• Forbes turned the spotlight to the rise of the charitable for-profit entity, examining “two new types of corporations [that] have been created to address the goals of making money, attracting private investors and addressing societal concerns: the benefit corporation and L3C.”
• The Wall Street Journal noted “That anything other than maximizing shareholder value should be considered in a company’s decision-making normally can open the door to investor suits”… Benefit Corporations, however, are now changing that.
• Why do companies choose to become Certified B Corps? Context Travel explains their reasons and the benefits of becoming a B Corp. Renewable Choice Energy also recently became a certified B Corp. On their blog, they share their experience getting certified as a B Corp.
• “B Corps are about changing (or rather growing) corporate laws, standards, systems, and cultures” – and in doing so, they’re driving a new ecology of commerce.
• B Corp Open Neighborhood is bringing idea of local communication to the digital age, with a unique social media platform, a free-wifi initiative, and a group purchasing program for solar energy. Learn more about Open Neighborhood on Care2.
• Though the B Corp certification is not intended for non-profits, have you ever been curious about what B Lab’s own B report would look like? Wait no longer. In the spirit of transparency, B Lab has released its own B report, impact assessment, and supplier list.

Finally, the CBS Evening News ran this piece about Benefit Corporations that focus on giving back:

What are your thoughts on the latest B Corp news?

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Good content should drive your online marketing. Now that you’ve set up your website, how will you ensure that users will find you online? What are you going to tweet about and post updates about?

This is where your content marketing comes into play. You need to determine what kinds of content will be of interest to existing and potential clients. What information do they need that you can provide? How can you provide that information in a way that will be interesting and informative?

Why Content Marketing Is Important

Content marketing is important for a few reasons:

1. Most people today don’t want to be bombarded with advertising that may or may not be relevant to them. The old method of marketing “at” people (through billboards, commercials, etc.) is not nearly as effective as providing information that is relevant to a potential customer at the time that they’re looking for it. Content marketing helps you to provide useful information that people are looking for right when they’re ready for it.
2. Search engines are driven by content – every single search consists of someone using keywords to look for something. You want the people who are looking for what you have to offer to be able to find you.
3. To bring in fans, followers, and readers (all of whom are potential clients), you need to give them something worth reading, watching, or listening to. As many people have noted, when it comes to online marketing, “If you build it, they will come” does not apply – you need to give people a compelling reason to engage with you.
4. Blogging for business is recognized as one of the best forms of marketing your business online, and good blogging requires that you have a clear idea about the content you want to deliver via your blog.

In short, content marketing is the process of creating content that will be valuable to current and potential clients and then making sure that your content is shared online so that people can find it.

Tips to Get You Started

Be aware that working on your content marketing will take time. You will need to:

1. Identify your goals. What do you want to achieve through your marketing? What is the target market that you are trying to reach? Developing a marketing plan and a social media strategy should be your first steps in this process.
2. Keep it manageable. Content creation can include blogs, podcasts, videos, presentations, and more. As a small business owner, it’s important to stick to doing something that will be manageable, especially if only you and perhaps one other person will be creating the content. Don’t feel that you have to do it all.
3. Develop a system for implementation. This doesn’t need to be too complicated, but you should at least be clear about who will develop the content, where will it be published, how it will be shared through social media, and how you will respond to comments on your blog and Facebook.
4. Develop an editorial calendar. This is a handy way of planning what you will post and when. You can identify the types of blog posts that you want to write, as well as plan ahead for your Facebook updates and tweets.
5. Identify appropriate content for each of your channels. People will engage with your content differently on your blog than they will on Facebook, and they will engage differently on Facebook than they will on Twitter. For example, when people go to your blog, they are looking for specific information on a topic that they want to learn more about and it will take more than 140 characters to provide them with that information. When they see your status update on Facebook, it will often be mixed in with updates from their friends and family, and they are more likely to click the “like” button if it’s something that they can take in really quickly.
6. Incorporate your keywords. This is particularly important if you are blogging for business. Make sure that you use keywords that people will use to search for your product or service and incorporate those into your blog title and posts. Although the search engines are constantly changing the way that they serve up search results, people are still entering keywords in their searches and you want to make sure that they can find you.
7. Be aware that this will take time! Like all marketing, this will take time. It’s not a simple matter of setting up your social media profiles and just sending out a few tweets. You’ll need to work on this regularly, but over time, you will begin to see the results of your efforts.

