October 20th, 2005

Business schools for a better world

The release of the brand new, 2005 “Beyond Grey Pinstripes” report has just been announced. This report, a joint project between the World Resource Institute and The Aspen Institute, attempts to rank the top MBA business programs by their commitment to environmental and social change. For a number of years now, this biennial report has been encouraging business schools to compete on things other than admission selectivity and graduating salaries.

The rise of more socially and environmentally aware business programs encourages traditional business students to consider how these aspects affect the bottom line, while at the same time it encourages activists to consider entrepreneurial approaches to changing the world. After attending an undergraduate business program myself, I know how important it is for schools to incorporate these issues, and how rare it currently is to find one that does.

Another important trend I’ve seen lately is the growth of exclusively “green” business schools. While this report does a great job at ranking the top mainstream schools, this new breed of schools is pretty much left off the list. I’m not sure how many of these there are, but some of the ones I’ve come across are: the New College of California’s Green MBA, Presidio World College, Bainbridge Graduate Institute, and KaosPilots. But whether it’s top mainstream schools like Stanford and Notre Dame, or brand new activist-founded schools, it is great to see that more and more people are getting the tool set to help build a better world.

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October 12th, 2005

Too many search engines?

There are hundreds (maybe thousands) of search engines & directories all over the web, each focused on a particular niche: from Google, who tries to index as much of the web as possible; to local directories of green and healthy resources like Holistic Local, Dragonfly Village, and Co-op America’s National Green Pages. So with all these search engines and directories, how do you figure out which ones are worthwhile to focus your marketing efforts on? While not every search engine has its own paid advertising program, there are still many that do… and many that are not worth your time.

If you haven’t already started campaigns in either Google AdWords or Yahoo! Search Marketing (aka Overture), this is where I suggest you start. These two “top tier” services both offer broad and localized search programs, reach a majority of the people searching online, and also provide the context with which most other search engine advertising programs are compared. We have had a lot of experience working on campaigns within each, and each has its own positive and negative aspects. Google’s interface may be easier to get started with, but Overture’s bid prices are usually slightly lower on many keywords. Trying both is usually the best bet, to maximize your reach and be able to fine tune your campaigns.

A third member of the “top tier” search advertising programs will soon be MSN’s new AdCenter. MSN has begun the beta release of their new PPC (pay-per-click) search marketing program, which does not have an official release date yet but has already received positive reviews from ClickZ. This site reviews a number of programs in the next tier, such as Miva (which used to be FindWhat.com) and Kanoodle. Shopping search engines include Shopping.com and FindGift, and there are a number of other for local advertisers such as Superpages.com and pay-per-call advertising from Ingenio.

So as I mentioned, start with the biggest programs such as Google and Overture, and once you have conquered those, try some of the smaller or more targeted ones. Large programs allow you to get the most clicks for targeted keywords, and test your campaign. After you have figured out what works and what doesn’t, bring that knowledge to small search engines so you waste much less time.

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October 7th, 2005

Mainstream Media Covers More Green Businesses

I’ve noticed a great trend in the last year or so — more business magazines, like Fast Company, Business 2.0, Inc., and Entrepreneur — are covering values-based organizations or “social enterprises” as I labeled some of them in the last blog entry.

In the October 2005 issue of Inc. Magazine, for example, there were two such stories. One was on ABC Home, the $80 million New York City home decore emporium which is planning to increase from 20 percent volume that is sourced in a socially responsible manner to 100 percent in the next decade. The other was on Applegate Farms, a $35 million organic and natural meat company.

Maybe the editorial staff at these magazines like the social enterprise trend. Or maybe, these kinds of companies are just engaging in leading-edge practices that make them more successful than so many of their mainstream counterparts. Either way, it’s great to see the enhanced coverage.

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October 5th, 2005

Rise of the Social Enterprise

I know it’s been a busy year when I look and see that I haven’t posted a blog entry since March! Thankfully, our marketing associate, Nick Fassler, is good at keeping up with this sort of thing.

Just wanted to share an interesting note from Ode magazine (disclosure: Ode is a client of ours). Ode builds on an article from The Nation earlier this year about the evolution of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The Nation authors Michael H. Shuman and Merrian Fuller recommend that these groups, a.k.a. “nonprofit organizations” and “citizens groups”, put less effort into fundraising and more into understanding market forces. The search for funding in the form of subsidies and donations takes a lot of time, and many organizations often tap into the same funding sources. In order to be truly successful, the authors conclude that NGOs need to learn how to generate revenue.

Shuman and Fuller see social entrepreneurs as the answer. They argue that the aim of social entrepreneurs should be to break even on their activist activities, and if there are profits, invest them in good causes. The authors predict that increasing numbers of NGOs will have to integrate elements of the free market into their strategies in order to be trully effective in their efforts.

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