Buying as a Spiritual Act

Posted on by Anne

My blogging friend Souldipper blessed me with a particularly relevant post today. She calls it Making Spiritual Down Payments, and it’s worth perusing, especially if your clientele leans even a little bit towards the spiritually progressive.

The first part of her post recalls her introduction to the world of finance when, as a teenager, she bought herself a graduation gown on layaway.

The thread of thought becomes more esoteric in the second half, however.

“Today, I wanted to make another down-payment,” she writes.  “I decided to make a contribution towards the evolutionary Transformation of our planet – a tad bigger goal than buying a house.”

Hmm. Interesting concept. Was she planning to sit for four hours on her back porch and meditate on world peace? Teach yoga to fourth graders? Start a progressive nonprofit?

As it turns out, no. Her contribution was in fact much more mundane – but with perhaps far more ground-shaking consequences. Especially to the business world.

“I decided to deal with a situation that did not sit well in my soul,” she continues.  “I wrote to a business that has not lived up to the sales pitch that motivated my doing business with them.   I explained my point of view with no inflammatory words, just facts from the heart.”

Dealing with a situation that did not sit well in her soul. A beautifully phrased statement, and one that I believe we should all take to heart.

“I closed by explaining that they will lose my business if they respond condescendingly, with quotes from their policy manuals or philosophies from their mission statements.   I invited them to be creative because clients are not longer willing to live without authenticity and service.”

Souldipper, you have that one right. And you’re not the only one. From individuals like you to the protesters on Wall Street, a new wave of consumer consciousness is surfacing in this country and elsewhere. People want more than just low prices and pretty images. They want to know that the businesses they buy from have integrity, values and purpose.

In other words, the act of buying is no longer just a business decision or a matter of convenience. It’s a conscious undertaking with spiritual consequences.

“They may not care, but I know they will remember my email,” concludes Souldipper.

I’m sure they will. And if they’re smart, they’ll pay attention.

 

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When NOT to hire a copywriter, Part I

Posted on by Anne

We freelance copywriters can provide you with effective marketing tools – such as sales letters, white papers, website copy, and the like – for a fraction of the time it would take to write them yourself. (No offense, but ours will likely work better, too!) But there are appropriate times to contact a copywriter, and times when it’s better for both of you to refrain, at least for a while.

In this multi-part series, I’ll explain several occasions when it’s best NOT to hire a copywriter, and why.

Part I: DO NOT HIRE A COPYWRITER…when you have no margin of error.

Lots of things can go wrong with a promotion.  Obviously the copy can be off the mark. But there are many factors that can contribute to the success or failure of any promotion.  Some of these include your list or target market, your offer, the design of the piece, the medium you choose, and the timing of the promotion.  Many such factors are powerful enough that even the best copy can’t overcome an unfortunate choice or circumstance relating to them.  (For example, what if you’d staked your entire marketing budget on a direct mail campaign that launched on September 9, 2001?  Unless you were selling terrorist insurance or emergency ration kits, your business could easily have gone up in smoke right along with the Twin Towers.) 

Here’s where an honest, knowledgeable copywriter can save you a ton of time and money before she even types a word.  You see, your copywriter wants you to succeed nearly as much as you do.  Your success is ultimately what pays her – and gives her bragging rights so that other people will pay her.  If you come to her wanting, say, an elaborate website and she suggests that for your budget, target market and product you might be better off with, say, a minimal website and direct mail (or social media, or whatever), she likely has a good reason to suggest it. 

Good copy is an investment. You can expect to spend a little money to be reasonably sure that the product you’re purchasing has as good a chance as possible of paying for itself – and then some- in increased business.  Going with the lowest bidder most likely will result in substandard copy you’ll end up not using. (If you really want to try, though, don’t let me stop you.  Try Elance or Guru.com. You’ll find plenty of low bidders there. Most of them are from India. Good luck with that.)

If you’re really on a shoestring your best bet is probably to learn to be your own best sales person and hit the phones. No, it’s not easy.  Yes, it can be painful , especially at first.  But in most cases it’s the fastest way to bootstrap your business into prosperity. (And a side benefit is that this kind of sales work will likely give you a ton of insight about what approaches work best in selling your product – golden information you can relay to your copywriter when you are ready for her services.)

