The Waking Up Syndrome

by Sarah Anne Edwards and Linda Buzzell

“Humankind cannot bear very much reality." — T. S. Eliot

Just dealing with our daily lives keeps most of us too busy to worry about whether or not the sky is falling. We focus on getting to and from work, paying our bills, doing our errands, and, if our time-stressed schedules allow, enjoying a little time to relax with friends and family.

But we’re deluged of late with dire pronouncements from high-profile newscasts, documentaries, and scientific reports about global warming, melting ice caps, dwindling oil supplies, and a looming imminent economic collapse. Closer to home, we’ve experienced climate-related disasters: floods, wildfires, hurricanes, wildfires, and severe droughts.

While the sky may not be falling, this day-after-day onslaught of alarming news is making it more difficult simply to overlook the triple threat of environmental, climatic and economic concerns. It’s leaving many of us feeling like Alice in Wonderland, being sucked down a Rabbit Hole into some frighteningly grotesque and unfamiliar world that’s anything but wonderful.

Few of us are eager to contemplate, let alone truly face, these looming changes. Just the threat of losing chunks of the comfortable way of life we’re accustomed to (or aspiring to) is a frightening-enough prospect. But there’s no avoiding the current facts and trends of the human and planetary situation. And as the edges of our familiar reality begin to ravel, more and more people are reacting psychologically. A noticeable pattern of behavior is emerging.

We call this pattern the Waking Up Syndrome, and it unfolds in six stages, though not necessarily in any particular order.

Stage 1 - Denial.
When we first get an inkling of the shifting environmental reality and its potential impact on both the national economy and our daily lives, most people begin by denying it. We slip into one of four common ways to discount things we’d rather not deal with:

“I don’t believe it.”
We simply deny the existence of any such concerns and refuse to consider them. This might include latching eagerly onto any few remaining naysayers for confirmation and comfort. But as the number of reputable naysayers dwindles, more people are forced to face the fact that “something” is happening.

“It’s not a problem.”
We may admit there’s a change taking place, but deny that it’s significant, seeing such things as climate change and economic fluctuations as part of a normal pattern that is nothing to concern ourselves with. Or we may incorporate the changes we see happening into our spiritual and religious beliefs, regarding them not as a problem, but a test of faith, a sign of a global spiritual awakening, or evidence of a long-awaited Apocalypse. Some may believe focusing on such problems makes them worse and that we should instead visualize, meditate, or pray for the world to be as we want it to be.

“Someone will fix it.”
We may admit major problematic changes are underway but conclude that there’s nothing we personally can do about them and we needn’t worry because technology, scientists, the government, or some expert authority will come up with a solution in time to save us.

“It’s useless.”
We may believe there’s nothing anyone can do about macro-problems, so why do anything, except perhaps eat, drink and be merry. What will be, will be.

Stage 2 - Semi-consciousness.
In spite of the various ways we may try to discount what’s happening to our environment (and consequently to our economy and whole way of life), as evidence mounts around us and the news coverage escalates, we may begin to feel a vague sense of eco-anxiety. Some express this as virulent anger at all this discussion about global warming. Others dissociate from their growing concern and misdirect their feelings toward other things in their lives, perhaps blaming family members or jobs for their undefined discomfort.

Stage 3 - The moment of realization.
At some point we may encounter something that breaks through our defenses and brings the inevitability and severity of the implications of our collective problems into full consciousness. We might read a particularly compelling article, learn more about the aftermath of Katrina, hear a news broadcast about polar bear deaths or rampant fires and flooding, see a documentary like “An Inconvenient Truth” or “The End of Suburbia.” Or — most dramatically – we might experience a natural disaster ourselves with all its personal and economic costs.

At such moments, suddenly we realize no matter how we try to explain away the changes that are happening, they are and will be accompanied by huge challenges to life as we know it and cause considerable pain and suffering for many, including ourselves and those we love.

Even if we believe all these disruptions are leading to a global spiritual awakening or a long awaited Apocalypse— even if we think some helpful new technology is going to emerge (hopefully soon)— we nonetheless begin to understand on a visceral level that the changes taking place will have dramatically unpleasant implications beyond anything we’ve faced in our lifetimes. In fact, we realize many of these uncomfortable changes are already underway and will be growing in coming months and years, affecting most of the things we love and cherish.

But like the character Neo in the 1999 movie The Matrix, even at this point we still have a choice. We can choose to swallow the metaphorical red pill and find out just how deep this rabbit hole goes and where it leads. Or we can take the soothing metaphorical blue pill and choose to “escape” from the nightmarish Wonderland of the rabbit hole we’ve fallen into by slipping back into the comfort of our favorite form of assuring ourselves that all is well.

But if, like Neo, we take “the red pill,” we wake up to the reality of our individual and collective situation. We get that the triple threat challenge facing us is a real Medusa monster. Once we’re awake, the problem is full-blown in our consciousness. It’s right in our face. It won’t let us turn away, and the force of it makes “waking up” incredibly painful.

The moment we realize — even briefly — that we’re slipping into a dangerously threatening new world that no longer makes sense according what we’ve always believed, our genetic wiring kicks in with predictable physiological and emotional threat responses that can take many forms.

Some of us become obsessive newswatchers, documentary filmgoers, internet compulsives or book readers, wanting to know more and more about what’s really happening. Loved ones may think we’ve gone nuts. Spouses may consider divorce; kids may decide mom and dad are hopeless cranks.

The more fragile or vulnerable among us may get depressed or experience panic attacks. If something about this current eco-trauma retriggers earlier traumas in our lives, we may have a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) reaction. Even the more resilient may throw themselves obsessively into save-the-planet and other activities, soon to become exhausted and weary from trying to do what no one person can.

Others, once they realize what’s happening, see it as a new business or political opportunity. These green business ventures can sometimes be helpful and productive, but at other times can actively circumvent or sabotage the efforts of those who are trying to solve the problems.

Stage 4 - A Point of No Return.
Once awakened, especially as economic and environmental changes intensify, most of us find there is no turning back. We find ourselves traveling deeper and deeper down the rabbit hole. Whatever methods we’ve used to avoid facing the coming changes is no longer successful to quell our personal concerns. We can no longer help but notice the continuing rapid progress of the bad trends – more expensive energy, higher costs of living, a weaker economy, more species in trouble, rising temperatures, more devastating severe weather events, increasing political, economic and military competition (wars) over remaining resources, etc. It all starts to make a dreadful sort of sense as we let in the enormity of the situation.

One of the most difficult aspects of this stage is the profound but unavoidable sense of isolation and disconnection we may feel when living in a different world from most of those around us, a world we can no longer escape from, but one few others seem to notice. The result is a bizarre sense of surrealism. Interaction and communication can become a challenge. How do we relate to a world that’s no longer real to us, but is business as usual to most? Do we try to reach out to others about the ugly new reality and endure their defenses? Is it better to indulge those who don’t yet see the reality we’ve stumbled into and act “as if” nothing has changed just to get along? Or might it be easier to withdraw from life as we’ve known it and turn into a hermit?

5. Despair, guilt, hopelessness, powerlessness.
The realization sets in that one person or even one group or community can’t stop the effects of such things as climate change and peak oil and their economic consequences from impacting millions of people around the planet and at home. We see this thing spiraling out of control and realize that our species, and even we individually, are responsible for much of what’s happening! As the mayor of Memphis said to the Los Angeles Times when a major heat-wave hit his city and most of the Midwest and South last summer, “This is pretty akin to a seismic event in the sense that there is no solution that we here in this room can come up with that will take care of everybody.”

Some have suggested that this stage is similar to the traditional grief process, and indeed, this is a time of grieving. But there is a significant difference between this awakening and the normal experience of grief. Grief that occurs after a loss usually ends with acceptance of what’s been lost and then one adjusts and goes on. But this is more like the process of accepting a degenerative illness. It’s not a one-time loss one can accommodate and simply move on. It is a chronic, on-going, permanent situation that will not only not improve, but actually continue to worsen and become more uncomfortable in the foreseeable future, probably for the entire lifetime of most people living today. This is what author James Howard Kunstler calls “The Long Emergency.”

Our grief and sorrow are also amplified by having to bear the pain of upbeat acquaintances who go merrily along in their denial, discounting their own uneasiness about what’s happening and wondering why we’re so “negative.”


Stage 6 - Acceptance, empowerment, action.
As we come to accept the limits of our general powerlessness, we also find the parameters of the power we do have in this strange new situation. We discover we no longer need to resist our current and emerging reality. We don’t need to feel compelled to save the entire world or to hold onto a world that no longer makes sense. We are freed, instead, to pursue what James Kunstler calls “the intelligent response, ” seeking and taking whatever creative, constructive action will best sustain those aspects of life that are truly most important to us in the context of the changes unfolding around us. At this point our curiosity and creativity kick in and we can begin following our natural instincts to find what is both feasible and rewarding to safeguard ourselves, our families, our communities and the planet.

