Category: Blog

Environmental Sustainability – It Takes Real Organizational Change
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As a management consultant I have helped many large corporations and public-sector institutions manage technological, strategic, and operational change. These organizations will develop business cases for various initiatives, and they will often tout success that is predicated on the realization of some set of quantifiable benefits. The problem is that business transformation and benefits realization are often defined using short-term quarterly profit driven standards that serve only the short-term.

It is not enough to incorporate new business processes into an operation. Diversity of race, gender, thought, religion, and sexual orientation are requiring organizations to develop substantive plans to include all employees. This digital age has cultivated a global society where people expect personal and customized experiences. Generic commerce is no longer acceptable. Public and private organizations are also getting pressure from customers, regulators, shareholders, and other community stakeholders to prioritize environmental stewardship. Incorporating environmentally sustainable business practices ultimately overlaps with an ever-changing diverse and digital world.

The point is that environmental sustainability and social responsibility are inextricably linked to the financial bottom line. Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has been in the news frequently for emphasizing environmental sustainability and his support for gay marriage. Many may not see the connection to selling coffee. They may be right because taking such a stance is much bigger than selling more medium roast coffee beverages. He has been on record saying to major shareholders that creating the right culture is the best business decision for the long-term.

Leadership sets the tone for any organization. This is true for a football team or a multi-national conglomerate. Much of our progress in the 20th century came at the expense of our environment. The legacy of 21st century business leaders will hinge on global economic development that fosters the protection of our environment.

Creating and Customizing Your Google+ Company Page
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Google+ is becoming a very popular tool for individuals and businesses. If you don’t have a company page on Google+, this video is just right for you. Developed by Hootsuite University, the video is the second part in a series that breaks down the fundamentals of Google Plus for business and will guide you through setting up your page in four easy steps.

http://youtu.be/7rwJ_tYhFsg

After watching, check out some of the other useful videos Hootsuite has that can help you with your online presence.

You Can Use YouTube to Communicate with Customers
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YouTube is not just for videos anymore.

Entrepreneur.com has a video section called “60 Second Solutions. ” It’s where various business owners and professionals share their tips in 60 seconds to help you with your business. In this video, Shira Lazar, host of YouTube’s What’s Trending, shares information on how using video can help you connect with your customers – 24/7.

If you don’t have a business YouTube account, it may be a good idea to set one up. Using video, customers and potential customers have another way to see exactly who you are, what you do and how you can help them.

 

5 Ways to Make Your Business “More Visible”
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With today’s marketing strategies focusing primarily with online visibility (websites and social media), many people seem to have forgotten about making themselves visible – that ”face-to-face” interaction has almost gone the way of the payphone.

Below are several ways to make “you” and “your” business more visible.

  1. Register for and attend a conference that is focused on your business or in an area of interest to your customers. Even if you are familiar with the content of the conference – your customers are not. What better way to get close to them than to engage them there.
  2. Get out and visit local business owners that may need your services. Offer to provide them with a complimentary meeting or assessment of their business. Seeing you face-to-face may make them take you up on the offer.
  3. Join the local Chamber of Commerce in your area. Most of these offer monthly breakfast/lunch events that may prove to be very beneficial to your business.
  4. Trade shows are always interesting. Find some in your area and rent a table. To draw visitors, dress it up and make it festive. You’ll be surprised at how many people will stop by. Don’t forget the tchotchkes! Everyone loves a useable freebie (notice the emphasis on usable!)
  5. Develop a basic workshop or free seminar that you can offer potential customers. Make sure that what you are offering will be beneficial to them – that when they walk away, what they’ve learned can be put into action. If they need more assistance, they will more than likely reach out to you for help. Also, if you decide to conduct a “paid” seminar or workshop – chances are, they will pay if value was found in the free seminar.

These are just a few ideas on how to make you and your business “more visible.”

Sustainable Cities – It’s All About the Human Ecosystem
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My friend, Simone Lightfoot heads up regional urban initiatives for the National Wildlife Federation. She and I recently shared ideas relative to the connection between urban revitalization in the Midwest and environmental sustainability. Since our discussion, I have engaged in other serendipitous discussions about the changing role of cities in the 21st century.

My work with Visibility Marketing revolves around energy management, smart water management, and intelligent transportation.  We have been increasingly delivering services within the context of organizational change, business transformation and public engagement.  Well this is what I thought.  Although our clients are public interest institutions, our solutions are an integral part of smart urban planning and the human experience.

