Project: 'Tis The Season To Shop Local

We are all going to do it at some point and time this season. Maybe we’ll try to avoid the masses by filling our online carts. Maybe we’ll send a loved one out on Christmas Eve. Either way, 'Tis the season to shop local. And here are

5 Reasons Why It Matters Where You Pull Your Wallet Out:

1. You will be supporting an independently locally owned and operated business - you know, those charming mom and pop shops that line the sidewalks or maybe those empires that bear the last name of the town’s founders - those taxes are re-invested back into your community.

2. You will be supporting the successful employment rate in your community and create energy among farms, organizations, schools and families for continual development.

3. You will become more than a tourist location, recognized as an economically sustainable community.

4. You will make a valuable purchase not just a reasonable purchase. (And will be valued as a customer more, too.) Shopping local encourages the wellbeing of every hand involved from owner to conceptualization, to the manufacturer, to the salesperson to the purchaser to the person receiving the gift. And you are responsible for that.

5. You will have proprietary rights. You are not shopping from a chain or Fortune 500 company; therefore shopping from someone that represents a unique and distinguished brand.

Scotch tape, a roll of wrapping paper a spool of ribbon or two. These things are important. But when you get ready to double check your list, make sure you check off these five things. Stay Local. Shop Local.

Happy Thanksgiving,

-The Green Couch Project  

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