Tired of receiving a multiple number of catalogs every week? The following web site will stop the cascade of catalogs and help reduce unnecessary purchases.

http://www.catalogchoice.org/

This is who I recommend for all your digital needs in Houston. I use them personally. I have committed to having Affordablescans scan my top 100 pictures each month. I have organized my photos by each person or group of people. Every month I am creating a DVD for that person as a Birthday gift. I should be finished by the conclusion of this year. Once they are on CD, it is so easy to share them on-line. Also, it is easy and affordable to make multiple disks, so you have additional copies in case of a nature disaster.


Profit from Digital Organization
Christine Wu, Director of Marketing and Sales
AffordableScans.com – NAPO Associate Member

I. Introduction

A. Job Categories

i. Documents (financial and family records)
ii. Photos
iii. Video
iv. Data Backup

B. Why Go Digital?
i. Technology Trends
ii. Easiest way to store
iii. Easiest way to duplicate
iv. Easiest to sort and search

C. Role of the Organizer

i. Merge physical and digital filing systems
ii. Help put things in digital format
iii. Help organize things once they're digital
iv. Help find digital "stuff"
v. Electronic records keeping (accounting)
vi. Digitize and destroy!

D. Opportunity Knocks

i. Important things are trending toward digital instead of physical
ii. Few people have mastered both physical and digital organization
iii. Easier to do more for each client than find more clients
iv. Small businesses consume these types of services

II. Electronic Documents

A. Motivation

i. Reduce paper clutter
ii. Reduce exposure to man-made or natural disasters
iii. Meet government and business regulations
B. File Naming Rules
i. Always organize so file names make sense when sorted alphabetically
ii. Arrange with date in filename (YYMMDD)
iii. Put useful differentiators in filename
iv. Add prefixes when alphabetical naming does not look right

C. Scanning Differentiators

i. Paper size
a) Letter, legal size easy
b) Anything bigger may be 2X more
ii. Single sided vs. double sided
iii. Can it be automatically fed?
a) Similar or mixed sizes
b) Thickness/stiffness
c) Semi-transparent
iv. Remember or reproduce?

D. Tips

i. Draw a paper chart to help understand where files reside
ii. Apply above File Naming Rules to directories
iii. 300DPI is almost always sufficient
iv. PDF format is usually what customers want (easy to view/re-print)
v. Grayscale documents are 1/3 the size of color documents

III.Photos

A. Motivation

i. Photos fade, stick together and deteriorate
ii. Slides fade and color shift
iii. Family members want copies

B. Physical Organization

i. Get a rough idea of the family structure (members, generations)
ii. Determine how much information they kept
a) A lot - organize by year/month
b) A little - organize by 5 or 10 year periods
iii. Find a happy balance on order - perfection takes a lot of time / input
iv. Must be able to identify what has been scanned or not in the future
v. Good to organize into numbered groups (1 group = 1 album)

C. Scanning

i. Takes a long time
ii. 300DPI good enough for photos
iii. 2000DPI good enough for negatives
iv. Pictures should be stored in JPG w/high quality settings
v. Cropping is a large hidden problem

D. File Naming Rules

i. Use separate directories for each logical group
ii. Make sure no two images have the same name
iii. If you know more info, you can name better (Image1989-001-Disneyland.jpg)
iv. These rules also apply to incoming images from digital cameras/email/web

E. Photo Enhancements

i. Digital noise reduction
ii. Color correction
iii. Restoration

IV.Video

A. Editing time proportional to length of footage (slow)
B. Requires a lot of attention to detail and disk space
C. Very difficult to match a customer's "vision" of the end product
D. Business customers yield best profit
V. Data Backup
A. Backup! Backup! Backup!
B. DVD for < 4.7GB (Under $0.10 per GB)
C. USB hard drive for > 4.7GB ($0.25 per GB)
D. On-line services are available (see www.mozy.com)
i. As low as $5 monthly
ii. Can be slow
iii. Stability of company unknown

E. Backup is cheap, takes a lot of time to set up and execute
F. Can possibly profit if you already organize a customer's files

VI.Profit from Digital Organization

A. Commercial services (e.g. AffordableScans.com) exist because there is a demonstratable
need
B. Document and Photo organization are most profitable
C. There is a difference between organization and digitization
D. Take this information and do more for your clients
AffordableScans.com - A Family Archiving Service

