Joe Demin traveled to Thailand this spring to visit an old friend. In the midst of a three week zig zag across the country, he visited the island of Ko Lanta, rented a scooter, and took off into the jungle in search of a storied souvenir- a map of the island created by ex-pats, detailing the secret must-see views of the locale.

As it turned out, his journey to track down the map was merely the first step on a much more exciting quest.

The thatched shop that distributed the maps also sold the most amazing hammocks Joe had ever seen. The array of brilliant colors, the intricate workmanship and the supreme comfort of their cocoon immediately convinced him that he needed to buy one, although he lived in an apartment in the city with no place to hang a hammock.

When he heard the story of the people who created the hammocks, he knew that he wanted to go further than simply bringing a Mlabri hammock back to Boston. The story of the Mlabri people inspired his conviction to create the Yellow Leaf Hammock brand and create positive social change through sales of conscious products. Seeing an amazing, high-quality product, created in a sustainable setting, justified his belief that a profitable company could succeed by benefiting the greater good.

The Mlabri people have a mysterious and complicated history. Traditionally a nomadic hunter-gatherer tribe with no concept of land ownership or relationship with the outside world, the Mlabri people were also known as the “The People of the Yellow Leaves.” They were named for huts they covered with interwoven banana leaves, then abandoned as the leaves dried up and changed color. Their way of life was devastated as the lands around them were claimed and deforested. By 2009, their numbers had dwindled to just 300 and they were listed on the Endangered Languages list.  Without the benefit of land or education, they were in dire straits. Impoverished and forced to work in slavelike conditions or faux “tourist shows” that charged visitors for a chance to view their “primitive ways”, the future appeared bleak for the Mlabri.

A series of serendipitous events over the course of several years changed this trajectory and enabled the Mlabri to fight their way out of poverty. They were discovered by a missionary and a Swiss textile engineer who taught them basic business savvy and helped them adapt their natural weaving skills into specially designed hammock weaves. The beauty and comfort of the Mlabri Hammocks caught the eye of various visitors over the years, establishing a consumer following and several sales outposts  in Asia. With the proceeds from their craft, the Mlabri weavers established a village school and a community center, as well as one of the first unemployment funds in Thailand.  Creating and selling these high quality hammocks has proven the Mlabri’s key to establishing financial independence and freeing them from degrading servitude. With the economic footing that hammocks have provided, they have successfully fought to receive Thai citizenship (previously denied them) and civil rights. They have even begun to train and employ members of surrounding villages, paying forward the benevolence that liberated them and creating a ripple effect in the regional economy.

The story of the Mlabri resonated with Joe- he heard his own story echoed in their tale. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, his family emigrated to America carrying the proverbial two suitcases when he was just four years old. As refugees, his parents left behind careers, family and friends to build a new life in America from the bottom up.

Joe seized every opportunity he could to create the future he envisioned for himself. From childhood, he worked in jobs ranging from dishwasher to camp counselor to dj. He sought admission to a top public high school and spent hours commuting between school, work and home by bus to ensure access to the best education. When he was accepted to DePaul University, he literally packed two suitcases and jumped on a train from Boston to Chicago. Financing his own education every step of the way, he found a passion for real estate. Before graduating from DePaul, Joe co-founded DePaul University’s Real Estate Alumni Alliance (DREAA) and secured a position with a top Chicago real estate investment firm.  After transitioning through various specialties, Joe found himself working in a more rigid corporate environment. By the time he took his trip to Thailand, work had led him back to Boston and he had begun to feel that petty office politics and the economic downturn were sapping his passion for corporate life.

There in the shop, the story of the Mlabri and the beauty of their intricate workmanship ignited Joe’s inspiration. He altered his Thai itinerary to include a visit to the Mlabri village. Meeting the Mlabri weavers, he was struck by the progress they had made in transforming their condition and their bright plans for the future. On his 6 hour drive back from the village, Joe began to make his plans for Yellow Leaf Hammocks.

In the weeks since he arrived back in the States, he has laid the foundation for a socially conscious brand. When he began building Yellow Leaf,  he reached out to his network and was amazed by the reaction he received.  Friends, acquaintances and family stepped in, offering encouragement, advice and more contacts to help him move forward. He seized opportunities to talk to strangers whose businesses he admired and learned quickly as he enlisted the help of the talented professionals who offered their pro bono services.

For Joe, the reactions he received when he told the story of the Mlabri and Yellow Leaf offered daily encouragement. Concept meetings and business plans energized him and helped him continue his forward momentum. His initial vision was clarified and hammered out into the core messages that would help focus the brand. “Do Good, Relax.” and the Thai phrase “Sabai, Sabai” (translated roughly: No Worries!) were the key phrases Yellow Leaf would live by.

In a matter of weeks, he taught himself how to build and design a website and built www.yellowleafhammocks.com.  He filled the site with photos and stories that would make Yellow Leaf come alive and help him share his dream across the country. He uses Facebook and Twitter to interact with hammock lovers everywhere. He is also working with a producer to create Yellow Leaf videos and is working to document the positive impact that hammocks have on the Mlabri and surrounding villages.

He’s received considerable press attention in the weeks since the site went live. Publications with a focus on fair trade, eco-friendly products and social consciousness will be sharing the Yellow Lead story with their readers this summer and fall.

To continue building his grass-roots exposure, Joe has also begun spreading the word at New England’s summer festivals and markets. He designed his traveling display to emulate the hammock shop in Ko Lanta that first drew him in- colorful hammocks lining the walls, an oriental rug on the floor, and photos from his trip to the Mlabri Village. He’s been energized by the face to face interaction with customers and loves to see people fall in love with the hammocks and the story behind their creation. People have bought Yellow Leaf Hammocks for themselves and for their family all over the U.S. after meeting Joe.

Through it all, he’s continued to seek out the knowledge he needs to help Yellow Leaf grow. He is learning about international trade and studying supply chain management. He’s researched and analyzed his competition, helping him focus on becoming the best hammock brand in the US market. He’s taking his time to grow organically while he works through kinks, tests his production capacity and prepares to scale up as the business grows in the coming year. He is focusing on developing a strong community of Yellow Leaf hammockers as he sells his first thousand hammocks, at which point he will begin to implement more broad-scale initiatives. He has also begun to reach out to establish key alliances and sponsorship opportunities for the long term.  He’s building a board of advisors to round out his expertise in international trade, legal matters and humanitarian work.

While any young entrepreneur faces stumbling blocks, Joe spends most days feeling as though he’s found an opportunity that’s almost too good to be true. He says that he almost feels guilty about how much he enjoys working to build Yellow Leaf and helping the Mlabri people. In these early stages, his passion for the people and the learning experience have been their own reward.

In his own words:Like any traveler, I had high hopes that my trip to Thailand would be life-altering. I would never have guessed that Yellow Leaf would be the result of my journey. For me, seeing firsthand the impact these hammocks have had on the community, on the Mlabri Tribe, provided a call to action.  Realizing that an opportunity like this couldn’t be planned for and couldn’t be ignored, I followed my gut. From the first step, I set out to design a company that would create what I call Double Wellness.

To be honest, I’m confident that these hammocks would be a popular product based on their intrinsic merit, without the benefit of a socially driven mission. They are meticulously crafted, durable and beautiful. But I also think that this opportunity to make a difference in the lives of a deserving set of people is one that my customers honor and appreciate.

This reciprocal relationship is what I set out to create with Double Wellness:  positive social change for the manufacturer and a positive impact on the consumer’s psyche.  Yellow Leaf Hammock owners are not only providing for their own wellness , but the well-being of the weavers and their community who, in turn, have been provided with a chance to secure their own future.

The gravity of this vision truly began to sink in when I was back in America, making plans for the future and researching the socially conscious brands I hoped to emulate (Toms Shoes, FeelGoodz, Whole Foods). I realized the obstacles and the rewards that lay ahead, and what I was setting out to do- which fueled my determination to succeed.  Seeing our mission in action as I talk to people in markets and share our story with journalists, I am constantly thrilled and reinvigorated!  All this passion and excitement running through my veins has led to great plans and aspirations for Yellow Leaf.

Admittedly, it took time to find balance and take things in stride. Building a business, there are factors that are out of your control.  That’s just reality.  But as an entrepreneur, I think it is important to always push further.  You have to push the envelope, because after all, you are creating something from scratch and that is much harder than one realizes.

One thing I’ve learned is that running a company is fun, but running one that has such a positive impact, is unbelievable.  It takes entrepreneurship to a whole new level!  Just think, a school was created for kids that previously never went to school…from hammocks!  Healthcare…from hammocks!  A man had a heart bypass surgery, because hammocks allowed him to have the healthcare to do so.  Just four years ago, the Mlabri were finally recognized and granted Thai citizenship!  The first road to the village was paved!  The Mlabri have solar power on their roofs, and satellite TV!  I hope one day they can turn on the TV and watch as Yellow Leaf is on CNN!  That will make them proud.  I want our weavers to know how much we love their craft.  I want them to see the smiles they bring to the thousands of people who purchase their hammocks each year.

I will forever remember the people I met in Thailand, the emails I’ve received from customers and my conversations at the markets I work.  As hard as it is to launch a global lifestyle brand with such an ambitious mission, it helps to receive messages such as the one I just received while writing this:

“Hi Joe – I met you with my daughter at the SOWA market on Sunday.  (daughter, Hannah, very eagerly dove into the hammocks!)  Using the website, I just ordered a sitting hammock in 2 shades of blue.  We can’t wait to get it!  …  It was nice to meet you and we are really happy to be purchasing this hammock from Yellow Leaf and supporting the Mlabri Tribe.”

Rachel L. Connors
Yellow Leaf Hammocks

I believe in the power of business to do good.  While nonprofits are critical in delivering social and environmental value, for-profit businesses also have an important role to play.  As social entrepreneurship grows, tax structure is becoming less of a dividing line between companies that exist to make money, and nonprofits that exist to provide social benefit.

I’ve always been interested in social entrepreneurship, even before I knew the term.  In college, I tutored kids at a local middle school that hadn’t had a budget for new books for its library in several years.  I recruited several other students from a music group on campus to record a CD of original music, which we funded through donations from campus groups, and then sold on and around campus.  We raised nearly $1,000 to buy new books for that middle school library in a matter of weeks.  We repeated the project the next two years and raised money for a local food bank, as well as a local playground.

The idea of creating something with two bottom lines – something that created both financial and social value – stuck.

I spent the next several years working in educational technology, hoping to make a difference in people’s lives – kids, initially, then college students, then managers and business leaders – by providing them with valuable learning opportunities.  The various jobs I held all had value, but I didn’t feel that I was making the difference I wanted to make.  So I went to business school to try to gain the skills I needed to be a socially responsible business leader.

In 2003, I was working for Ashoka – a leading funder and supporter of social entrepreneurship that provides three-year fellowships to social entrepreneurs around the world.  One of my tasks was to create a process for measuring the social impact of the fellowships.  In researching different approaches to measuring social impact (or social return on investment – a topic that is still hotly debated and explored), I discovered that very few organizations were using online tools to track and report on social impact.  That planted the seed of an idea.

It turns out that measuring and reporting on social impact – combined with the process of putting together information to request the funding that supports programs and services that lead to social impact – is very costly.

Reporting on social impact in the nonprofit sector frequently occurs in the context of grant reports to foundations and other institutional funders that request those reports.  For those of you not familiar with the grantmaking world, the process usually goes something like this: a nonprofit doing good work needs money to support that work.  It searches for institutional donors (likely in addition to individual donors) that might support its mission, and puts together grant proposals to those donors.  Those institutions review the grant proposals, and decide whether or not to provide funding in the form of a grant.  After a grant is awarded, the donor requests (and frequently requires, as a condition of funding) reports on how the grant money was spent and what impact it had.

A report by the Center for Effective Philanthropy concluded that 13% of every foundation dollar in the U.S. is spent on grants administration.  In 2009, foundations in the U.S. awarded $42.9 B in grants (down from $46.8 B in 2008).  That means that $5.6 B was spent on grants administration – money that could have been spent on programs and services, and, ultimately, social impact.

That multi-billion dollar inefficiency suggested an opportunity to make a difference.  I spent the year after my time at Ashoka (which happened to coincide with my second year of business school at NYU) writing a business plan, with the help of some very smart and talented friends, to address this problem in order to help the nonprofit sector with this inefficiency.

When I first came up with the idea for PhilanTech, and PhilanTrack, our online grants management system (more about that later), I thought that I would create the organization as a nonprofit.  It seemed a nonprofit would be best suited to address a nonprofit sector inefficiency.  But as I talked with more people about the idea, every one of them suggested that PhilanTech should be a for-profit company.  In 2004, very few foundations were funding technology, and the consensus among the nonprofit and foundation leaders and staff members with whom I talked was that if PhilanTech was going to be successful, it would have to do so without relying on foundations as a source of funding.

PhilanTech was launched as a for-profit social venture in 2004.  We were very fortunate to receive a grant from the Stewart Satter Social Venture Fund in 2004 as seed funding (the Fund was tax status agnostic, which was more unusual a few years ago than it is today) to develop an alpha version of PhilanTrack.  I describe PhilanTech as “a nice for-profit,” a company that has been socially and environmentally responsible from the outset in terms of business practices, not only in terms of the social benefit provided by our tools.

PhlianTrack helps both grantmakers and grant seekers manage the grant process from the initial proposal to the final report.  For grantmakers, it provides an online application process, grant and contact management, post-grant monitoring and reporting (the opportunity to measure social impact), and a financial analysis tool to enable funders to evaluate the financial health and stability of their grantees and applicants.

