What a busy week! Since last week’s post, I have met with four new clients, each with her own set of needs and a different level of technical savvy than the next.

Client #1: Happy Camper

On Friday I met with my friend Lynn for the first time. She has a relatively new MacBook Air that had been bugging out. She complained of popups on every website she visited, causing her productivity to suffer. She also wanted to learn to make flyers.

I worked my magic and sure enough found her Mac rife with malware, which we quickly cleaned using The Safe Mac’s great Adware Removal Tool. Then we had a lovely chat about ways to become more productive.

I introduced Lynn to Pages, Apple’s word processing and page layout app. She learned the simple steps to add text and images, work with layers to set a background color, and more. Lynn is now getting better acquainted with Pages so she can produce flyers for her latest project.

Lynn is a great client because she has a good grasp of her needs, learns quickly, and has the confidence to advance on her own. She just needs a little push in the right direction.

Client #2: Aged Novice

On Monday I brought home a surplus iBook G4 from CA to donate to Nancy, an elderly professional I am starting to visit regularly. I helped her briefly last year with a PC and coaching was an arduous process. I’m grateful for the opportunity to set her up with a Mac this year.

Nancy is struggling to get used to the conventions of the Mac. She has the endurance to spend a long time trying to accomplish a task before asking for help, however this experience is also very stressful.

After our session, we made a meal together which was lovely. However, I wish I had more time to show her the ropes before I left.

Nancy looks forward to more coaching from me so she can start to reduce her stress level and accomplish her goals with ease. There is a lot of ground we can cover and we will take it one step at a time so she can rebuild her computing confidence.

As a client, Nancy moves a lot slower than I and is most appreciative of my ability to go at her pace. While this tests my patience sometimes, remembering to cherish opportunities to slow down is incredibly important to me. This is also a chance to find balance between the two of us.

Client #3: Classic Switcher

On Tuesday I visited Kristine, who has trouble believing she lasted so long with a PC before switching to a Mac. She recently bought a MacBook Air and couldn’t be happier, except for a handful of issues she’s faced so far.

We worked through her laundry list of questions and concerns in less than two hours. This included transferring a handful of files from her husband’s Mac, setting up a new printer, and consolidating email accounts in Mail. I did my best to encourage an intuitive approach at every turn.

Kristine was incredibly impressed and wrote me a stellar review! She was a fun client to work with, asking clear questions and willing to step outside her comfort zone to get help. I expect another visit after she compiles another list, followed by another lovely ride home on the Bay Trail.

Client #4: Hair Extraordinaire

On Wednesday Nanci had me over for help getting her personal contacts into MailChimp. She needed more than that, though, and we had a thorough chat about contact cleanup and system optimization. She has kept OS X up to date on her three-year-old MacBook Pro and is ready for a memory upgrade.

We started to look at her address books on her Mac and iPhone and discussed several scenarios for consolidating and making them easier to manage. We also talked and told stories about hair.

You didn’t see that one coming! Nanci is a hair stylist — perhaps the next person to cut my hair — and it turns out she and my mom grew up in the same town. She’s also working on a documentary, which is why she needs help with MailChimp so she can start her fundraising campaign.

Nanci is a great client and a new friend. I look forward to our next session when we get her Mac working more speedily and help her increase productivity toward her filmmaking goals.

Client #5+: Another Week of Newness

Next week, I already have two new clients scheduled. I’m meeting with Bonnie on Tuesday to provide some website guidance and potentially help migrate a website to WordPress. And on Friday I am arriving as Deepa’s birthday present from her kids, offering the first of at least three coaching sessions.

Sustainable Computing is growing rapidly! I am grateful to Noam for several referrals and Thumbtack for connecting a few new clients to me as well. In my free time — which you thought I didn’t have — I am also organizing a casual Ultimate Frisbee league in South Berkeley. Maybe I’ll see you on the field!