April is one of my favorite months. It's the time of year the earth begins awakening after the long, cold, sleepy days of winter. Our mood is lifted just by the warmer weather, the sunnier days and the flowers blooming. There's a special day in April that many of us acknowledge and appreciate and it's called 'Earth Day' - a day celebrated in the United States on April 22 as a day designed to inspire awareness and appreciation for the earth's environment.
April may be the month that we celebrate Earth Day but, in truth, many of us have become environmentally-conscious all year long.
I, for one, do my part to take care of the environment by doing what many people do today like recycling plastics, glass, aluminum and paper.
I also have replaced all the light bulbs in my house with GE Energy Smart light bulbs that will last 5 years and save 70-77% less energy than incandescent bulbs.
And recently my neighbor converted me into using Amsoil's 100% synthetic lubricating oil that is considered the "green" oil of the automobile industry. Not only does it provide better performance for my car but it contains 0% petroleum, it lowers emissions, improves gas mileage and results in less oil waste.
As I thought about these ways I contribute to preserving the earth in my personal life, it occurred to me that I also contribute in my business life as well by working at home and providing virtual services to my clients.
I save on gas by not commuting down the road twice a day and I communicate with my clients and business associates via email, thereby cutting down on paper usage. (Remember the day when we used to mail everything using the postal mail service? Boy, that seems so long ago!)
I read a great blog post earlier this week that enlightened me on how I help my clients daily to participate in preserving the earth (whether they realize it or not) and it's all done through their online marketing efforts.
The five points below were borrowed from this blog post (with the author's permission) and updated with my favorite online tools:
1. Email Marketing - Delivering your newsletter via email instead of a printed version saves big. The paper, ink, postage and fossil fuels consumed by the energy it takes to power a computer are far less than those used to power the printing process. And even if you need a limited number of hard copies to hand out in a brick and mortar location, you can easily print off a few dozen at a time and replenish as needed.
For email marketing, I recommend Constant Contact, AWeber and 1ShoppingCart
2. Teleclasses - Workshops held over the phone. Now and then it is important and sometimes necessary for people to gather in a face-to-face environment. But if part of what you do involves education or instruction, you can often accomplish the same thing with a teleseminar (or webinar if the material you are presenting requires visual aids). These are great ways to address a group and everyone's car stays in the driveway; plus, no one is heating, cooling or lighting an additional space.
For teleseminars, I use FreeConference as a free conference calling service. And, for an affordable fee, you can also record the call and share your desktop so participants can view presentations.
3. Social Networking - Humans are social creatures. Social networking tools make it easier for us to engage with each other between the times when we get together face-to-face. The impact is nearly immeasurable in terms of saved gasoline and jet fuel consumption.
I like to use the 'big three' (LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter) to keep in touch and build relationships with business colleagues and personal friends.
4. Blogging - A quick and easy way to keep a stream of deeper communication going with your people. Excellent for building trust and establishing your credibility as an expert. It's like a cross between direct mail and public speaking without the podium, printing, postage and fuel.
I recommend using Typepad and WordPress for blogging.
5. E-commerce - Once you've used all the other stuff to attract a ton of attention to yourself, you'll need a way to process the sales that are sure to come from all this excellent relationship-building. The environmental benefits of a website with a shopping cart compared to the overhead associated with a brick and mortar establishment are immense!
I use and highly recommend 1ShoppingCart for ecommerce and auto responders.
If you haven't yet jumped on the bandwagon for being an earth-friendly advocate by implementing these online tools to help boost your business, you can get help designing a plan unique to you that will help your business profit from these marketing strategies. As a bonus, you'll feel warm and fuzzy knowing that you too are doing your part in preserving our Mother Earth.