Labels increase your efficiency and minimizes purchasing duplicates. For $20.00 a label maker is an excellent organizational investment. Labeling is not just for files anymore!http://ezinearticles.com/?id=936198

Looking for a year long schedule of Organizing Activities? This book made the list of Parade magazines top 2007 choices. Remember, inch by inch is a cinch! Breaking down tasks into smaller and easier segments is the only way to achieve organizing Nirvana. http://psychologyofclutter.wordpress.com/2008/01/22/a-review-of-regina-leeds%e2%80%99-one-year-to-an-organized-life/

It's the most popular month to become more organized. Make a copy of this article that assigns organizing "homework". January is Garbage in / Garbage out theory of organizing. If you purchase a new item, one existing item in your home needs to be donated or thrown away. One minus one will always equal zero. This is a sure fire way to keep your environment fresh and soothing!
http://www.oprah.com/foodhome/home/organizing/challenge/challenge_clean_rituals.jhtml

Do you have a sports closet? Here are real world tips that can assist you in minimizing sporting sprawl and maximizing hidden space.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Closet-Organizing-for-Sports-Nuts&id=931897

I know it is early to spring clean, but here is list of "green" recycling ideas to reduce your clutter and still show respect for Mother Nature. Don't forget www.earth911.org as well.

http://psychologyofclutter.wordpress.com/2008/01/17/some-comments-deserve-their-own-post/

Are your kids the biggest organizational hazard you have? This article is a nice refresher on motivating young children. If you have teenagers, the time has passed to help them organize. They have all the answers to life's questions. Just hide their i-pod and cell phone to get even!

http://ezinearticles.com/?id=927409

It's January, have you caught affluenza? According to this article we have a greater chance of catching "Buy more, shop more, and consume more" in the quest to become affluent than the common. Gee, the flu would be cheaper!

http://ezinearticles.com/?Three-Top-Reasons-You-Havent-Gotten-Organized---And-How-To-Get-Past-Them&id=918248

Do you really know how to use sticky notes? I thought I did until I read this article. Color coding each family or office mate makes greater communication and participation.

http://ezinearticles.com/?id=414442

Did Santa bring you a new laptop for Christmas? Here is a great website illustrating what to do with your old computer. http://computersrecycling.net/

Looking for an excuse to ditch gifts you have received for the holidays? This article gives you permission to just say no.
http://ezinearticles.com/?Getting-Rid-Of-Unwanted-Gifts&id=918291

Need a simple worksheet to organize your holiday decorations? This will save you money by not buying duplicates for Christmas 2007!http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/web/pdf/1205/decorations.pdf

The Life Cycle of Magazines
The Normal Life Cycle of Magazines
Read part of.
Put on nightstand to finish.
Finish reading.
Throw away.
The Life Cycle Of A Hoarder's Magazines
Read part of.
Put in stack to finish.
Lose in stack.
Dig through whole stack to find.
Read part of.
Throw by side of bed in pile that used to be the stack before you tore it apart looking for it.
Lose in pile.
Six months later, when pile is totally out of control, spend three hours sorting through.
Finish reading, but decide to save in case you need to find something in it later.
Put in stack again.
Stack gets knocked over again.
Leave in pile for six more months.
Spend three more hours sorting through.
Stack again.
Stack gets knocked over again.
Spouse complains about the number of magazines piled up.
Place some of the magazines in a box.
Leave box sitting on bedroom floor for six months to a year until spouse complains again.
Move box outside to deck.
Guiltily think they should be recycled by donating to a medical office.
Leave on deck in rain for three months or until spouse complains.
Move to entrance of crawlspace for storage (entrance is blocked with too much stuff to actually put it inside.)
Leave for six months to a year until spouse complains about stuff stacked up outside crawlspace and threatens divorce.
Spend four hours clearing path in crawlspace to put away.
Leave under house for 2 or 3 years until spouse complains about the fire hazard under the house.
Pull out box, open, and notice that all magazines are mildewed from being left out in rain.
Put outside of crawlspace again prior to disposal.
Leave outside of crawlspace for three months until spouse complains again and threatens to torch the house.
Move halfway to truck to take to dump.
Leave halfway to truck for six weeks or until spouse breaks leg falling over and/or neighbors threaten to have county fine you for unkempt state of property.
Spouse threatens murder.
Take to dump.