A friend that teaches Urban Planning in Texas reminds me that environmental sustainability and urban revitalization in distressed cities are inextricably linked.  My sister, Angela is a psychologist, and she connects personal environmental stewardship to the human psyche and behavior modification.  Simone asserted that policy makers, lobbyists, and politicians frame the debate and influence funding to the landscape that impacts my work.

This prompted me to think of my recent business trip to Washington, DC.  Evidence of a multitude of new energy efficient buildings, regional water conservation initiatives, and one of the most efficient subway rail systems in the United States are indicators that the type of work that we do is socially redemptive.  The preponderance of construction cranes and citywide foot traffic are evidence that strategic environmental sustainability initiatives are essential to sustainable economic development.

The purpose of the trip was to collaborate with electric utility sector colleagues from around the world.  The trip was successful, but my other experiences helped to complete the compelling narrative.  My hotel was located in Chinatown, which has grown immensely over the last 15 years.  It was a treat to “people watch” as I walked downtown on H Street.  The anticipated 30,000 members of the African-American sorority, Delta Sigma Theta had already begun descending on the city.  Gay and lesbian couples held hands, blending in with the crowd.  Students, tourists, commuters, and people of all ethnic and racial background comprised the harmonious landscape.

I was a college student in Washington, DC over 30 years ago. The city has really evolved.

As I walked through downtown during my final night, it occurred to me that my work is more valuable than I realized.  The triple bottom line – social responsibility, financial profits, and environmental stewardship is the real deal!  My status as a husband, father, African-American man, and entrepreneur really allows this to resonate with me.

Sustainable cities facilitate the human ecosystem.

Introduction to Crowdfunding for Entrepreneurs
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Last week I wrote a blog entitled, “Need Money? Try Crowdfunding“. The Small Business Administration (SBA) offers many free online training courses to help business owners succeed. One of their latest training videos is called, “Introduction to Crowdfunding for Entrepreneurs.”

SBA’s Office of Entrepreneurship Education provides this self-paced training exercise as an overview of crowdfunding (also commonly referred to as ‘crowd financing’ or ‘crowd sourced capital’). The highlighted next steps at the conclusion of the program will help you apply what you have learned and engage you in the process of crowdfunding.

The course is free, online and takes 30 minutes. If you have time, you can click here to participate – http://www.sba.gov/sba-learning-center/training/491091. System Requirements: Acrobat Reader, Adobe Flash Player. Classes will not play in iOS devices due to Flash limitations.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink!
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Remember your Mom’s pocketbook? Most people call it a purse, but I think the older generation still refer to it as a pocketbook. My mom had everything but the kitchen sink in there! Tissues, gum, makeup, candy, mirrors, combs & brushes, nail file, sewing kit, pocket knife, pictures…you name it…it was in there. As I recall, they were much smaller than the ones we now carry!

While perusing the Internet, I came across a product called “Pocket.” It is actually a product by Get Pocket. How does it work? It reminds me of my mother’s pocketbook.

Sometimes while perusing the Internet, you may come across many stories you’d like to read or products you may want to buy. Maybe you’re in a rush and you just don’t have time at that moment. Using bookmarks or favorites in your browser used to be the way to go, but there really isn’t a clear way to define what it is or why you even thought to save it.

With Pocket, you add a bookmarklet in your browser. When you come across areas you want to revisit, you click your bookmarklet and it will save to your own Pocket (or Pocketbook as I keep referring to it. Using Pocket makes it so much easier to see everything at a glance and it’s easy to remember why it is saved it in the first place.

So, if you are as busy as I am and you don’t have a lot of time… go to Get Pocket and install it on your computer or mobile device. I am sure that once you start using it, you won’t want to live without it.

Social Media Is Important In Disaster Response
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The University of San Francisco’s Masters in Public Administration (USFMPA) department developed an excellent infographic entitled, “Social Media – The New Face of Disaster Response.” The graphic shows how social media and networks have become a primary source of news and information during a disaster. The information is based on twenty years of research, from 1980 to 2010.

Some of the information details how companies used social media. For example:

  • 76 percent of users contacted their friends to make sure they were safe.
  • 18 percent of users retrieved emergency information through Facebook.
  • 35 percent of users directly posted a request for help on a responder’s Facebook page.

Another interesting note, 80 percent of Americans expect emergency response agencies to monitor and respond to social media platforms.

