Sunday, January 17th, 2010

After years of warnings, scientific studies and campaigning, environmental concerns have finally hit the mainstream. These days the general public is far more knowledgeable about the impact of their actions on the planet than ever before. This means that not only are they thinking about more ethical ways to run their own day-to-day lives, but they are also searching for companies and goods providers who can show them that they are doing their best to lessen their environmental impact too.Therefore, raising the environmental profile of their business and ensuring that they are recognised as ethical traders has become an issue for many companies. More and more frequently, customers are found to be technologically savvy when it comes to researching companies. The advent of the internet has ensured that people have access to a lot of information that was once hard for them to come by. This means that companies who simply claim to be taking steps to cut their emissions without doing the back-end work can find themselves exposed and in hot water.Luckily, there are many green initiatives available and there are solutions to suit businesses and organisations of all shapes and sizes. Depending of the type of company you own and the scale of your business, the amount of work you ...
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Tuesday, January 12th, 2010

Using the internet as a vehicle to market and build your business is very new to most people that make that decision to expand into cyber space. The internet is a powerful instrument to use and like most things in life there is a learning curve that is associated with the implementation of new things. In this article what I want to speak about is the many business marketing tools that most people starting an online business need to familiarize themselves with so that they can succeed in business.The first and I think the most important tool that needs to be learned about is an Auto Responder. This tool is the cornerstone of most online businesses, an auto responder is a tool that is used to communicate, build relationships and follow up with all prospective leads and customers. An auto responder is an online tool that you subscribe to from a company that provides the ability for you to keep the name, email address and other contact information in one place. This information is kept and personally stored by you so that you can use at will to build a list of clients and use to keep in contact with them when needed.Another business marketing tool that is important to your business ...
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Sunday, January 10th, 2010

Consumer support for sustainable products and practices is growing worldwide. "Going green" will soon be a necessary cost of doing business.It's no longer enough to meet minimum legal compliance for environmental standards. A true competitive advantage lies in influencing economic recovery with forward-thinking sustainability practices.Corporate Social Responsibility vs. Bottom LineSome executives think they must choose between the largely social benefits of developing sustainable products and processes vs. the financial costs of doing so. This is a myth.Becoming eco-friendly lowers costs because companies end up reducing what they use. In addition, the process generates additional revenues from better products and enables companies to create new businesses.Viewing Compliance as OpportunityThe smart response to government regulations is to go beyond the norms everyone else follows.Of course, it's helpful if an organization can anticipate and shape the rules. This is why consumer participation is necessary, so leaders may stay abreast of customers' issues and environmental impact.Leaders, managers and their staffs must have the requisite skills to work with customers, activist groups, lobbyists and other companies (including rivals) to explore and develop creative solutions.Making Value Chains SustainablePay attention to, and foresee, the redesign of operations so you can use less energy and water, produce fewer emissions and generate less waste.Your value-chain oversight should ensure that suppliers and ...
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Sunday, January 10th, 2010

Like the automotive and manufacturing sectors, the aesthetic industry along with organic skin care companies are focusing on limiting the impact they have on the environment. Rather than just focusing on the end product, aesthetic companies are now focusing on how their entire business, from production to marketing plans and packaging, to find ways to help the environment and the customers. Producers of green beauty products want the earth to look as healthy and beautiful as all of the faces on it.Green ProductsGreen companies in the aesthetic industry have turned their backs on unsustainable resources and harsh chemicals in their products. Years ago, ingredients were taken from the natural environment or made in the lab without a thought to the devastating effects this has on the earth's ecosystems. Chemicals used in the growth of resources and the production of products go into the air and the water supply. These substances are also absorbed into the bodies of consumers.Today, the resources used in organic skin care products and the cosmetic industry, come from sources that can be produced through organic farming and other renewable methods rather than being harvested from the natural environment. With these new green practices, care and consideration for endangered species and the rest of the animal and plant population ...
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Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

No matter what business you are involved in, you must remember that you are first in the marketing business. Unless you let people know exactly what you do and how you do it, your business will be the best kept secret in the universe.By thinking about your business in this way you put yourself in the enviable position of being able to create your business in the exact way that you intend. Every time someone asks you what you do you can refine your answer until it sounds and feels just right to you. In this way you can eliminate the parts of your business that you do not enjoy and do not bring you the most revenue, while increasing the parts that you are more passionate about and that bring you a higher return for the time and effort you put into them. Over a period of time your business will be exactly as you had originally hoped it would be when you started it up.If you have been in business for many years you more than likely already have a business plan that you set up annually. For marketing purposes it is more effective to look at your business on a quarterly basis, deciding how to wish to embark on ...
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Sunday, January 3rd, 2010