• California’s new Benefit Corporation legislation went into effect on Jan. 3, paving the way for more companies to maximize social good while turning a profit. In all, 12 companies registered as Benefit Corporations on the first day, with Patagonia leading the charge as California’s first Benefit Corporation. KQED reported on Benefit Corporations, and even mainstream business publications took notice of the new law; Bloomberg examined the possible future of sustainable business law and the Economist noted that firms with benefits are part of a larger trend, with Britain and European countries already having or also developing new legal frameworks.
• B Lab has set up a comprehensive Benefit Corporation Information Center that is a great resource for information about Benefit Corporations. It’s well worth checking out for businesses, attorneys, and directors interested in learning more about benefit corporations.
• A great article on the Stanford Social Innovation Review explains why corporate structure matters and notes that Benefit Corporations represent “an opportunity to make a paradigm shift that harnesses the incredible power of companies to benefit society and the economy.”
• The emergence of Benefit Corporations that incorporate a social or environmental mission into for-profit companies of course also blurs the traditional lines between for-profit and non-profit organizations. A short post on The Non-profit Quarterly asks, “But what does it [the Benefit Corporation structure] say about non-profits?” The American Bar Association noted that it could help non-profits deliver benefits by offering a new solution to the dilemma about whether to incorporate as a non-profit or for-profit. Nixon Peabody Law Firm provides a lengthy and detailed examination of Benefit Corporations, L3Cs, and the need to clearly understand the new legal alternatives for structuring business entities.
• B Corp Warby Parker continues to make the news, this time with a write-up in Entrepreneur magazine about how this innovative eyeglass company secured venture capital (if you missed their Fast Company video, you can view it here.)
• B Corps continue to grow in Canada. IMG  just became certified in December 2011, joining Dirtt and Bullfrog Power as Founding Canadian B Corporations.

Finally, our local NBC Bay Area spotlighted Give Something Back in its segment about Benefit Corporations:

]]> http://www.cultivatingcapital.com/b-corporations/benefit-corporations-and-b-corps-the-latest-buzz-4/feed 8 http://www.cultivatingcapital.com/marketing/small-business-blogging-6-tips-to-improve-your-blog-in-2012 http://www.cultivatingcapital.com/marketing/small-business-blogging-6-tips-to-improve-your-blog-in-2012#comments Fri, 06 Jan 2012 21:03:40 +0000 Carolina Miranda http://www.cultivatingcapital.com/?p=3316 The start of the new year is a great opportunity to revitalize your small business blog. If you’re looking to make improvements this year, these 6 tips can help you get started:

© Mariaam | Dreamstime.com

1. Create compelling content: No one wants to read content that isn’t insightful, interesting, informative, or enlightening. This doesn’t mean that every post has to consist of Pulitzer-worthy writing, but it does have to be worth reading for the audience that you are trying to reach. Be clear about who you’re writing for and what they’re interested in and need to know.
   
2. Focus on SEO: Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to optimizing your online content so that it can be easily found by search engines. While this is an area that can appear to be complex, there are several simple steps that you can take to make your blog posts search-engine friendly. For example, using keywords in your blog title is an easy way to optimize your business blog.
3. Grab your reader’s attention: When it comes to blogs, you don’t have much time to get your reader’s attention. People click over and scan your post in seconds to decide if they want to read it or not. Fortunately there are simple techniques that can help you capture a reader’s attention – quickly.
4. Commit to blogging regularly: Like anything else, blogging is a skill that gets easier with practice. As you become more comfortable with the blogging process – generating ideas, researching and drafting posts, editing and publishing, sharing your content via social media – you’ll find that it does become easier over time. Getting into a daily writing schedule is key to successful blogging.
   
5. Learn from the mistakes of others: By this point, blogging is no longer a new field to be explored the way it was a few years ago. Many bloggers have made mistakes and graciously shared their lessons so that you can avoid making the same business blog blunders.
6. Share your content via social media: Unless you’re writing a personal blog for your friends and family, you obviously want people to find your blog and share its content. This is especially important if you are blogging for business and trying to achieve specific business goals. Make sure that your content can be shared as part of your social media strategy.

