Project: 6 Ways to Condition Your Clients

When you are in a creative field, you want to give your all to your clients. You want to say “Yes!” because you want to showcase your skills and market their services and products to the best of your ability. But there comes a time when they begin to bulldoze your kindness and take advantage of your willingness to serve.

It can be a risk to start saying “No.” To being upfront from the beginning to being transparent, to not negotiating. To not being a doormat when your clients walk into your studio even though they could be an ideal creative canvas.

There are more canvases out there and you have to protect both them and yourselves. Here’s a good guideline to abide by:

1.    If your hours are between 9 and 5, don’t answer before 9 or after 5.

2.    If you add surcharges, enforce those surcharges.

3.    If you say that is something your company does not offer, do not offer it.

4.    If you say it will be ready in two days, do not provide them with a rush service benefits.

5.    If they challenge your expertise, be assertive in your work integrity.

6.    If your client signed a contract, refer and uphold them to the contract.

-The Green Couch

Sneak Peek! 2015 Green Couch Session

What you see is what you get because of hard work and big hearts. While The Green Couch may be a young and small project with a large outreach, it still takes many hands to make these inspirational sessions happen.

Today we are so proud to give you a sneak peek into some of the people that sat with us and a new app we used to make The Green Couch reach more and do more good on September 15^th,,.

While two guys who represent Digital Bard - but we’ve adopted as part of our team - set up and shoot all the scenes you see, we decided to introduce the world to live footage. Whether it’s three minutes or fifteen minutes long, we gave you a glimpse of a risk-taker’s gutsy through Twitter’s Periscope. The app that lets you discover life through the eyes of someone else…all from a phone. And since the one filming was scoping a Green Couch session, we all were discovering life through the eyes of someone else…

The great thing about Periscope is that if you didn’t catch it live, you can catch it later on our YouTube account: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGreenCouchProject

So we challenge you to not just be inspired but to really be part of the Project. And even though the videos may be not be part of the Periscope archive anymore, follow our periscope account because we will still be scoping live inspirational!

Project: Your Greatest Competition

Don’t let the competition dictate whether or not you will do something; unless that is to dictate that you will work harder to be better.

Suppose your alleged rivals are wearing black, do not be intimidated to wear black for fear there will be naysayers and other spectators that question why you are the runner up.

Be confident in what you do and even if someone is reaching for the same result, do the same thing, just do it differently. Do it your way. No matter whom you compare yourself to, The biggest threat to your ideas is yourself. Think big thoughts and be bold enough to share them. 

Three tips to feel confident against your biggest competition (that’s you):

Be Knowledgeable: Doesn’t it feel good to begin a conversation where you know what you are talking about? Don’t just pursue what you like in life; pursue what you love you will have the power to retain the knowledge and hold a passionate conversation.

Be Open to Knowledge: There is always something new to learn and always someone who can teach you something new. Confidence isn’t knowing it all, it’s knowing who you are in what you do. And if you want to improve what you do, you’re going to have to understand that that what you do might change.

Be Bold: You’re going to make mistakes, misunderstand and have miscommunications no matter how much your knowledgeable about something.  Keep growing your idea and sharing it boldly. A baby doesn’t stop walking no matter how many times it falls down. It looks for his or her destination point and runs for it until it grows into the proficient toddler walker. Learn to be like that baby. Don’t let shaky legs or a shaky voice shake you up. Set your eyes and heart upon your destination and don’t give up.

And if you’re lucky, just like a baby has loving people cheering him or her on, make sure you have your cheer squad. And make sure, as your greatest competition, you’re part of that squad! Because we definitely are!

-The Green Couch Project

Project: What’s Your Network Tell Others About Your Net Worth?

Does what you say, all the little nuances of what you do, add up to scream money?

Are you genuine? If the very people you are interacting with caught you unaware at home or in your office cubicle, would they catch the same person?

Are you altruistic in your behavior? Do you attend events that benefit not-for-profit organizations?

Are you dependable? If you are the speaker, be ready to speak. Be on time, tune into the people and their needs.

Are you prepared and articulate? You don’t have to get your cue cards all in a row, but make sure you feel comfortable, so you’re not on the spot. And a few business cards up your sleeve? Perfect!

Are you creative? Why is networking looked at as unfavorable? Because it’s un-favorable. Volunteer to plan an event and make it diverse.

All these things add up to net worth. They say time is money. All this time you are spending with others is their time as well.

Your genuineness, your altruistic behavior, your dependability, etc., ends up being the net worth of your time. How much is your time worth? Can you put a price tag on it? Or is the integrity of your word and the networking and interactions amongst your colleagues, both old and new alike, and their respect for you as a valuable asset enough?

What does your network tell others about your net worth? How valuable is your time? And how do you value others' time?

The next time you go to a networking event, remember that if time is really money others are paying as well.

-The Green Couch