Monthly Archives: November 2007

This is a little bit of a rant, I’m afraid…I just read an article in GreenBiz News about an EcoPinion survey that found “Consumers Don’t Understand Green Terms.”

To quote the key paragraphs of the article: “a survey of 1,000 Americans conducted the first week of November, on communications and language commonly used by companies and stakeholders in the energy and environment space. The EcoPinion Survey confirms a green gap exists around terms such as energy efficiency, energy conservation, demand response, smart energy and clean energy, and customers’ understanding, acceptance and perceptions of value around those terms.
The green gap in communications is contributing to a growing misalignment between customers’ stated intentions, e.g., their desire to be more green or frugal with energy consumption, and their actual behavior.”

My judgment? It all boils down to something I tell my clients over and over: “Your customers don’t care what nifty bells and whistles your products or services have. What they care about is – what difference will those bells and whistles make in their lives, what real benefits do they offer?”

Bottom line – It’s not about you! If your customers/clients don’t understand why your green services are better – not just how, but why – if the difference is wrapped up in green industry-standard terms that mean nothing to John and Jane Doe – it doesn’t matter if you win every eco-award in the book. The customers will sail right past you to the company that speaks their language.

So what can you do to change this? Assume nothing! Start with the idea that visitors to your site have no clue whatsoever about the technologies you use and the standards you work so hard to meet…that the terminology that’s so easy and intuitive to you means less than a torrent of Japanese would to a monolingual English speaker.

Assume that they don’t know, say, the difference between “green business” and “sustainable business”…that they may or may not recycle their trash, much less know the difference between pre-consumer and post-consumer recycled content…that “green building” may signify more about the color of siding on a house than the LEED standards that governed its construction…you get the idea! Define your terms. Explain your concepts. Look at your marketing content with “beginner’s eyes” – if you’d seen this when you were first learning about green business, would it have made any sense to you?

It’s up to you to pass on this information, share your passion about it – why does it matter, why is it better for your customers and the planet? What is your commitment to improving your customers’ lives and changing the world in the process?

And after all, what better way of gaining their interest and trust could you have, than providing the education that turns an incomprehensible wilderness into navigable territory? Create a blog and fill it with key concepts…send out marketing articles to distribution services…write a special report or e-book that introduces key concepts of the work you do…make it your mission to teach the world about your work, so your visitors will share your passion!

Yes – it’s a bit more work – but think of the talks you give to the Chamber of Commerce and your professional networking groups. How many more people will your information reach on the Internet?

If you’d like more information on ways of educating your visitors, demonstrating your expertise, and building your business through social networking and information marketing, and why a green copywriter can save you valuable time and money in crafting this information, contact me at phila@your-words-worth.com.

Oh, and if you’d like to check out that article and the study (it’s available free of charge), click here.

Social Bookmarking

KudoSurf Me!

So we’ve talked about how Web 2.0 social networking is similar to offline networking, and about all the many ways you can show up on social networks…

Now – here’s the catch: remember all those new friends you’ve been making?

When you correspond with new colleagues or prospects in real time, do you send them only your own work? Not if you’re wise! You might send them a New York Times article, an inspirational Neal Donald Walsch clip, a podcast from the latest Bioneers conference, and – oh, yes, by the way, here’s your latest piece of work! And they’ll probably be doing the same thing for you.

This is where the “social” part of social networking takes over. You and your social network don’t just share your work and other favorite content among yourselves. You’re actually working together to promote each other. Imagine a professional business referral group on steroids, and you have a rough idea of the power that social networking can offer.

How does it work? Through the many Web 2.0 “social posting” tools. Let’s say one of your new friends sends you a blog post or video they made. Sure, you can comment on it and include your link with the comment. But why stop there?
• You can bookmark it on De.licio.us…a service that not only holds your bookmarks for you, but also tags them for the world as bookmark-worthy….
• Add it to your Google favorites – again tagging them in the process…
• Review it on your Facebook profile with Shareaholic…
• Recommend it to other people using social-posting tools like StumbleUpon, Digg, or Technorati….
• If it’s relevant to your field, post it to your Zimbio wikizine…
• In fact, you might want to send your recommendations for a really good site across the web to multiple networks by using services like Addthis, SocialMarker, SocialPoster, or Pingoat.

This is all part of the new Web 2.0 “netiquette” – sure, you can Digg or Stumble your own content, but you can only do it once per posting without getting “slapped” or penalized in your search engine ranking. Rather like spamming: nice people don’t do it. Just as in offline business, the Golden Rule rules – if you give recommendations to others, you are likelier to receive recommendations in return.

In fact, your recommending others’ sites is all part of being a good “Net citizen,” indicating that you’re not head-down focused on marketing your own product or service, but actively taking part in the greater world around you.

There’s much more you can do in a Web 2.0 environment – this brief intro barely scrapes the surface. For an excellent overview of all these tools and concepts, see Mike Mindel’s summary of content from The Thirty Day Challenge by Ed Dale and Dan Raines.

Oh, and if this sounds like a lot of work, rest easy! A blog entry doesn’t need to be more than a couple of paragraphs, a couple of times a week. A video or podcast, of course, is more effort, and at the same time it will go further and last longer, much as a brochure or magazine ad might.

And remember, there’s nothing requiring you to do this writing yourself! Many writers (like Your Words’ Worth) can help you to keep a stream of posts flowing to your target audience. Some (also like Your Words’ Worth) will even write your audio script and then do the voiceover for you.

So – what are you waiting for? There’s a world of social networks out there – have fun!

Social Bookmarking

KudoSurf Me!