Today’s post is a Guest Post from Lynn Fang over at Upcycled Love. This is my first time publishing a Guest Post here on Jessilicious.com and it’s a bit of a different topic than I would normally cover. I hope you enjoy Lynn’s article, and definitely go check out her site!
Are you an Internet entrepreneur? Do you take clients and make them websites, logos, blogs, Twitter and Facebook pages? Or do you teach them affiliate marketing, SEO, how to build a brand, or how to hone in on that diamond content? As an Internet entrepreneur, you provide one of a multitude of necessary skills to nurture and grow a successful digital empire.
Have you thought about your role? Your place in the ecosystem of Interwebs?
Do you want to contribute to sustainability in some way?
I may be a dreamy environmentalist, but I can see the golden key entrepreneurs hold in pushing our economy towards sustainability. Maybe your work doesn’t affect the environment, because your realm is of the digital. To some degree, it still does. Websites require host servers, which require energy. If you want to operate more sustainably, try a solar or wind-power run server. Stamp it proudly on your website.
Beyond that, have you ever considered that you could do more than improve someone’s online presence and business potential?
Have you considered that you can leverage your skills and services for social change? In other words, claim the domain of social entrepreneurship for the digital world. To borrow the words of Mars Dorian, be a digital crusader.
Here are two examples of digital social entrepreneurs:
- Danielle Laporte, at Whitehottruth.com is one of the most inspiring digital social entrepreneurs out there. She chooses to work with people that are doing something good – whether it’s life coaching, operating a green beauty shop, a vegan cafe, or organic clothing. She states openly on her website, “I work exclusively with active and progressive entrepreneurs, or those on the verge of breaking out with their own enterprise.”
- Web designer Ali Dark blogs about deeper issues – inspiration, social issues, and tips for translating your beliefs into action. He is interested in working with other like-minded ‘world changers’, as he calls them. Those are the people he will attract with his writing, effectively targeting his clients to those who do good work.
Understandably, if you are just starting out it might be difficult to get the perfect clientele. But if your motive is to promote sustainability or social change, build up your reputation as someone who cares about environmental and social issues, whatever your preferred cause. You will likely attract like-minded clientele.
Five tips to change the world via digital entrepreneurship:
- Be discriminate about who you work with. It’s not always about the money. Consciously choose to work with changemakers, and stick with people you trust.
- Look inward – are you promoting social change on a personal level, in some small way? Attracting a clientele of changemakers likely requires you to be authentically interested in change. If you don’t know where to start, there many great blogs out there writing about issues in our world. You can come visit me at Upcycled Love for ecological and social issues. Find your cause, embrace it, and feel impassioned by it.
- Blog about change, to some degree. Changemakers like to work with other changemakers, and a blog is a great way to showcase what you’re all about.
- Think forward. Continually ask yourself questions like, is this client going to do something great and life-changing? Can I, as digital entrepreneur, have a role in creating a better world?
- Envision the world you want to live in. In my ideal world, businesses do no harm to the environment and are just to their workers. Think about your ideal world, and strive to make it a reality.
Your clients can be incredibly diverse – the rapper who raps about social change, the artist that documents industrial waste, the business that creates zero emissions, or the blogger who blogs about environmental progress.
In my envisioned future, business discriminates against those who wreak havoc on the environment and society, and instead rewards those who do good work and seek to make our lives better.
How do we get there?
It starts with you. I know you are all changemakers, now let it shine! Good luck!
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Fantastic topic, Lynn! One of the reasons I see businesses and entrepreneurs shy away from being more “socially responsible” is that they don’t see the benefit. They don’t see how helping the environment is going to help them increase their bottom line.
The truth of the matter is, it helps them in the long run. There isn’t necessarily an immediate return on investment (which, I think, is why it’s so often ignored), but it’s a win-win for everyone no matter how you look at it.
There’s also the matter of self-interest. If entrepreneurs genuinely don’t care about the environment or being socially responsible, then I’d rather not have them meddling with such things. Doing so would only ruin it for those who genuinely care and are trying to do good.
But if they genuinely care, then there is a huge opportunity for them to build a unique business that stands out from the crowd and gives their customers a clear and obvious choice why they’re a better pick over their competitors.
Hi Raam!
Excellent thoughts on this topic. I particularly like how you pointed out that it’s important to genuinely care and have an interest in helping the environment – and not just doing it to look good or to “ride that bandwagon”.
Thanks, Raam! It’s definitely tough for people to see past the initial investment. Maybe the first thing to work on is genuine care.
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Does selling information products count as green vs selling physical products?
It’s more worrying about how we’re going to cope with the massive pile of consumer goods in a few years time. Most of them still work, but are made obsolete by newer shinier models where we can only use 10% of the capacity.
We should support green companies but you’d get better results by stopping the giant companies from releasing so many new models. With the correct marketing anything can be made to look environmentally friendly, but if we didn’t actually need it then it would be totally green.
Andrew
Hi Andrew!
Yes, I think selling info products DOES count as green!
It’s definitely a good way to avoid adding to excess consumer goods.
Unfortunately, stopping the giant companies is much easier said than done! I’d love to just wave my magic wand and take care of that. lol. I think that even us little people can make a difference though – and if enough of us start living consciously, even the giant companies will have to pay attention.
Thanks for dropping by and adding to the conversation!
Thanks for the mention Lynn. This is very much the direction I want to continue in. I would love to just do blogs for passionate and positive people. Simple as that. In fact – I’m making that my thing as of now.
Just dealing with the standard automaton type of businesses, people with pass-it-on corporate attitudes, it runs me right into the ground. I can feel the dirt in my teeth right now, matter of fact.
Hi Ali!
Thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment!
I love your attitude about who you want to work with, and realizing that the other way doesn’t work for you. More people need to take that approach instead of trying to sell to anyone and everyone.