Good marketing does the same. You shouldn’t be aware of the ad or marketing effort for its own sake. The connection comes when the message turns to energy that powers the viewer to act. Some of the most silent marketing pieces create the loudest noise.

Take a look, find your color and save a life. http://www.ownacolour.com

When I was in Philadelphia last month at the B Corp Champions Retreat, I met Bruce Taylor of Enviro-Stewards Inc. He told me of a simple method they are using to provide safe drinking water to families in South Sudan. I was thrilled to learn such a simple solution existed.

Now, for every project we do we will be able to provide safe drinking water for up to 10 people in South Sudan. That means you help bring water to 10 people in South Sudan whenever we work with you on a project.

Sometimes the most simple gifts have the most profound effects.

Since our work is done as a virtual agency, many of the team had not yet seen the office space. As I gave the tour, I was able to talk a little more about the importance of our B-Corp certification. Having our office located at Innovation Cafe is a perfect match for how we see the world. Together we create something better than we had alone.

Thanks to Carl, too, for his labor of love in cooking some truly delicious food for our event.

Take a peek at: Flickr

I love 1) helping people and 2) being creative. One without the other just doesn’t work well for me. So for about 14 years, I helped whoever came across my path and did my best to provide creative solutions to their problems. I didn’t do any advertising. I wanted to keep the business very small. It’s what worked for me during that season. A couple of years ago some significant life changes occurred and I knew it was time to poke my head out of my cozy space and grow.

I started getting consultation and exposure to business professionals. I felt very small and sometimes wondered if I even belonged in the business space. But I needed to work and I wanted to be able to help people the way they needed it — not the way some company told me to help them, so that meant I needed to have my own business. I deeply appreciate the counsel I’ve received along the way. I’ve been privileged to learn from some truly great people. The biggest lesson I’ve learned is how to filter the traditional business “mandates”.

For me, helping others means there are three winners. The client wins, the people the client serves win, and BVMG wins. When everyone wins, then it’s been helpful. I want to help as many people as I can possibly help in tiny piece of time I get for my life.

Being creative isn’t just about colors and fonts and art. You can also view creativity as a synonym for wisdom. Making wise decisions (what’s best in the long run, what communicates effectively, etc.) is the epitome of creativity.

When it’s time to make decisions, there are two resounding questions: will it help and is it creative? Don’t give me a lot of complicated business terminology and ways to cut costs for short term gains. I don’t need a lot of money to be happy. I just need to help people and be creative. If you want to help people and need something creative, then talk to me. I’d love to hear from you.

Come with me back in time to a place where capitalism and Reaganomics reigned supreme.  The Iron Curtain was crumbling and Oldsmobile was trying to make a solid comeback.  Olds started a campaign to rebrand themselves as a new Olds for a new generation.  ”This is not your father’s Oldsmobile.” was their tag line.  Unfortunately, for Olds this campaign did little to stop the slide of this once great brand.  Fast forward twenty plus years and this time look to the economy and modern business models.  Entrepreneurship is on the rise.  The current economic challenges facing much of the world is breeding a new generation of entrepreneur – The socially conscious entrepreneur.  This is not your father’s business model.  For profit for a cause is beginning to take hold.  The roots are being laid today for what I believe will be a vast business ecoscape where for profit businesses lead the way in solving many of the problems we see today.  Below is a great video from Forbes that I think outlines this trend well.  What do you say? Are for profit social ventures the wave of the future or is this yet another fad?

It was a little over a year ago that I was speaking at the Central Exchange and heard the words “I want to change the way people think about business and social responsibility” come out of my mouth.  I was still fuzzy on what that meant, but I knew I’d find my way.

I’m not alone. Cause marketing, cause capitalism, social business, social ventures…there are a lot of terms and faces to a movement that is growing worldwide. Big Vision Media Group is just one of many who are committed to bringing positive change to our world.

As Mat and I began to explore what it means for us, personally and as a business, we found a lot of encouragement that we were on the right path. You would think everyone could tune into something as simple as using what you do to make life better for others, but it was surprising to see how many people look at us like we’re a few fries short of a Happy Meal. How can a for-profit business actually grow and benefit by making a commitment to social and environmental causes? After all, isn’t that the realm of non-profits?