For grant seekers, the problem PhilanTrack solves is a bit different.  A nonprofit that applies for 30 grants from 30 different funders is filling out 30 different proposals in slightly different formats (requesting largely the same information), which is incredibly time consuming.  Say the nonprofit gets 15 of those grants.  The nonprofit then fills out 15 different progress reports in slightly different formats (sometimes more than that, if any of the funders require more than one report).  It’s a time consuming and costly process for nonprofits, taking an average of up to 100 hours per grant, according to the Center for Effective Philanthropy.

PhilanTrack provides a way for nonprofits to easily reuse information from proposal to proposal, from report to report, regardless of the format required by the funder.  PhilanTech’s patent-pending technology facilitates this process to enable nonprofits to easily reuse information while still meeting each funder’s individual requirements.  Nonprofits can prepare all of their grant proposals in PhilanTrack (regardless of whether or not their funders are using PhilanTrack for their online applications), track all of the grants they receive, and prepare all of their progress reports.  PhilanTrack helps build the grant management capacity of nonprofit organizations, while helping to provide institutional memory for grant-related information as well.

PhilanTrack was released in September 2007, and is now in use by hundreds of organizations, both grantmakers and grant seekers.  In 2009, I was named by BusinessWeek as one of the country’s 25 most promising social entrepreneurs.

In December of 2007, PhilanTech became a founding B Corporation.  B Corporations are a new type of company that is setting the standard for social and environmental responsibility.  For PhilanTech, B Corporation certification – and being part of the growing B Corporation community – validates the socially and environmentally responsible elements of the business that have been in the company’s DNA since day one.

Not every business can be dedicated to helping the nonprofit sector, but increasing numbers of businesses are building social and environmental responsibility into their business practices – not only donating a portion of profits to charity, but also creating sustainable business practices from sourcing to community engagement.  As a social entrepreneur, I’m excited to see this trend.  Someday, all entrepreneurship will be social entrepreneurship.

Dahna Goldstein is the Founder of PhilanTech, LLC

Switch2Health (S2H) co-founders, Seth Tropper and Amado Batour, spent approximately 1.5 years researching the issues surrounding the overweight and obesity epidemic and were horrified by the statistics, especially as they relate to youth. 65% of Americans are overweight or obese; 2 billion people worldwide are overweight or obese; and in America, childhood obesity doubled since the 1970s and tripled since the 1960s.

While there are several contributing factors, lack of physical activity is clearly a large one. Why exercise?

“We believe it comes down to personal motivation and Switch2Health aims to motivate individuals to be physically active by rewarding them for such activity” says Tropper. “While a key challenge is in motivating individuals to be physically active, S2H offers an engaging and innovative solution for businesses, organizations and consumers.”

S2H encourages 60 minutes of physical activity per day, which is in accordance with recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).  Their product, the S2H REPLAY (an “activity reward band”) quantifies physical activity and reveals a unique reward code upon completion of 60 cumulative minutes of physical activity (i.e. jogging, running, dancing, sports, jump-rope). Users enter the code on S2H.COM, earn and accumulate points toward great rewards and more.  Rewards range from music and ringtone downloads (200-300 points) to a PlayStation 3 (12,000 points).  The message is simple – Be Active, Get Rewards!

The S2H REPLAY includes the blue wristband and module for $19.95 and colored replacement bands are $2.99.   These are available to purchase at www.s2h.com.

At a time when kids are bombarded with sedentary distractions like gaming, social networking and watching inordinate amounts of television, S2H has made physical activity both fun and socially desirable.  It’s a message that has been echoed by First Lady Michelle Obama, who launched her Let’s Move campaign in the wake of a startling statistic:

“…medical experts are now warning that for the first time in the history of our nation, the

next generation may be on track to having a shorter lifespan than this generation, and

their parents” - First Lady Michelle Obama, October 2009

High profile celebrities and athletes are joining in the mission to promote healthy activity to children, including NBA World Champion Paul Pierce.  The mission of Paul Pierce’s Truth on Health Initiative and FitClub34 from Harvard Pilgrim is incredibly synergistic with the mission of Switch2Health, and together they have partnered to positively impact the lives of many children around the country and hopefully around the globe. As part of the partnership, the S2H REPLAY is incorporated into Pierce’s FitClub34, the main component of the NBA All-Star’s Truth on Health Initiative, which empowers young people to lead healthier lives.  FitClub34, a fanclub-turned-fit club, uses the device to track participants’ exercise progress and provide incentives and rewards through S2H’s rewards program.

But why does it work?

Tropper explains, “If I were to suggest to a group of adults that they should be physically active because they will live longer, feel better, etc.; the message may go in one ear and out the other. If I were to say, “If you maintain a certain lifestyle of physical activity you will receive $200 of your monthly healthcare cost,” their ears will perk up.

If I were to suggest to a group of children that they should be physically active because they will live longer, feel better, be smarter, etc.; the message is similar to “do your homework” or “take out the garbage”. Yet, if I were to say be physically active and earn rewards such as iTunes downloads, movie tickets, and gift cards, not only will their ears perk up, but they will smile and start running around the block. I have witnessed this and it’s great.”

For the past five months, 10-year-old Andrew Abelow has been working for a new Xbox 360. Along the way, the Morganville, NJ boy has lost five pounds.  Abelow is no couch potato, withering away while awaiting his new toy. He has been earning rewards for staying active. “I’ve been running more,” Abelow says, “and I’ve started playing basketball.” A fourth-grader at Marlboro Elementary School, he has racked up 1,980 points toward the Xbox—which he can redeem for 9,600 points.

Last December, Bergen County Technical High physical education teacher Doug Naccara distributed S2H REPLAYS to 100 freshmen as part of a pilot program with Switch2Health. Even Naccara has gotten into the act. “I’m saving for a Nintendo Wii system and am about 3,000 points—or 50 activity hours— away,” he says.

Batour adds “we must change behavior to enable individuals to lead a healthier lifestyle. When I travel, I first call Continental because I want to rack-up frequent flyer miles. When I go to the store, I use American Express so I can get points. I am conditioned. Yes, I believe rewards are a great way to motivate individuals (from children to adults) to be physically active; and ultimately overtime these individuals will feel better about themselves and continue with their healthier lifestyle.”

Following the launch of the first product in 2009, S2H has worked with a range of organizations, including some sports entertainment properties like the Harlem Globetrotters and NFL 60.

The S2H REPLAY and Rewards Platform lend itself to a business solution whereby supporting Incentive Programs, including interactive promotions, customer loyalty and corporate health and wellness programs. Such incentive programs may be utilized in a variety of industries such as sports, charities, healthcare, pharma, education, corporate wellness, retail, entertainment and more. The solution (of branded REPLAY bands and a rewards platform) will promote the companies message or brand; drive traffic and customers to their website; and reward their customers or employees for physical activity.

In fact, S2H has been responsible for over 23,000 hours of activity, helping several thousand individuals get active.   They aim for 50,000 hours by the end of the year.  “As a visionary, I aim high and want to change the world. Success for S2H is going to sleep each night knowing that we are motivating people to be physically active, and while difficult to measure, perhaps one of the children may very well avoid health risks, now or in their adult life because S2H keeps them active” says Tropper.

Tropper earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and applied statistics from St. John’s University in New York (Class of 1998) and has a master’s degree in technology management from Stevens Institute. Between college and graduate school, he spent about 10 years in information technology management at AT&T and IBM.  Prior to that he founded, and then sold, Plasmasol, a medical technology company he spun out of Stevens Institute.

Batour completed a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering and Product Architecture from Stevens Institute of Technology. He founded AXB Group, Inc., a multidisciplinary design and consultation firm for a wide variety of work, from 3D design, to multimedia, identity, marketing, architecture, graphic design and engineering design.  He has taught design to undergraduates at the School of Architecture, and the College of Computing Science at New Jersey Institute of Technology.

They formed this company in 2006 and have the following advice for prospective social entrepreneurs:

“Follow your passion and align yourself with people who have a similar mission to inspire social change.  And Be Persistent!”

If you have any ideas for S2H or would like to help them achieve their mission, you can purchase the S2H REPLAY at www.s2h.com or contact them at info@s2h.com.

How many of you are or were caught up in the Corporate America way of life? As my hand goes up, let me tell you that I was a successful executive with a stressful job who put in many long hours and travelled frequently. I lived this life for over 25 years before I got my wake up call. In May 2005, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  I received my diagnosis on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend. I used the weekend to regroup and look at how I was living my life. I realized that I was dedicating myself to an entity, not even a person or a cause. Once I looked at it this way, I knew that I had to change my priorities. When I returned to work on Tuesday, I resigned from my position to focus on me and getting through my cancer treatment.  I never looked back.

Along my cancer journey, one thing I quickly found out is that disease is a real equalizer; it doesn’t respect any demographic or socioeconomic boundaries. Although I had what is considered to be very good health insurance, by the time I covered deductibles and co-pays a considerable chunk of savings was disappearing fast. I watched while many women who were underinsured or had no insurance at all become financially devastated fighting for their lives. They were forced to make very difficult decisions regarding medical care, rent or food and they shouldn’t have to. This really left an impression on me and I wasn’t sure when or how I could help make a difference in their lives but I knew I had to do something. My ah ha moment came in June 2007 when I participated in my first Komen Race for the Cure in Washington DC. This was a big occasion for me and I knew that I wanted to make this an annual tradition. I formed a team of family and friends who supported me through my treatment and we were called ‘3 to Go’ (counting down to Five and Won). The 3 mile walk was in the morning, and I planned a lunchtime party for the team so we could celebrate being together and being proud of the money we raised to help a great cause. I wanted to reinforce the theme of the day with pink ribbon paper plates and napkins. I searched everywhere for them but they couldn’t be found anywhere in the world. I couldn’t believe it, you can find pink ribbon everything, where was the partyware? I remember vividly feeling a calling that I had to  bring pink ribbon partyware to the market. I immediately knew that this was how I was suppose to help the heroes who needed financial assistance…I was chosen to do this so that women everywhere could enjoy pink ribbon partyware and at the same time help their BFFs.

Taking this idea from concept to reality was a challenge. I had many ups and downs along the way. At times I wanted to give up and took the many road blocks as signs to do just that, it would be the easy thing to do. Thankfully as one door closed, it seemed as another one would open. Because I persevered, I had many angels come into my life who helped me make Celebrate In Pink a reality. I am very happy and honored to say that I did not give up and that I am the reason the Celebrate In Pink collection of dinner and dessert plates, lunch and beverage napkins, note cards and invitations exist today. They were designed with the sole purpose of helping women and their families through breast cancer. They were and still are my true inspiration and motivation. We donate a portion of every sale to nonprofit organizations whose mission aligns with ours. For our nonprofit clients who buy our collection, we donate our portion of their sale back to their organization. Our goal is to have our own Celebrate In Pink Foundation and become the national voice for women and families fighting breast cancer who need financial assistance.

Celebrate In Pink was founded on the sole premise of helping women. As I look back on the journey it has been one that I have never been on before. Pouring my heart and time into a cause is so much more rewarding than giving it to an entity. I would encourage all entrepreneurs, big or small to include helping others as part of your business practices. There are so many worthy causes who need the awareness and support I am sure there are some that will align with your business mission. Becoming involved in a cause adds a wonderful dimension to the mix. Getting out and meeting some of the faces attached to the causes gives you a renewed inspiration to make revenue targets or goals. They become your motivation and you start to look for new ways of doing business. It’s a win win for everyone and nothing beats the feeling of helping others get what they need.

I can’t help but feel that breast cancer gave me a new lease on life. I wouldn’t have ever known about the heroes who need our help and I am sure I would still be dedicating my life to an entity. I had a wakeup call and it did the trick! Five years ago I would have never guessed I would be doing what I am doing right now and I wouldn’t trade my journey for anything in the world. I invite you to use our beautiful collection for all of your entertaining needs as we help make a difference one party at a time.

Visit us at CelebrateInPink.com
Like us at Facebook.com/CelebrateInPink
Follow us on Twitter @CelebrateInPink
Read our blog at CelebrateInPink.blogspot.com
Call us at 888-314-PINK(7465)
email me at Kathy@CelebrateInPink.com.

With its Interactive Database, Bernholz’s New Company Offers a Web-based Tool That’s Sweeping the Environmental Construction Sector…

And Caught The Attention of Top VCs.

Adam Bernholz, the Founder and CEO of GreenWizard, started his career in green building underwater.

Underwater?

Well, as a scuba diving instructor.

That’s when Adam was shocked to witness coral-reef bleaching and ocean decline, and he decided going green was as worthwhile an occupation as he could imagine. Indeed, back in 2005 and 2006, Adam had sold his first company, a start-up, after wrapping up a JD degree and an MBA from the University of North Carolina. (He’d also worked a stint in Venture Capital.) To take some time off, he moved to an island off the coast of South Carolina that is only accessible by boat. There he began to live out a dream by building a “dark-green,” off-the-grid, net-zero-energy home. That’s when he realized the profound difficulty the building industry faced in researching, evaluating, and documenting green building products. The company that resulted from Adam’s frustration is a VC-funded start-up, called GreenWizard, which has met with such immediate success that it’s caught the eyes of top building industry professionals…and leading green VCs.