And indeed, growing numbers of people are beginning to respond with a plethora of creative, socially and personally responsible actions along four paths that are similar to those identified by Joanna Macy in her book World as Lover, World as Self: Courage for Global Justice and Ecological Renewal and Richard Heinberg in Peak Everything: Waking up to the Century of Declines. We are finding individual and collective ways to:

Resist making matters worse.
What’s going on may or may not be inevitable, but we don’t have to speed it along. We can do at least one thing to ease or lessen the negative impact of these changes. We can join an environmental action group, plant a tree, bike to work, help with a protest march or write letters to our congressperson. Just doing our little bit to limit the damage eases the psychological distress we’re feeling, even if we’re not “saving the whole world.” Taking even a small stand for what Macy calls “the life-sustaining society” (as opposed to the life-destroying one) gives us back our dignity and sense of agency.
Raise our level of consciousness so we can maintain some serenity and not burn out in the midst of all this change. We might adopt a spiritual practice of some kind, take up meditation, expand our understanding of ecology or history, or spend time reconnecting with nature, learning to live our lives in harmony with the rest of the earth.

Build a lifeboat for ourselves and our loved ones.
Many people are already taking steps to create a richer yet more sustainable way of life better suited to weathering the new economic and environmental realities. Some are moving to less vulnerable or expensive locales. Others are simplifying their lives, starting to lower their energy use, or creating personal and community permaculture gardens. Still others are changing into more sustainable careers, joining relocalization efforts to safeguard their local economy, or adopting alternative ways to exchange needed goods and services. Learning more about these positive possibilities is vital. Until we can see that there are options, there’s no way out of despair except to return to dissociating or denying, which only makes us more vulnerable to the difficulties around us.

Join with others in small communities
for support and understanding. Don’t try to cope with this enormous challenge alone! Find others who share your concerns and views. Some people have formed reading or study groups around books like David Korten’s The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community, Richard Heinberg’s Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World, Cecile Andrews’ Circle of Simplicity: Return to the Good Life, or Middle Class Life Boat by Paul and Sarah Edwards. Others are becoming active in relocalization efforts like those described on www.relocalize.net . Still others are joining together to turn their neighborhood into a sustainable “eco-hood” or exploring options for co-housing or eco-villages.

Taking some action in each of these four areas prevents us from getting stuck in panic and paralysis. It energizes us and re-establishes a sense of confidence and security in life. Does it mean we will no longer be plagued with concerns, doubts or even fear at times? No. The threat of what we face is huge and relentless. There’s never been anything like it in human history. All who awaken to the enormity of the challenges before us still slip and slide somewhere along this continuum at times. One day we may feel encouraged with our forward action, the next we may be back to despairing. Or we many need to take a mental holiday altogether for a few days or weeks so we can come back refreshed and reinvigorated, ready to work again on the survivable future we’re creating for ourselves and our loved ones.

When asked in an interview with The Turning Wheel if there are times when she ever thinks “Oh, no! This is impossible,” even Joanna Macy, who has been a leader in championing ways to address these changes, replied, “Every day.” But she goes on to explain that while she does think this at times, such times pass because she can’t think of anything more engaging and enjoyable than addressing the most pressing issues of our time.

Such wisdom seems to be the secret to living positively while navigating the painfully difficult stages of awakening until we get to the point where we can enjoy the daily challenges our dismaying situation presents to our imagination, our creativity and our deep and abiding love for the most valuable aspects of life.


To Learn More

Books

Circle of Simplicity: Return to the Good Life by Cecile Andrews.

World as Lover, World as Self: Courage for Global Justice and Ecological Renewal by Joanna Macy.

The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community by David Korten.

The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate Change and other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-first Century by James Howard Kunstler.

Middle-Class Life Boat, Careers and Life Choices for Staying Afloat in an Uncertain Economy by Paul and Sarah Edwards.

Permaculture: Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability by David Holmgren

Peak Everything: Waking up to the Century of Decline by Richard Heinberg.

Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World by Richard Heinberg.

Reconnecting with Nature by Michael J. Cohen.


Documentary DVDs

The End of Suburbia: Oil Depletion and the Collapse of the American Dream. www.endofsuburbia.com/previews.htm

Escape From Suburbia: Beyond the American Dream

The Power of Community: How Cuba Survived Peak Oil

What a Way to Go: Life at the End of the Empire. www.whatawaytogomovie.com/

Crude Impact

Organizations

The Post-Carbon Institute www.postcarbon.org

Sarah Anne Edwards, Ph.D., LCSW, is an ecopsychologist, author, and advocate for sustainable lifestyles. She is founder of the Pine Mountain Institute (www.PineMountainInstitute.com ), a continuing education provider for professionals seeking to empower their clients to respond to today’s challenging economic and environmental realities.

Linda Buzzell, M.A., M.F.T. is a psychotherapist and career counselor in private practice in Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, California. She is the founder of the International Association for Ecotherapy (http://thoughtoffering.blogs.com/ecotherapy ) and the co-editor of Ecotherapy: Psyche and Nature in a Circle of Healing (in press, Sierra Club Books).

Beyond the Green Economy

BEYOND THE GREEN ECONOMY: COMMUNITY, LOCALITY, AND INDIGENOUSNESS

In an interview, Tad Hargrave speaks about the web of life needed to make a sustainable world.

Joshua: I’m very excited about this interview. I’m speaking with Tad Hargrave (tadhargrave.com), a green marketer and personal hero. He is one of the major people to inspire me to start InspiringWebCopy, and he generously agreed to be interviewed for Inspiring Newsletter.

Because of technological problems the interview could not be recorded, but I was taking furious notes.

JOSH: Tad, you’re “the marketer who works with hippies.” Are you a hippie? What was your journey, were you a “hippie” first or a marketer first?

TAD: A mix. I went to a Waldorf school, was raised with politically progressive values, and environmentally conscious. Then in high school I read Anthony Robbins and got really into that—seminars on personal growth, New Age, Steven Covey—and they are pretty capitalist, on the more progressive end of the suicide economy but still a part of it. Even the idea [in Tony Robbins] that you need to be always growing, that you are either growing or dying, that dying is bad, is a part of that I feel is problematic in personal growth. The perspectives around money are capitalist. I led Tony Robbins seminars and was really into that.

At the same time,I went to a YES! Camp in Oregon – Tony Robbins is really yang, and then I was at this YES! Camp which is really yin, and it was bugging me. I wanted to say "stop whining and telling stories and making excuses". But I felt changed, and loved. And it made me question my whole world-view really deeply.

I spent a few years doing both. I’d say to campers, “I’m a capitalist, capitalism works, it’s just misunderstood.” But I started learning more about [the politics of] environmental issues. I was still in the leadership-within-the-system model, I led Tony Robbins seminars at schools to build school spirit, then spent time at YES I out grew that model started to think well, the system works, but there are some pretty big problems with it and that there need to be some major lifestyle changes.

In 1999 I started YouthJams. I started having deeper conversations with more seasoned activists, some challenging conversations, about the IMF and WTO. I went to protests, I met anarchists. My politics shifted. I was no longer feeling that it was possible to make change within the system—now I believed the system is fucked.

And then I began to get the itch to train and facilitate things. At YES, it’s a very yin space, and I like to talk, to coach, to give advice. I was feeling bad about that, I thought I should be “holding space” more. But then I realized I didn’t have to make myself wrong about that—I like to train and facilitate. I had started a business at 18, leading the Tony Robbins workshops in high schools, and learned a lot about marketing (some of which I feel I’ve recently recovered from)—but a lot of it is very simple and commonsense. And I also began to realize that there’s a big difference between the local, mom-and-pop, green business and the multinational corporations. I thought, I’ll teach this stuff to green businesses.

I led my first green business workshop, and it was just awful. Three people showed up, it was just me pontificating and with only a few real life examples. One person left. Ugh.

Then they got better.

JOSH: How’d you learn about Stephen Covey?

TAD: In junior high school, on PBS. I was fascinated by this idea that natural law and princple could be the center of things, integrity. Leo Buscaglia was the first person I read, he had a book called Love. He was a teacher at UCLA and taught a class on it, how to be more loving, since there wasn’t any other class like that in the curriculum, and it was packed. There were assignments like go tell your parents you love them.

JOSH: What in your view is sustainability?


TAD: A sustainable world is something that can be sustained, and that means an entirely different way of living from what we see now. Way beyond “the green economy” I which I think is not sustainable. If we all did everything suggested in the Al Gore movie, we’d have a %21 reduction in carbon emissions, that would not be enough. I see that we need to get away from a) nation states, with so many modern conflicts being started based on artificial borders (e.g Iraq, Israel, the USA, Canada), and b) cities, requiring importation of food: if you’ve outstripped the land’s capability to support you, that’s not sustainable. We must challenge the centralization of power.

A friend of mine recently went to a women’s empowerment group, and she spoke her vision, and that was be a billionaire. I’ll be a billionaire, imagine all the good things I could do with that money, she said. I looked at her and said, “Show me the way you’re going to make a billion dollars without exploiting the environment or people.” And is that the answer, putting greener people at the center of power? I don’t really think if Obama, or Edwards, or even Kucinich got in office that would solve everything.

Tolkien had it right. When Boromir wants to take the ring from Frodo, claiming he can protect them with the help of the ring, Frodo sees how the ring is already twisting [boromir[. The only way is to destroy the ring, to destroy the power center—and recreate a web of life.