(One great resource for telesales is Art Sobczak’s free e-newsletter Smart Calling.™ His book, also called Smart Calling, is also an excellent read, full of pain-relieving sales calling suggestions. It’s available on Amazon – but if you have a local mom & pop bookstore, why not check with them first?)(Full disclosure: I’m not an affiliate.)

Once you’ve solved your short-term cash deficit challenge by getting some cash flow going, you’ll have enough breathing room to sit down and work out a long-term plan for lead and sales generation.  That’s when you’ll want to contact your copywriter. Ideally she’ll be willing to work with you long-term to create effective marketing tools as you can afford them, and continue to tweak them for optimal response and ROI.

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Try Thumbtack for a free backlink and potential source of leads

Posted on by Anne

If you’re like me, you’re always on the lookout for ways to get traffic to your site.  One way is to sign up on business directory listings.  Some directories charge a fee for this. Others, like Merchant Circle,  are completely free. It’s a good idea to sign up for these. It doesn’t cost you anything, and it could get you some business. At the very least, you’ll get a backlink to your site which can help improve your search engine rankings.

Thumbtack.com logoI just signed up to a local business directory called Thumbtack.com.  I was pretty pleased with the process.  It only took a few minutes and was super easy. As an extra bonus, when you create a profile you can opt to post an ad through Thumbtack on your local Craigslist in a fraction of the time it takes to post on Craigslist itself.  Cool!

You’ll also have the option of completing tasks to earn Thumbtack referral points, which they claim will help your rankings through their site. Heck, why not? One way to earn extra points is to add a link to your own site.  Like this:

Small Business Marketing, Big Picture Profits

You can also invite friends, contribute guest posts, answer questions about your services, and more for greater exposure through Thumbtack.

Want to try it out for yourself? It’s easy. Just follow this link:

Thumbtack.com

Then come back and let me know how it went for you!

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How to discover your true rankings on Google

Posted on by Anne
Make Google spit out the truth

Don’t you hate it when people insist on telling you what they think you want to hear instead of the raw, naked truth?

Nowhere is this more frustrating than when you’re dealing with Google.

Google is amazingly user friendly. They make sure that when you’re searching, they feed you results you’re most likely to want to see.  They do this by tracking your browsing preferences and taking your past browsing history into account when dishing up search results.

While it’s a useful feature and easy to appreciate when you’re looking for personally relevant information, it can get a little annoying at times.  I won’t go into the privacy can of worms, but personally I find it more than a little annoying when I’m trying to determine actual search rankings for my sites.

Are we really #1 on Google…or is Google just telling us so to make us happy?

Fortunately, there are ways of making Google talk.

One easy way to get your true rankings on Google is to use a site called Scroogle.org. It allows you to search privately, without your identity being disclosed.

If you’re a really underhanded, sneaky, conniving person you may have used Scroogle to cheat your boss at work by typing your Christmas shopping (or whatever) search terms into their search box instead of doing whatever it was you were hired to do.

But there are legitimate ways to use Scroogle, too. One is to type in your primary keywords and get the real scoop on how you rank on Google.

Try it today. The results may surprise you.

Scroogle.org

 

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How to Use Your Business Credit Card to Help Save the Planet

Posted on by Anne

Part of living sustainably is the wise and creative use of the resources we already have at our disposal. Today’s guest article by small business cash flow expert Liz Cutten reveals how you can use a resource you probably already carry in your pocket to do just a little more for the planet.

There’s a good chance that you have a credit card in your wallet right now, and if you’re a consumer in today’s market, I can show you how you can make your credit card not only work hard for your wallet, but for the planet as well.

