Project: Three Ways To Show Appreciation To Your Community This Thanksgiving

From the Plymouth plantation to Pinterest, we’ve come a long way to learn creative ways on how we can show our appreciation during the season of thankfulness. 

In one short month of 30 days we not only stuff a turkey and our face but we come up with clever ways on how we can catch a customer’s attention on Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

How can we increase our net worth from in the red to in the black? (Sorry Santa, but black is the new red this Christmas! How we wish we could say!)

So, is Thanksgiving then just a myth when all we focus on is sales rather than giving thanks? How, as a corporation, can we make a bigger impact in the community? How can we give back other than giving sales? How can we show our neighborhood that we appreciate our clients and/or those that are near us?

Here are a few things that we’ve learned over the years that have changed the way we think and have warmed the hearts of many:

Volunteer: While others are scarfing down food we’ve been cutting, wrapping and sealing scarfs for local charities so others can keep warm during the cold weather. And it is warmed our hearts as well!

Care for Your Clients: Surprise visits can have a negative or positive outcome but when you come bearing cookies or other edibles, it is pretty much a guarantee success for happiness. And delivering them in person is the icing on the cake!

A Day Off: So Black Friday is equally a tradition to Turkey Day, but over the past few years the trend has become accepted as normal for stores to be opened on Thanksgiving. Over the past few weeks, however, stores have begun announcing their hours or lack thereof, for November 27th, 2014.

The CEO for DSW (Designer Show Warehouse), Michael R. McDonald shared the following:

“This holiday season, you’ve probably seen or read about all the retailers opening their doors as early as 6:00pm on Thanksgiving Day. We have decided not to follow that trend. Instead, we believe family comes first, and you should be home celebrating with them on this special holiday. This means none of our stores will be open on Thanksgiving Day. In addition, no stores will be open before 7:00am on Black Friday.”

So how can you show appreciation to your community this Thanksgiving? How will you achieve impact vs. profit?

-The Green Couch Project

Project: The Saturday Startup

The countdown to Christmas has started. That is what is trending on social media and soon that will dictate the cyclical sales. The season of merriness has hit us before the school season has; how has this happened already?

20 Saturdays someone mentioned. Why are we counting? Because it’s at this time people start procuring and securing second jobs, or maybe even third part-time jobs.

But something significant happened in 2014. Either people realized they wanted more, more than just 20 Saturdays of work to pay off the extra wishes. Or maybe realization that retail positions for them was not as fulfilling as they expected.

Either way 2014 brought more prospects.

While we may be nearing the fourth quarter, it is not too late to partake of what may be a trend –and one we hope takes hold and continues.

It is called small startups. Weekend jobs. The Saturday Startup. Moreover, if you start now you can still be in business not just 20 Saturdays from now, but 52 Saturdays from now.

You do not have to be a contestant on America’s Got Talent (are they still accepting auditions for this year?). If you have a niche or have an education in a specific field, then take some time to sit down and plan your short and long term goals of how you can exact those skills. Imagine; you get to pre-qualify your proficiency.

Let’s get started with some creative options that are in high demand and are trending online as well:

• Exterior Decorator

It seems like everyone is doing it; yes. But how often have you seen outdoor “interior” designers. I believe the term I am looking for is an exterior designer, correct? Not quite a landscaper, and while this may seem seasonal if you like Christmas and all that twinkles, staging outdoor Christmas sceneries and hanging Christmas lights could be your passionate part-time entrepreneurial pursuit. (Say that five times fast when you position yourself to potential clients!)

• Professional Organizer:

Pinterest gives us a false sense of self-help and achievement. No matter how many Ikea bins and iron rods some may invest in, there is a lot to intake and still the overload of belongings requires focus, dedicated timing and planning; something the household owner does not necessarily have and you might. You put the passion into your problem-solving and the passion will lead you to the next problem - thus an enterprise that could earn you a reputable living.

Perhaps you never even thought this could turn into a job opportunity, as this has always been a therapeutic, hobby of yours; looks like therapy pays off after all.

• Personal Shopper:

Groceries, shoes, clothes, school supplies or pet food. If you like to shop, and it is cathartic and it’s not your cash and now you get paid to do it…I rest my case.

• Handy Man for the Elderly:

It takes a patient, understanding and sometimes even physically fit person to be able to make someone’s day by taking care and protecting their home: Making sure everything is safe; lighting, water fixtures, locks, etc. It’s a community service to ensure the lesser able are safe and secure. Enabling senior citizens to live comfortably by establishing yourself as a business savvy person in the home repair industry is a needed skill. If you enjoy the challenge of fixing things to their former glory and find it relaxing to work with your hands, how relaxing will Saturday be for you?