GreenWizard is a web-based, expert system that allows architects, engineers, and contractors (“AECs”) to cross-search, compare, and document building products for LEED and green construction. By far, LEED is the dominant green-building standard in North America.  It has swept the construction industry and seen wide adoption. By even conservative estimates, 25% (and as much as 40%) of new and renovated structures in the US will be LEED certified by 2015. But therein lies the problem…and the solution that GreenWizard offers: Complying with LEED – which is often required by municipalities and building code authorities – is notoriously cumbersome. Indeed, there are demanding requirements to document the green properties and third-party certifications of the construction materials in order to qualify for the LEED points that achieve various levels of certification, which top-out at LEED Platinum.

In 2006, with a view toward starting a green-product search company, Adam engaged focus groups of architects, engineers, and contractors who were trying to go green. He discovered that the process of researching and documenting the products was nothing short of painful for them. And it was even more difficult to procure the product.

“It occurred to me that the easiest part of the building process should be the research, followed by ordering the products,” Adam said.  “It’s just common sense that a manufacturer who put so much effort into making a product qualified for LEED points would want to get the word out, including all documentation, and allow people to order it online. Not so.”

The more Adam looked around, the more he saw an opportunity to offer GreenWizard’s service, which he initially called Green Analyzer.

“There were other green product databases, but there were just glorified versions of Google,” Adam recalls.  “If you searched ‘caulk,’ and you’d get a list of caulk, but the results would have no semblance of importance or priority, supporting documents or third-party certifications (both of which are necessary for LEED application), and certainly no way to issue an RFP (request for price) or an RPI (request for information).”

In October, 2008, Adam took his idea to Sand Hill Road. The infamous Palo Alto, California area where the world’s top VCs cluster.

“Unfortunately, the very week that we presented in nine meetings to VCs, the DOW fell 20%,” Adam explains with a laugh.  “And all of those VC groups retrenched to funding existing companies – not startups – and certainly no pre-revenue companies.”

Undaunted, Adam assembled an A-list team of managers, including GreenWizard’s current President, Jerry Lepore, who has deep experience with Aetna, Cigna, Microsoft, and Benefitfocus.

“I subscribe to the maxim that you can get farther with an A-list team and a B-concept than you can with an A-concept and B-list team. Turns out we have an A-team and an A-concept,” Adam said.

GreenWizard’s breakthrough came when the Company was selected for the CleanTech Forum investor’s conference in San Francisco. GreenWizard was just one of 15 companies to present, and one of just five pre-revenue companies invited; that was in February 2009.  GreenWizard caught the attention of a success “angel” investor, Jerry Fiddler.  Fiddler and Adam put together a series of private investments from a syndicate of venture capital funds and angel investors that totaled more than $1.15 million, over two rounds. (The syndicated investment was led by Zygote Ventures, which is based in San Rafael, CA. www.zygoteventures.com)

With that funding, Adam and his team were off and running. They staffed up and took the GreenWizard online search-and-procurement tool to BETA in 2009, and formally launched in March 2010.

As for the product’s success to date, the proof is in the pudding.  By the end of the summer of 2010, there were 870 manufacturers loaded into GreenWizard’s database. Those manufacturers may present their products for free, but they may also choose to pay a slight premium (based on the value of a purchase) to receive RFPs and RFIs from GreenWizard’s buying-users.  Those GreenWizard users already include nearly 300 architect, engineering and construction firms. Combined, they represent more than $500 million in LEED project value, and another $300 in non-LEED green projects.

Those numbers are impressive, but they are obsolete as soon as the ink is dry, because manufacturers and AECs are flocking to GreenWizard. To understand the attraction, here are more specifics about GreenWizard’s capabilities.

GreenWizard is an interactive “expert system” that allows AEC to cross-search, compare, and document products for LEED and green construction, with a special focus on commercial construction, where LEED is so pervasive. The manufacturers that offer products eligible for LEED credits are invited to load their products themselves, or have GreenWizard do it for them, and to use the GreenWizard database-assembly tool to associate any third-party ratings and approvals with their product profiles. Then GreenWizard users can search for products through multiple user-defined parameters, whether its third-party rating certifications, LEED credit eligibility, or performance specs.

GreenWizard allows product specifiers to search and view green products at no charge, but users can also access a low-priced premium tool called Workflow Pro ($9.99/month) to access really top-shelf capabilities. Workflow Pro can digitally build and document construction projects.  Once a project is started, users can search for building products in the GreenWizard database based on product category, region, green attributes, and GreenRank.  Then, the user can save the identified products to specific projects, as well as add and save supplemental products. Workflow Pro can also view product documentation, e.g. Building Information Modeling (BMI), product specs, cutsheets. Upon completion of the project, users will be able to automatically generate LEED documentation and LEED Credit Templates for submission to LEED online.

The biggest differentiator for GreenWizard in the landscape of online green-product search tools is that it is a true workflow solution, allowing for product research-procurement-documentation all under one roof.  Users who find a green product in other green product databases have to cut and paste the product data into an email to request prices and availability. That’s awkward, and it’s even more cumbersome to get that data into their procurement computer software.  With GreenWizard, that procurement process can all be managed right from the product search results, without leaving the GreenWizard platform.

There will surely be competitors to GreenWizard, but the Company has a massive head start in terms of assembling product data, in addition to their Intellectual Property (Patents and Trademarks). Any competing company would have a daunting, expensive data-management task to come even close to where GreenWizard is today.

As for Adam Bernholz, he’s looking at a future of pure opportunity, as LEED and green construction more firmly entrenches itself in the practices of the architects, engineers, and contractors who are building the future of America.

Two thousand children, thirty-five thousand villagers, an entire national population – these are the amounts of people directly and indirectly impacted by Sylvia Allen, a near-lifelong New Jersey resident who has dedicated both her personal and professional lives to becoming a social entrepreneur; and one who has proven that she will stop at nothing to get the job done.

At 73 years of age, Sylvia Allen has spent eight of those years operating a volunteer, non-profit organization called Sylvia’s Children, which helps underprivileged African children, specifically those in the village of Mbiriizi, Uganda, who have been orphaned by the AIDS epidemic. The organization has helped to raise funds that have subsequently afforded Allen and her volunteers the ability to build a school, purchase acres of land, and provide the children of the Mbiriizi Advanced Primary and Day Care School with a better education, a working fresh water well so that the children can drink clean water and avoid illness, a library complete with books, additional classroom blocks, dentists, nurses and health care services, which are all among some of the larger successes in developing this small community that has had a much larger impact on the nation of Uganda.

Allen additionally teaches the 1,001 children and the local villagers about becoming entrepreneurs of their own. She has developed a self-sustainable model in African entrepreneurship that, when completed over the course of the next several years, will help the school to have an economy through the implementation of a corn milling business, a chicken farm, a health clinic, a uniform sewing trade, a fair-trade coffee business, and an arts and crafts cooperative, all of which will additionally enrich the village. This social entrepreneurship model, once perfected, will then be taken to other underserved schools in the surrounding sub-Saharan African villages to help build local economies.

“If you had said to me when I was 65, ‘I guarantee you, Sylvia, that in 12 months you’ll be running a non-profit for underprivileged African children,’ I would have said, ‘What a joke!’” explains Allen about her efforts. “It never entered my head.

“What happened was that it was put in front of me and I had no choice. Sometimes things are just given to us; we have to be awake enough to see them because they’re just given to us.”

Sylvia Allen has also spent a large portion of her life developing her own business back at home in the US … a business that has helped her raise money and create awareness for Sylvia’s Children. For over 30 years, Allen has headed one of New Jersey’s leading public relations agencies, Allen Consulting, which has provided strategies in generating positive publicity and media relations services to both profit and non-profit organizations. She has authored and co-authored books on the industry, and has recently released a media industry commentary on DVD. Allen Consulting absorbs all costs for Sylvia’s Children, allowing for 100 percent of funding raised by the non-profit to go directly to the children of Uganda.

“Don’t let existing patterns impact you,” Allen offers as her advice for professionals interested in pursuing careers in social entrepreneurship. “People will tell you it’s impossible to raise money. No, it’s not! You just have to be more creative, smarter. Don’t ever let anyone tell you that you can’t do it because, if you believe in your heart that what you’re doing is right, you do it!”

Running a non-profit organization, however, does not involve thinking like a non-profit, according to Allen.

“You have to apply for-profit principles to a non-profit organization,” she suggests. And that means creating a system of checks and balances because “entrepreneurship is a for-profit philosophy.”

Therefore, by not only believing in your mission, Allen contends that you have to aggressively go after funding. With Sylvia’s Children, she has developed partnerships with organizations that have donated a percentage of revenue to her organization, she builds long-lasting relationships with donors and large companies, and she has been eager to go after sponsorship dollars.

Recently, from May through June, 2010, eleven Starbucks retail locations in New Jersey held clothing drives to help raise funds for Sylvia’s Children. There were nearly 16,000 pounds of clothing collected, which, when multiplied by 15 cents per pound, generated $2,400 for the non-profit organization. Another New Jersey-based Starbucks clothing drive is tentatively planned for September through November, 2010.

Allen has also teamed up with Avistar Parking at Newark, La Guardia and JFK airports wherein travelers save ten per cent on their overall parking fees, and an additional ten per cent of parking revenue will be donated by Avistar Parking to Sylvia’s Children.

By thinking creatively Allen has already passed last year’s total revenue by the end of June 2010.  She expects to exceed over $100,000 this year (and that’s just part time).

Sylvia Allen works with the philosophy that states if you are making a difference in children, then you are making a difference in the future growth of a country. This philosophy helps direct her work so that she is always prepared. “I have to constantly be ready to say ‘do this, do that, back off’ or simply change direction. You have to be very flexible, and ready to change on a dime. You also need to recognize opportunity and never be afraid to ask for money. You have to have zero fear!”

For less than one US Dollar per day, Allen continues to help each of the 1,001 children at the school; one-fourth of which are orphans.

Volunteers interested in assisting Sylvia’s Children can set up Sylvia’s Children chapters, whether they be teacher chapters, student chapters, church or college chapters, girl or boy scout projects, Allen has created a number of prototype projects that could be done. She says that if someone wants to champion one of these projects that there is absolutely no money involved in remuneration, “but it is the most unbelievable happiness and joy they’ll ever have.”

Sylvia Allen’s Website: Sylvia’s Children (www.sylviaschildren.org)

What do you do when you see someone driving slow?  How about a little erratic?  Are they drunk? What is it with them?  Do you lay on your horn?  ‘Get out of the way you #@*!#@!*! ‘  Is that you?  Or someone you know?

What do you do when you find out that they are a new driver with their parent?  Do you feel really bad, and slump down in your car?  Do you wish you knew that they were just starting out, that they are a STUDENT at the wheel®?

Karen Klayman started STUDENT at the wheel® over 2 years ago based on her love and concern for children and their well-being.  And because that situation happens all the time, doesn’t it?   One day at least 10 people came up to her complaining about how people were so rude to them when their kids just starting out.   Having two boys that just went through ‘learning to drive’ she knew all about those challenges and thought that she could make a change, and help these young people.

‘Driving should be a fun and pleasurable experience.  You shouldn’t be worrying about the person in back of you and what they are doing (like passing you on the right, crossing solid lines, driving really dangerously and aggressively), your eyes should be on the road.  Distractions come from more than texting and driving, which is just terrible that people do that.   Distractions for many young people come from those around them, and in their car.’ says Karen.

The roads are a dangerous place.  Contributing factors include the sheer volume of  cars, trucks, and buses, and just how reckless and rude are so many of these drivers?

Compound these facts with new driver inexperience and we end up with some gruesome statistics.   25% of all accidents are teen-related (over 1 million / year) and in 2007; every day approximately 17 of these teen crashes were fatal.

Behavior is also a factor.  In a recent study over 50% of all teens said they drove with someone who was drunk or high.

Driving is also a freedom.  And as Karen said, it should be FUN.  It is a privilege, and a huge responsibility.  One that too many people take for granted and abuse.   For young people it can be a key to a job, visiting their friends, and some really good times.

Many kids today are not getting their drivers license on time, they are waiting.   Sometimes it’s their parents who hold them back in fear.  I’ve must have met at least 50 teens that have told me they DON’T WANT to get on the road.  They HATE HOW OTHERS drive, they are afraid for their lives.

What is interesting is who is buying STUDENT at the wheel®.  Face to face more than half our sales are to teens. In fact teens account for most of our web traffic, and they are responsible for our last 4 designs.

Where else can you find a Pink Zebra?

We really expected Parents would be buying STUDENT at the wheel® and saying, “put this on the car or you can’t drive”, which we hear does happen.  But so many times it is the kids telling the parents that they want it.  They want to feel safe.  ‘I want this so much, I’m calling my Mom so she buys it for me…’  That sentiment is echoed week after week.

Karen’s goal is to have the distinctive trademarked logo as recognizable as a handicapped symbol.

Here are some more comments from face to face interactions:

“STUDENT at the wheel^® works great.  People give me more room and stop tailing me” – 18 yr old Teen Boy

“I wish STUDENT at the wheel^® was available when I started driving.  Everyone would ride up right on me and flip me off”  – Female age 25

“This is so people don’t bother me when I’m driving?  Okay Mom, get me a pink STUDENT at the wheel^® and let’s get 2 for the Sweet 16’s coming up as gifts” – Female age 16

“I like the design, I don’t want my car to look like a school bus” – Male age 18

“If STUDENT at the wheel^® makes it easier for me to drive by myself, then I’m putting one on my car” – Male age 17

“I know I’m a good driver, I’m getting STUDENT at the wheel^® so other people just back off and let me drive” – Female age 19

“I love the colors and the logo.  They are bright and distinctive.  It looks good on my car” – Female age 17

“The way people drive around here, I won’t let my son drive without STUDENT at the wheel^®” – a Dad

“My daughter is driving and I’m slapping STUDENT at the wheel^® in 3 spots on the car when we go out” – a Mom

“What a great idea.  When I was 16, I was petrified.  I was like ‘Man, leave me alone, I’m 16, I’m doing the best I can.’ “– College Athlete age 20

Here are some comments that have come in from people online:

“My daughter freaked out when she saw it (Pink Zebra) she begged me to buy it, and now has told all of her friends.” – a Mom

“I think your idea is terrific. I wish all student drivers used these; there are so many impatient drivers on the roads anymore…I am teaching my second child to drive right now and wish I had thought (of this) with my first. I am looking forward to receiving it. Great idea!” – another Mom

On TV Peter Bonacum, a concerned Dad from Bucks County Pennsylvania, said to a CBS reporter that ‘You never know when they (STUDENT at the wheel® magnets) may save a life!’

