2012. The NAPO Technology Special Interest Group, made up of organizers whose businesses primarily focus on the use of technology to solve organizing issues, will be presenting "Tech Skills Every Organizer Should Know"  

NAPO Conference Session 4-5: Tech Skills Every Organizer Should Know   

Tech SIG members Karen Simon, Nicole Chamblin and Alix Longfellow will be addressing key issues to help Professional Organizers feel comfortable working with clients (both Residential & Business) and their Technology related issues and solutions. Here are just a few of the areas we wil be covering:

• How Technology Affects the Professional Organizing Industry 
• Ways Professional Organizers Can Recognize Their Clients Comfort Level with Technology 
• Technology Solutions Professional Organizers Should Know 
• Basic Technology Skills Professional Organizers Can Teach Clients  

Want to learn more: Here is a short video with additional details about the NAPO Conference Session: 

Save the Date:  
NAPO Annual Conference
March 21- 24, 2012
Baltimore, Maryland

Still have questions feel free to contact us directly. We look forward to seeing you in Baltimore!

NAPO News Article with some tips for going paperless

NAPO News Article July/August 2011 

As a member (and as of July 1st leader) of the NAPO Technology Special Interest Group I meet regularly with fellow organizers who specialize in Technology Solutions to help clients become more productive and get organized. Recently we collaborated on an Article for the Association Newsletter (NAPO News)  on ways organizers can help clients go paperless. There are some terrific ideas and resources mentioned that I wanted to share with you. Whether you are looking for some solutions for business or personal use there are some ideas mentioned that may be of use.  

To view article click on the document below.

Social Security no longer sending annual statements

The Social Security is no longer sending annual statements. If you want to find out your estimated social security benefits you now have to log onto the official Social Security website  www.socialsecurity.gov and select "Estimate your retirement benefits."

Gilda's Club Get Organized (GO) Event January 2011

Gilda's Club NAPO-GPC GO Month Event January 2011

Regional Professional Organizers from the NAPO Greater Philadelphia Chapter participated in a Get Organized (GO) Event at Gilda's Club. A wonderful organization that supports those diagnosed with Cancer, Gilda's Club of Southern New Jersey is located at 700 New Road, Lindwood, New Jersey, 08221.  Professional Organizers donated their time Monday January 24, 2011 to help organize their storage closet. With 4 organizers and 16 man hours the storage area was transformed into an efficient, orderly space complete with zones (such as holiday decorations, office supplies and banners,) all with clearly labelled shelves to help volunteers locate items when needed.  

It's a wonderful organization supporting not only those who have cancer, but their families as well and we were honored to be able to participate. For more information about their services please visit their website at: Gilda's Club of South Jersey.

And for those of us who volunteered we had a wonderful time - I decided to have some fun with the footage so made a fun, 60 second video-trailer from the day - enjoy!

Gildas Club Go Month Event 2011 from Alix Longfellow on Vimeo.

Dispose of your old medications safely Saturday Sept. 25

National Take-Back Your Unused Medication Initiative

If you have a lot of medications in your medicine cabinet and want to get rid of them, the DEA September 25, will be coordinating collection of old medications from 10:00am - 2:00pm at collection sites throughout the country.  You can locate a collection site near you by searching at this link.  

I recommend you take the time to properly dispose of your medication so they don't get thrown down the drain and pollute the water supply.   And if you can't do it Saturday check out this resource that can help you locate disposal areas throughout the year.

Update on October 17, 2011 by Alix L.

2011 National Take Back Unused or Expired Medications Scheduled

The 2011 National Take Back Initiative is scheduled for October 29, 2011 from 10:00am - 2:00pm

Visit this site for additional details:
http://www.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/drug_disposal/takeback/

College Caboodle helps Parents of College Bound Students Apply to College and Scholarships!

Making the entire application process a breeze!Are you a parent with a College Bound high school student and feel anxious about the college applications process? Are you planning on applying for financial aid or scholarships? Are you worried you won't have the necessary essay's to complete to application or concerned you'll miss college application deadlines? If so, being organized is the key to making the entire process stress free. At the National Association of Professional Organizing annual conference I found just the tool to help with that. It's the College Caboodle and it's designed to help you keep track of important documents so that the application process is a breeze. The system is set up to help your organize all the information you need to help your child gain admission to the colleges of their choice. Just think, 72% of parents don't have a plan or a system in place to help manage all of the paperwork and with aplications on the rise it is as important as ever to have a plan. The college caboodle takes the worry out of the entire process.  Check out this short video to learn more, but if you are worrying about preparing your kids for college and the entire application process this is something that can really help. Want to learn more click here: College Caboodle. 

A Professional Organizers thoughts on the new Ipad

Not Just A Pretty Device - As A Productivity Tool The iPad Excels!

Having used the iPad for the past month i can say it exceeds my expectations. Prior to the release there were many online discussions about how this would fit into someones toolkit -- can it replace a laptop? is it just an oversized iPod touch? The truth is the iPad is a new category and it's a great addition. It's best when you are consuming content such as watching videos, TV shows, checking out web-sites, listening to music, reading a book or sharing photos. As a Professional Organizer though I'm all about productivity and I can safely say as a productivity tool, the iPad is great.

Everything you need in a portable device

Ten days ago i was in Columbus, Ohio for the National Association of Professional Organizers annual Conference and for the first time in 6 conferences opted to not bring my laptop and instead rely solely on the iPad. I was of course able to access the internet (via WiFi) and check my emails, check out my schedule, look up contacts in my database but the iPad turned out to be great for other things. I opted not to bring the keyboard-dock as I really wanted to check out how "regular" typing on the larger keyboard compared to the smaller iPhones would be and while I did have to get used to the touch keyboard and had to correct several mistakes in my typing I was able to take notes easily and had the added benefit of emailing myself those notes afterwords so I had clear typewritten notes to work from when back at the office. Prior to heading to Columbus I also downloaded GoodReader which is an application that allows you to load PDF's onto your iPad. This years conference organizers opted to go digital instead of supply a printed workbook so it was extremely helpful to be able to have over 400 pages of session presentation notes, files, meeting room floor plans and other PDF's that I wanted to access during the conference on one small digital device.  And loading the documents was really easy. Like the iWork Apps (Pages, Numbers & Keynote) you can simply upload files from within iTunes. Everyday i'm finding new, useful iPad applications (i'll be posting more of those in later posts,) but i'm extremely satisfied with the iPad as a productivity tool.