Is your business located in an area that has been prone to disasters? If so, you should take a look at this infographic and evaluate your business’ use of social media. And, if you don’t have an active Facebook page or Twitter account, you may want to consider setting one up and putting a strategy in place. You will want to map out how you will get information out to your customers, employees, family and friends if a disaster occurs.

At the bottom of the infographic are additional links the USFMPA used to gather their information. You may find more useful information on those websites as well.

University of San Francisco Online Master of Public Administration

The Next Big Story…How You Can Be In On It
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I watch several news programs during the day. It’s my way of keeping up with the latest news and venturing into the minds of the public relations pros as they help shape the news. I may switch from NBC or CBS to CNN in the morning as I am preparing for work. I always check back to the national news during the day.

Two of the hot stories right now are the Martin/Zimmerman story and the “big wait” for the birth of the royal baby. All of the major media outlets are on both of these stories. Many have sent reporters and their media crews to London to await the royal birth. As of this writing, there is no word from the Palace that the Duchess is even in labor. However, media outlets have scurried over to get “the next big story.”

You are a business owner, and depending on what you sell or what services you provide – there has to be “the next big story” in your field. So, how do you get your next big story? How do you stay up on the cutting edge of new things? What measures do you have in place to hear the little whispers out there that “the next big story” will pop out at any given time?

A few ways you can get out the gate with “the next big story” is to use an RSS feed from all the blogs and news outlets that you regularly visit. Why get the news second hand from someone on social media hours after it has been published? Most Internet browsers have RSS built in.

All you have to do is look for “RSS” on the various websites, click it and grab the link – or click “sign up.” If you opt for grabbing the link, you can manually input that in the RSS in your browser or – if you use Microsoft Outlook 2010 or higher, you can add the RSS into your email system. The great part about having it in your email is that as soon as it is published – it is immediately delivered into your email.

You can take action immediately on that “next big story.” Whether it’s writing a blog about it and sharing it on your own social media accounts, or writing an email and sending it to your clients.

Staying abreast of “the next big story” in your field and getting that information out immediately – will make you and your business very important to your clients.

If you have never used the RSS feed, try it out. You will find that you can’t live without it.

Using Social Media to Land That Next Gig? KIP: Keep It Positive
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When the social media explosion took place, job seekers thought it a great venue to showcase their talent and begin new careers. Well…not so much anymore.

In CareerBuilder’s press release, it talks about a survey conducted on how employers used social media to find employees. Many were not pleased with what they found. Read more here…

More Employers Finding Reasons Not to Hire Candidates on Social Media, Finds CareerBuilder Survey

CHICAGO, June 27, 2013 – While your social media profile can be a great asset in your job search, a new CareerBuilder study shows it can also end up costing you the job. More than two in five (43 percent) hiring managers who currently research candidates via social media said they have found information that has caused them not to hire a candidate, up 9 percentage points from last year.

The nationwide survey, which was conducted online by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder from February 11 to March 6, 20l3, and included more than 2,100 hiring managers and human resource professionals, found that nearly two in five companies (39 percent) use social networking sites to research job candidates, up from 37 percent last year.

Is social media helping or hurting job candidates?

Employers who took a candidate out of the running for a job after researching social media sites reported finding a variety of concerning content. Top mentions ranged from evidence of inappropriate behavior to information that contradicted their listed qualifications:

  • Candidate posted provocative/inappropriate photos/info – 50 percent
  • There was info about candidate drinking or using drugs – 48 percent
  • Candidate bad mouthed previous employer – 33 percent
  • Candidate had poor communication skills – 30 percent
  • Candidate made discriminatory comments related to race, gender, religion, etc. – 28 percent
  • Candidate lied about qualifications – 24 percent

At the same time, some employers also noted that they came across information on social media sites that made a candidate more attractive or solidified the decision to extend a job offer. One in five hiring managers (19 percent) said they found something that has caused them to hire a candidate – top mentions include:

  • Candidate conveyed a professional image – 57 percent
  • Got a good feel for candidate’s personality – 50 percent
  • Candidate was well-rounded, showed a wide range of interests – 50 percent
  • Candidate’s background information supported professional qualifications – 49 percent
  • Candidate was creative – 46 percent
  • Great communication skills – 43 percent
  • Other people posted great references about the candidate – 38 percent

“Employers are using all the tools available to them to assure they make the correct hiring decision, and the use of social media continues to grow,” says Rosemary Haefner, vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder. “For job seekers it is essential to be aware of what information they’re making available to employers, and to manage their online image. At the same time, hiring managers and human resources departments must carefully consider how to use information obtained from social media and whether it is relevant to a candidate’s qualifications.”

