I admit it. I grew up in a fairly conservative culture and something like Earth Day was often seen as something “counter-culture” or what the “hippies” were into. Truth be told I am still a very conservative person both politically and religiously although my views don’t always fit into the boxes people would like. One of the areas I am “outside the box” is probably the recognition that taking care of our environment is a matter of stewardship. It a frame of mind that goes beyond alternative fuels, preventing animal extinctions, etc.

The recognition that I am a steward of the resources that has actually inspired the direction I have taken in business and home life and general innovative thinking. When web design and digital photography became available I was excited that I would be able to produce the original creative content without high printing costs. I also like to think of myself as an innovative thinker and thinking “green” spurs innovation like nothing else. “Alternative” energy is basically looking at everyday things in new light if you will excuse the pun.

During the late 80’s I worked at a Boy Scout camp in Northern Greenville County,SC. For 4 years I was the ecology-conservation director which for the most part meant we taught nature related merit badges to the campers. However we also were in charge of running a nature lodge and maintaining the trails and other areas in order to prevent erosion, etc. Other than my current job that was the most enriching job I ever held. I’m thankful I learned to see how geography, natural forces, plants and animals were created to work together and to also see the impact each of the elements have on each other.

I’m always on the lookout for how our business can be the best stewards or the resources we have from providing services that save fuel, participating in a roadside trash clean up, exploring and innovating technologies, etc. Last week I had the opportunity to hear Elizabeth Garrison of Ever Green Recycling, A Greenville, SC based company with a goal of help companies create and implement recycling programs that work for their businesses. Check out the web site and think about how you and your company can participate in ways to  How is rising fuel prices and environmental issues caused your company to think about innovation and seek out new solutions to provide good and services more effectively?

Last night was a great night of networking and learning in various networking groups. It wasn’t until the middle  of the afternoon when I looked at my wife and business partner’s shared calendar that I was aware of a Small Business Owners meeting at the Greenville, SC Chamber of Commerce. I am so glad I went.  Everyone there were small business owners in the Upstate of South Carolina or interested in entering the Greenville,SC market. We had a chance to listen to Timothy Justice of Rescom Construction and ask him questions about what we could do in our own businesses to take them to the next level. Very encouraging.

After the meeting at the Chamber I went to the meeting of the Upstate Entrepreneur Forum which was about a mile away. This was another opportunity to network with other entrepreneurs and listen to Elizabeth Garrison of Ever Green Recycling, her business vision and past business experience.  Once again I got some great tips and ideas to grow my own business and to make it stronger.  Not to mention I love meeting others I can work with and help succeed and thus help my community prosper.

I had to leave the UEF a little early, It pained me to do so but on the other side of town another group I am very passionate about was meeting.  The Greenville Mac User’s Group has been around a long time and I’m happy to be a part of the group of enthusiastic Mac computer users.  Last night’s GreenvilleMUG meeting revolved around the discussion of backups and we also had a video conference with our local Apple rep who could not make the meeting in person last night. I have a desire to start a more specialized group of people who want to develop applications of the Mac OSX platform and the iPhone.

The only thing I regret about going to all the meetings last night was I had to spread myself around, leave early at one and show up a little late at another. I didn’t get to network and make as many connections as I could have. I do plan on e-mailing people I meet with last night who I exchanged business cards with to do some of that networking today.

Did you see me last night (4-14-08)?

Leatherhead Stars Come to Greenville

Originally uploaded by linkerjpatrick

Yesterday I had a chance to take a short walk from my office near Falls Park in downtown Greenville,SC to watch the city of Greenville give the keys to the city to George Clooney and Renée Zellweger.

Greenville Mayor Pro Tem, Lillian Brock Flemming, declared Greenville, SC to be “off the chain” as she recognized the stars and the contribution they made by filming the movie Leatherheads, in Greenville, SC and surrounding areas. I was happy myself to be an extra in the movie.

If you are not familiar with the term, “Off the chain” it is a slang term that means; Out of control, wild and fun. Like when a dog gets off a chain and go crazy. There you have it Greenville. We have been officially declared, “Off the Chain.” One thing you can do to keep Greenville and the Upstate in the forefront is to contribute Innovative ideas to New Ideas for a New Carolina. Let’s show the world what we’ve got.

In case you haven’t noticed I changed the order of the articles in this marketing series. I moved “market research” to later in the series and today I’m going to discuss one of those very general terms that is often misunderstood yet a company of any size needs to come to a firm grasp of the principle, Public Relations.

It’s interesting that after getting sidetracked by other jobs or interests I am coming back to the exact group of disciplines I studied in my college major, Mass Communication. I was a Mass Communication major at Winthrop College (now a University) in Rock Hill,SC. My areas of study within that major were journalism, advertising, communication law and public relations. I wish they would have had “new media” studies back then but that was not a part of the “mass culture” at the time.

Sadly, I can’t remember a lot of the details of my public relations class but the principles have stuck with me and it’s exciting that I am using those skills in my day to day work and helping others achieve business success.

What are you doing to manage your companies or organizations success through responsible public relations? Do you have a consistent brand? Are you communicating to your potential are current clients through blogs, print and e-mail newsletters? Do you offer yourself as an educational speaker on subjects related to your business?

For the record I hate the term “spin” when it involves leaving out negatives or “padding” the truth. That is not responsible or even “ethical” public relations. However it is important to craft words, images, etc. in such a way that people can clearly see the good services and products you provide and submit them to the right channels. “SpinningSilk” is all about turning the raw product into a thing of beauty and strength rather than trying to spin around a coin to show one side of it.

I wanted to point all my readers to an interview of Gil Gerretson of Biztrek.  I mentioned Gil and his company briefly in another post I made this morning. Gil is a marketing mentor who has years of marketing experience and teaching.  The interview was done by a Greenville,SC business newspaper called GSA Business.  The interview can be found under March 17th on their podcast page  of the GSA Business web site or you can for a direct link to the file.

A good part of the interview is about Gil’s company and his vision to take it nationwide. Later in the interview he mentions quite a few things about the need for web site to be dynamic and provide ways to interact with the reader. Gil also mentioned the value of social networking tools like Twitter, Facebook and linkedin.