Martin Prechtel says in the modern world, if you want a knife you go to the store. In his village, you have to talk to spirits first, you have to get it out of the ground, you have to take everyone’s needs and opinions into account. It’s very easy to have a fast social movement and a revolution of white, male, land-owners if you all the think the same, but if you include women, people of color, nature and animals—then things need to slow down. This web of life is the real green economy. At the same time it’s true that the present green economy is bringing us some things that will help us get there, The Internet is horrible and violent, but does decentralize communication and power. We’re seeing a shift in energy production also, where individual’s homes have solar arrays that feed into the grid.

I believe the way of the indigenous is the only sustainable way.

JOSH: What can your clients—green businesspeople, holistic healers, mom-and-pop—do to be more sustainable, more indigenous?


TAD: I think the first thing is to have a new conception of wealth—the assumption of wealth is that it’s an individual thing, not a community thing. Even New Age books, while they b.s. that it’s really gratitude or health or relationships, talk about those things in a way that is really individual, I feel. One reason the green economy is crucial is in setting up the community—we’re seeing BALLE, living economies.org, growing tremendously.

The key word here is local. [] [Meetings of people in circles] are the most important thing I think now, not because it’s the most radical, but because community is formed. The entrepreneurs are so grateful to be learning about each other. Obviously there are ways to become greener and more sustainable and take more of a stand—that’s not what I teach but I think there are a lot of ways, from what they sell to where they source materials) but the main thing is the new organic not going to be 'super organic' it's going to be local. I’ve started seeing “Don’t buy organic, GROW organic" bumper stickers. Business can focus not only on their own growth but focus on the growth of the local economy.

It’s about not seeing ourselves as isolated, but as part of the re-weaving of the economy as a different thing.

BALLE (Business Alliance for Local Living Economies) http://www.livingeconomies.org) is growing incredibly quickly, their conference sells out every year.

Also, people are starting to see that all the many issues — racism, sexism, classism, colonization, civilization, all are part of the same package. These words all describe who’s in the center and who’s not; white people, men, people with money, the colonizer, those who live in the city versus country; all have the common dynamic of centralizing power, and people need to stop taking it in the first place.

JOSH: What’s your spiritual stance, on the spectrum of materialist to “out-there”?


TAD: The animist philosophy resonates with me the most; I feel there are different levels of reality, and that if this world is extremely diverse the spirit world must diverse too. I haven’t had any direct experiences; I don’t feel qualified to comment. Some days I feel as though I can’t give a shit about spirituality but I do know thatempathy is really important. I see someone watching The Secret and then their friend goes through a tragedy, and the person who saw The Secret asks them “How did you create this? What are you learning from this?” without extending to them basic compassion for what they’re going through. I think the re-humanizing, re-“indigenizing” is important, not the fascination with bells and whistles of spirituality. Everyone wants big vision questions, and fireworks. No one in their past lives was the guy who shoveled shit. Everyone was King Arthur.

Recently I’ve been interested in Marshall Rosenberg’s Non-Violent Communication work.

I have seen at the rainbow gathering scene, while there are progressive elements, I’ll see very young people leading workshops, someone in their mid-twenties. I don’t see experience and groundedness. One workshop about "Spiritual Experiences" was just a guy talking about his various drug trips. A weird ego gets into it. Sort of a "who’s got the biggest spiritual dick?" thing. But then a lot of them will come to people like me to wrestle with what’s going on in their lives, and they seem to get nervous around me. They realize they need to get real about what things they're doing to make money, the consequences of the development deal they’re a part of. They’ve rationalized these things to themselves and to other people around them, and now they feel they need to stop. They crave more of a human realness versus importance. People dealing with their issues---those conversations are so beautiful. But at a conference I went to recently people began to talk in New Age speak and I felt myself fly away, I just had to leave the room. They were not speaking from experience; they were wsying things to 'sound' loving and wise. I find myself getting bored or disgusted.

JOSH: What about holistic healing, if anything, contributes to sustainability?


TAD: Holistic practitioners are definitely important. They’re very connected to the whole green economy; the medical/pharmaceutical industry is horribly violent; alternatives are super-critical.

The healthiest thing, though, is community. There have been studies, one says that if you have a shitty relationship with your parents that’s a bigger factor in shortening life expectancy than smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.

[In terms of holistic practitioners I’m working with currently in helping them re-word their descriptions of what they offer] I see a common problem that they need to be conscious of what language they are dropping. Platitudes, New Age-speak, it’s true in any kind of business, but I think it’s especially a challenge for holistic healers. You’re talking about “raising your consciousness,” but what does that really mean?

JOSH: What projections do you tend to get, if any, from your clients?


TAD: I don’t get a lot. I’ve worked a lot to cut through and to name most of the pretenses that show up in this industry. But a lot of marketers are actively courting the projections and crafting the elaborate pretenses, wanting to be viewed as experts. As worthy and powerful. Deana Metzger writes that healing is a community event; and points out that, in many ways the whole doctor-patient relationship, the professional-patient relationship, is part of the problem. It struck me that in marketing this is true as well. If I make myself 'seem' like my time is scarce or a like I'm a genius, that can be a fun game, but at the same time. . . .I see a lot of holistic healers who don’t want to talk socially with their clients. It’s a mentality of professionalism and protecting oneself. But I also think it's a way of them not needing to admit they human. They get to pretend that they're all healed and enlightened by not dealing with people outside of their sessions. They get to keep it from being a real human relationship. There is a similar thing in marketers. Trying to keep a distance and seem to be very powerful.

One projection I do get is that I’m all about the green economy. I don’t talk about indigenous life in my workshops. People assume I’m all New Age-friendly and compact fluoreseents, maybe.

JOSH: What are you doing now?


TAD: SAGE—Socially Aware Green Edmontonians, is about a local living economy, local business members meeting and community members meeting. We have had four or five meetings so far. There’s been lots of information gathering, meetings twice a month. Green business entrepreneurs and sustainability. We’ve had meetings about how to grow a business and meetings about how to grow a garden. Also about nuclear power and Sari, the exploitation of oil in Northern Alberta that is presently the largest oil deposit in North America and would be an extremely resource-intensive extraction process. We’re looking at meeting with the city and how to get people together around these topics. www.e-sage.ca

JOSH: Thanks so much for your time and for sharing about your work and your visions. Tad Hargrave (www.tadhargrave.com)

Is Localism Just a Fad?

We all know that the new organic is not 'super organic', it's local. The new mantra is not to 'buy organic' but to 'grow organic'.

But is this newfound passion in localism just a fad? or is it here to stay? James Kunstler explores . . .

LOCALISM,
By James Howard Kunstler
Wednesday, 05 March 2008

At the moment, the ideas bundled under the rubric of “localism” are regarded as a lifestyle choice, which is to say a fashion statement of environmental concern, practiced by those with the time and means for following fashions. “Locavores” who make a point to eat locally are represented overwhelmingly by college-educated, high-income Baby Boomers who buy those $6 pint baskets of boutique blue potatoes at the farmers’ market as much to make a statement of principle (and derive moral comfort from doing so) as to eat nutritionally sound, good tasting food. Meanwhile, the rest of America keeps driving to the Shop Rite for tubes of frozen ground-round, jugs of Pepsi, and bags of Cheez Doodles made (grown?) God-knows-where. So, the stylishly fit locavores end up looking like stuck-up moralistic snobs while the majority follows the mindless corporate programming du jour like the overstuffed lumbering TV zombies they have become. By the way, locavores also overwhelmingly drive to the farmers’ market, (as I have observed in my town) and usually in motor vehicles the size of medieval war wagons.

Localism, in this sense, is very much related to the current craze for styling one’s endeavors as “green.” Tom Friedman cheerleads for “green” globalism in his New York Times column while Time Magazine runs “Greencast” programs on its website, and all kinds of specialists design green cars, green light bulbs, green toilets, green campuses, and green corporate headquarters (all the better for hawking those Cheez Doodles). Much of this activity can be described, to borrow a locution from public relations, as blowing green smoke up our own collective ass. Such, alas, is the sorry state of our culture nowadays that just pretending to mean well, for most people and institutions, is good enough.


A reality-based view of all this suggests that localism and “green” economic practices will be taken up more broadly and earnestly only when we don’t have a choice about it, and can no longer manage our bad old ways. My personal serene conviction is that we are much closer to reaching that point than most Americans realize. The romance of Climate Change currently holds the nation’s attention because it’s more like a made for Hollywood horror movie plot. Plus, there are a lot of secret side benefits. Will Connecticut become more like South Carolina? Surely some of the denizens of Fairfield County, CT, wouldn’t think that was such a bad deal. Will the grain belt move 800 miles further north into Canada? Very well, then, Canada’s our bitch, anyway. Will there be more tornadoes in Nebraska? Who cares – God made the place only so they could show movies on airplanes.


What’s roiling backstage, itching to shove climate change out of the spotlight, is Peak Oil, which is currently poorly understood at best by the public. For one thing, it’s not about running out of oil. It’s about the complex systems we depend on for everyday life in this country becoming unstable and failing as we enter the slippery slope of global oil depletion – a point which, arguably, we are already at. By complex systems I mean the way we produce our food (oil-dependent agri-business), the way we do commerce (Wal-Mart, et al), the way we do transportation (extreme car dependency), the way we do finance (Ponzi-style), and so on. The oil markets themselves are just another such complex system – and a year-over-year price hike of about 100 percent for a barrel of oil is certainly a manifestation of instability.