But what if Karen had never acted on her idea?  If she just came home and said, ‘Gee that’s a shame’, instead of ‘We can do something to make this better!’

How many people sit around talking about ‘they should fix this’, ‘they should fix that’?  Well people, ‘they’ is us.  The only one that can affect social change is you.  Got an idea?  Follow through.

Do you know how many people ‘invented’ existing products?  ‘That was my idea!”  How many times have you heard that one?  Or said it?  Well having the idea, and acting on it are two different things.  You have to have the drive and motivation to start, fail, start again, fail again, and keep going until you succeed.  Napoleon Hill writes “Without persistence you will be defeated.  With persistence you will win.”  Or in other words “Quitters never win, and winners never quit”.

Here are the thoughts of a 20 something year old male that just graduated college: “STUDENT at the wheel® is more than just a magnet, it is a tool that new drivers can use to help prevent dangerous driving and possible accidents on the road.  Keeping kids safe is the goal of STUDENT at the wheel® and by creating a product that allows others to see that it is young children driving; will give them the incentive to demonstrate better driving habits and promote others to follow in their footsteps.”

Help Karen help young people.  Tell your friends about STUDENT at the wheel®.  Visit the STUDENT at the wheel® page on Facebook, online at http://www.STUDENTatthewheel.com, on Amazon.com , at a store location, or by calling 1-877-647-1266

The more cars we can all get this on, the more lives/property we have the potential to save.

STUDENT at the wheel® is a proud member of NOYS, the National Organizations for Youth Safety.  For program information visit NOYS online at NOYS.org.

In 2006, if a person had told Chris and Will Haughey that they would be co-founders of a socially responsible wooden toy company in just 4 short years, they never would have believed it. But here we are in 2010 and that is exactly what has occurred. The Haughey brothers are the founders of Tegu, a magnetic wooden block company formed to help support the struggling nation of Honduras. Both left their careers in order to build a for-profit business formed to help support Honduran social initiatives.

The story behind Tegu began in 2006 when, after returning from a mission trip to Honduras, Chris emailed Will, stating the question, “Could we create a for-profit company that would foster positive social impact in Honduras through its business?” This simple email was all that the Haughey brothers needed to jump-start the creation of Tegu, founded to address unemployment, neglected natural and human resources, and the need for entrepreneurship in Honduras.

The company began with the notion that Chris and Will wanted to help a country and its people, and they quickly discovered that Honduras was home to beautiful tropical hardwoods which could be sustainably harvested. But the pair was still fairly uncertain exactly what their new venture was going to produce. Luckily, the product brainstorming period coincided with a brotherly bonding trip to Germany where the boys marveled at the quality and longevity of European-built toys, an area where the American toy market was lacking. Thus, it was decided that Tegu would produce innovative magnetic wooden building blocks, worlds apart from the old-fashioned building block.

The creation of Tegu did not come without risk and a fair share of sacrifices. The Haughey brothers were successful in their previous careers, but would they ever be able to run a start-up on top of their day jobs?  No. When Chris made the leap and left corporate America in March of 2007, Will shortly followed and the duo invested their full time into the research and development of a business. With the need for direct management over the manufacturing process, Chris made the move to Tegucigalpa to head up Tegu Honduras in April 2009 while Will spends his time in Connecticut with a dedicated team working to run Tegu finance and marketing.

The Tegu Effect:

At Tegu, the toy creation process begins with the users themselves – kids. The product idea for Tegu was cemented while observing a kindergarten classroom and witnessing the lengths kids took to express their imaginations. The main goal of Tegu is to harness the natural creativity of children and continue producing fun and inspiring toys. After the prototype process, Tegu Honduras slowly began to take the reins and now, all Tegu wooden products are manufactured in Honduras, by Hondurans.

The Tegu product is not your average wooden play toy. Tegu blocks incorporate embedded, hidden magnets for a new play experience. The Tegu team likes to joke that these blocks are gravity defying (but actually, they truly are!). The blocks themselves are made of durable, sustainably harvested Honduran wood. The magnetic twist on the classic wooden block opens up a realm of possibilities in creative design, something that Tegu truly prides itself on. Tegu blocks have no instructions or guidelines as the power of open-ended and unscripted play has the ability to stimulate a child’s mental growth, imaginative capacity, and physical dexterity.

Helping Honduras:

Upon the creation of Tegu, the Haughey brothers realized that they had the power to help, rather than hurt, the nation of Honduras. It is estimated that Honduras lost 10% of its forest cover in the 1990’s. For this reason, each tree used for Tegu products is handpicked by workers in local Honduran tree cooperatives.  Currently, Tegu is replanting 100 tree saplings for every 1 tree used with their replanting program as Tegu is dedicated to the expansion of sustainable forestry.

The loss of the forest is not the only issue that calls for attention in Honduras. Approximately one half of the 7.5 million Hondurans live beneath the poverty line, struggling to provide the basic needs of life to themselves and their families. Tegu has confidence in the people of Honduras and has purposefully chosen to manufacture there with the specific goal of building industry and creating career opportunities for Honduran workers. By paying a living wage and prioritizing long-term employee growth and development, Tegu is working to bring world-class employment standards to Central America.

With many Hondurans working to merely survive on a day-to-day basis, education takes a back seat. Young children are found working in trash dumps searching for scraps of rubber or aluminum that they could possibly sell for a couple of cents. In addition to environmental initiatives, Tegu has partnered with a local school in order to help provide education for Honduran children. An educated Honduras is an elevated Honduras, and Tegu is working to make a true difference in the lives of young Hondurans.

In order to further support Honduran social initiatives, Tegu has configured a unique way to get each and every customer involved in the support of Honduras. Every time a Tegu toy is sold, a positive chain of events is set in motion; it doesn’t just end with a happy child flexing his or her imagination. With each purchase, Tegu provides every buyer a choice to either plant a dozen trees or to send a Honduran child to school for a day, as part of the purchase. But it’s not only the environment and children that benefit. As Tegu grows, they are looking to add jobs at their factory in Honduras where they aspire to one day be the employer of choice. With Tegu, a great product will hopefully prove to be the catalyst for great change in Honduras.

Past, Present and Future of Tegu:

When Tegu launched in September 2009, the product proved to be so popular that they were not able to keep up with the number of orders.  A feature on NBC’s Today Show in January 2010 increased the waiting list to over 2,000 potential customers. By April 2010, Tegu had refilled its inventory and re-launched its product.

What is currently occupying Tegu? The Honduras factory is now a smooth and productive operator, opening up the possibility for new products created based off of the wants of customers and refined by a talented Tegu team of design and marketing professionals. Tegu continues to strongly support Honduran social initiatives, but this is only achievable with profitable success of the business. With the holiday season approaching, Tegu is gearing up for sales and hoping to become “THE” toy for the holiday season. The past four years have resulted in a revamped life for the Haughey brothers. However, it has proved to be worth it as young kids (and the young at heart) are mesmerized by the magnetic quality of these fun wooden blocks and their ability to help Hondurans in need.

Looking to the future, the Tegu team sees expanded growth of their company and an increase in brand loyalty to Tegu products. In a time-span of less than a year, Tegu has donated 893 days of school to Honduran children and helped to plant 5,451 trees in Honduran forests, with the numbers in both categories growing with each and every purchase. Through media efforts and the spread of its retail partners, Tegu hopes to show the quality and workmanship of their product while inspiring customers (and hopefully future social entrepreneurs!). It is safe to say that these products are truly toys to change a nation.

—————————————–
Maria Gardell
Tegu
+1 203.803.1908
www.tegu.com
www.facebook.com/TeguToys

I have co-founded a company called GreenSoul Shoes, which is a social enterprise where our mission is to shoe underprivileged children around the world in a sustainable fashion. We do this by working with local artisans from developing nations to produce a 100% up-cycled sandal (that is a sandal that is entirely made out of rubber tires and inner tubes with no staples, pins or glues). For each one that we sell, we give one away to an underprivileged child in need in that same community. Our goal is to shoe 1 million children in five years. You can find out more about us at: www.greensoulshoes.org.

We currently sell our recycled sandals for $45 and we will be introducing many other recycled products in the coming weeks. This has become a hot item because it is as ecological as it is charitable – and all for under $50 bucks! You can buy our initial line of sandals here: http://bit.ly/buy_recycled_stuff

MY STORY:

I am a serial entrepreneur, having successfully created, financed and launched two online technology companies, bCorner.com, PinoyDolyar.com, and a real estate company, Ong8, LLC. bCorner.com creates marketplaces for other websites including BusinessWeekOnline.com and GoldsGym.com. PinoyDolyar.com is a Filipino-based technology venture that assists overseas Filipinos sending money back to the Philippines. Before starting these ventures, I was an attorney specializing in structured finance at Brown & Wood, LLP and a litigation associate at Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman and Dicker. I hold a J.D. degree from Fordham University, School of Law and a B.A. degree from Trinity College at the University of Toronto.

“About five years ago I visited a place in Manila, Philippines. At one point, I went to a place called ‘Smokey Mountain,’ a shantytown built on a garbage dump. One of the first things that struck me was the huge columns of rubber tires stacked up, one against another, in the different corners of the dumpsite.

As I continued walking amongst the dumpsite, I saw dozens of shoeless kids kicking around an old soccer ball with bare feet.  One of the kids stepped on a rusty circuit board and cut his foot.  A little horrified, I had my cousin drive me to a local department store, where I bought out the entire line of kids shoes and headed back to Smokey Mountain

Throughout my travels through the rest of SouthEast Asia, I became keenly aware of what locals wore as footwear., I noticed a number of people wearing sandals made out of rubber tires. It dawned on me that local shoemakers were reclaiming refuse tires to create footwear–the same ones I had seen stacked at the dumpsite.  The opportunity to clean up the world, shoe shoeless children, and connect two stakeholders in the same community was one I could not resist.”

After I returned back to New York City, I enrolled myself in a footwear manufacturing class with Emily Putterman (who later became a board advisor to GreenSoul Shoes).  She teaches footwear manufacturing at Parsons School of Design, Pratt Institute and the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT).  If you want to learn about making footwear in NYC, she’s pretty much the only game in town.  Although we made a pairs of women’s stilettos, the process was important, as was learning about the vocabulary about footwear manufacturing.

HOW WE GOT FUNDED:

We received our seed capital by writing our business plan.  Wait, hold on a second, did you say that you received capital for doing something that any business owner should do?  The answer is yes.  After writing our business plan, we simply submitted and entering business plan competitions – it didn’t matter which ones, any business plan competition that we could get our hands on we applied to.  To date, we have gotten the following results:

SO HOW MUCH DID YOU EARN?
First place Fordham Business Plan Competition: $10,000
Second Place Queens Business Plan Competition: $6,000
First Place Brooklyn Business Plan Competition: $3,000
Finalist Green Business Competition

Top 20 – Forbes Boost Your Business Plan Competition

So for entering in these four business plan competitions, we have earned almost $30,000 in seed capital, which isn’t a lot, but much more than we need.  Best of all, this money comes with no strings attached – meaning if I wanted to, I could go out and buy that Porsche 911 that I’ve had my eyes on.

We opted to fund the company to continue our social and ecological mission.  In the last year, we have cleaned up our supply chain to be able to meet retailer’s orders, and are not seeking to go nationwide with our recycled sandals.

OUR FIRST SHOE DROP:

We did our first donation of our first batch of shoes to school children from the Philippines Christian Foundation in Navotas City, Philippines. The children were really excited and the school had them perform a thank you dance for us. Overwhelmingly, the people are excited to have us join them in their community and we are excited to work with them.  The location was set in a community of 500 to 1.000  folks who lived in a local cemetery which was kind of macabre as there were open graves which were waiting to be reused.  There was also a section of housing built on stilts that extended into the water–the living conditions were still extremely rough and many sections of the bamboo floors were coming apart–making it important to look where you placed your foot.  By the time we left, however, we had over a hundred smiling faces and a community that had something new to celebrate. It has been a great week for our team over at GreenSoul Shoes and we are pretty excited about next steps!

I understand the phrase “global citizenship” much more deeply today than I did a few years ago. My teammates and I have traveled different paths in a diverse global environment and we have come to better understand our commonalities.  A large part of the reason why we are doing GreenSoul Shoes is to share with others our journey to better understand the phrase, “global citizenship.”  I suppose one way of defining it is to take a macro view of the world and the planet that we live in.

If you or anyone you know is a legitimate shoe rep or have contacts in the retail shoe industry, contact us!  Furthermore, you can help by merely hitting our website, joining our mailing list, and if you like what you see, support what we’re doing by buying something.

