“Green your business for better earnings”

81% of consumers prefer to purchase from companies with a 'green focus'. Don’t you prefer to do business with those kinds of companies? Of course, that concern is so top of mind for most of us now that Al Gore has taught us the deeper truth.

I made a big mistake.

I stopped promoting the 'green' purpose of my own company figuring it sounded like 'marketing hype', I now realize the error of my ways -- I'm not really speaking my truth if I don't let people know my beliefs and help my own clients bring a green focus to their worthy businesses. Especially, when change is often very easy. . .

Here's a simple example: I asked my gym to switch to a greener floor cleaner when the chemical lysol smell gagged me after ramping up my heart rate on my spinning cycle. They were happy to make that change not realizing how it bothered customers in a 'health' club -- funny isn't it? They laughed too and immediately switched cleaners and then started PROMOTING how green their health club was. See, easy change, big difference for me! And judging by the dozen sweaty club members who winked at me when I made that request, the club probably saved a good chunk of revenue (over time) too.

We all want to make a difference. So, I contributed content and examples to this article for the East Bay Business Times to stimulate ideas on steps we can all take—large or small.

I’d like to add a comprehensive list to my website for my clients and readers of my blog. So, please write a comment below to let us all know what you’re doing so that you inspire us to go just that much further in our efforts.


Remember: “Knowledge is Bliss” and lack of it can get you into trouble 

Great Ad Campaigns Aren't Enough

I just read that Kaiser, the behemoth healthcare association in California, only signed up 100,000 new members last year. And that despite their fabulous ad campaign about 'thriving' using Allison Janney to voice over clever scripts about how eating blueberries and staying healthy is Kaiser's mission. Well, of course it is. If you stay healthy, Kaiser saves money. Still, it was such a nice campaign, don't you think?

It seems to me that Kaiser must have one awful sales force of brokers (or they're not incentivized enough to sell Kaiser) if they can only find 100K new members. As a small business owner, I can authoritatively comment on the awful selection of health coverage today--insane prices for awful coverage. Or programs that are so confusing to understand you can't possibly get your value from the coverage. Or insurance providers like Aetna who loses every claim one submits, has the absolute worst customer service and earns their money apparently by ripping off customers.

Sure, this is a rant, but there's a marketing lesson here. Advertising alone just doesn't work. A successful company in today's world needs a great product with decent customer service, great marketing and a solid sales force. If Kaiser can't even get it right in this aging baby boomer society of ours, who can? I think it's the small businesses who are filling these needed niches. What do you think?