Price hikes are one thing. ; There is plenty of evidence that the American public can keep sucking up increases a while longer. What will probably bite harder is spot scarcities, when your favorite convenience store hangs a cardboard sign on the pump that says “out of gas.” This is liable to resolve out of a growing export crisis combined with a new oil nationalism – phenomena only recently acknowledged even by experts in the trade. It now appears that exports, in nations with surplus oil to sell, are going down at an even steeper rate than production declines. A country like Saudi Arabia may have produced X percent less oil in 2007 over 2006, but their exports actually declined X+5 percent. Why? They are using more of their own oil. The population is growing robustly. The Saudis are building the world’s largest aluminum smelter and many chemical factories. Russia, another big exporter, saw its car sales jump by 50 percent in 2007. Mexico is depleti ng so rapidly, and using so much more of its own oil, that it might be out of the export game altogether in three years. The new oil nationalism is prompting countries like Norway and Russia to husband more of their own resources as the awareness hits that they are past peak and might want to keep their own motors humming further into the future. They are also trending more toward selling oil on the basis of long-term contracts with favored customers rather than just auctioning the stuff off on the futures market.


All of this ought to be bad news for big importers like the USA – more than half of the oil we use. These days, we are not such a favored customer among other nations, in particular those of the Islamic persuasion. And when Mexico stops exporting we will lose our number two source of imports. Imagine that? Few Americans have imagined it so far, which is why we are about to be bl indsided by this set of problems.


As they gain traction we’ll be forced to make very different arrangements for virtually everything that constitutes everyday life in our society. Living much more locally will increasingly be the only choice. We are utterly unprepared. We’ll have to grow food differently, at a smaller scale, closer to home, with fewer oil-and-gas-based “inputs.” It will surely require more human attention. National chain discount shopping will shut down as its economies-of-scale dissolve and formulas like the “warehouse on wheels” and just-in-time inventory lose viability. Happy motoring will fade into memory and the entire suburban equation will wilt along with it. And just about everything else you can name from centralized high schools to professional sports will be cruelly affected by problems of scale and energy.


Where arc hitecture and urbanism are concerned, there are several major issues in my view pertaining to local outcomes. One is certainly counter-intuitive. Our big cities will contract, not grow. The fortunate ones will densify at their old centers and waterfronts, but overall the trend will be severe shrinkage, really a reversal of the 200-year-long demographic movement of people from farms and small towns to mega cities. (Places over-burdened with skyscrapers will prove to be exceptionally troubled. The skyscraper is an endangered species that will, like the Baluchitherium of yore, soon go extinct.) The overall trend will benefit the smaller cities and towns, in my opinion, but only the ones that can maintain a relationship with productive farming hinterlands and/or trade-via-water. The implications for land-use regulation are obviously huge. Rural land will no longer be valued for suburban development. Those who chose to live in rural places in th e decades ahead ought to be prepared to follow rural vocations. The end of suburbia will be the end of urban lifestyles lived in rural (or ruralesque) settings.


I happen to believe that our zoning laws and land use codes are un-reformable. Instead, they will simply be ignored. We’ll return to traditional modes of inhabiting the landscape by default, as it were, because we’ll no longer have the choice of doing it 20th century style. We’ll discover the hard way that the New Urbanists won that argument. It will just not be called “New” Urbanism anymore because it will no longer stand in opposition to other practical ideologies like suburbanism or Modernism. We’ll just have plain urbanism – and design disciplines to go with it.


Architects ought to prepare for a return to traditional local materials. Modular snap-together panels and frame syst ems will be increasingly unavailable due to the prohibitive cost of fabrication as well as the cost of exotic metals such as Frank Gehry’s favorite, titanium. It is hard to say how severe this problem may become – a whole new industry will surely arise dedicated to the disassembly of old structures and salvaging of materials – but personally I’d say that we’re headed back to mostly masonry for the best new construction. It will necessarily be regional or local in flavor and it will require traditional tectonic methods of assembly – which necessarily implies at least a return to a kind of methodological classicism.


What remains for now is a terrible grandiose inertia among people who really ought to know better: our culture leaders. The cutting edge has become a blunt instrument unsuited to fashioning the patterns of the future. Everything we do from now on will have to be finer in scale, quality, and chara cter. Exercises in irony will no longer be appreciated because there will no longer be a premium paid for declaring ourselves to be ridiculous. The localism of the future will not be a matter of fashion. It will be in the food we eat and the air we breathe, and we’d better start paying attention.

The New Danger of Greehushing

A great article about why you should tell the world about your green efforts . . .

Greenhushing Doesn't Help Anyone: Why Green Business Should Speak Up

Greenwashing is the corporate image version of money laundering − a way to maintain the status quo under a shiny thin veneer of change. One of greenwashing's negative effects is that it dissuades genuinely green companies from promoting their own far more substantial green practices. Companies that are authentically doing good stay silent, for fear that they'll be tarred with the same brush as those who are carrying on with business as usual. We hereby christen this unfortunate phenomenon "greenhushing." Although its intent is admirable, its effect is almost as negative as greenwashing. Here's why:

To read the rest of the article . . .
CLICK HERE

*The* Key Factor in Your Offer

2. The Customer Values Question: What things are most important to your prospects when buying what you sell?

IMPORTANT POINT #1: This isn’t what is most important to people in buying from YOU. It’s what is most important to them when buying the generic product or service you sell. This is about their experience of buying as a customer - not yours as a seller. You must put yourself in their shoes. You must learn, above all, to see the world through their eyes.

IMPORTANT POINT #2: We’re asking what is most important to your ideal client - whether or not it’s something you provide yet. If what’s most important to your customer is 24 service but you only have 8 hour a day service, still write it down.

IMPORTANT POINT #3: Remember, there are two parts to any business interaction - there’s what they’re getting and how they’re getting it. There’s the product and then there’s the process of getting it. And they are both equally important. There are things that are going to be important to them about the product they’re buying but there’s also going to be things that are important about the salesperson.

IMPORTANT POINT #4: This question includes not only the value they want to get but the values they hope or expect your business will embody. These values are what makes them feel good about themselves for doing business with you.

Example #1: What things are most important to your prospects when buying a new car?

I want the car to:
o be fuel efficient
o be a nice colour
o have a good warranty
o not have too many miles on the odometer?
o not have too much wear and tear
About the salesman:
o is the sales-person slimy and manipulative or trustworthy?
o can i trust that they have my own best interests in mind?
o no hidden fees?

Example #2: What things are most important to your prospects when buying a new fence?

o I want the fence to: look good, not turn brown quickly, not sag or lean, last at least ten years and be of high quality.

o About the fence contractor: I don’t want any hidden costs, I want the fence to be completed in a reasonable time frame, I don’t want the workers to be scary drug users, I want a reasonable price.

Example #3: What things are most important to your prospects when hiring a life coach?

I want to know that my coach . . .
o will be on time for calls
o is able give me templates, quizzes and other materials to help me
o has made significant, positive shifts in their own life dues to life coaching
o is aligned with my life values
o asks questions vs. doling out advice
o is committed to their own growth
o is certified by a recognized coaching organization
o is not going to pressure me to do things I don’t want to do

Example #4: What things are most important to your prospects when hiring a web designer?

I want to know that my web designer . . .

o will be able to respond quickly to any changes i need to make to my site.
o will ask me a tonne of questions upfront to make sure that they really understand what exactly it is I’m wanting and needing
o can explain to me, up front, their process for designing a website.
o has designed other sites that I like
o will deliver their work on time and on budget

Example #5: “British Airways wanted to keep customers happy, so it asked regular customers on the transatlantic run what they most wanted. The answer was an overwhelming "Leave us alone and let us sleep!" Passengers wanted their own comfy universe, and they got it. British Airways first-class passengers currently dine on a five-course meal with fine linen and candlelight in the waiting lounge before they board the aircraft, and then it's to sleep right after take-off. The seat reclines almost to horizontal - as close to a bed as you can get. The airline lends you a two-piece running suit that is like a nice pair of pajamas and provides you with a comforter and face mask. If you don't want to sleep, you have a choice of movies at your own seat and an in-flight banquet.” - Marketing Without Advertising



Then Identify What They Don’t Want:

“When you identify what is broken among you competitors, you've found a free prize. Your growth will come instead from the dissatisfied and the unsatisfied.

The dissatisfied know that they want a solution, but aren't happy with the solution you've got. The minute they find it, they'll buy it. Yahoo!'s best customers weren't Google's first users. Nope. The happy Yahoo! customers weren't busy looking for a replacement. Google focused on dissatisfied Web surfers.

The unsatisfied are the folks who don't even realize that they've got a problem that needs solving. The question you ought to ask first is, "will people dissatisfied with what they're using now embrace this, and even better, will they tell the large number of unsatisfied people to go buy it right away?”

Yahoo! changed its focus from engaging the dissatisfied and the unsatisfied to trying to maintain it's hold on the satisfied.