Born in Brazil and raised on a small ranch by her mother, Steffany Boldrini and her two sisters were taught the importance of appreciating and respecting the earth in which we all share.  On this ranch she learned the daily significance of composting, recycling, and eating healthy.  Her family planted and maintained their own fruit trees, as well as raised chickens, horses, a few cows, some dogs, a couple of cats, and even a goat at some point!  They conducted their own “pick up trash days” at the local forest near their home and picked up what others had left behind.  Steffany and her sisters also did what any child would do living on a ranch, they played in the natural mud, ate fresh eggs that their chickens produced daily, milked their cows for fresh raw milk, chased after their chickens, all while she and her sisters never once got sick.  Later Steffany moved to where else but California where she attended college at San Jose State University.  Today she resides in Silicon Valley and continues to live by her beliefs by finding unique green products as well as manufacturers in the United States and conducting weekly video reviews to educate the public on safer greener alternative products that are available for our everyday consumption.

Steffany is a strong advocate for green and safe products.  The objective she has for EcoBold.com is to showcase to the public distinctive green alternatives that are available in contrast to the conventional products that are widely produced.  She absolutely believes that the reason so many people today are getting cancer and disorders such as asthma is strictly due to the harmful and artificial chemicals that are the main ingredients in many products and foods that we consume, not to mention the pollutants from the byproducts of the our evolving human existence.

Through her continual research Steffany was able to find many green alternative products and manufacturers that are both great for our consumption and to the environment we live in.  She discovered great minded, hard working, and creative green entrepreneurs who are creating products that are much healthier for humans as well as services that yield smaller carbon footprints.  From her background and commitment to live by her beliefs Steffany founded EcoBold.com, a startup where she conducts weekly video reviews on new and unique green products every Tuesday and interviews with green manufacturers every Friday for the world to appreciate via the Internet.  EcoBold.com launched in November 2009 and has had over 37,000 video views so far!

However, EcoBold.com is more than just a website that conducts podcasts on green products and manufacturers it’s a place where individuals can “Take Action. Buy Green.”  At a time where our planet is being depleted at an outrageous rate while the population continues to grow at an exponential rate, Steffany realized that we all needed to make changes, even if we had to start with small steps.  During her research she realized that people do want to make a difference, yet people were not aware that these green alternative products and manufacturers existed.  Products such as clothing made from recycled water bottles, to recycled greeting cards that plant trees with every purchase, to a decorative bowl made of recycled bicycle chains.  This is a mere fraction of the many alternative green products that the public should have readily available knowledge to make their purchasing decisions instead of the conventional artificial ingredient infested products that we are all so familiar with.

Also, by posting interviews with green manufacturers on EcoBold.com Steffany wanted to give the manufacturer’s the opportunity to explain more in depth about their industry and product as well as what and why it’s great for our planet.  In addition they are given valuable exposure to an exclusive and growing market.  Past interviews that stand out are Tesla Motors which included a test drive of their Roadster, a tire recycling plant, and an organic mattress manufacturer, to name a few.  Producing these weekly videos requires anywhere from 10-20 hours of research to the final edited version posted online for the public.

As EcoBold.com’s motto states, “Take Action. Buy Green” there is yet another way people can join the movement.  This Earth Day 2010, EcoBold.com announced the One Million Trees Project.  When EcoBold reaches one million subscribers to their weekly newsletter, one million trees will be planted throughout 2010 and a few special places around the globe will be selected.  Participants will be notified from their email address they subscribed with when the one million mark has been reached and they will be able to select where from the selected destinations they want their personal tree to be planted.  In addition all subscribers to the weekly newsletter receive 25% off coupons for green, eco-friendly, and safer products.  So please “Take Action, Buy Green” and help spread the word on EcoBold.com and subscribe to the newsletter, each subscriber is one tree closer for a million trees to be planted!

Steffany is practically a one person team, as with any start-up she takes upon a lot of roles within her day to day operations.  She anticipates funding in the future to accomplish more of what she visions for EcoBold.com.  For now Steffany lives and breathes EcoBold.com it’s her way to “Take Action!”  For all the entrepreneurs that are striving to make a difference, Steffany says it’s like any other kind of business out there, “its hard work but it’s all worth it since we’re doing it for a good cause.  The people you work with are amazing people with the same visions and aspirations as you, so it’s very inspiring to work towards good things.”

In many respects, I’ve always been a social entrepreneur. My first business venture at the tender age of nine was a combination lawn mowing, snow shoveling company that I ran seasonally to make social change in my own family’s life. Being raised by a single mom, I took it upon myself to help her make ends meet. My mother worked as a waitress, and I got any odd job I could, from manual labor to tossing newspapers and eventually selling subscriptions. I made enough money to help out with bills, and even to buy our first piece of brand-new furniture—a big comfy armchair for my mom. I’ll never forget the incredulous look on the salesman’s face when I poured out more than $200 in bills and loose change on his counter. Nor will I forget the look on my mom’s face when she sat in that chair for the first time, sipping a glass of sun tea. I had worked hard and long, and best of all, I had used my efforts to help someone other than myself. Not much has changed on my outlook on business since then, but I have certainly made more profit than I ever thought possible growing up impoverished in the Midwest. I don’t lament my upbringing. I believe it made me the socially conscious, hardworking entrepreneur that I am today.

My latest project to bring social change is an unconventional one. I’m not running a nonprofit, or starting any kind of business. Instead, I’m selling knowledge and donating all the profits. In 1995, I founded the Planet Tan Corporation in Dallas, Texas with three locations and $10,000. When I started it was a defunct chain of tanning salons that no one had ever heard of. I poured my life into the company, designing the brand, meticulously planning our strategic growth, and expanding in ways I never could have imagined. In 2008, I sold it with 17 locations for millions. It had been a wild ride, full of ups and downs, but ultimately it was a huge success. My risk and sacrifice had paid off. I took a year to travel the world and re-energize for the next phase of my life. I climbed mountains and search the depths of my own soul. I hit 12 countries in as many months. During this time, I thought about how best to contribute to the good in the world in a sustainable way. I decided I didn’t want to write a check to a good cause, I wanted my life to be a good cause. Although I had organized many charitable events while running Planet Tan, I was itching to do more for my community.

After much contemplation, I realized the most valuable asset I owned wasn’t my bank account; it was my business acumen. For my entire life, I had looked to business greats such as Jack Welch and Peter Drucker for winning strategies. Many of the ideas found within their books propelled Planet Tan to the front of the pack. Books provide virtual mentorship and can reach hundreds of thousands, even millions, of people. I decided to write a book, Selling Sunshine: 75 Tools, Tips, and Tactics for Becoming a Wildly Successful Entrepreneur. The book will explain my business philosophy, how I built the Planet Tan brand from the ground up, and what made it the leader of the indoor tanning industry. My hope is that this book will do in the lives of aspiring entrepreneurs a fraction of what Jack Welch and Peter Drucker’s books did for me. As a further testament to my commitment to the next generation of entrepreneurs, all book proceeds will be donated to the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). I serve on the board for NFTE and strongly believe in its mission to empower low-income youth to reach their potential and unleash their entrepreneurial creativity.

In 2009, I started volunteering with NFTE’s Dallas branch. The students immediately impressed me, as did the innovative work the organization was doing. Although I had already decided to commit to a non-profit organization in a big way, I hadn’t known which one to choose. Based on my experiences with NFTE, I could quickly tell that their purpose was on target with my personal goals and values. One of NFTE’s main goals is to identify students at risk of dropping out of high school and give them a reason to stay. The NFTE curriculum and training is provided at no cost to teachers who will educate and inspire students to take hold of their own destiny and follow their passion in life. While NFTE identifies certain students who have a passion for entrepreneurship, the goal of the organization goes beyond business.

The organization seeks to teach young people to take responsibility for their future and work hard to set and achieve their goals—whatever they may be. I knew NFTE was a great organization and that I could have a social impact on young people from disadvantaged backgrounds if I partnered with them. My life has truly come full circle. I once would have been in the target group for NFTE, and now I am helping to shape its future.  My dream is that my book, both the content and the profits, will have an impact on the next generation of entrepreneurs.

For me, social entrepreneurship is about giving of my time, talents, and resources in the community in which I live. That’s why I’m involved with Dallas area non-profits that provide support to underprivileged children and their families, and I volunteer at an inner city Dallas middle school to give lectures on entrepreneurism and business. I would never have gotten to where I am today if it weren’t for the help and counsel of those older and wiser than myself. Because I am indebted to those who have gone before me, I am reaching out to young and aspiring entrepreneurs through informal mentoring. I meet regularly with entrepreneurs in the Dallas area and provide guidance and advice. I enjoy meeting with college students, recent grads, and anyone who has recently caught the small-business bug. One of the greatest tools a social entrepreneur can have at her disposal is a strong network of like-minded individuals. For the past eight years, I’ve been a member for the Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO). My forum consists of Dallas business owners, and we meet monthly to discuss our companies and challenge each other. It’s such a great opportunity to have access to successful business minds; it’s as though you have a high-level, objective board of directors at your disposal. For many start-ups, this is impossible. I’ve personally benefited a great deal from the counsel of my forum, and I would recommend it or a similar program to any entrepreneur, no matter what level of experience he may have.

I’m always on the lookout for new social entrepreneurism ventures that I can participate in. Another organization that caught my attention and garnered my participation is the Idea Village in New Orleans. I have maintained a residence in New Orleans for eight years, and I have a deep love for the culture and people there. The Idea Village exists to foster entrepreneurship in New Orleans. It provides support, education, and grants to local businesses in their infancy with the hope of retaining entrepreneurial talent. More than 75 percent of the organization’s total funding is by private sources. I’ve provided mentorship to the directors of Idea Village and the entrepreneurs who are partnering with them in New Orleans. Any company with a mantra that tells people, “Trust your Crazy Ideas,” and then provides the economic channels to do it, gets my vote!

For those entrepreneurs who are considering going social, I can promise you will get more than you give out of the process. I’m amazed by the strength and determination of so many young people who are trying to improve their lives and contribute to society in meaningful ways. In America and across the world, entrepreneurs build wealth and improve communities. There’s a lot of talk about the cycle of poverty, but there’s also a cycle of prosperity. Having wealth and using it to better the lives of others and equip them to control their own destiny creates independence and upward mobility were there was none. Your entrepreneurial journey may start in your own country, in your hometown, but the effects can be felt around the globe. With the interconnected world we live in, there is no limit to where the outstretched entrepreneur can reach. When you can be part of that, whether it’s providing encouragement, guidance, or finances, it’s an investment that pays rich dividends.

When Collin Henry was 15 years old, he heard about a search for young athletes interested in learning the sport of volleyball in his hometown of Kingston, Jamaica.  Coach Cameron, a local youth club coach, had a vision and commitment to growing the sport and delivering opportunities to underprivileged youth, unknowingly a harbinger for a newly formed nonprofit in New York called AllStarr Volleyball.

For two years, Coach Cameron opened his home to Collin and a handful of other boys that he felt would prosper from learning volleyball.  Sure enough, Collin and his teammates eventually qualified for Jamaica’s National Volleyball team, a dream that garnered them international travel and college scholarships.

After nearly 15 years playing with the Jamaican National Team, Collin took the first opportunity offered to him to move to New York.  Queens College, a division two program, offered him a scholarship to play for them.  Within no time, his talents were recognized by Concordia University, a program that at the time went from virtually unnoticed to 13^th in the division.

Upon graduation from Concordia, Fieldston School, one of New York’s elite private schools, approached Collin to coach their high school girl’s team.  The school’s athletic department seemed overly eager for him to accept the position promising a fulfilling experience working with the girls on the team.  It was within the first practice that he figured out the school’s interest in having him join the coaching staff.

Franci Girard was 14 years old, 5’10 and hardly 100 pounds (over the next four years, she would add another 4 inches to her profile).  She was from Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, an area that greatly differed from most of the backgrounds of her fellow classmates at Fieldson.  Her mother, Jennifer Berkeley, was a single parent and determined to support Franci in any capacity to provide the best education for her daughter.  It was the first day of practice when Collin approached Franci about her college aspirations.

“Where would you love to be in four years playing volleyball?” and Franci replied, “Stanford University.”

What would become a commitment of extra practice time after regular school practices and long days when school was out of session, granted Franci her wish.  Franci not only attended Stanford, but she received a full athletic scholarship to play volleyball.  Moreover, she was a starter all four years, won a NCAA championship in her first year, and played in two national championships in subsequent years.  After she graduated, she played professionally in Germany before starting her job at Goldman Sachs.

“Collin took me under his wing, gave me a chance to shine and enabled me to achieve everything that I wanted and more,” says Girard.

I met Collin in 2008.  As his new assistant coach, I quickly discovered a man that put everything aside in his personal life to share his passion and drive for the sport of volleyball.  It was during our coaching together that we discovered a shared dream.

In June 2010, AllStarr Volleyball was officially filed as a nonprofit organization with a focus on delivering skills development, competition and resources to high school girls.  So far the response has been overwhelming.

“It’s an amazing transition to go from fantasizing about what you want to do, and actually doing it,” said Henry, Executive Director of AllStarr Volleyball.

The idea for AllStarr Volleyball sparked years ago for its founders, but only came into fruition once a partnership was formed.  A coaching relationship quickly turned into 5 to 10 phone calls a day and an equal number of emails with ideas, leads and encouragement.

“Once Reilly and I realized we had a joint vision, the wheels started to spin, but it still took us some time to figure out what our first steps would be,” said Henry.  “Now that we have achieved those first few steps, the sky is the limit.”

Learning how to run a business has been a completely separate challenge.  Working with the city government, finding vendors you trust and working together as a partnership, are keys to success, and often times where new entrepreneurs fail.