The movement to Go Green doesn't seem to have lost any steam. In fact, the number of high profile personalities that are actively getting involved continue to increase.Previously these celebrities would lend a hand to advertisement endorsements. Now these same celebrities are getting their hands dirty with actual contributions of their time and effort.Hopefully this is a trend and not just a fad with these celebrities. Not that they are experts in a particular environmental issue but more that their high profile brings needed attention to the issues.Maybe it is the attention to environmental issues that have finally brought the executives and board members of large corporations to start paying attention. Businesses and industries have seemed to embrace the concept of going green despite the cost to their bottom line.It is hopeful that the value of a business or industry to the people is not solely the amount of profit it can generate for it's shareholders but on more community based values. For example, if a business profit is slightly decreased due to acquiring (or even developing) new technology to ensure clean water discharge why should it get punished financially.If profit growth was only 8% instead of 10% because of making sure the waste water discharge from production was clean, why should ...
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Monday, September 21st, 2009

Here's the problem! No one really knows what "Green" stands for. Just ask around, and you will hear answers about saving the earth, using less oil, installing CFL bulbs, or installing Green roofs on a building. None of these are Green issues in the truest sense of the word, and that is where you education is going to start. Not only are most cleaning services ignorant, Corporate America is woefully ignorant while giving lip service to the need for environmental issues.How about "Carbon Offset?" Are they real or a scam? Where does the money go when you purchase Carbon offsets? Do they detract from Green Awareness by corporations, or are they really a good idea? You see, there is a lot to learn about the issues that impact business.Does having Green Seal products make a Green cleaning service? What are the hot issues that make a product Green, and how easy is it to lie to the public about the Green value of a cleaning product? Greenwashing is a new term for firms representing themselves or their products as Green but could not pass an impartial Green review. Once again, knowing is better than being told. With the growing volume of Green demands, it is crucial to know how to define a ...
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Sunday, September 20th, 2009

Going green is a hot buzzword these days, and everyone, including the food service industry, is jumping on board the environmentally friendly bandwagon.The great thing about going green in your restaurant is that you can cut costs and save yourself considerable money while improving customer loyalty and visibility at the same time. In a time when cutting costs might mean sinking or swimming, going green might be the thing that helps you stay afloat.This series is intended to help you cut costs and improve your business' bottom line while making legitimate green restaurant claims to your customers. And you just might save the planet in the process.How To Manage EquipmentThe equipment in your restaurant or commercial kitchen uses thousands of dollars worth of energy every year. Running this equipment is essential to your business, but it can also be a drain on profits if not managed properly. Some tips to help you manage equipment:Reduce idle times. Cooking equipment like broilers, steamers, ovens, holding cabinets, and fryers all take time to heat up for optimal use.Because your kitchen staff is usually more concerned with food preparation times than energy efficiency, they tend to leave equipment running during downtimes to avoid being slowed down by heat up time.Obviously, you also want to minimize food prep ...
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Sunday, September 20th, 2009

Calling all green business bods! Want to hear more about how environmentally-friendly technology can benefit your business? Or are you looking to further your environmental career by boffing up on the latest green science?Green technology certainly is the way forward for smart business owners and job-seekers looking to move into a successful company. Advocates of green technology claim that the green revolution will be just as explosive and all-encompassing as the advent of information technology in the last 20 years. The main goals of green technology advocates are to end the cycle of disposable products, replacing it with one where products that can be reused are created; reducing waste and pollution; finding alternatives to fossil fuels; and creating new, sustainable methods of production that can meet society's needs.So where can you find out more?Next month, ecoConnect, facilitator and promoter of innovative green technology, will host a green business forum with guest speaker Zac Goldsmith. Son of billionaire Sir James Goldsmith, Zac is a renowned environmentalist, anti-globaliser and the director and editor of The Ecologist magazine.The forum is for anyone with interest or involvement in green technology and sustainablity. It will provide fascinating discussion on the environmental technology sector, as well as a showcase of examples of the most innovative green technology. The ...
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Sunday, September 20th, 2009

It is a reasonable assumption that earning a Green business certification has a basic cost. The investment can be small or large depending on how many challenges a company may face in Green process. It would be fair to put the Greening effort in a similar monetary comparison as buying a piece of needed machinery for the business. The purpose for the purchase is that the machine is needed to make the company run better, reduce the work load for everyone, and it will save time. These may be somewhat intangible benefits but they will show up on in a better operation and in reduced business costs. In other words, Going Green is an investment that has a predictable return. More and more, we are learning that Green is not just an expense that takes an unfriendly bite out of the cash flow. Going Green has real and lasting benefits that may be hard to measure but can be seen as a boost to the company's overall profitability.If you improve the indoor air quality, you will also improve employee performance and reduce health claims. If you install a paperless system, your whole company will speed up performance, and more work will be produced by fewer workers. Employee cost savings is not a small advantage as everyone is looking to keep expenses down. Get smart with ...
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