Ghandi challenged us to “be the change“. That means we can’t follow the rules of status quo. (Just read the news headlines.) And so we begin pushing the boundaries, determined to find a way to make life “the way it should be” our reality. As we explored, we discovered B Corporations. Certified B Corporations are a new type of corporation which uses the power of business to solve social and environmental problems. B Corps are unlike traditional businesses because they:

• Meet comprehensive and transparent social and environmental performance standards
• Meet higher legal accountability standards
• Build business constituency for good business

Thanks to help from Hardik Savalia from B-Lab, we are now B Corp certified! The first in Missouri! We invite you to join us. If becoming a B Corp isn’t for you, let us help you find ways to integrate social or environmental benefits into your business.

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the “Great Recession” ended nearly two years ago in the summer of 2009. Now, these are the same geniuses that didn’t figure out we were in a recession until just about a year ago. I’m not an economist, but I did sleep at a Holiday Inn last night (just kidding), but I knew we were in a recession 9 months before they managed to figure it out. Ask my good friend Pete, he’ll vouch for me. He spent many a morning rides to work listening to me on my soap box.

I only have a minor in Econ. so what do I know maybe the recession is over. It likely is, but what I don’t think many of us have come to grips with yet is this is “The New Normal”.

We’ve finally come fully through the industrial revolution and have been birthed into the information age. For the past 15 years we’ve been living in both worlds like the dying Phoenix that is reborn from its own fiery ashes. It will be hardest for those of us that are maybe a bit older or even younger, but trained in old school models like manufacturing. And, not just manufacturing as in manual labor, but in being a factory worker in the business world too.

The question is, if this is the new normal what are you going to do about it?  How will you establish your brand identity, stimulate sales, drive top line revenue?  Opportunity abounds and it only takes a bit of personal innovation and working smart to literally write your own ticket.

On the lighter side here is a very funny video about what is going on in the economy. If you’ve watched the news or took any business or Econ. classes in college you’ll recognize the characters.  Enjoy!

We’ve all heard the mantra the customer is always right, but what if they aren’t. And, not only that but what if the customer being “wrong” is affecting your ability to support the customers who are right and need your support? I grew up in the business world in the retail industry. It was in the days of the dinosaurs so the internet didn’t even exist, literally. In those days local or regional retailers lived and died by their brand reputation which was largely spread through word of mouth. So it was not uncommon to hear every good retail manager to reiterate the famous saying “the customer is always right”. The truth of the matter, even back then, the customer wasn’t always right. The tricky part is what to do when they are not.

In today’s highly connected world things will happen and a customer will get upset. It’s also likely they’ll tell their friends and their friend’s friends and so on via social media. It’s important to realize that this will happen and you need to have a plan to deal with it.

I also think it’s important to realize too that the customer won’t always be right and when they aren’t and they are actually hurting your ability to service your other customers or clients then it’s time to cut them loose. I don’t mean be disrespectful or unprofessional, but it is better to retain those customers that want to work with you through the issues than to have a customer that demands results on only their terms.

How will you deal with those sometimes unruly customers?

It felt odd walking through the parking lot barefoot but hey, it’s Spring, we’re girls, and today we are officially barefoot so off to the salon for a pedicure. We were only to happy to explain why we are barefoot today. One of the women at the salon told us about her childhood in Viet Nam with no shoes. She motioned how her mother would wash her feet at night to try to remove the mud from the day. It meant a lot to her to know that people cared and were trying to help the children.

I love my Tom’s shoes. It was wonderful slipping them on the first time and imagining a child doing the same thing. As One Day Without Shoes (ODWS) approached, I wondered how Zappos might respond. True to their values, Zappos is also taking part in ODWS.

If we’re truly going to make a difference in the world, the old rules of kill-the-competition have to go. Zappos and Tom’s Shoes are leaders of change and it’s great to see collaborative effort between them.

What are you doing in your industry to make a change?