“We definitely have had some trial and errors, but thankfully our errors have been few so far,” said Starr, as she recalls the process of filing for nonprofit status with the Department of State.  “You really have to be honest with people and let them know exactly where you stand on things – ask questions, seek advice, take experts out for coffee.  You’ll find that most people are willing to help, which is a wonderful and humbling part of being a entrepreneur.”

Our first program was a college recruiting workshop, a critical step in AllStarr’s mission to provide valuable resources to young female athletes.  Volleyball is a college sport played by both men and women; however, there is a distinct difference in the opportunities and support for women’s programs.

Firstly, the implementation of Title IX has had an unprecedented effect on female athletes.  Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 required schools and colleges receiving federal money to provide the same opportunities for girls as they did for boys.  The response in high schools was staggering. Just six years after its enactment, the percentage of girls playing team sports had jumped sixfold, to 25 percent from about 4 percent.

Even more inspiring is the recent research linked to female athletes.  Dr. Betsey Stevenson, an economist at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, conducted an analysis that showed that increasing girls’ sports participation had a direct effect on women’s education and employment. According to her findings, Title IX explains about 20 percent of the increase in women’s education and about 40 percent of the rise in employment for 25-to-34-year-old women.  The softer benefits of findings include lower teenage pregnancy rates, better grades and higher self-esteem.

Secondly, the NCAA sponsors many more women’s volleyball programs than men’s. There are 311 division one women’s volleyball programs compared to 22 division one men’s programs.  The NCAA allows each division 1 volleyball program 4.5 scholarships for men and 12 for women. In division 2 the ratio is 4.5 for men and 8 for women.  Bottom line: there are many more volleyball scholarships for women.

Since the first workshop, AllStarr has been approached by one of the top universities in the country to host its next recruiting event and conduct one-on-one interviews with prospective student-athletes.

In July, AllStarr coordinated its first camp for high school girls, two of which attended on scholarship.

“It was quite an accomplishment to have girls from all over the city attend our first camp located at Brooklyn’s largest sports facility near Coney Island,” said Starr.  “It was also extremely rewarding to have two girls attend on scholarship that would not have been able to participate otherwise.  They were arguably some of the best athletes in attendance – I have high hopes for them.”

In addition to camps and workshops, AllStarr will be announcing tryouts for regional and national travel teams this fall.  Girls ages 13-18 will have an opportunity to compete in tournaments attended by college coaches recruiting for the upcoming season.

If you are interested in joining a team, becoming a sponsor, coaching, making a donation or volunteering for AllStarr Volleyball, visit starrsports.com.  Currently, AllStarr is interested in corporate and private sponsors for underprivileged girls interested in playing on a team.  Additionally, AllStarr has a long-term vision of building New York City’s first exclusive volleyball facility.  A copy of the proposal is available upon request.

By Reilly Starr, Managing Director of AllStarr Volleyball

http://www.starrsports.com

When a teenager begins an organization, it’s likely to be a shoestring venture. And when Eric Glustrom began Educate! in 2002 at 17 years old with the dream of providing an education to teens  in Uganda, funding was certainly limited. But neither the need for support nor the daunting task of educating a nation hindered his drive; they only furthered it.

Now, eight years later, Educate! is wholly committed to bringing lasting change to Uganda through the education of its people. The non-profit focuses its efforts on empowering young Africans and providing knowledge, guidance, and mentorship to unleash their potential. Educate! helps young Africans transform their enthusiasm into action proving that the youth of today can solve the greatest challenges Africa is facing.

Eric’s inspiration to start Educate! began in high school. He was involved in Amnesty International, and there learned about a population of refugees from warring countries in Africa–Sudan, Rwanda and Congo–that lived in Uganda.  Starvation, disease and violence are rampant among these peoples.

“I wanted to learn more about the refugees of Uganda and to show fellow students in the U.S. what life is like in a much different part of the world,” said Eric, Educate!’s founder and executive director.

So after his junior year in high school, during the summer of 2002, he committed to seeing firsthand what had so moved him in Amnesty International, and he travelled on his own to two refugee camps in Uganda.

On his trip, Eric worked with the refugees and distributed anti-malarial medicine to several hundred sick individuals. He also contributed to the removal of a corrupt commandant from Kyangwali Refugee Camp who was beating, raping and even killing refugees. Upon returning to the U.S., he wrote a report describing the conditions in the refugee camps and possible solutions. This report has been used by several Ugandan and American refugee-related organizations.

These events were certainly memorable, but Eric’s inspiration for Educate! came more from a friendship than an experience. In Uganda, he became close friends with Benson Olivier, a refugee about his same age. Throughout Eric’s trip, Benson guided the American around, translated for him in all the local languages of the refugees, and helped him with the filming of a documentary, Dream Deferred.

One night, Benson invited Eric to dinner in his home: a small, mud hut no larger than the size of an American bathroom, furnished only with a wooden stool, a few books to write in occasionally, and a hay bed.

“He told me about losing his family to the guns of rebel soldiers and how he had learned how to grow his own food and survive in terrible conditions. For dinner, we each had one ear of maize that Benson had grown in his small garden, and I knew that normally Benson would not eat much more than our dinner in a day. I was tremendously impressed by Benson’s ability to survive, but even more so by his warm heart, kind personality and great sense of humor in spite of his past hardships. More than a friend, Benson was a role model to me.”

Before leaving Uganda, Eric wanted to help Benson and the people of Kyangwali, and in asking Benson what Uganda needed, the refugee humbly responded that he desired only an education, a chance to learn how to solve the problems in his community and homeland. From this simple request, Educate! was born.

In its first years, Educate! funded scholarships that enabled high-school-aged Ugandans to go to school, but today, the organization reaches further. Educate! is directly addressing the country’s most fundamental challenge: the lack of socially responsible leadership across diverse sectors of society. To do so, it equips and mobilizes students to help solve the greatest difficulties faced by African communities.

And the difficulties they face are significant. In Africa today, nearly 50% of the population is under the age of 18. These youth face problems of poverty, disease, and environmental degradation and a new generation of African leaders are needed to create and drive sustainable solutions. While passion to become the leaders who will solve these problems isn’t lacking, opportunities and support for developing leadership talent are. Moreover, the current rote-memorization based education system stifles creativity and passion.

“Youth graduate without the proper preparation to tackle the serious challenges facing their communities. They desperately need the right knowledge, guidance and mentorship to unleash their potential,” said Boris Bulayev, president of Educate!, who coupled with Eric when they were sophomores at Amherst College. Boris has had significant impact on making Educate! what it is today.

Providing an in-depth education is precisely what Educate! seeks to do with the Educate! Experience, a trendsetting, two-year program for high school students, or Educate! Scholars.  Using a model called exponential empowerment, Educate! invests long-term in a few so that these individuals can positively impact many others in the future. The Educate! Experience is a proven mix of leadership instruction, long-term mentoring, practical experience solving a community problem, and an alumni network for high-school-aged youth.

The curriculum focuses on the skills and experience students need to find solutions to problems in their communities. Teachers do more than instruct, they mentor, building powerful relationships that give youth confidence to lead change. These mentors go through a rigorous selection and preparation process and are then placed at partner schools to lead Educate! Scholars through the Experience. The Experience consists of two components: an innovative leadership curriculum designed with the help of our worldwide partner organizations; and a student led social enterprise that effectively and sustainably addresses a community need.

The Educate! classroom is not a building, but the community itself. There, students start initiatives to improve the lives of those around them. These grassroots movements find local solutions to local problems, and Educate! supports these young leaders as they work to create sustainable change. The Experience empowers the next generation of socially responsible leaders who will develop creative solutions to the challenges facing their country. Empowering 830 young leaders at 24 high schools across Uganda, the leadership of 15 Ugandan mentors has impacted over 17,000 lives. The Scholars have started 48 community initiatives, planted 20,050 trees and begun 12 businesses. Among these self-sustaining initiatives and enterprises are a business that turns waste paper into bulletin boards and a tree nursery that has helped over 10,000 people.

Another Educate! Scholar, Lilian Aero Olok, created a jewelry business that gives women with HIV/AIDS a chance to earn money by selling handmade jewelry. Lilian attends the Namugongo Secondary School where she has been taught an innovative and practical approach to education. Her school focuses on its students’ futures beyond exam results.  She lives by the personal mantra to “persist until something positive happens.” Through that defiance of adversity, she founded the Namugongo Good Samaritan Project with the mission to change and empower the lives of both men and women in the community affected by HIV/AIDS. She is working to increase awareness in the community about HIV/AIDS, to train women affected by the disease to become social entrepreneurs, and to provide access to Anti-Retro Viral drugs and counseling.

Her Good Samaritan Project provides counseling services and community support to 36 widows and HIV/AIDS infected women. She trains them to make jewelry out of recycled paper and then buys the jewelry from the women, thereby providing employment where there would be none otherwise. Lilian sells the jewelry to larger markets (including to Educate! in the U.S. for our fundraising events) to provide the Good Samaritan Project with revenue. She has also begun training the group to make mats and is currently researching how to make homemade herbal soap. Lilian is excited about the prospect of being able to provide more income for the organization and its members.

“Educate! came into my life at an opportune moment. It helped me focus, grow, think critically, be creative and believe that I am responsible for my success or failure. My passion for change and that same passion within my community keeps me going,” said Lilian.

Lilian is one of many Educate! Scholars who has built alliances with individuals and organizations to further empower their community. These students have a passion for community development, and they are unleashing their potential to serve the poor and marginalized through entrepreneurship, knowledge and skill transfer.

While Educate! mentors, visionaries and students work in Uganda, the public relations and fundraising facets of the non-profit operate out of the United States, primarily Boulder, Colo. and New York City, N.Y. Striving to get the word out about their cause, they have won numerous awards and been recognized in many different publications. Educate! is a recent winner of the Champions of Quality Education in Africa competition, a collaboration between Ashoka’s Changemakers and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The organization was also recognized by Entrepreneur magazine as one of 100 Brilliant Companies in 2009. DoSomething listed Eric as one of America’s top five change-makers under 25, and The Echoing Green fellowship noted Educate!’s potential as a social change venture to be among the highest in the world. Educate! has also been featured in publications like Entrepreneur Magazine and the Denver Post.

But there is much more work to be done, and there are many ways to get involved with Educate!. Here are a few ideas:
-Let others know about Educate! and that you support what the organization does. Become a fan on Facebook or help raise awareness and donations for free by adding Educate! to your email signature.
-Sign Up for the newsletter to stay updated on Educate!’s progress.
-Become an Educate! Angel, a person who supports the organization by holding an event to introduce his or her friends and family to Educate!.  Typically very informal, this event includes a screening of Educate!’s documentary, Lighting Africa’s Future, as well as a short discussion about what Educate! does. Contact Educate! today to become an Angel.
-Volunteer and become part of the cause by volunteering with us in Uganda.  If you’re a student, consider applying for the Educate! Internship and spending a summer in Uganda working side by side with Educate! staff and students.
-Start an Educate! club at your school to help raise awareness about the work Educate! is doing and to raise money to invest in one or more Educate! Scholars.
-Blog about Educate! and spread the news about all the organization does, or even easier, subscribe to the Educate! blog.
-Sponsor an Educate! Scholar and help to ensure they will have the funding to make it through the program.

Educate!’s many volunteers, supporters and evangelists have made the organization what it is today, and it is the support of you and others like you that will allow Educate! to continue growing and empowering more socially responsible young leaders in Africa.

Courtney Holden, public relations coordinator
Educate!
www.experienceeducate.org

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is one of those catch-all business terms that sweeps into its net a whole tangle of business activities companies engage in to maximize the value of their customers. In almost every one of its incarnations, however, CRM refers to the gathering, storing, and analyzing of information about customers and clients. CRM, then, is more than just sales and marketing; it’s an IT endeavor.

Since CRM covers so many disparate activities, practitioners divide it into three types:

• Operational CRM: all the practical activities that sales and customer service representatives perform. Each customer contact, whether by a salesperson or customer service representative, is added to a database of customer “histories.” From a technical perspective, operational CRM requires customer agent support software.
• Collaborative CRM: all the “self-service” activities that customers perform, such as consulting Web customer service pages or calling automated phone response systems. Collaborative CRM requires customer interaction systems.
• Analytical CRM: as we discussed in Chapter 6.6, customer information databases allow companies to run sophisticated analyses of customer behavior and history to better serve a customer and extract more sales. From an IT perspective, analytical CRM requires data mining and statistics software.

Operational CRM systems that support sales, marketing, and customer service offer one or more of several functions:

• Sales: an operational CRM system can help organize and rationalize your pre-closing sales process. Salespeople record every customer interaction. The system helps determine if targets are being met and can flag certain sales initiatives as requiring intervention.
• Opportunity management: although clearly a part of the pre-sales closing process, opportunity management is a special function that allows you to budget and plan a selling initiative directed at a single client or customer. Businesses that generate sales through RFPs absolutely require opportunity management software to help manage the long and arduous process.
• Lead management: an operational CRM system can process any leads that come into the sales area through various channels (cold calling, Web contact, phone contact, etc.) and classify them into hot (high value, high potential) or cold (low value, low potential) leads.
• Marketing strategy and campaigns: CRM software really comes into its own when it can translate customer information into targeted and highly effective marketing campaigns, particularly direct marketing or email campaigns. A CRM system may include precise campaign management tools that allow you to tailor your offer and message down to the individual level for either current customers or future prospects.
• Activity and customer service: your customers deal with you in a variety of formats and CRM activity tracking gives you a full view of how you’re dealing with individual customers and the demands they’re making on your sales and service operations. The software records every customer interaction and, if you have warranties or service level agreements (SLA’s), analyzes those interactions in relationship to your obligations to alerts you if you’re in non-compliance. Customer service information can be fed back into larger marketing strategies and individual campaigns.