If you don’t have a credit card, or maybe you have five already, let me first recommend the following cards that not only give you rewards, but help the planet as well:

  • Wachovia Platinum: For every point you get, you’re going to be able to exchange them for eco-friendly items such as cotton bags, solar powered lights and more.
  • Bank of America Sierra Club Card: For every purchase that is made, BofA will make a contribution to the Sierra Club, one of the largest environmental organizations.
  • Bank of America Nature Conservancy: For every dollar that you spend, they will donate a contribution to the Nature Conservancy.
  • Wells Fargo Rewards Card: For every dollar that you spend, you’re going to get points.  You can turn those points in for eco-friendly items, or you can donate points to support green power, and more.
  • American Express Business Gold Rewards Card: Purchases made with this charge card earn rewards points which can be redeemed for Terrapass travel carbon offsets and other eco-friendly items, or donated to your choice of over one million charities.

Now, what you’re going to find with the cards above is that some of them won’t require that you donate to a chartable cause, but as I mentioned, you will be able to purchase eco-friendly items such as a garden composter, etc.

How you can also help the planet with your credit card:

Go paperless: If you have a credit card already, or you’re thinking about applying for one, be sure to go paperless.  That way, the credit card company doesn’t have to mail out the bill to you, nor do they have to use paper.  Not only that, some companies will give you an incentive to sign up for paperless billing.

Use your rewards wisely: Again, if you get a card that helps groups, you will probably want to put your rewards toward it.  When you use your rewards towards groups, you will find that you won’t have anything shipped to your home.

Most of those cards up there are great cards to consider, when you’re looking to not only use a credit card, but get rewards as well.  Most of them have no fees, and shouldn’t cost you a dime, as long as you pay in full.  While credit cards sometimes get a bad reputation, it doesn’t mean you can’t use yours to make things better!

Liz Cutten is an expert on business credit cards and other small business cash flow options.  She offers tons of practical tips and helpful information for business owners on FindBizCards.com, a business credit card blog.


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Guest post: Software to Mitigate Risk of Carbon Greenwashing

Posted on by Anne
Hunter Richards, Accounting Market Analyst

Accounting Market Analyst Hunter Richards writes about accounting software, with particular interests in "green" innovations and compliance.

With the FTC becoming increasingly serious about enforcing its Green marketing regulations, many companies are looking for ways to ensure that their campaigns remain compliant.

As always in Green marketing, transparency is paramount.  And having solid proof of environmental performance is an excellent way to remain transparent.

While carbon emissions are not the only factor in establishing a company’s environmental footprint, they definitely are a major one, and one currently given heavy emphasis in the media.  In today’s guest post,  expert market analyst Hunter Richards discusses the role of Enterprise Carbon Accounting software in mitigating risk of greenwashing in this area – and five action categories necessary to eliminate it altogether.

ECA Software and Carbon Accounting: The New Threats to Greenwashers

Greenwash (verb, \ˈgrēn-wȯsh\) – to market a product or service by promoting a deceptive or misleading perception of environmental responsibility.

Companies are launching major ad campaigns to show off their eco-friendly products and services, but many of these claims are questionable. Greenwashing is threatenening the credibility of legitimate environmental marketing and turning would-be green consumers away from the hype. So how can we know who’s telling the truth about supposedly green products and who’s just greenwashing? We can increase transparency and put an end to greenwashing through standardized adoption of carbon accounting by these businesses. A new kind of software is also a key part of the solution.

The increasing scrutiny of green business campaigns is similar to the demand for transparent financial reporting, especially in the wake of the recent financial crisis. The U.S. is still a leader in financial accounting, but we need to develop the same infrastructure for environmental accounting to restore credibility. Enterprise Carbon Accounting (ECA) software is becoming the foundation of this infrastructure, and the market is growing. ECA software enables companies to track their carbon emissions footprint and more easily find existing opportunities to lower their costs and reduce waste. It’s strengthening the potential for corporate environmental transparency. When the transition fully takes hold, greenwashers could disappear entirely.

For ECA software and environmental accounting adoption to make greenwashing obsolete, we need action in five main categories:

  • Clear government action on regulations;
  • Adoption of carbon accounting principles;
  • Expansion of Scope 3 emissions accounting;
  • Better green business incentives; and
  • Demanding, informed consumers.

Clear Government Action on Regulations

lncreased coverage of existing new policies and decisive action on new legislation could quickly spread carbon accounting and the use of ECA software. The EPA’s Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Reporting Rule, which requires companies that emit 25,000 metric tons or more of greenhouse gases annually to disclose emissions to the EPA, could be expanded to include smaller businesses as well. Decisive action on new legislation in the future could also help dramatically in expanding ECA software adoption and ending greenwashing.