Go find some people who hate what you've got and who hate what your competitors have but still have a problem they want solved. Those are the folks that want the free prize.” Seth Godin

Dental Office Example of Industry Frustrations:

“Just fill out these forms and hand them back when you’re done…” say the medical receptionists handing you a clipboard with the pen on a string.

I don’t know about you, but I hate when I hear these words, and I get them a lot. I don’t like them for several reasons.

o I look at forms and go bug-eyed – literally I find most of them difficult to comprehend and a pain to fill out. Apparently I’m not alone in this regard!
o Questions on medical forms are often complicated or difficult to understand – ie they’re often poorly written and confusing … and seemingly irrelevant!
o There’s rarely enough space for the questions that matter, as if I can figure out which ones do matter.
o I just “KNOW” that no one will look at these forms ever again. I “know” that because no one ever seems to mention that information again, and I’m often repeating the same answers verbally later.
o It seems that even though I’m on time for my appointment, I only get my place in line after I complete the forms – anyone who comes in while I’m writing gets in before me.
o Now, because I’m writing so fast, I’m certain my already scratchy hand- writing is doubly illegible! Nobody ever asks for clarification. Nobody seems to care.

(Can you tell I’ve been to the doctor a lot with my kids recently!)

I think completing forms is one of the most obviously frustrating customer service problems that exist in the world today. Big statement, but more so because it’s so obviously unpleasant and yet no one seems to want to do anything about it!

Well Paddi did, and how he fixed the problem is so simple and seamless that it’s admirable and worthy of specific mention.

~~~~~~~~~~~ Back to your Walk Through of Paddi’s practice ~~~~~~~~~~~

You rang the doorbell and were personally greeted by Merilyn, your Care Nurse. Merilyn showed you to your Personal Lounge, and she has just poured you a cup of Special Blend Tea from the lovely Royal Doulton china and silver tea service.

As you chat over your cup of tea, Merilyn is affable and genuinely interested as she asks about you and shares a little about herself (mutual disclosure is another of Paddi’s principles of building trust). You already have a few things in common because of your friend who invited you to the practice.

In the first few minutes Merilyn explains, “As it’s your first visit with us today, as we get to know each other I’ll be asking a few questions about your medical history that might be important for us to know.”

At this stage, Merilyn draws your attention to the laptop computer on the coffee table in front of her that you noticed as you sat down.

“I’ll just take a moment every now and then to type the important information directly into your file. Please don’t think me impolite, but we think it’s better than giving you forms that we’d have to type in later anyway. Is that ok with you?”

“Hmmmmm,” you ponder. You might have to think about that one for a moment!

And that’s Paddi’s answer to the problem of forms. They don’t have them. His Care Nurses have wirelessly networked laptops they carry around with them so they can update client’s records in real time, even in the dental surgery.

It’s perhaps a little detail, but it makes such an impact on anyone who dislikes forms as much as I do. The pain that once was filling out forms has been transformed into a pleasant conversation with a very likable Merilyn over a lovely cup of tea and a fresh baked dental bun.

And it’s a much more efficient use of everyone’s time:


o Merilyn doesn’t have to find time later to decipher your handwriting – let alone another admin nurse who doesn’t know you at all.
o The data is recorded accurately the first time, no additional questions later or mistakes from mistyped information.
o As your Care Nurse, Merilyn is with you your entire visit – in the Personal Lounge and in the dental surgery –you’ll never have to repeat information to Paddi that you’ve already told Merilyn.
o Hence, you only have to share the information once, enjoyably and accurately, in less time than it would take to write the same history.
o And the privacy of the Personal Lounge is so much more appropriate for these somewhat personal conversations than the conventional all-in-one waiting room. As Paddi likes to say, “Treat in public, communicate in private.” (More on this in an upcoming issue.)

People really seem to open up when they’re comfortable and in control, in their personal lounge talking with their Care Nurse. It’s an important part of building faith and trust in Paddi’s expertise.

And because it’s enjoyable, customers are quite happy to spend the time chatting – anyway, they were told in advance that they should set aside 90 minutes for their first appointment, so no one is watching the clock wondering how long all this will take.

For more on the importance of addressing key customer fears and frustrations, see Paddi’s Advanced Manual, “Training Customers to Treasure Your Business” at
http://www.solutionspress.com.au/page.asp?nid=dwzltpp&name=TrainingCustomers

~~~~~~~~~~~ What this means to you? ~~~~~~~~~~~

If you’re in professional practice where new patients fill in forms, you might consider how Paddi’s solution to this key customer frustration might work with your service systems. Paddi has found it a far more simple and effective way of doing things, and the extra 20 minutes or so that Merilyn spends chatting is time and money well invested in the future business relationship.

But even if you’re not in a medical related business, you might consider these points:

o What key frustrations do your customers experience when doing business with you? (ie what are your businesses “Forms & Clipboards”?)
o How can you change your service systems to turn those frustrations into enjoyable parts of the service experience? (If for no other reason than your obvious care in addressing an otherwise common problem in a creative way.)
o How can you integrate your new process into your systems, procedures and checklists so that the problems never arise for your customers again?

Why not make a list of what you think are the most common key service frustrations in your industry and send it to me by e-mail. I’d be interested in comparing notes.

Coming up in the next issue, we’ll visit the one room in Paddi’s practice that has the most impact on how customers perceive his business.

Until then,

Fletcher Potanin
Managing Director
Solutions Press Business Publishing
www.PaddiLund.com

* * *

A COUPLE MORE EXAMPLES:
If you can address the common industry frustrations - you’re going to be ahead of the game.

DENTISTS: No one likes to go to the dentist because it’s such a painful experience.
Potential Irresistible Offer: ‘Sedation Dentistry, the safe, pain free way to healthy teeth.’

REALTORS: People are wary of letting real estate agents sell their homes because the don’t believe the agents will aggressively try to sell them fast enough.
Potential Irresistible Offer: ‘Our 20 point Power Marketing Plan gets your house sold in 30 days or less.’

PLUMBERS: They show up late (or give you an all day timeline, don’t fix it right the first time and charge more than the initial estimate)
Potential Irresistible Offer: ‘We will give you an exact time and guarantee to have some there at that time. If we’re more than an hour late - it’s on us. We guarantee to never charge more than the initial quote and, if we have to come back to fix a job we were already working on - it’s on us. You shouldn’t pay for our mistakes.’

Robert Boduch of the website: www.makeyoursalessoar.com has this to say:

“The best system I’ve seen for developing a strong USP, comes from Marketing guru, Jay Abraham. He suggests taking out 2 sheets of paper. On one sheet write, “You Know How...” and on the other write “Well, what we do is...”

HOMECLEANERS: “You know how most home cleaners only work to schedules that suit them. Well, what we do is send a crew whenever you want, anytime of day or night, 7 days a week, including holidays, 52 weeks a year. When you want your home cleaned, we’re there fast, guaranteed!”

CONTRACTORS: “You know how most contractors promise a hassle-free renovation, then... they’re always behind schedule, leave your house a mess... and they even have the nerve to charge you 15% more than their estimate! Well what we do is ensure your job will be completed on time and at the initial price quoted – 100% guaranteed! And, our crew understands that you’re living in your home throughout the renovation, so we promise to take extra time at the end of every day, just to clean up any mess. We help you create dreams... not nightmares.”

Is green business doing enough?

Here's an interesting interview with Joel Makower that explores the new report on “The State of Green Business 2008” is just out from GreenBiz.com.

here's some of the questions they ask Joel.

Click the link to read the whole article . . .

http://www.socialfunds.com/news/article.cgi?sfArticleId=2462

Bill Baue: The report seems to reach two seemingly contradictory conclusions: pessimistic optimism or, more precisely, optimistic realism. On the one hand, you say that green business has passed the tipping point on many indicators you consider, shifting from a movement to a market. On the other hand, the positive changes seem woefully inadequate to the crises that we face, like climate change and water scarcity. Say more about this tension between the positive growth of green business and the daunting task at hand.

Francesca Rheannon: The stock markets have been incredibly roiled lately. There are fears of a recession, perhaps even of a depression. Could this throw a monkey wrench into the kind of positive developments you're talking about?

BB: You say that "while carbon intensity represents improvement of sorts, it also obscures the fact that overall carbon emissions need to decrease significantly, not grow more slowly, in order to avoid what a consensus of scientists predict will be the worst impacts of climate change. According to many scientists, greenhouse gas emissions need to decrease 80% by 2050. At current rates, the US will never get there." That is a really dire prediction. Can you talk about the problem that carbon intensity creates for creating environmental solutions?

BB: Describe the impetus behind creating the Green Index and what impact you intend on green business practices.

BB: Explain the rating system that you created: “swimming”, “treading water” and “sinking”. How did you come up with that rating system and what are the implications in terms of where we are right now and where we're heading?

BB: The report also includes what you consider the ten biggest stories from 2007. What are a few of the big stories to take away from 2007?

FR: There's the issue of green washing and green marketing. On your blog and podcast you covered the report, The Six Sins of Greenwashing, by TerraChoice Environmental Marketing. Could you discuss the tension between greenwashing and bona fide green marketing?

BB: Recently, Bob Langert of MacDonald’s posited a list of the “Six Sins of Greenmuting” — when companies choose not to communicate their green initiatives for fear of being accused of greenwashing. What are your thoughts about that?

