Brand Interview: Leslie Josel – Order Out of Chaos
Brand Interview: Leslie Josel – Order Out of Chaos
How long has your company been in business? Please tell us a bit about your company, its mission, goals…
I have been in business since 2004. When my son was diagnosed in 2004 with ADHD, Executive Dysfunction and other learning issues, I immersed myself in research to find ways to untangle his world. I wanted to learn all I could to help him manage and organize his tangled-up world. I soon realized that I could use my newfound expertise as the basis to launch the next chapter in my professional life. Parents were coming to me in droves for special needs education as well as ways to organize their and their children’s environment. Out of that realization, I launched Order Out of Chaos with a mission to provide organizing services to the chronically disorganized as well as individuals and small businesses with organizing and time challenges as well as individuals with hoarding behaviors.
As the years have passed, I have worked with hundreds of families, students, and individuals with a variety of organizational challenges ranging from the merely clutter-filled and overwhelmed to the chronically disorganized and individuals with severe hoarding behaviors. I have also expanded my business by developing a new Academic Planner – that teaches teens time management. I also conduct workshops and seminars for parents, teachers and students nationally on all aspects of disorganization for students. In addition, I have my first book coming out in the fall – The Complete Diabetes Organizer.
Do you donate to charities? Tell us about that also and why.
We don’t specifically donate to charities. But we support public schools with our products and services.
Tell us about your brand.
It all started with the name! I didn’t want my company to be named after me (Josel organizing…) as I knew that I had plans to do much more than just “organize.” Somewhere I knew there were products in my future! I also wanted a name that would tell potential clients EXACTLY what I did without having to explain it. AND, I wanted a name that was vague enough that it covered anything we expanded in to. Whether it was hoarding, books, planners or students, it had to fit it all. So “order out of chaos” just made sense.
How did you know what typeface (font) would be right for your company wordmark or logo? If your logo has an illustration, describe why that art was the right thing, animal, place, object, etc…
The only vision I really had was that the logo had to be clean and uncluttered. Right? I love the color green and for disorganized minds it has been proven that the color green helps. I also loved that the word order and chaos each had 5 letters so I knew I had some symmetry there to play with. And that I had two “Os” helped to. Everything just lent itself to an organized feel. What really pulled it all together for me is having the words “out of” actually come out of the letter O. I couldn’t have planned it better if I tried. It just tied it all together. I absolutely love my logo.
How did you decide on the right color palette to fit your company look and feel?
Again, green is calming and helps to organize a disorganized mind.
How did you decide which type of designer to work with, or did you design your own identity and web presence?
My dear friend is a graphic designer and I have seen her work many times. She developed the logo and then my website designer took it and used it all over my site.
In what order did you present your company to the world? Did you start with marketing and products, or website, blog and social media?
The website came first. So in that regard the logo came first. Then the blog, social media and then product, newsletter and marketing.
How long after the launch of your company did you start pitching in social media?
Social media wasn’t around in 2004. Probably not until 2010 did I really take it seriously. But the last two years have been the biggest social media years for me.
Did you do research or study any software, take webinars, teleclasses, before approaching any area of your marketing or web presence?
I have a pr/marketing background and that has been hugely helpful. My trade association – NAPO – offers tons of teleclasses, webinars, conferences, etc. on how to market your business, sell on line, use social media, etc. What makes it wonderful is that it is geared specifically to our industry.
Do you advertise locally in newspapers and/or nationally in magazines? Are they effective?
I do not do any advertising, just lots of public relations.
Do you advertise online using Google, Facebook or on other company sites? Are they effective?
Google ads were HUGELY helpful in creating awareness for my academic planner. It was a real game changer for me.
Which social media site to spend the most time on and how does it help marketing your business?
Twitter hands down. It has really helped grow my business in the sense that I have gotten guest blog opportunities, collaborations, speaking engagements, increased my sales for the planner, etc. I also use Facebook quite a bit but Twitter has been hugely helpful.
Do you belong to community sharing websites? Which ones and how effective are they in building your audience? What are the best features that help your business?
No I do not. I honestly do not know that much about them.
When you printed your products, packaging, business cards and other print marketing did you choose an online printer or visit a local vendor?
Local vendor for cards and other small projects. I use a major off shore printer for the planner.
Did you know anything about different types of papers, when you wanted to print your marketing materials?
Absolutely not!
Have you ever used “green” technology in printing, using FSC certified papers or recycled paper and if not, how likely are you at trying this on a next project?
I do not and at this point I am going to use the paper that my printer prints on.
If you sell products, are they produced in the USA or abroad?
My planner is printed abroad. But CDs and DVDs are produced locally.
Do you speak at events? If so tell us about that.
A HUGE part of my business is speaking engagements. I speak about twice a week. I either speak where I am delivering specific content – ADHD in students, time management, organizing for middle schoolers, etc. Those are geared towards students, parents and teachers. I also speak to women entrepreneurs on broad topics such as networking, running a business, balance, etc.
What is coming up in the year or two we should watch for?
I am working with a distributor to expand my planner line (develop more products) and to place it in retail stores. I have a book coming out in September. I will continue to speak all over and am also creating more programs that will expand my reach.
Is there anything you haven’t yet tackled, but will want to do soon?
We have talked about franchising the student organizing part of my business so you never know. And I would like to write a student organizing book.
To learn more about Leslie Josel and Order Out of Chaos visit the links below:
Website: www.orderoochaos.com
Blog: www.orderoochaos.com/blog
Twitter: @orderoochaos
Facebook: www.facebook.com/orderoutofchaos
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=37177415&trk=hb_tab_pro_top
YouTube: Leslie Josel
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