Category Archives: Business

On the Job Leadership Learning for Beginners

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leadership trainingAt the age of 16, I was discouraged with the focus of many of my peers and in somewhat of a slump. As a solution, I decided to set my focus on planning a Russian School graduation ball. I did not realize that this would be one of the most formative experiences of my youth. A group of eleven Russian School graduates embarked on this project with me. Together, we planned a ball for 200 attendees, prepared talents to perform and refined a choreographed Waltz which was (almost) perfection. (Okay, maybe not perfection; we were 16 after all.)

To fundraise for this daunting project we needed to establish and create: community dances, an espresso stand, baked goods and hand crafted jewelry. As the assigned leader for this task, I was thrilled to be in charge. In my teenage mind, this unfortunately meant that now I have control over 11 peers and can exercise it to my heart’s content.

There is a danger in taking on a leadership role without the proper humility.  My group was creating a graduation for themselves, not me. No one wants a leader, boss, project manager or director who is taking advantage of their group. They want a parental figure that they are comfortable enough to seek advice from, but yearning to impress.

Here are some tips that I learned through this leadership position:

1.      Do not put the blame on anyone (yourself or others.) If you put it on yourself, you will feel guilty and your group will feel like they can blame you as well. Blaming someone else can be problematic because it may just be your perception. Address the problem as a separate entity and keep things objective.

2.      Never single a group member out. This may sound like the first point, but it differs because this refers to singling a group member out in general (blame or praise, good or bad). If someone makes a mistake or does something well, I found it is more productive to approach this privately. Doing this keeps a strong personal connection with each group member, making each individual feel important and comfortable.

3.      You’re not the only leader. Being in a position of authority, it may be tempting to think that all the weight is on your shoulders. At the same time, it can trick you into feeling that you are entitled to the authority. Yet, the group that you are in charge of is leading you. This is true in any group setting. Without the other people, you would be leading yourself. With community, you are strengthened – so thank your group members.

4.      Be a calm optimist. Another mistake that I made was a façade of positivity: everything was cheery, blissful and the event would be perfect. While it is important to have hope, it is important to see clearly and calmly what the outcome could be. By doing this, you can address any outstanding issues.

5.      Instill an entrepreneurial spirit in your group. You can assign your group various, tedious, menial tasks and take all the glory. However, this will not create a beautiful finished project. What is important is to instill hope and an image of the grandeur that the group is working towards. This keeps the group going- hope, not domination.

There are many methods to being a successful leader and it is important to keep in mind that each situation can be very individual. However, I have found these lessons to be helpful in many areas of my life. What I would like to instill more than anything: every single person leads and inspires in a different way, but it requires effort and initiative to cultivate this quality.

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What Does Your Business Need To Succeed?

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More sales, more diverse product line, a larger staff…every business is different and the needs are different, but two things remain constant, you need off the charts creativity and finite knowledge to get you where you need to go.

steve peaceThe first thing I suggest is to talk to someone about your business, just brain storm and see what happens, too often we get tunnel vision.

I don’t think like most people. I’m a little different, some say crazy, some say genius.  Do you think you can succeed in these times by thinking like everyone else?

4 years ago, I had $69 million in financing as CT’s leader in green building, I was pouring the foundation for my $3.5 million home and office when the market crashed and my partner left me for dead. (financially anyway) Not really his fault, times were bad and he had to go.

Armed with $143 and a 72’ convertible Mustang, I toured the country and figured out how to increase the gas mileage by 58%.  I was featured on ABC, NBC and CNN .  Like I said, I’m a little different, my high school guidance counselor told me I was the only learning disabled genius she ever met.  Overcoming a traumatic brain injury at 15 helped me become a great teacher.

8 Months ago I created THE GOOD WORD, a multi media publication with a print piece that reaches 500,000 people in Western CT. The Website http://TheGoodWord.Me now gets about  a million hits a day, is written in 67 languages and read in 163 countries. Now I am   developing town and state pages for THE GOOD WORD to expand the reach and recruit licensees.

One Question:  How can I help you?

Someone to Listen: Many times all it takes to jump start your business is to talk to someone, get a different perspective or simply reconfirm what you already know.  Go ahead pick up the phone and call me at 203-994-3950. Let’s chat and hash out a cost effective plan to get you moving in the right direction!

Consulting:  I have an uncanny ability to convey complex techniques in simple terms. I have taught kindergarten, high school and college. I taught Realtors about green building at the national real estate convention in Vegas and a master’s class in elementary education  at Yale Peabody. Our most popular product is a websuite that integrates a website with social media and the training to allow you to promote yourself, starting at $300.

Website: Do you want to go global, regional or local?

Advertising: print, social or online – we can help.

Social Media:  Are you reaching out on a consistent basis, nobody will listen if your not talking.  We can insure that your message is delivered hourly, daily, weekly, monthly and yearly so you stay on top of people conscious and sub conscious mind.

4 months ago I was broke, living at Dad’s with an idea, now I live in a mansion with the girl of my dreams and my website gets a million hits a day.  Things can change for the better and often it is a matter of simply remaining positive and taking steps in the direction you want to go every day.

Don’t Put Off Your Dreams Another Day!

Call Me Today at 203-994-3950 for a free 30 minute phone consultation to jump start your business!

or Email Sales@TheGreenMarketingCompany.com

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On Fuel Consumption, Driving and Savings:

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A fuel efficiency meter. (ex. At present, this...

A fuel efficiency meter. (ex. At present, this car needs a liter gas to run 18.1 kilometers.) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to the American Trucking Research Institute (ATRI), fuel costs account for roughly 35 percent of average marginal costs per mile, and with diesel prices expected to remain high, competitive advantage will be bestowed on trucking companies who are best able to manage fuel consumption and contain fuel costs.