8.15.1. Salesforce.com

http://www.salesforce.com

Salesforce is indisputably “it” in sales management and CRM software; they are the global leader in the field with an exponentially growing client base, and for good reason. Salesforce is the only operational CRM software package that fits one-person start-ups to international mega-companies. In fact, although it boasts an impressive install base among the largest companies in the world, Salesforce sees its largest potential for growth among small businesses installing operational CRM systems for the first time, so they’ve really done their homework on small business needs.

Salesforce is a hosted solution, meaning that the password-protected data resides on a server which you access it through a Web browser. Even in its smallest business versions, Salesforce is a fully-featured sales management and CRM package:

• Sales management
• Lead management
• Opportunity management
• Partner and affiliate management
• Customer service management
• Marketing campaign management and multi-channel marketing
• Analytical CRM―marketing, sales, and service

You can sign up for the Group Edition for as little as $10 per user per month or for the full-featured Enterprise Edition for as little as $65 per user per month.

Additionally, Salesforce runs a service called AppExchange which allows outside developers to create modules and add-ons to the Salesforce software. While these additions add cost to your project, this model is rapidly increasing the features available in the system.

Try before you buy! Salesforce offers a thirty day free trial.

8.15.2. Microsoft Dynamics CRM

http://www.microsoft.com/dynamics/crm

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is part of Microsoft Dynamics, a suite of Microsoft Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) applications. This suite includes enterprise applications for finance, supply chain management, and customer relationship management. However, you do not need the use or install the entire Microsoft Dynamics suite of applications just to use the CRM application.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is a hosted solution, meaning that the password-protected data resides on a Windows server which you access it through a Web browser. The software comes in two editions: Small Business and Professional. These two versions do not differ in features, but in scalability. Small Business Edition can only be installed on one server running Windows 2003 Small Business server whereas Professional can be deployed across several servers running all flavors of Windows server software.

Features include:

• Sales management
• Lead management
• Opportunity management
• Quote and order management
• Email marketing
• Customer interaction management
• Marketing campaign management and multi-channel marketing
• Analytical CRM―marketing, sales, and service

Since integration is the name of the game at Microsoft, their CRM software integrates very powerfully into Microsoft Office products, particularly Outlook and Excel.

Try before you buy! Microsoft Dynamics CRM offers a sixty day free trial. How can you say no?

8.15.3. SugarCRM

http://www.sugarcrm.com/crm

SugarCRM started out in life as a free, open-source operational CRM application. Its success inspired the developers to offer more fully-featured commercial versions in addition to the free, open-source version. SugarCRM is by far the best open-source CRM software available and its commercial versions rival Salesforce.com. Targeted to businesses ranging from one-person shops to multinational Godzillas, SugarCRM is used by major corporations such as Yahoo!, Starbucks, and NASA.

SugarCRM comes in three versions. The open-source version, Sugar Community Edition, contains about 85% of the functions offered in the commercial versions, Sugar Professional and Sugar Enterprise. As with Salesforce.com, commercial version are available for a monthly user subscription.

Sugar Community Edition, which is free, comes with the following functions:

• Customer accounts and contact management
• Campaign management and multi-channel marketing
• Email marketing
• Activity management
• Lead management including Web-to-lead management
• Opportunity management
• Project management

The Sugar Community Edition is constantly being updated and improved by over 2,400 developers in the open-source community making the “busiest” open-source project in the world.

Sugar Professional, which costs $275 per user per year, adds the following functions to Sugar Community Edition:

• Sales forecasting
• Sales reporting
• Advanced project management
• Quotes and contract management
• Role management
• Workflow management

Unlike other operational CRM systems, Sugar allows you to completely access the code, even if you’re running the commercial versions of the software. If you’re of a mind to customize or improve your software―and you have the skills―you can open the hood and hack away.

If you download Sugar Community Edition, you will have to set it up on a server  (Macintosh, Windows, or Linux). You can set it up either on your Web hosting server or any server located behind your firewall. For $500, Sugar will sell you a software product called FastStack which installs all the needed components, such as Apache and MySQL, onto a Macintosh, Windows, or Linux server so that you can install the Sugar CRM software.

Once installed, you access SugarCRM through any Web browser.

Try before you buy! SugarCRM offers a thirty day free trial of all its proprietary products.

On its face, email marketing seems pretty simple: using email to promote your product, service, or company. Everyone uses email and it costs virtually nothing to send.

In practice, however, email marketing can be very complex. As a species of direct marketing, its success largely depends on how well you target your email ads and to what purpose you’re putting it.

Email marketing comes in three broad categories:

• Loyalty and/or continuity: email can be one of the most powerful ways to market to customers you already have. Product announcements, newsletters, coupons, loyalty programs, special offers―all are ways to enhance and deepen your relationship with your existing customers.
• Acquisition: email is mainly used for acquisition, that is, prospecting for new customers―just sidle over to your email Junk Mail inbox to see more than a fair share of examples.
• Advertising: email sent by other companies or organizations are a good place for your advertisements which you can use to raise awareness, create intent, and generate site visits or conversions.

Properly speaking, email advertising is direct response advertising more than it is Internet advertising. Direct response advertising is based on three components:

• The most important component is the list of recipients. A good list of highly targeted recipients will produce the results you’re looking for; a bad list just wastes your time and money. You can rent a list of email addresses someone else has compiled or you can build your own list through your customer database, order database, online offers, or other places you’ve recorded customer email addresses.
• Nearly equal in importance, the offer drives response. The offer is what the recipient gets if they respond. The offer could be a low price on a product, a free gift, a free trial, entry into a sweepstakes, a coupon, or just the chance to buy something.
• A very distant third component is the creative. This is the combination of copy and graphics which help to influence recipients to respond. It’s possible to overestimate the importance of creative. To work, the copy should be short, the subject line incredibly interesting and lively, and the call to action immediate.

Of the three components, the list counts for everything. Your best email marketing list is your list of current and former customers. These are people you know are interested in what you have to offer. Better yet, these are email addresses and contact information that you own. The next best list you have is the email list of people who have contacted you for some reason or another. Again, they’ve already shown interest enough to give you their email address.

After you’ve exhausted these two lists, you have to turn to rented or leased lists provided by mailing list brokers. You’ll invariably end up renting a list if you plan to use email for prospecting.

When you rent a list, you tell the broker what kind of people you think will make good prospects. The broker selects from a vast database of email contacts the email addresses that best fit your requirements. The more specific your targets, the more you’ll pay per email address. You then deliver your creative to the agency and they email it out to the email addresses selected from their database. And, no, you don’t get to see the list!

If, however, one of the prospects responds to your email, you then own that person’s email address and can put it in your database.

You don’t have to rent a list to troll for prospects. There are other ways to get email addresses.

• Co-registration: if you’re sending out a newsletter or regular offers, you can always use a co-registration network to build a prospect list. Co-registration works a bit like banner and exit exchanges. You put up a page on your site that allows people to sign up for email offers or a newsletter. When a user signs up for this newsletter, your site’s Thank You page will include a long list of other newsletters and offer emails from a battalion of other companies. The user then scrolls through this list picking and choosing newsletters and offers to choose from. This list is being served by the co-registration service you’ve signed up with. In exchange, the co-registration service will put your newsletter or offers on an opt-in list appended to some other member’s thank you page (usually your newsletter or email will get listed six times for every one big list that gets served from your Web site).
• Free offers: you can easily generate a list by offering a something for free. A book, brochure, guide, anything that the user might feel is valuable. The only requirement is that the user must provide a valid email address.

Because mountains of spam―unsolicited email ads―are sent out every day and jam the inboxes of good citizens around the world, email advertising has several legal restrictions you should be aware of. Besides the legal restrictions, people are generally unhappy about spam and you don’t want them to think of you as a spammer. For this reason, email marketers have adopted permission marketing using either opt-in or opt-out systems. In an opt-in system, users give permission to the email marketer to send ads, offers, or newsletters before they’re sent. In an opt-out system, email marketers give recipients the tools necessary to take their names and email addresses off the email list. From both a legal and a marketing perspective, you should practice one or the other―or both.

8.14.1. EMG Marketing Solutions

http://www.emgmarketingsolutions.com

Based in Aurora, IL, EMG Marketing Solutions provides complete email marketing services include list rental, HTML email design, tracking, analysis, email broadcasting, and opt-in/opt-out management. You can use your own email list or rent one. The EMG rental lists are totally opt-in lists; your emails will reference EMG’s opt-in protocol rather than yours. If you’re really serious about email marketing, they will also host your email broadcasting servers.

8.14.2. Constant Contact

http://search.constantcontact.com

Constant Contact is an email server solution that hosts your email list, sends out scheduled emails to that list, and manages the opt-in or opt-out activities. You can use Constant Contact to create HTML rich media emails and newsletters. They provide templates so the process should be blissfully simple.

Pricing is based on the size of your email list; prices range from $15 per month for lists of 0-500 email addresses to $150 for email lists ranging from 10,001 to 25,000 recipients. Constant Contact does not provide or use rented lists, so you must have your own proprietary list.

Constant Contact also offers an online survey service which you can integrate into your email marketing. Monthly prices are determined by either your email list size or the number of people responding to your surveys.

Most online advertising is affiliate marketing. It looks, feels, acts, and quacks just like other Web advertising. It differs, however, in how you pay Web publishers to display your ads. For non-affiliate advertising, you usually pay for the number of impressions (CPM or “cost-per-mil” with a mil being 1,000 impressions) or the number of clicks (CPC or “cost-per-click”). But impressions really don’t mean much in terms of revenues and clicks can be faked, so Web site advertisers began paying publishers for how well the ads perform. Paying Web publishers for how well ads perform is what we mean by affiliate marketing―and it also explains why affiliate marketing is often called performance marketing.

In a performance pricing model, you only pay a Web publisher when a visitor clicks an ad, comes to your site, and does something that has value to you, like leave their contact information (cost-per-lead), call your sales department (cost-per-call), or, better yet, buy something. If you’re paying a Web publisher for the “actions,” such as leaving contact information, that a user performs once they come to your site, you’re employing a “cost-per-action” (CPA) pricing model. If you’re sharing revenues from online sales with a Web publisher, you’re employing a “cost-per-sale” (CPS) pricing model. CPS was the original affiliate marketing model pioneered by CDNow and Amazon.com in the mid-1990’s. For instance, in 1995, CDNow encouraged Web publishers to review CDs and link their reviews to CDNow’s product catalog. If a user followed the link and bought the CD, CDNow shared 10% of the revenue with the affiliate.

Where do you find affiliates? Well, you can troll the Web, find some Web site owners, and call them. If they agree to advertise for you, you then set up affiliate tracking software (8.13) so that you can properly compensate your affiliates as well as measure the effectiveness of your campaigns.  Where should you look?

• Personal Web sites―this is where affiliate marketing got its start.
• Blogs―fast becoming one of the most effective affiliate marketing sources
• Content and niche sites, particularly sites that review products
• Comparison shopping sites
• Shopping or other niche directories (sometimes called affiliate directories)
• Coupon and rebate sites

Alternatively, you can use an affiliate network, which, like a banner or exit exchange, is a set of member sites that accept affiliate advertising. Also called CPA networks, these networks handle all the affiliate management: they set up and maintain the relationship with the affiliate, they install the tracking software. All you do is put your offer out on to the network. Of course, you never get to have a relationship with any of the affiliates―the names, Web sites, and contact information belongs to the network, not you.

Finally, you could hire an affiliate management company that initiates contacts and negotiates contracts, but most start-ups don’t have the resources to afford these services.

How and what do you pay an affiliate? Any way you and the affiliate deem is fair. About 80% of affiliate marketing relationships involve some form of revenue sharing or CPS, that is, the affiliates get some percentage of the sales they help produce. The typical commission is 10% of the sale.

About 20% of affiliate marketing relationships use some form of Cost Per Action (CPA) payment method―for instance, an affiliate gets $2 for every lead they generate.

If you are using an affiliate network, the network administrator typically takes 20% to 30% of what you pay an affiliate―it doesn’t matter if you’re using a CPS or CPA pricing model. So, in the CPA instance above, when you pay your affiliate $2, you also pay the affiliate marketer $0.40 to $0.60.

8.12.1. Azoogle Ads

http://www.azoogleads.com

Azoogle Ads is one of the largest and most respected CPA networks in the U.S. In operation since 2000, they offer both targeted and untargeted CPA advertising on an affiliate network that includes search engine portals, content sites, contextual sites, and newsletters.

Azoogle Ads is an RFP marketplace. You place your ad specifications (including the ad, day part, geographical region, contextual parameters, etc.) and pricing model in an RFP. Web publishers have dynamic accounts with Azoogle Ads and are constantly monitoring offers and ad performance. A publisher will only see your offer if their site fits your RFP criteria.

Azoogle differentiates itself from other CPA networks based on its software tracking system which includes powerful tools for both advertiser and publishers to maximize their results.

The network supports text, search, banner, and email advertising.

8.12.2. LinkShare

http://www.linkshare.com

LinkShare is one of the oldest and most respected affiliate marketing management companies and networks in the U.S. and abroad, attracting some of the biggest Web advertisers such as Toshiba, Macy’s, and ATT. Because they are primarily an affiliate marketing management company, their prices can be fairly steep. You must contact a sales representative to work out pricing.