What are hiring managers looking for on social media?

The research suggests that hiring managers are using social media to get a glimpse at the candidate’s behavior and personality outside of the interview, and are most interested in professional presentation and how the candidate would fit with the company culture.

To make sure your social media profile sends the right message, Haefner suggests:

Search Yourself – The easiest way for employers to research your online personality is a simple search on Google and other sites. Try it out for yourself so you know exactly what they’ll see and remove any digital dirt you wouldn’t want a potential boss to encounter. Some browsers may save information about you, so search from a public computer to be sure you’re getting the right results.

Read Your Privacy Settings – Social media sites change their privacy settings often, and occasionally this leads to a change in your personal settings. It’s good practice to check in on the privacy settings for all of your accounts regularly.

Showcase Your Talent – This is your opportunity to provide evidence that you are as exceptional as your resume says by posting awards and accolades you’ve received, volunteer activities, accomplishments you’re excited about, etc. Employers often search social media to learn more about your qualifications or to see that you are well-rounded, so be sure to put that information front and center.

Keep Tabs – Just because you’re being careful with what you put online doesn’t mean your friends are necessarily so cautious. Pay attention to what others are posting on your profile and what you’re tagged in to protect your online image.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted online within the U.S. by Harris Interactive© on behalf of CareerBuilder among 2,184 hiring managers and human resource professionals (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government) between February 11 and March 6, 2013 (percentages for some questions are based on a subset, based on their responses to certain questions). With a pure probability sample of 2,184, one could say with a 95 percent probability that the overall results have a sampling error of +/- 2.1 percentage points. Sampling error for data from sub-samples is higher and varies.

The bottom line: KIP-Always Keep It Positive. Although we shouldn’t care that our political views, party photos, rants and raves may offend others, they may be the ammunition someone may use against you.

Keep it positive.

Need Money? Try Crowdfunding
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On several occasions, I’ve read about people, even celebrities, using crowdfunding to raise money for entrepreneurial ventures and social causes.

Crowdfunding is the collective effort of people networking and donating their money to support efforts by other people and organizations. Crowdfunding is used to support many initiatives including disaster relief, company startups, nonprofit campaigns, political campaigns, artists, musicians and a host of other individuals looking to get their project off the ground.

Chance Barnett, a Forbes Contributor, wrote a blog back in May entitled, “Top 10 Crowdfunding Sites for Fundraising.” In this article, he lists his top 10 as:

  1. Kickstarter
  2. Indiegogo
  3. Crowdfunder
  4. RocketHub
  5. Crowdrise
  6. Somelend
  7. Appbackr
  8. AngelList
  9. Invested.in
  10. Quirky

Chance goes into detail about each of the programs here.

There are a number of other crowdfunding resources such as Causes.com, Pozible.com, Razoo.com, Giveforward.com, and a few others.

Before you get excited about crowdfunding, most of these offer free account set ups, but take a small percentage of the fundraising capital. Also, keep in mind that most of these programs do not award you the money unless you have met your stated goal. As always, do your homework and make sure you are getting the best deal possible.

So if you need money to fund a project, help a nonprofit or to get your business off the ground, consider crowdfunding. There might be program out there that’s just for you.

Brand Journalism – A New Way Companies Provide Useful Information
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The world of journalism is changing. For example, The Plain Dealer, Ohio’s largest newspaper, is moving from home delivery seven days per week to three. Those looking for news can still purchase the paper on non-delivery days, and they can also get their information online and on smart phones and tablets.

The journalism change also hits marketing communications and public relations professionals. There is now the opportunity to provide Brand Journalism, where we give more industry information, not just information about the company…blending the best of both worlds.

Look for Visibility Marketing Inc. to provide more information on sustainability. We want you to know and understand the industry, where it’s going and how you can participate. It’s all good. All of us are able to make our world better.

In the meantime, watch this short video from Ragan Communications that we hope will give you a better explanation about Brand Journalism.

In the coming weeks, we’ll provide “Brand Journalism” that will keep you informed about how we can all save money, save time and save our planet.

 

http://youtu.be/kpBdCpILNeI