These are just a few ways you can make 52 Saturdays a super success in your life. And who knows? Maybe they’ll work Monday-Friday as well.

-The Green Couch

Project: In The Know For On-The-Go Networking

You were given an in-depth course last week regarding networking etiquette. While we did not cover what to wear and whether the Donald Trump comb over (or would that be comb forward?) is a necessity to make an impressionable entrance for a business maneuver, you should now know the 5-Ups to networking. 

(As I write this, I realize there may just be a rather frivolous number 6 to the Line Up, and that is never to show up to a meeting with a 7-Up can.)

Regardless, the rules are simple: Stand Up, Follow-up, Keep Up, Show Up, Grow Up.

That may sound harsh when written out, but if you missed the last Project Blog, check it out before you continue on because today, as promised, we address three hotspots where you can successfully network.

We are going to approach formal and a few informal styles that will help give you that edge that keeps everyone talking. It is a venue where business cards are key and the touch keys on your cell phones, for just a few hours, can get a break.

Chamber of Commerce: a great place to get to know your community as a local business owner and to understand its needs. Become aware of those whom you can help, those who can help you grow and in turn understand and refine your target audience through insight from small mom and pop shops to the pros. This is a proactive way to get your voice heard not just for networking but on behalf of all enterprising dreams across the nation.

https://www.uschamber.com/members/join-chamber

BNI: (Business Networking International) a local business collaboration with global outreaches. Each chapter has a “one of each” motto. It is not a competition within your own niche. No two companies within the same regional chapter can represent the same field, or business. You send referrals to one another, demonstrate and elaborate upon the kind of clients for which you are looking. This professional atmosphere encourages entrepreneurs, helps them build long-term quality relationships and all through word-of-mouth.

http://www.bni.com/FindaChapter/tabid/53/Default.aspx

LinkedIn: you will not need your business card here, but this replicates your online business card, resumé and public profile. This is where you connect with colleagues and how you get endorsed. Yes, endorsed. It may not be the way Gatorade endorses star athletes, but it has the same affect for your job performance. People whom you have or do associate with can recognize your work and endorse you for those skills. That impact will lead to promotions, referrals and additional connections. So, maintain your LinkedIn account with relevant information to your field – for example dress for the job you want? Post material with that same mindset: This is not Facebook. So don’t post, How Southern Are You or What Disney Frozen Character Do You Most Resemble?

There’s over 300 million professionals that are logged in, the way we can link our name to hundreds if not thousands to them are unimaginable.

https://www.linkedin.com

We are always on-the-go, and now you are in the know. Networking is an entrepreneur’s ally. Getting someone to believe in your dream, to see just a glimpse of what you see, could just happen at or through one of these avenues.

-The Green Couch

Project: Hello My Name Is…

Networking with fellow entrepreneurs is the only way you can get out of the garage. Last week we learned how people like Walt Disney and the creator of Yankee Candle made it big. Little Mike made a candle, and you know how his little light shined? His neighbor saw him and thus his business boomed.

Stage fright lasts only for a few seconds and once you find a way to swallow the frog in your throat you find a way to talk about your passion, about your product or services you will be able to allow your shoulders to loosen.

Here are a few ways how you can begin to network and next week we’ll discuss where you can begin to network.

#1 Stand Up

Begin by introducing yourself and remembering names. When someone introduces himself or herself to you, make sure you catch their name and reiterate it – shake their hand and say their name back to them. Give them a nod and use their name several times during the conversation.  

#2 Follow Up

Exchange business cards and date your new business clients. You do not have to wait three days. You do not have to wait for them to email you first. When you get back to the office, get settled in and  send them a quick but quality filled email. You know, something that sparks conversation and picks up where you might have left off; this shows you listened, heard and processed their information.

#3 Keep Up

Business days are Monday through Friday; there are five of them. Try to not let five of them go between non-essential conversations or meetings. Whether clients or confidants it is important to value the time of others and to earn the respect of your colleagues.

#4 Show Up

Let’s admit it, attending events – informal, creative cocktail, backyard BBQ or black tie formal – at times can be self-serving. Who doesn’t like a good dining in or out experience? More importantly this is great face time - to circulate with established friends, business acquaintances and make new friends (but keep the old!).

#5 Grow Up

Embrace new ideas. Some of those new friends you meet may spark a conversation and bring you back to #1 Stand Up. When you combine all these 5 steps you can magnify the outreach and create a bigger boom for your business. Through networking you get in the know. Moreover, you grow upwards, generate interest, produce fiscal numbers, impact your community and help residents.

How to go about it? We’ve covered that.

What next? Take one step a time to go from local to regional. Check back next week to see how to get there.

-The Green Couch