BB: You mentioned Clorox earlier, and they just bought out Burt’s Bees. Can you talk about what Clorox is doing in greening their business?

Going It Alone

An article I think you'd like:

Going It Alone

In a recent poll by Small Business Guru, 66 percent of small business owners said they were not involved in any sort of peer group. It’s all too easy for small business owners to feel isolated.

http://biznik.com/learn/articles/business-networking/going-it-alone

16 Key Irresistible Offer Making Questions

1. What’s the product or service or special promotion you’re offering (in plain english)? If it’s a service - how many sessions and how long will each one run? If it’s a product - how many, how big etc?

2. How much does it cost?

3. Who is the target market (if any) you’re trying to reach?

4. What are the major problems this product or service solves? What happens that makes them start to think about buying what you sell?

5. What is the major result/benefit/outcome that this product or service gives?

6. What is most important to your target market when buying the type of thing you sell? In terms of the product/service - but also the process they have to go through to buy it. What do they want and what don’t they want (again - not just in buying from you but in terms of buying from your industry - buying the kind of thing that you sell)?

7. What do you do to give your clients what they want (see answers to the above question)? What are your standards, policies, procedures and processes you use to maintain a level of excellence in what you do? We often assume far too much here. Tell me all the details, all the lengths you go to.

8. Is there any evidence you can show to prove all of this?

9. What are the common frustrations, annoyances and hassles people have when buying the kind of thing that they sell? What are the horror stories people have about dealing with your industry?

10. What are the 5 biggest risks that people perceive about doing business with people like you? Are they afraid they’ll look stupid? people will laugh at them? that it won’t work? That you’re a cult? This is the time to get real and honestly assess what fears (realistic or based on myths) might stop someone from taking the step to do business with you.

11. What are the values that you seek to embody as a business? Prove to me that you’re in this for more than the money. Where do you go above and beyond to live your green, ethical, spiritual or community based values? Why should I feel good about myself for doing business with you? Be specific. Do you manufacture or sell sustainable products or services? Do you give preference to suppliers that create positive social and environmental benefits (e.g. local companies, certified organic ingredients, fair trade partnerships, ethical manufacturing, renewable energy), demonstrate a commitment to responsible business practices (e.g. pay employees a living wage, donate a percentage of profits to local charities, minimize environmental impact)? Are you concerned with employee safety, work/life balance and development (e.g. Living wage, benefit programs, telecommuting)? Do you affirm a mission that includes sustainability? Do you wish to educate the public about the economic, social and/or environmental impact their choices have?

12. What is it that you think most people don’t see or appreciate about your business that you wish they did? What are the tiny details they don’t get to see? What’s the extra effort you’ve put in that seems to go unnoticed?

13. What do they need to know (see or hear) in order to feel confident that they making a good decision when buying what you sell? If your best friend in Australia was buying what you sold - and couldn’t get it from you - what would you tell them to look for to protect them from an unpleasant buying experience? What questions would you have them ask? What are the telltale signs of an excellent or a very bad business in your industry? What criteria should they use to determine whether what they’re about to buy is of good value?

14. What else is it that makes it so irresistible? Why is it more than worth the money? What makes it better than the competition to your clients? What’s so different about it? How do you give them what they want but not what they don’t want? I want you to convince me, make your case, show me the evidence, tell me a story etc. Help me understand why I would want to pay you my hard earned money for this.

15. What are the three best testimonials you can send me for this offer?

16. What are the three best one paragraph long stories or case-studies you could provide for this offer?

The 10 Biggest Offer Blunders

Why don’t other people love your business as much as you do?

Why don’t you get the kind of response you’d like to your emails, ads or mailings?

Why do you get only mild interest or blank looks from people when they ask you what you do?


I want to make two bold claims. Here’s the first:


As it stands right now, your offer is - almost certainly - resistible. It’s easy to say ‘no’ to. When you tell people in your target market what you do, when you place ads or try to market your services - you’re met with either confusion, blank faces, mild (read: polite) interest, ‘That’s nice,” followed by a change of topic or . . . absolutely no response at all.


Here’s the second:


Radically (not moderately) improving the irresistibility of your offers is the simplest and most powerful action you can take to grow your business - pretty much at any pace you want. Literally like a faucet you can turn on or off at will.


That sounds like hype.

And of course there’s more to it.

Having an offer won’t do everything.

You still need to know where to find your target market.

And you still need to have a plan on how exactly you plan to introduce your offer to them.

It’s important to make sure you have the business systems in place to make sure you can consistently deliver on what you promise.

You still need to think about the mechanisms, incentives and excuses to make it easy (and desirable) for people to talk about what you do.

All true - but consider this:

What good is it to know where to find your target market if you have nothing to offer them. Or - more to the point - nothing they are excited to buy?

How can you possibly create a strategy around introducing your offer - when the offer isn’t that good?

What’s the point of creating some really whizbang word of mouth strategy if all it’s going to do is let people know that what you’re offering is actually pretty mediocre?

But let’s go back to the first . . .


People just aren’t that excited about what you have to offer. Let me tell you exactly why your offer hasn’t been pulling even a fraction of the response you secretly know it could.


You don’t want confused faces when you tell people what you do.

You don’t want polite interest.

No, you want them to say, “Hell yeah!” or “Wow! How do I get one?”

Your offer must - at the very least - get their attention and engage them to want to know more. It must at least strike the chord of relevance.

Your offer must be crystal clear. It must give easily understandable answers to the following questions:

1. What are you offering me? (in plain english)

2. What’s the return on investment (ROI)? If I give you my hard earned money - what do I get back? Why is this worth it to me?

I’d be willing to be that you aren’t answering these questions as well as you might think you are.

In fact, let me tell you the logical reasons why people aren’t as excited about your offer as you wish they were. There’s 10 likely culprits to the disinterest you’re getting from the marketplace. I think they’ll make a lot of sense to you.

Big picture: It’s because there are certain core elements of your offer that aren’t ‘right’. You can look for all the bells and whistles and fancy new marketing tactics but - at the end of the day - if you’re missing these things your offer is much more likely to fail.

In fact, if you are suffering from too many of the following the problem may not be that you have a ‘bad’ offer - but that you have NO offer.


The 10 Biggest Offer Blunders


1. Unclear or Non-Existent Target Market: I’d say that I see this in about 90% of the cases of resistible, moribund offers. When I ask “who is this for?” I get answer that translates as “everyone. this product/service can help everyone.” But targeting everyone doesn’t work. You can’t do it. When you narrow your focus to just the communities you most love and are best able to helps you will be shocked at how the floodgates of creativity open up. You will find yourself in a place to create offers that pull many times the response of our current ‘do-nothing’ offers.

2. No clear problem being solved. This is directly related to #1. Your inability to articulate - with crystal clarity and profound empathy - the experience, problems and needs of the person your marketing too stops everything dead in its tracks. The first filter that your product and service has to make it through is the filter of relevance. People look at everything product or service and silently ask themselves, “can this help someone like me?” And if they don’t get an immediate answer of yes - the game is over - no matter how great your product is. Hard but true. They must see themselves in the product. It must be immediately apparent - with no need for guess work - that this can help them with a problem they are currently experiencing.

3. No clear results being promised. This is the flip side or mirror image of #2. You can’t just give empathy for the problem they experience - you need to paint a picture of what life would be like without the problem. You need to tell them exactly what sorts of results, benefits or changes this product will bring. You need to articulate the experience they’ll have once they own it. Most businesses don’t do this - instead, they drone on ad nauseum about how great they are.

4. Wrong Package: If you’re really clear about the three above (and I can tell you that you probably aren’t even if you think you are) and there’s no response still - then it could be a few things - almost certainly you haven’t identified the right mix of products and services. If you have a core product and service - that product or service can be made far more relevant by choosing a target market and far more valuable by adding other products and services to it. It can be made more valuable by thinking through the whole experience people will have with you from booking the appointment to the appointment itself to them leaving. From them buying the product to using it. With a few simple tweaks and additions your offer can likely be twice as attractive. What to add? What to tweak? This depends 100% on who your target market is and what problems they’re dealing with.

5. Wrong articulation: To correct that - people just aren’t that excited about what they understand of what you’re offering. You’re using a lot of confusing jargon. You’re speaking in platitudes.

6. Too much too soon: You’re trying to sell them on the whole farm on their first visit. You aren’t taking the time to build a relationship. It’s as if they come into your ice cream shop and ask to try a taste of the pistachio gelato and you try to sell them a quadruple scoop waffle cone. You haven’t thought through you marketing strategy from meeting to buying.

7. Selling your methodology before promising a result: When people ask what you do - what do you tell them? What is it that you highlight in your ads or on your website? For most people it’s their company name and logo. This is the first thing that people see. Hard truth moment: no one cares. But the next place a lot of people go to is straight to how they do what they do. The classic example is someone at a cocktail party saying, “Oh, I do a unique combination of trager, shiatsu, the reconnection, quantum healing and rebirthing.” Eyes glaze over. Awkward silence ensues. No business occurs. What just happened? They jumped to far ahead. People don’t actually care how you do what you do until they know what you do and who you do it for. I don’t tell people, “I do workshops and one on one consulting.” That’s how I do my work - but it’s not what I do. What do I do? I work with green, community minded and holistic entrepreneurs who are struggling with their cashflow and not attracting enough clients and what I help them do is to craft strategies that allow them to attract more of the kinds of clients they’re looking for.