Of course, this all assumes that you already have a blog!  If you don’t yet have a blog, here are some tips to get started with your business blog.

Do you have questions about how you can improve your blog this year? If so, please leave them in the comments.

• The biggest story recently has been the news that NY became the 7th state to pass Benefit Corporation legislation! Even Forbes noted that NY is now a better state for business. Or, as one writer noted, Benefit Corporations are set to Occupy Wall Street.
• A good post on Greenbiz.com explains the legal requirements for Benefit Corporations in California, including the reporting requirements and shareholder votes needed to convert to a Benefit Corporation.
• Mike Hannigan of B Corp Give Something Back notes the macro-trends that are changing the face of corporate philanthropy, especially in the support systems that now exist for responsible businesses: business associations, investment capital, business professionals who support values-based businesses, and of course new legal structures such as Benefit Corporations. Taken together, it’s quite a potent force!
• As Benefit Corporation legislation continues to spread across the country, at least one state is wondering if it will miss this opportunity: Will Nevada be left behind?
• This Wall Street Journal post describes the differences among the three emerging legal structures for social entrepreneurs: L3Cs, Benefit Corporations, and Flexible-Purpose Corporations, with suggestions about which structure would be ideal for different types of companies.
• Mashable has jumped into the fray as well, asking “Do they really indicate good companies?” This is an important question, especially since the article notes that “72% of Americans believe it is important to ‘buy from green companies.’”
• B Corp Warby Parker was featured in a Fast Company video that is well worth watching. They have built giving back right into their business model: for every pair of glasses they sell, they gift a pair to someone who needs them but can’t afford them. The result in one year? 85,000 pairs of glasses to people around the world!

Finally, I’m happy to share the news that Cultivating Capital is now a certified B Corp as well! As a staunch supporter of B Corps, I am proud to be a part of a community committed to harnessing the power of business to solve social and environmental problems.

• Everyone’s talking about the passing of Benefit Corporation legislation in California. The Capitol Weekly, the newspaper of California government and politics, recently announced that a “new breed of company” is coming to California.
• The SF Gate also noted that “California can become a magnet for companies pursuing a triple bottom line,” especially since the Bay Area already has many socially-conscious companies.
• Sustainable Industries features a good overview about the Benefit of Benefit Corporations, explaining what they are and noting that “triple bottom line businesses are getting legit.”
• The emergence of Benefit Corporations of course has significant legal implications. This legal perspective explains the difference between Benefit Corporations and Flexible Purpose Corporations. Also, one of the attorneys who worked on Benefit Corporation legislation was recently interviewed by the Green Chamber of Commerce, and it’s well worth reading, which you can do here.
• Two movements as powerful as B Corps and Occupy Wall Street can’t help but call for comparison, such as in this post by B Lab co-founder Andrew Kassoy, an analysis on the shared goals and different tactics of the two movements, and how B Corps are an alternative to big corporations (a post that previously appeared on this blog).
• Did you know that there are B Corps in Canada? MaRS, which is “building Canada’s next generation of growth companies,” explains the B Corp Certification and a newspaper notes that a local company is one of only 20 B Corps in Canada.
• The story of B Corp iContact, an email marketing and social media marketing company, was profiled in Time magazine – and it’s an inspiring account of the humble origins of a $50 million company.

Finally, for the first time in its 94-year history, Forbes magazine identified the top 30 social entrepreneurs. Guess who made the list? B Lab founders Jay Coen Gilbert, Bart Houlahan and Andrew Kassoy, plus B Corps New Leaf Paper, Gray Ghost Ventures, Freelancers Union, and Ignia. Congrats to all!

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• Nine Social Media Pointers: These are all good tips, with hints for each tip. While I agree with all the points, #5 is worth remembering, especially as you get started: “Success takes time and consistent effort.”
• iContact recently released survey results about small business owners love/hate relationship with social media. Facebook and LinkedIn received the most likes, but a quarter of small business owners hate social media.
• Using social media for business involves more than sending out tweets or posting your updates to Facebook. Should you friend your employees on Facebook? Can an employee take your followers to a competitor? This HR Survival Guide gives you a few things to think about.   You can then use these tips for developing your own social media policy.
• Can Home Depot actually teach you anything about social media? Yes, they can. They have five social media lessons for business – and all are worth learning.
• Of course, you’ll also want to learn from the mistakes of others. Social media has now been around long enough that you can avoid making these 10 mistakes and 5 mistakes.
• Is it worthwhile to make time for social media even when you have a business to run? One lawyer thinks so – and he tells his story about how he’s using social media to gain new clients
• Finally, this last link is the one that I think is most important for small business owners using social media: be selective about your networks and don’t try to do it all!

