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’.

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