Adoption of Carbon Accounting Principles

Stricter requirements for disclosure of standardized corporate emissions information, now more feasible than before with the adoption of ECA software, would provide a precise way to examine a company’s environmental record. When such a measure exists and becomes widely used, one will only need to refer to these numbers to get an impression of a company’s overall environmental performance. It will be a lot more difficult to conceal adverse impacts on the environment in implementing greenwashing campaigns.

Expansion of Scope 3 Emissions Accounting

Mandatory inclusion of suppliers’ emissions and other indirect emissions sources in company environmental reports (Scope 3) would prevent under-reporting of emissions; absolutely all emissions would be measured and reported without room for loopholes. Requiring Scope 3 measurement would also spread more adoption of general carbon accounting throughout the supply chain. When a company must account for Scope 3, it must ask its suppliers to track their carbon footprints as well to produce the required report. A chain reaction could quickly increase the number of companies with comprehensive carbon emissions reports and, in doing so, increase overall environmental business transparency.

Better Economic Incentives For Going Green

Using ECA software to identify eco-friendly savings opportunities can make it cheaper to truly go green, making it unneccessary for businesses to greenwash in the first place. Businesses will often find that shrinking their carbon footprints and minimizing costs can go hand-in-hand. Government incentives can also encourage eco-friendly business practices. ECA software could alert users to new opportunities to take advantage of government incentives as more of them emerge, pushing green sincerity into the best interests of businesses.

Demanding, Informed Consumers

Demanding the hard numbers from standardized carbon accounting reports, while boycotting the proven greenwashers, forces businesses with green marketing campaigns to prove their sincerity or risk failure. After all, fully informed consumers make deception by greenwashing impossible. When standardized carbon accounting is required and ECA software is available, companies won’t have any more excuses to conceal their carbon footprint. The remaining work will be done by informed, rational consumers.

This post was adapted from the original article by Hunter Richards, posted 10/25/2010 on the Software Advice blog.

Check out the full article: Software to Hold “Greenwashers” Accountable.

What do YOU think? Have you struggled with carbon compliance and/or Greenwashing issues?  How would Carbon Accounting Software affect your marketing and/or other aspects of your business?  Post your comments below or click the link to the original article and let’s get some discussion going on this important topic!

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Green Business: Where to share your eco-educational messages

Posted on by Anne

There are as many avenues to educating your customers as there are ways to market to them.  And the good news is, all your education attempts add up to effective marketing, too!  Here are some good places to start:

·        Write articles about green issues and (depending upon your target market) submit them to local, national/international or trade publications.

·        Hold workshops and invite your customers and prospects.

·        Exhibit at trade fairs and business expos – and make sure you have plenty of good information to engage people and get them thinking about you as the expert.

·        Get speaking engagements. This will educate people about sustainability as well as making them aware of your business and what you offer and building trust in you as an authority.  If your business is local, try contacting churches in your area.  A lot of them are really starting to get interested in sustainability as a spiritual act.  They are hungry to know more and will thank you for the favor of coming out to speak!  (Don’t try to do a hard sell when you’re speaking to church groups, but it’s usually fine to give them informational pieces with your logo and contact info.)  Business groups are also good ones to speak to.  Try your local Chamber of Commerce.

·        Offer information kits, free reports and case studies to your clientele.  When you give people helpful, in-depth information on topics that interest them they develop a sense of gratitude and relationship to you, and are more likely to turn to you as an authority.

·        Keep educating your existing customers. Send a newsletter or e-zine out at least quarterly; once a month is even better.  Including environmental education messaging on packaging is another great idea.  Make it fun for your customers by holding contests and other events they can participate in and invite their friends.

·        Blog regularly (once or twice a week is fine).  When you blog on a topic of interest to your social media friends, post it and tweet it out.  (But only if it truly is good information and not just a thinly disguised sales pitch.)

·        Make videos about the same topics you speak or write about.  Your videos don’t have to be high tech as long as you present good ideas.  Even on a limited budget you can buy a little flip video camera for under $50 that will do the trick.

