Green Is The New Black

Seems that everyone these days is using the word "green" in their marketing. Being a corporate marketer I see it a lot and wanted to share my thoughts on the topic.

Being green is certainly fashionable these days for companies selling everything from mattresses to cars. From consumer products to professional services we are seeing eco-friendly messages creep up in marketing communications, product descriptions and taglines. Don't misunderstand me for a minute, I have a strong belief that reduction of waste, reuse of our resources and improvements in manufacturing processes are all great. What I have a problem with is that sometimes the message is a bit over the top with regards to just how much the environment has been positively impacted by the marketer. Take a closer look and don't assume that the marketer is representing their practices accurately. That's all I'm saying.

Green Careers, or "Green Collar Jobs", are also fast becoming a hot topic. I attended the 4th CareerEco event yesterday where this topic was approached by local experts Ira Blumenthal and Laura Turner Sydel. (www.careereco.com) What a great event this was! Ira is the President of the Captain Planet Foundation and Mrs. Sydel is an Atlanta icon both as the daughter of famed local business mogul Ted Turner and in her own way having led so many good causes. Some of the points I took from the discussion were:

1. Look for ways in corporate America to reduce, reuse and recycle. Don't just settle for the status-quo.

2. Make your own position. Oftentimes we look for job positions that say what we are in the description. You can be an Ambassador of the Environment and make your own position. I will speak more to this in future articles.

3. We need leaders in the eco-world. There are no REALLY well defined leaders championing the eco-cause in America and there's room for you to be the one!

4. Teach your kids about the envirnonmental practices that have a positive impact now and they will be our future green leaders. "Bend a sapling while it's young" to make a difference.

My family and I are doing more everyday to recycle, reuse resources and respect our planet. My company is doing it's part as well with increasing enthusiasm. I would challenge you to find out what you can do, get your education and find new ways to do your part. I am here for dialogue and hope to hear from you soon!

ECommerce Payment Gateways

It looks like (from my recent experience) the defacto-standard in online credit card transaction processing, Authorize.net, has gotten too big for their britches. They used to be the only way to go for web developers like me to connect websites to merchant accounts. Now....their developer support has been outsourced, your request is put in a ticket queue and you're just a number to them.

It's okay, I understand. Companies grow and need to be scalable. But the same personalized service I liked about Authorize.net is now what I like about their competitor. : )