Green business has unique challenges. There is a lot of noise in the green space and a lot of companies claiming to be green. As an Eco business owner, you need to establish yourself as a credible green company as well as stand out from the crowd. Even a responsible company can be suspected of greenwashing if it doesn’t communicate clearly with all stake holders both internally and externally.

Green business is also good business. What are the attributes that make any business successful? What do you need to do in order to insure that your business is credible, sustainable and profitable?

Join us for a informative overview of the best green business practices and how simple systems and tools can keep your business running smoothly and profitably*. Learn how to create your money making, less stress blueprint for 2010. For information and registration: http://greenbusinesssuccessblueprint.eventbrite.com/

This call will be recorded, and sent out after the event.

* these are some of the same simple tools and systems that we use in our upcoming Green Business Success Blueprint coaching program created by Jane Tabachnick – starting on October 13th. For more information visit: http://www.janetabachnick.com

I tried the following exercise out.

Think of a color in the green palette. Think of what comes to mind when a company’s marketing says ‘green’.

Now consider this scenario:  You hire a painting contractor to paint your living room. The only instructions you give him are that you want it painted green.

What color does he paint it? According to color service company Pantone, there are millions of shades of green.

The responses ranged from ‘Toothpaste’ to “Pistachio” to “Forest” to “Mint”  to “Apple” etc

When it comes to eco or sustainable marketing, there aren’t a million shades but there are many possible variations.

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“It’s striking how rich and varied these descriptions are, often differing both by product as well as by people’s different perspectives, and also what aspect of the product’s lifecycle is often most salient for different products. The appetite is there, but the message needs to be more effective.”

Amy Hebard,  “Speaking Green: an Earthsense Report” which polled and summarized how 30,000 consumers define green for over 80 different product categories.

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The class offered a variety of responses as to what it means if a company says they are green:

•    Environmentally Friendly
•    Reducing Carbon Footprint
•    Having good corporate citizen policies [triple bottom line – including
environmental and social responsibility]
•    Having recycled products

And the definitions went on…. What did you think of?

Here are a few real world examples:

As the founder and manager of the green marketing group on linked in, I hear from a lot of people wanting to join the group. In their introduction email they tell me about their companies and what makes them green.  Here are two examples of the descriptions I get which illustrates the range of what people think of as green:

•    Our ad specialty company recently went green: we added a line of bamboo products.

•    We have just begun the process to become FSC [Forest Stewardship Council] Certified, and are undergoing an energy audit for our facility.  Our small printing company isn’t yet as green as we would like be we are committed to becoming more sustainable. We also have some give back programs in our community that we are seeking to expand.

When you say green do they hear only environmental attributes or are they thinking you mean triple bottom line?

It gets pretty confusing trying to figure out what a company means, especially if you are committed to buying from responsible companies.

Its time for a new language for green. Until then, let them know exactly what you mean when you say ‘green’.

Becoming official and being added to the dictionary doesn’t’ mean a word or phrase isn’t commonly used and recognized. It just reminded me that as marketers we often forget that we are not necessarily our customers, and need to keep that in mind with every communication.

The best marketing resonates with customers and makes them feel we are speaking directly to them. Miss the mark with language that seems foreign to them or like jargon and you can alienate them.

Its easy to lose perspective of whether a term or phrase is jargon or has moved into common usage with our audience, particularly if you live, breath and work in a niche. It’s your job to be up to date on trends, news…and you are probably a bit ahead of most of your audience, making it hard to keep it all in perspective. That is not to say there aren’t very savvy audiences out there on the cutting edge. The key is to really know your audience.

Social media such as blogs and twitter give us an incredible opportunity to have ongoing conversations in real time with our audience and read exactly what words and terms they speak/write in.

The real question for marketers is not when does a term become official, but when is it commonly used and accepted into the familiar language our target audience speaks.

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Tools of the Trade - Go Green Series

Please join me…I will be presenting on Green Marketing on 7/12 at:  Tools of the Trade – Go Green at FIT in NYC.

This dynamic seminar series at FIT hosts some of the preeminent thought leaders in sustainability, entrepreneurship and design. Scheduled speakers include Danny Bitran, founder and president of EthixPeople; Neil Chambers, founder of Green Ground Zero; Beto Lopez, sustainability thought leader and IDEO designerand sustainability expert and marketer Jane Tabachnick.

Tix can be ordered: http://www.acteva.com/booking.cfm?bevaID=186308

I will be attending the entire series… so stop by and say hello!

Jane

“Recently, Kevin Owsley went searching for a reputable organization that could validate the eco-friendly traits of his company’s carpet-cleaning fluid. But after canvassing a dozen competing groups hawking so-called “green certification” services — including one online outfit that awarded him an instant green diploma, no questions asked — he grew disillusioned about how meaningful any endorsement would be to his customers.

Mr. Owsley goes on to  say ‘I joke and say, ‘I could buy some of these companies a case of beer, and they’d give us a certification.’ I’m very frustrated by that. ”

To certify or not to certify. For small to medium size companies, the price alone may inform this decision. Whichever route you decide to go, good marketing for your sustainable business doesn’t rely on a certification. It’s really about telling your story and providing credible information to stakeholders. read my article  5 top tips for responsible green marketing…

As I was beginning to figure out how to make the office more functional, attractive…I got laid off from my job [as executive director of a sustainable, business incubator for designers]. No pity, party needed. Call me a fatalist….I am a believer that one door closes and another opens. And the entrepreneur in me got excited!

So the shelf malfunction may have been a sign…..it had gotten me thinking and I already had some ideas about how to redo and green the office. I have put on seminars about green building products, but had yet had occasion to use them! This should be fun!

My Office - clearly in need of a revamp!