Get in the habit of videotaping any speeches you make, or even just capturing your thoughts on camera in your office, or documenting the positive changes your company is making. Put your videos to work for you by posting them on your blog, putting them on a CD or thumb drive and giving them to prospects or customers, using them as premiums for lead generation, or distributing them to the same kinds of groups you speak to.

·        Don’t forget your website. Add articles, case studies, videos and the like as extra pages.  Doing so can help with your search engine rankings, increase the amount of time people spend on your site,  and increase the chances of people linking to your site and/or coming back for multiple visits.

The important thing to remember is that consumer education is an ongoing process.  Do it consistently, one idea at a time, and always tie your statements back to positive personal benefits.  Over time, your efforts will make a difference!

Posted in Copywriting, Green Advertising, Green consumers, green marketing, Marketing, Online marketing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Make your Green Marketing Fun!

Posted on by Anne

How to educate your customers effectively without causing confusion or turning them off

Part 4: Make it Fun!

As people become more aware of the problems facing the environment, they begin to feel guilty.  They often react by going into denial or shutting out the bad news.  This can easily result in their shutting you out as well.  Overcome this problem by making your presentation interesting and fun.

Annie Leonard’s eco-educational films are a great example.  Using storytelling, engaging animation and generous doses of humor and hope, she manages to address very serious environmental problems in an engaging, entertaining and informative way.  (By the way, Leonard’s Story of Stuff and other works are also a great example of messaging that creates a buzz and spreads virally like wildfire.)

Try integrating stories, contests, events, jokes, food and the arts into your Green marketing.  Involve your customers.   Ask them to invite a friend.  Don’t be afraid to do the outrageous, if it’s consistent with your personality.  And by all means have fun yourself! People who are having fun are invariably attractive to others.  You’ve doubtless noticed this fact at social gatherings, right?  The same is true in business!

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Do you repeat yourself in your marketing? If not, why not?

Posted on by Anne

How to educate your customers effectively without causing confusion or turning them off

Part 3: Repetition Rules

Your audience may not have anywhere near your understanding of environmental issues.  Almost certainly they’re not nearly as aware as you are of the benefits your product brings to them personally and to the planet.  You may even have to overcome some deep-seated irrational or emotional barriers in your prospects.

It’s a very good idea to repeat your messaging in as many ways as you can. Try delivering the same idea via different media.  Use various examples and analogies to get your point across.  Be both persistent and consistent.

For example, you can speak about a topic at a conference, blog about it, offer an in-depth white paper about it, shoot a video about it, create an interactive survey addressing it,  put it on an audio disc, hold a workshop or teleseminar, tweet about it, etc.

Don’t worry about overdoing it.  Most people are so inundated with information that it takes a few times for a message to sink in.  Also, everyone has their preferred way to absorb information.  By sending your messages out using a variety of media (on- and offline short and long copy, video, audio, email, social media, live events, etc.), you’ll reach a much broader segment of your targeted population.

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Show, don’t just tell, your customers what’s in it for them

Posted on by Anne

How to educate your customers effectively without causing confusion or turning them off

Part 2: Show and Tell

But especially show.  Try to come up with ways your audience can experience your ideas with their senses.  Anything hands-on is great.  Involve their imaginations, and their emotional as well as their rational minds.  By engaging as much of the whole person as possible, you’re much more likely to get through to them, especially if they’re distracted or have preconceived ideas or objections you need to overcome.

Live or video demonstrations, case studies, testimonials, before-and-after pictures, samples and free trials are all excellent “show me” techniques proven to engage customers and encourage sales.  So is quantifying – translating raw data (such as X number of kilowatts of energy produced per hour) into concrete real-world examples your customer can wrap his mind around (like, “that’s enough to power every single appliance in your home with juice left over to crank the stereo – and it’ll save you $xx.00 per month on your utility bill!)

Showing lets your prospects come to their own conclusions based on real or imagined experience and is often much more powerful than straight-up telling.  Try “showing” – both directly using hands-on experience, and indirectly in your marketing copy – and see what a difference it makes in your sales.

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