8. No empathy for or understanding of ‘industry frustrations’: In every industry there are certain things that piss people off. Cell phones? The way they lock you into unbreakable contracts. Plumbers? The show up late, don’t fix it right the first time and charge you more than the initial quote. Web designers? You always have to go to them to make updates on our site, which they charge you for, and you have to wait til they get around to it. Make sense? The point is that it’s not just one company that does these things. It’s the whole industry. And here’s the golden question - do you know what these are for your industry?

9. Not understanding why people are really buying what you’re selling and not speaking directly to those needs and desires: This one is shockingly difficult to wrap one’s mind around. We spend years becoming experts in articulating the features and benefits of our products and services - but we’re still novices at articulating the experiences, problems and needs of our target market. Remember, they aren’t buying your product per se. In their minds, they’re buying relief from pain. They’re buying a solution to a problem. But what is that problem or pain? Can you articulate it better than they can?

10. No case being made: credibility. It’s not enough to make wonderful, huge claims about what you can do. You must be seen as a credible source of the solution they need. They must trust that you can produce the results you say you can. You must, in short, make your case before the jury of your target market. You must show them the steps you would take them through, give them evidence (e.g. testimonials, case studies, certifications, articles written etc). Without credibility - they will not buy. Period.


Before you add any bells and whistles you must have your core information figured out. You must know what it is that you’re offering to whom - and why exactly they would find it irresistible.

Six Sins of Greenwashing

Do you know that your competitors aren't as green as they SAY they are?

Are they misleading the public?

Sure they are.

A lot of big companies are.

Arm yourself with this information on the 6 major types of greenwashing. To get it - just click on the link below.


http://www.terrachoice.com/files/6_sins.pdf

Traditional Sales is A Cult

Hey there,

One of the most brilliant people I've ever met is Ari Galper.

He's the only person I've ever known to so powerfully articulate the notion of removing pressure from sales (and to point out that pressure is THE problem in sales).

Read these words from his blog (and then go read the whole article) . . .

Dear friend,

During my teen years, my father who is a Psychologist, dedicated a few years of his career as a specialist helping parents get their adult children back from being brainwashed into cults.

He was one of a handful of experts who was skilled at “deprograming” these cult members and helping them transition back into a normal family environment.

I remember in vivid detail the amount of emotional energy my dad put into helping the parents of these kids (I call them kids, because their parents always talked about them as their children) cope with the dysfunction caused by the powerful “pull” that these cults had on their members.

My dad would spend hours, sometimes around the clock, helping these people break loose from the mantras and destructive thinking that was preached by their cult leaders.

As you can only imagine, it was a gut wrenching experience for these parents to see their kids lose themselves into a group that teaches breaking away from the people who care about them most.

Well, one thing my dad used to tell me, was that these cult leaders would indoctrinate their members with the same mantras and messages that have appealed to members in the past year after year.

Same messages, same thinking, same results, year after year, without awareness of the harm that it does to others.

The uncanny thing about all this, is that I see myself in very much the same role as him -- helping people who sell, that have been “indoctrinated” into old school sales thinking, break away from the same messages and old thinking that disconnects them – not from those who care about them – but from themselves.

You see, many of the old and newer sales “gurus” continue to pitch these same tired dictums: “Go for the close”, “Rejection is a normal part of selling you have to accept” , and “If you’re pitch isn’t working, it’s YOUR fault and you aren’t cut out for sales.”

And that type of thinking is what creates a wedge between how you’re “supposed” to communicate with a prospect and how you normally communicate with another human being.

It’s a new business environment out there, and if you’re not building trust, being completely authentic and helping solve others’ problems, then you’ll continue to be disconnected from true success.

Take a look at this article I originally wrote about four years ago, “7 Ways to Cut Loose From Old Sales Thinking”, it’s just as relevant today, as it was then:

to read the article click HERE.

You Irresistible Offer Should Solve a Problem

Some people make the huge mistake of just trying to come up with clever things that make them different.

Again - the question is, “Why should I buy from you vs. the competition?”

People will buy from those who are best equipped to solve their problem or get them out of pain. So your USP should center around that and speak to it directly.

Your business cannot and should not attempt to create a need that consumers do not already have. No matter how great your USP or marketing schemata, if your product ultimately does not satisfy your customer, then your product and consequent business will fail.

You need to do plenty of valid and reliable research on your target market in order to understand which emotional responses will drive them to your product instead of your competitors.

Simplicity. A great product. Combine these two entities together to form the perfect USP for your company and product/service line.

To quote Rosser Reeves from his book Reality In Advertising:

"Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer. Not just words, not just product puffery, not just show-window advertising. Each product must say to each reader: ‘Buy this product and you will get this specific benefit.'"

* * *
Again, from Matt Hockin’s website:
www.interactivemarketinginc.com

The following are 6 powerful USPs that alleviate the "pain" experienced by the consumers in their industries..

Example #1 - Package Shipping Industry

Pain - I have to get this package delivered quick!
USP - "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight." (Federal Express)

Example #2 - Food Industry

Pain - The kids are starving, but Mom and Dad are too tired to cook!
USP - "Pizza delivered in 30 minutes or it's free." (Dominos Pizza)
(This USP is worth $1 BILLION to Dominos Pizza)

Example #3 - Real Estate Industry

Pain - People want to sell their house fast without loosing money on the deal.
USP - "Our 20 Step Marketing System Will Sell Your House In Less Than 45 Days At Full Market Value"

Example #4 - Dental Industry

Pain - Many people don't like to go to the dentist because of the pain and long wait.
USP - "We guarantee that you will have a comfortable experience and never have to wait more than 15 minutes" or you will receive a free exam."

Example #5 - Cold Medicine Industry

Pain - You are sick, feel terrible, and can't sleep.
USP - "The nighttime, coughing, achy, sniffling, stuffy head, fever, so you can rest medicine." (Nyquil)

Example #6 - Jewelry Industry

Pain - The market hates paying huge 300% mark-ups for jewelry.
USP - "Don't pay 300% markups to a traditional jeweler for inferior diamonds! We guarantee that your loose diamond will appraise for at least 200% of the purchase price, or we'll buy it back."

The Secret to Being as Radical as We Want to Be

A powerful article by Michael Shuman:

The Secret to Being as Radical as We Want to Be is to Finance the Revolution Ourselves

Adbusters
March-April 2006
Michael Shuman, author, The Smallmart Revolution


If Mohandas Gandhi were a typical North American activist these days, he would probably be wearing a three-piece suit and working in a plush office with his law degree prominently displayed. He would have little time to lead protests, since every other week would be spent meeting with donors – and those power lunches would hardly go well with fasting. He would be careful to avoid salt marches or cotton boycotts, so as not to offend key donors. To sharpen his annual pitch to foundations, he would be constantly dreaming up new one-year projects on narrowly focused topics, perhaps a one-time conference on English human-rights abuses, or a documentary on anti-colonial activities in New Delhi. To ensure that various allies didn’t steal away core funders, he would keep his distance and be inclined to trash talk behind their backs. In short, there’s little doubt that the British would still be running India.

The problem with activism today is that it is largely funded by grants and gifts from rich foundations and individuals. The long-standing assumption that you can take the money with few strings attached, and then run, needs to be fundamentally reexamined.

Building a philanthropic base of support can cripple an organization’s mission and wreck it altogether when the well runs dry. Most nonprofits have engaged in a kind of fundraising arms race in which our best leaders focus more time, energy and resources, not on changing the world, but on improving their panhandling prowess to capture just a little more of a philanthropic pie that actually expands very little from year to year. Armies of “development” staff spend as much as a third of an organization’s resources, not to advance the poor, but to cultivate wealthy donors. Significant numbers of our colleagues create campaigns, direct-mail pitches, telemarketing scripts, newsletters and other products exclusively to “care and feed” prospects and to frame positions that will not offend the rich.

Nonprofit structures dictated by this mode of funding also burden organizers with the heavy regulatory hand of the state. To qualify for tax-deductible contributions, for example, US nonprofits must agree to limit lobbying and not to campaign for political causes of candidates.

We believe it’s time for North American progressives to break free from the philanthropic plantation. Those of us serious about social change increasingly must get down to business, figuratively and literally. Every social change group may not be able to generate all its funding through revenue-generation, but every nonprofit certainly can generate a greater percentage than it is doing now. In other words, we should become our own funders. Once we start generating our own resources, we can invest them politically – as corporations do now – largely without limitation, without wasting our time on fundraising appeals, without worrying about that next grant, without apologies.

To get a sense of the possibilities, check out Cabbages & Condoms, a popular restaurant in Bangkok. As your senses become intoxicated by the aromas of garlic, ginger, basil, galangal and lemongrass, you cannot avoid noticing the origins of the name. On top of each heavy wooden table is a slab of glass, under which are neatly arranged rows of colorful prophylactics. Posters and paintings adorn the half-dozen large rooms, all communicating the restaurant’s central message: the AIDS epidemic afflicting Thailand can be checked only through the unabashed promotion and use of male contraception. With balloon animals made from carefully inflated and twisted condoms and the after-dinner candies replaced with your own take-home “condom-mints,” even teens cannot escape the message prominently framed on the wall: “Sex is fun but don’t be stupid – use protection.”