Overall, aerodynamics may account for 15 percent to 22 percent of energy losses for a fully loaded Class 8 truck traveling at highway speeds. Significant fuel savings can be realized by matching cab height to trailer height, reducing the gap between the cab and the trailer, and installing fairings on the chassis and the trailer.  

Ps The Good Word traffic is surging around 2 million hits today, check out the new format and Get the full story

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Turning On The Power Of Good

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Turning on the power of good!

Turning on the power of good!

3 Million Hits Are Predicted In March 2013 For THE GOOD WORD!

THE GOOD WORD is poised for an explosion of goodness.  1 year in the making, THE GOOD WORD was registered in April of 2012, it was an after thought to GreenFest.  ”We simply needed a playbill for the concert and it evolved from there”, said publisher Steve Schappert.  Traffic started very slowly as the site took shape for the concert usually 5 views a day up until July when we printed the playbill.  We received 360 views at our peak  on July 24th.

“Plagued with setbacks, the site out grew WordPress.com in September as we started using 3rd party advertisers, which began the slow, painful migration to Bluehost.com   traffic started to increase, problems would arise and knock us back down, but we kept moving forward” said Schappert.

Persistence: Schappert has 16 years of web development experience and he just kept kicking it until it worked.  This past week all server issues have been addressed and the site sits on it’s own server, previously it had been sharing a server with 32 other of Schappert’s sites.  ”We are ready for take off! After a year of playing with a basic idea THE GOOD WORD is now ready to take the global stage as a major force in the battle between good and evil“, said Schappert.   You become what you think of and THE GOOD WORD will promote the good things people do to be successful while helping other people and the planet.

How do the numbers look?  In the last 5 days we received 66,456 hits  that tracks at about 400,000 hits a month.  There are 2 reasons for the anticipated surge:

#1 Quality Content: Each visitor visits our site 2.3 times a day, and views 8.46 pages for an average of 15 hits per person.   While the majority stop in for 30 seconds or less to view a quote or short story an amazing 7.5% of our visitors spend over an hour on THE GOOD WORD.  11.6% of the visitors to THE GOOD WORD spend between 5 minutes to an hour on the site.

#2 Contracts:  Now that the server has stabilized and the navigation menu has been redesigned to reflect the top 15 search items on the web, Schappert says, “it is time to turn up the volume”  Schappert has purchased traffic packages that will increase the traffic to five times its current level or 10,000 visitors in the next 7 days.  The Month of March will see another five fold increase bringing the traffic to 3 million hits a month from average of 200,00 vistitors   That’s alot of good!

Where are they coming from?  THE GOOD WORD has a fan base in 69 countries registering views from The United States, Japan, Ireland, Slovenia, Ukraine, Great Britain, France, Russian Federation, China, Germany, Poland, Sweden, Estonia, Israel, Canada, India, Turkey, Mexico, Netherlands, Lithuania, Spain, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Romania, United Arab Emirates, Bulgaria, Hong Kong, Brazil, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Luxembourg, Venezuela, Georgia, Philippines, Indonesia, Belgium, Singapore, Portugal, Denmark, Jamaica, European country, Tanzania, Moldova, Pakistan, Uganda, Costa Rica, Albania, Uzbekistan, South Africa, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Thailand, Iran, Chile, and Vietnam.

Unique visitors Number of visits Pages Hits Bandwidth
1,922 4,426
(2.3 Visits per visitor)		 37,447
(8.46 Pages viewed per visit)		 66,456
(15.01 Hits per visit)		 1.73 GB
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Coal Era Coming to An End

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Georgia Power's coal-fired steam-turbine electric generating Plant Bowen in Euharlee, Ga., seen in 2009. The utility is planning on shuttering 15 coal- and oil-fired generating units at its facilities.

Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images

In board rooms across the country, electric companies are deciding that many coal plants, especially small, older ones, just don’t make economic sense any more. One factor is the expectation that low prices for natural gas will continue because of the shale gas boom across the country.

Another is that new federal rules require coal plants to clean up the mercury and other toxic chemicals in their exhausts. Installing those pollution controls makes no sense when gas is so cheap.

The shift has come faster than many electricity companies expected. Every year, utilities tell the government which plants they plan to close over the coming decade. Over the course of one year, their estimates of how much coal generation they would retire nearly tripled.

If all goes as planned, within a few years only a third of the company’s power plants will run on coal. The company has already built three new natural gas plants. It’s expanding a nuclear plant and going bigger into solar and wind, Williams says.

The dramatic and swift shift away from coal at Georgia Power is part of a nationwide trend: After decades in which coal was king of electricity generation, natural gas is making a bid for the title. And it’s scoring big, unexpected wins in places like Georgia, where coal was especially dominant.

“We’re seeing that across the board, regardless of the size of the companies,” says Quin Shea, vice president for environment at the Edison Electric Institute, the industry’s trade group.

The development already has shrunk the electricity industry’s environmental footprint and reduced prices on wholesale power.   Get The Full Story

 

Mother Nature should tell us how to run our business

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With exponentially rising population and demand for durable goods, Gunter Pauli‘s breakthrough book, The Blue Economy, explains why and how we can reinvent business models to operate with the ‘pervasive logic and sensitivity of ecosystems.’ In the natural world, nutrients and energy are abundant, efficiency grows as a system improves itself and it responds to the needs of all involved, with no waste. Have a listen to find out how businesses operated like ecosystems make more money, provide more jobs and better products, all with no environmental degradation or waste.  Get The Full Story & Additional Resources