In addition to their network and services, LinkShare’s Synergy Analytics is one of the best affiliate management marketing software packages.

8.12.3. DirectLeads

http://www.directresponse.com/directleads

DirectLeads, owned by DirectReponse, is a network of screened affiliates and proprietary sites (such as coupon and shopping comparison sites). Using either a CPA or CPS pricing model, you pay DirectLeads and they pay the affiliates about 75% to 80% of the performance fee.

DirectResponse also runs DirectClicks, an affiliate marketing network using a pay-per-click model (CPC). Again, you pay DirectClicks for each Web site visitor and they pass on about 75% to 80% of the fee to the affiliate.

8.12.4. ShareASale/FineClicks

http://www.shareasale.com

http://www.fineclicks.com

ShareASale.com is a highly respected affiliate network that has signed on more than 2,000 Web-based merchants. Sharesale only runs banner-based CPS (cost-per-sale) affiliate marketing.

The process works like this. You upload your banner ad. You then set a percentage or flat-fee payout for every sale that an affiliate generates. Affiliates then either subscribe or not to your advertising campaign. Sharesale records any sale made through an affiliate and deducts the affiliate payment from your account. When your account runs down to zero, your ad stops appearing on affiliate sites.

Sharesale takes an additional 20% of the amount you pay any affiliate as its operating fee; you must pay a minimum of $25 per month in fees. There is also a $350 fee to set up tracking software on your Web server and a $100 minimum account balance requirement.

Sharesale recently acquired FineClicks, one of the oldest affiliate networks. With FineClicks, you set your ad parameters and payout and FineClicks places the ad on affiliate sites. For their efforts, FineClicks takes 20% to 30% of any CPA or CPS commissions and 35% of any CPC payouts. While there is no setup fee, FineClicks demands a minimum $350 deposit.

FineClicks works the same way as Sharesale. The system tracks leads, clicks, or sales generated through an affiliate partner, pays the affiliates, and deducts the payment from your account. When your account reaches zero, your ads stop appearing.

In the simplest possible marketing configuration, you will end up using some search advertising, some network advertising, and strike a few deals with some Web publishers. But what if you want to handle your own advertising? Or, check this out, what if you want to “rent” your own Web site to advertisers. If you’re playing seriously in the online advertising game, you’ll end up setting up an adserver.

The only thing an adserver does is publish ads on Web pages. The adserver has a stock of ads in its database, a stock of pages it publishes those ads to, and a tracking system that monitors anything and everything to do with those ads.

Adservers come in two flavors:

• Remote adservers publish ads to several different Web domains owned by several different people—this is the adserver you would use if you want to publish and track your ads on other people’s sites.
• Local adservers publish ads to Web domains controlled by the owner of the adserver—this is the adserver you would use if you want to publish and track other people’s ads to your site.

Now you don’t need an adserver to do either of these functions. Google AdWords is, after all, an adserver. It will publish your ads on other sites and, if you want, will publish other people’s ads on your site. But if your business model involves heavy-duty Web advertising, then you’ll probably end up with an adserver clunking away in your corner somewhere.

Why would you want the fuss and bother? Well, unlike adserving services like GoogleAds, if you control your own adserver you can:

• Set up business rules for various ads.
• Target ads to users much more precisely than you can with the services.
• Optimize ads based on results.
• Cap the ad frequency, i.e., only serve so many of one ad to one person.
• Sequence ads, i.e., set a sequence of ads so that there’s a logical progress in the user’s experience of the ads.
• Roadblock a Web site or page, i.e., exclude all competitor’s ads from a page.

Folks like Microsoft and Countrywide can afford to have banks of proprietary adservers serving up their millions of dollars in Internet ad buys every month, just like they have banks of proprietary servers for their Web sites. But in the same way that you can share a server with other Web site owners, you can also share an adserver with other Web advertisers like yourself. A virtual adserver works much the same way as a Web site hosting service. Every month, you “rent” storage space and bandwidth. The adserver comes equipped with the software required to create impressions on thousands or millions of Web sites. You can also use this “rented” adserver to spoon up ads on your site, as well.

But running your own virtual adserver, like running your own physical adserver, is not for the squeamish. It’s a highly technical, statistics-laden art form and, unless your business is built around Web advertising (which it could be if you’re primarily a Web content publisher generating all revenues from advertising), then you probably should stick with something like Google.

8.11.1. AdvertSERVE

http://advertserve.renegadeinternet.com

AdvertSERVE is a managed hosting service running the software, AdvertPRO, a full-featured ad-serving and tracking application. Features include geographic and demographic targeting, frequency capping, CPM (cost-per-mil, i.e., 1,000 impressions)/CPC (cost-per-click)/CPA (cost-per-action)/flat fee pricing models, priority campaign weighting, real-time reporting, third party click tracking, and campaign e-mail alerts. Server and campaign administration is entirely Web-based and allows you to create several levels of system administrators and users. If you’re serious about your advertising and are running a variety of campaigns, the AdvertPRO software makes it easy to manage enormously complex campaigns with several different parameters.

The service bills you for each ad impression. For a basic account, the setup fee is $80 and the per-impression rate is $0.04 with a minimum monthly charge of $79. Geotargetting requires that you upgrade to the Extended Account (which allows country and continent targeting and tracking for a $100 setup fee and $0.05 per impression fee) or Premium Account (includes state and ZIP targeting and tracking for a $130 setup fee and $0.06 per impression fee).

8.11.2. Zedo AdServing

http://www.zedo.com

ZEDO’s adserver delivers all ad formats including rich media and full page ads, also called “interstitial” or “transition” ads. The administrative interface is totally Web-based and allows any kind of advertising content.

Widgets are desktop, browser, or software interface displays that dynamically serve news, information, media, and advertising. Widgets evolved from desktop software that served some function (like play mp3 files) and was available for free, but the user had to endure advertising every time the software was used! When users ran the free software, ads would appear on a preloading screen, directly on the software interface, or pop-up after the user quit the program.

Today, however, you find widgets all over the place: on the desktop, embedded in Web pages, even TV! Also called “flakes,” “modules,” “gadgets,” “badges,” and all number of other geeky freaky names, Web and desktop widgets allow users to separate the content from a Web site and implant it all over creation, including personalized portal home pages, blogs, or MySpace or Facebook pages. Many advertisers believe that Web and desktop widgets are the wave of the future, so you should start considering widgets in your advertising scheme of things.

A desktop widget, The Weather Channel’s Desktop Max. All the content on the widget is dynamically served including the ad which displays in a standard banner-sized display area near the bottom.

The Cognicity SpinScape music player (2001). The player loads in the center of the user’s desktop, but the application also opens two ad widgets at the bottom of the desktop. Ads are served based on user profiles garnered by their use of the player and by spyware installed on the user’s computer.

Some widgets are downloadable software programs, but all widgets are programs. This enables less reputable widget distributors to include two other program types: spyware, which gathers information about the computer user’s habits, and Trojan horses, which typically take over some function of the computer. The spyware monitors users’ Web browsing, media playing, and e-commerce activities while the Trojan horse pushes Web sites at them. Because the spyware collects important data about the user and the types of pages they visit, it allows widget services to target users with incredible precision. With the right product delivered to the right market, widget advertising can be phenomenally successful because of its precise targeting.

Widget advertising does have serious limitations. Some widgets, like Desktop Max, are branded by two very trustworthy brands, The Weather Channel and Real. You will find Desktop Max even on computers crouching behind some pretty impenetrable corporate firewalls. Most widgets, however, are untrustworthy and so find their way into the hands of a very limited number of consumers.

As more and more content is delivered through widgets, gadgets, and flakes as opposed to Web pages, the more central widget advertising will become to businesses across the entire spectrum.

8.10.1. Intelligent Web Marketing

http://www.i-web-marketing.com

Intelligent Web Marketing distributes a large variety of free applications―almost all of which are media players of some stripe or another. These applications are used by over 60 million people worldwide. Rather than deliver ads as banners or other format, the technology uses exits. When the user closes the software interface, your entire Web site is loaded. In this sense, the technology does not deliver impressions but actual site visits―however, the quality of those visits can be pretty low. Your site, after all, is being “forced” on the user. To determine if you’re getting quality visits, you have to measure the conversions these site visits are generating.

Intelligent Web Marketing does guarantee that your page will not load on the same user’s computer more than once every seven days, so you can be sure that all the traffic within a seven day period are unique visitors.

Since there are no ads, just full Web page loads, you pay per “visitor.” In reality, you’re paying for each full-page load of your site. The “visitor” may close the browser window without so much as a how-d’you-do. As of the publication date of this book, 30,000 “visitors” will cost you $89 and 200,000 “visitors” will cost you $379.

If you have the right product and are targeting a tight demographic that is likely to use this software, your advertising can produce incredible results. Since both widget and exit advertising require a very careful fit with your product or service, you should do your homework first.

An exit exchange works pretty much the same way as a banner exchange―in this case, however, what you’re trading are pop-unders or exits. A pop-under is a pop-up with manners. Standard pop-ups load in front the page the user is really interested in; pop-unders very courteously load beneath the page. So the user is not interrupted and may not even know the pop-under is there until the top browser window is closed. Miss Manners would be proud.

But sometimes pop-unders can be more powerful and intrusive. Rather than a dinky little ad, a pop-under could come dressed as a full Web page. Pop-unders can also be coded to load only when the user closes the generating window. Pop-unders that exploit these more powerful features are more properly called exits. If you attach your site as an exit to another site, this is what happens: a user goes to the other site and moseys around a bit. Unbeknownst the user, your site has also loaded in a window below. When the user closes the top browser window, shazam!, they’re staring at your site. For this reason, exits are not measured in impressions or clicks, but visitors. There’s nothing for the user to click―they are right there on your site like any other visitor.

Like banner exchanges, exit exchanges typically operate on a 2 to 1 exchange. For every two exits that users download from your site, you’re allowed one exit on another exchange member’s site. The exit exchanges make their money by selling that extra exit impression.

Exits are very tricky marketing tools. Users in general don’t like their computers hijacked this blatantly and find exits aggravating. However, exits can work phenomenally well on a narrow range of products, topics, and customers.

You should proceed cautiously with exits. Context is vitally important for exit advertising―far more important, in fact, than for any other format. You are, as an advertiser, temporarily taking over somebody else’s computer, so you should be certain that your site is a close match to the generating site.

You should never specify as an exit page any page which has another exit attached to it. This traps the user in an endless series of exits, a complete waste of everybody’s time and money. Only deal with exit exchanges that load one exit per visitor per Web site. If you sign up with an exchange that throws users into endless hamster wheels, you will indeed get tons of “visitors” to your site. Thing is, all these visitors will be “visiting” for fractions of a second as they furiously try to close the endlessly generating Web sites.

You should always buy before you try. Exit adservers, networks, and exchanges like to differentiate themselves from other Web advertising by claiming that they produce “visitors” rather than “impressions.” Technically, this is true, but the quality of the “visits” can be pretty low. You need to analyze the conversions―sales, contacts, leads, or registrations―that an exit campaign or exchange is generating.

How many exits should you buy to figure out if an exchange is worth joining? A 2:1 exchange will increase your site traffic by 50% (yeah, it works, trust me). So if your site is generating 5,000 visitors per month, an exit exchange will add 2,500 visitors to that base bringing your total monthly visitors to 7,500. So you should purchase 2,500 exits and measure the bounce in your site’s leads, contacts, or sales. Total cost of buying before trying: about $40 to $70 per exchange.

One final note about these folks. The exit exchanges we list below are highly reputable and respected in the advertising industry. They are straightforward exchanges. Some less reputable exit exchanges, however, also allow you to earn exits by setting your browser home page to their service. Every time you open your browser, a member Web site loads into the page. Each time that happens, you earn extra exits. Convince your friends and relatives to set their home pages to the same exit exchange, you earn even more exits. And so on and so on. These services are simple pyramid schemes. They produce dramatic upticks in your visitor count, but the numbers don’t mean anything. If an exit exchange offers a “home page scheme,” don’t let the door hit you as you run out.

8.9.1. Exit Exchange

http://www.exitexchange.com

These folks invented exit exchanges and remain the most reputable exit exchange network in a sea of sharks. They also own many of the patents on the underlying technology and license these to other companies. Most importantly, Exit Exchange offers the broadest set of site categories (308) and largest network of sites (100,000) to help you precisely target your site’s exits. Exit Exchange offers a 2:1 exchange ratio (50%) in addition to a paid exit pricing model. Again, buy before you try. You can purchase 1,200 exits for $19 and 10,000 for $119, some of the lowest prices in the industry.

Most significantly, Exit Exchange offers a streaming media alternative that works just like an exit. When a user opens up a page on a member site, your video or animation loads in the background. When the user closes the browser window, the video is loaded and ready to play.

Exit Exchange also offers popunder ad creation and design as well as virtual adserver services (see section 8.11). Unlike many virtual adservers which typically require you to sign on for six months to a year, you can purchase virtual adserver services for a limited time to run a single campaign.

8.9.2. w3exit

http://www.w3exit.com

w3exit is an exit, banner, and button exchange service with a 2:1 exchange rate (50%). You choose the type of exchange you wish to participate in―exits, text ads, banners, or buttons. Like a banner exchange, w3exit requires that you know enough about coding to insert a line of code into your home page to access the exchange.

The financial model works exactly the same as a banner exchange. Half the ads served are paid ads. Because of this, you should buy before you try. You can easily specify a certain number of exits to occur over a month―say 1,000―and then measure the effectiveness of the service in producing conversions from those visits.