Not All Businesses Are Created Equal

The truth is that not all businesses are created equal. Consider the following characteristics of Big Corporations:

• Legally required to focus first and foremost on maximizing profit
• Can operate largely without regard to how their business affects society and the environment
• Drive local, independent businesses out of business
• Take money out of the local economy and send it to shareholders and executives outside of the community

By contrast, consider the following characteristics of B Corporations:

• Legally required to make decisions that are good for society, not just shareholders
• Use the power of business to address social and environmental problems
• Often local, independent businesses that operate within and give back to their local community
• Help keep money in the local economy where it continues to circulate within the community

The problem is not business in general, or even Big Corporations alone, but instead it is the way in which large corporations have prioritized profit above all else. B Corporations are part of the solution. B Lab co-founder Andrew Kassoy captured this quite well in a recent piece in Forbes: “The Occupy Wall Street movement signals a collective dissatisfaction with the status quo. B Corporations and their supporters are offering an alternative.”

Harnessing the Power of Business – for Good

One of the reasons that I went into business is because I believe deeply that we need to address the social and environmental problems that we face. Yet, when I looked at the options for effecting change, I had to acknowledge that the government can’t solve our problems (especially in its current state of impasse) and the non-profits, where I worked for years, simply don’t have the resources to solve all the problems that they’re tackling. The private sector is in the best position to effect positive social change by harnessing the power of business and diverting it away from just making money and towards making a profit while acting responsibly – and this is exactly what B Corps do.

If you are a business owner, I encourage you to consider becoming a B Corporation. The process begins with completing the online B Corp Impact Assessment. If you are not a business owner, consider shifting your purchasing dollars to B Corporations and local independent businesses that provide jobs, produce positive social impacts, and protect the environment.

• An interview on KPFA last week explores the Benefit Corporation legislation. It’s well worth listening to, and you can access it here.
• Following the B Corp Retreat in October, Shift Alliance explains the purpose, progress, and future challenges of B Corps.
• With the passing of the new legislation, it’s easy to confuse Benefit Corporations with B Corporations. Sometimes, however, a B is not a B.
• What is being called the biggest change in NY corporate law since the introduction of LLCs in 1994? Hint: It involves turning profits while benefiting the public.
• If you’re trying to make sense of B Corps, this primer on B Corps breaks it down for you.
• What was the process for one company to become a certified B Corp? Rivanna Designs shares their story.
• This short video by B Corp Impact Makers has been around for a while, but it’s worth watching because it explains their model for doing good – and challenges you to steal it!

Finally, if you haven’t yet read B Lab co-founder Andrew Kassoy’s post on B Corps and Occupy Wall Street, I highly recommend that you read it here.

To get you up-to-speed, here’s the latest about what everyone is saying:

• First, from Google’s own blog: “For businesses and brands, Google+ pages help you connect with the customers and fans who love you. Not only can they recommend you with a +1, or add you to a circle to listen long-term. They can actually spend time with your team, face-to-face-to-face. All you need to do is start sharing, and you’ll soon find the super fans and loyal customers that want to say hello.”
• Mashable’s announcement includes a handy slideshow showing several examples of how businesses have set up their Google+ pages.
• The Huffington Post provides three reasons why Google+ can’t be ignored: Google’s reach, targeting capabilities provided by Google+, and Google’s trademark simple design.
• Search Engine Land has a thorough post that explains in detail what is known about Google+ at this time, plus what capabilities (such as vanity URLs) are not yet available.
• Even before Google+ Pages were announced yesterday, Guy Kawasaki and Chris Brogan believed Google+ would succeed. My favorite quote from Guy Kawasaki about this: “Google Plus is to Facebook like Macintosh is for Windows!”

So how do you set up your own Google+ page? You can do so in 5 easy steps outlined in this post by Hubspot.

Finally, check out the Cultivating Capital page on Google+ and add it to your circles!