What makes the five “C&C” restaurants unique, along with an affiliated beach-front resort and numerous gift shops, is that they are all owned by the Population and Community Development Association (PDA), a rural development organization that has been a leader in promoting family planning and fighting aids in Thailand. Seven out of every ten dollars spent by the PDA on such activities as free vasectomies and mobile health clinics are covered by the net revenues from its 16 subsidiary for-profits. Were the PDA dependent on funding from the Thai government, the World Bank or even the Rockefeller Foundation, it no doubt would be told to tone down the message. Jokes on its website – like “the Cabbages and Condoms Restaurants in Thailand don’t only present excellent Thai food, the food is guaranteed not to get you pregnant” – would certainly be discouraged.

The cash flow gives the PDA a measure of confidence and boldness. The founder, Mechai Viravaidya, has no qualms about his decision to employ for-profits:“Unlimited demand is chasing limited supply [of charitable donations]. No longer are gifts, grants or begging enough. From day one, thirty years ago, we have been acutely aware of sustainability and cost-recovery.”

Consider some US examples of social entrepreneurship:

Housing Works in New York uses its Used Book Café to generate more than $2 million annually for its work, which prioritizes advocacy for homeless people with HIV. The organization runs clinics, conducts public policy research, lobbies federal and state officials, even leads sit-ins. It is fearless, aggressive and stunningly effective – and its $30 million of annual work would be impossible were it not for its vast range of real estate, food service, retail and rental companies that help pay the bills.

Pioneer Human Services is a community development corporation based in Seattle that assists a wide range of at-risk populations, including the unemployed, the homeless, ex-convicts, alcoholics and addicts. The organization serves 6,500 people a year and generates nearly all its $55 million budget through a web of ambitious subsidiary nonprofit businesses: cafes and a central kitchen facility for institutional customers, aerospace and sheet-metal industries, a construction company, food warehouses, a real-estate management group and consulting services for other nonprofits. Most of the jobs in these businesses are awarded to its at-risk clients,
allowing it to further its mission to integrate clients back into society.

The Rocky Mountain Institute, a leading promoter of alternative energy technology in Snowmass, Colorado, created E-Source in 1986 to provide in-depth analysis of services, markets, and technologies relating to energy efficiency and renewable energy production. In 1992 RMI secured a program-related investment from the MacArthur Foundation to move the work into a for-profit subsidiary. By 1998 it was generating about $400,000 for the parent nonprofit, but rmi decided it could do even better under new management, so it sold the company to Pearson plc in Britain for $8 million. Today, RMI assists and benefits from other for-profit spinoffs, such as Hypercar, Inc., which aims to create a lightweight body architecture to improve the efficiency of the entire US automobile fleet.

Judy Wicks’ White Dog Café in Philadelphia is as much a community organizing center as a restaurant. Radical speakers from around the country provide a steady stream of public lectures. An adjacent store sells fair trade products and will soon be introducing a line of locally made clothing. The White Dog itself embodies principles of social justice and environmental stewardship by paying all employees a living wage, insisting on humanely raised meats and eggs, using locally grown ingredients and running on wind electricity. Twenty percent of profits from the restaurant go to the White Dog Café Foundation, carrying on the café’s mission through nonprofit
activities.

These examples embody many possible models. A for-profit subsidiary can generate money for a parent nonprofit. Or, better still, a for-profit can become the change it seeks, by producing and selling socially important goods and services. While we reject the libertarian argument that every human problem has an economic solution, many social-change issues clearly have economic dimensions that are susceptible to creative business plans. Hate nuclear power? Launch energy-service companies to spread conservation measures, or build local wind farms to take control of your own electricity future. Concerned about the poor, minorities and women having equal access to credit? Create more community banks, credit unions and micro-enterprise funds. Troubled by pharmaceutical prices that make life-saving drugs unattainable for impoverished people across the globe? Start, as several companies based in the developing world did, companies that mass-produce affordable generic versions of high-priced American drugs.

Socially responsible business should be not just a boutique sector of the private economy, but its mainstream. We have been impressed in recent years by the growing number of local businesspeople who not only “walk the walk” of social justice in the small details of their operations and products but also tout the virtues of local ownership. This third generation of entrepreneur-organizers is being led by groups like the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) and by the American Independent Business Alliance (AMIBA). Each promotes local ownership of business, champions social justice and neighborhood revitalization, and pushes for new public policies that remove the tilts in a playing field that favors badly behaved
big business.

Sooner or later, the concepts of social-change organization and of social-responsibility business should become indistinguishable. Truly responsible businesses would be owned by all members of a community (rich and poor), hire locally, expand local skills, comport with local labor and environmental standards, produce goods and services that meet urgent local needs and become allies of social justice movements. What better way to help the poor than to transform them into the captains, worker-bees, shareholders and customers of community-friendly business?

If foundations and donors had never existed and professional panhandling had been outlawed, social-change groups would have been forced to turn to creating and running new enterprises or new networks of local businesses, and our movement would be considerably healthier than it is today. Progressives have become the classic 20-something kid still living at home, expecting an allowance from deep-pocket parents for a few basic chores, while agreeing, as a condition for the chump change, to obey someone else’s rules on social change. It’s time to grow up and strike out on our own.

Here’s a challenge to activists (one we take seriously ourselves): let’s try to wean ourselves from the charity habit, say by three percent per year. Think about just one piece of your agenda that could be framed as a revenue generator, dream about it a little, develop a business plan and give it a try. If you lack the skills, skip your next fundraising class and instead attend one of thousands upon thousands of entrepreneurship programs around the world. Or hire someone who might start the entrepreneurial subsidiary of your nonprofit.

Gandhi understood that the key to freeing India was to transform his fellow citizens into economically productive agents by spinning their own cloth and taking their own salt from the sea. Martin Luther King Jr. implored African Americans to form their own credit unions and community development corporations. The secret to being as radical as we want to be – and as radical as we need to be – is to finance the revolution ourselves.

* * *

Michael Shuman is the vice president for enterprise development for the Training and Development Corporation. Merrian Fuller is a managing director of the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies. This article was adapted from “Profits for Justice,” which first appeared in The Nation.

Seven Secrets To An Irresistible Offer

Seven Secrets To An Irresistible Offer - Dan Kennedy

www.dankennedy.com

#1: The offer must be clear. People must be able to understand it instantly. Confused people do not respond. For example, half off is better than 50% off and a lot better than 35% or even 60% off. People have difficulty understanding percentages. Two for one is usually better than half off.

“Is your product positioned as part of a general class, then differentiated on the basis of it's most needed attribute? That's the way people hold things in their heads: "the dandruff shampoo that doesn't dry out your hair". The cereal that adults have grown to love." "The luxury four wheel drive". If you can't state your product in such succinct terms, chances are your customers will not be able to describe your product either. And if your product can't survive word of mouth, it probably can't survive at all.” - The Secrets of Word-of-Mouth Marketing, George Silverman

“Always remember - The confused mind says ‘no’. If there’s too much information, consumers get overwhelmed and they don’t know what to do. What happens is they stop, dead in their tracks. We find if you offer people more than 3 options, they won’t make a decision. They’ll just sit and look over and ponder the information.” - Colette Chandler, www.marketing-insider.com

#2: The offer must be a good value. It has to be understood as a good value. That's why percentage off coupons doesn't usually work well. People get suspicious. They think as soon as they see I have coupons they'll just raise the price to recover the discount. Percentage off coupons work well where there are known published prices.

#3: The offer should involve either a discount or a premium or preferably both. Sometimes premiums work much better than discounts. A premium is something you give away as a free gift to someone who comes in or who makes a purchase. Bill Glazer in his retail store meticulously track results of all his offers and has found that by adding a premium he will average a 30% increase in response.

#4: There should be a logical reason for the offer. If you discount or give something away without an explanation you create skepticism and suspicion. People have been told all their lives there's no such thing as a free lunch. You have to explain. We're doing this to introduce ourselves to the neighborhood as an introductory offer in celebration of opening our new store, as an anniversary sale, a clearance sale, customer appreciation week. Just about any explanation will do but there needs to be an explanation.

#5: There should be a reason for immediate action - expiration dates, limited availability or a bonus for fast response. These all work well in creating a sense of urgency on the consumer's part.

#6: There should be a strong, clear, direct call to action. Tell the person exactly what you want him to do. Do you want him to pick up the phone and call? Go to a website? Come in to a business? When? What will happen when he does?

Here's a good call to action, for example. Cut this coupon out of your newspaper. Bring it in to any of our locations any day of this week from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm. Take it to the cashier at the counter; she'll give you your free travel alarm clock a gift for just coming in while the supply lasts. Then feel free to browse through our unique travel store. Take advantage of the huge mark downs and sale prices and get a second travel clock free with any $50.00 purchase to give to a friend.

#7: Consider mentioning or even emphasizing your guarantee. Guarantees are not tired, not worn out - they still work. They're still important to people. If you offer any kind of guarantee I think it ought to be an integral part of all your advertising.