According to Kevin Parker of Deutsche Asset Management, “It’s not going to be long before an investor looking to roll out a new energy plant has to take solar and wind and other forms of renewables very seriously,.”

Bloomburg New Energy Finance showed how investment in clean energy has multiplied in recent years, especially in the USA.

AFL-CIO leader Rich Trumka explained how the labor federation had already invested 200 million dollars in retrofitting buildings, creating green jobs, and that 1.2 billion dollars in workers’ pension funds had been invested in infrastructure projects related to climate change.

Non-profit organizations and small businesses  have new opportunities to become involved in climate change issues as more investment and grant money becomes available.

To find out more visit Investor Summit on Climate Risk.

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In addition to their web hosting prowess, Pair is serious about its environmental footprint. Pair describes itself as,” …100% carbon neutral, powered by 100% renewable energy, and has workplace policies that encourage healthy, earth-friendly, and sustainable practices”. Pair also has enviro-friendly personnel policies which you can read about HERE.

This week Pair celebrated its 16th birthday and is offering a free iPad to the lucky winner of a special drawing. Just follow Pair  (@pairnetworks) on Twitter, then tweet “Happy 16th Anniversary @pairnetworks!”. The winner will be announced the first week of February.

Happy birthday to a successful and progressive American company!

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Non-profit tech gurus TechSoup have partnered with software and hardware companies to provide deeply discounted software and hardware from companies like Adobe, Dell, Cisco, Microsoft, Intuit, eTapestry, Piney Bowes, Symantec and many more.

Basically, you pay an administrative fee to TechSoup and they ship the software. You must apply to determine eligibility and this can vary depending upon the company and their products. There are some hoops to jump through, but nothing outrageous. To get an overall view of this exciting program go here. To check your 501c3’s eligibility, go here.

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Design Tutorials 4u has some nonprofit ad designs that are on the edge and perhaps even over the top. They are designed not just to catch attention but to provoke thought and action. See what you think. Read more

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Learn how to connect with the target audience instantly through both words and images. This workshop will identify the goals of designing for print and web for businesses. We will demonstrate the elements of good design that promote products, services and causes to a variety of audience types. We will offer tips on choosing an ad agency and a graphic designer. We will show how to track and measure the effectiveness of a design using a website.

This presentation is part of the Business Education Workshops sponsored by Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs & Consumer Protection.  Estelle Carol, Avery Cohen, and Nalani McCendon (all members of WebTrax Studio) will give the presentation.

November 23, 2011 from 3:00 to 4:30 pm
BACP Chicago City Hall Office
121 N. LaSalle St. 60602 Room 805
Space is limited.

Please reserve your attendance by calling 312.744.5344

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One of the challenges of writing website content and marketing materials for asset management firms is that, deep down, they all want to sound the same: the same dispassionate jargon, the same monotone, the same over-reliance on long, compound-sentence laden paragraphs replete with numbers, figures, and graphs.

They write long, beautifully-structured pieces that any finance professor would swoon over. Unfortunately, in doing so, they make the common mistake of confusing transferring information with actually communicating.

And it is a problem not limited to asset managers, but to most all professional services firms with a specialized language and unique subculture (law, technology, accounting, medical, personal fitness training, just to name a few). The language fosters a cliquey, wink-wink camaraderie among those in-the-know while simultaneously keeping outsiders off-balance.

Let’s face it, few people read the long letters and detailed descriptions of investment performance from investment managers. It’s boring, convoluted, and the terminology is nearly impossible to understand unless one has a MBA from the University of Chicago.

And even for those in the business, it’s an unnecessarily dense process that could be easily overcome, quite simply, with a more client-centric approach to writing. In other words, writing with the intention of actually wanting to be read.

From a marketing perspective, the prevailing approach has never made much sense to me. I always thought businesses should actively try to differentiate themselves from their competitors – not try to sound like them.

I tell my clients and prospects that one of the reasons investors love Warren Buffet and Bill Gross is because they have a wonderful ability to communicate, and they do so regularly. Not only are they great investors, but they clearly and colorfully explain why. Why few in the industry seem to have recognized this is a mystery.

My approach is simple. I want my clients to differentiate themselves from their competitors, and the most effective way to do so is to help them clearly convey their passion for investing, alongside an uncompromising vision for their firm, written in clear, unpretentious language.

What lies at the root of the recommendations and solutions I offer to my clients is differentiation, and I believe that the best way to achieve it is through more effective communication. Why is this important for asset managers, in particular?

Because there are literally thousands of asset management firms eager to invest a client’s money, yet precious few where real value exists beyond investment returns. Critically, all investment managers go through periods of underperformance, and insightful, honest communications to clients is what allows successful firms to effectively navigate those difficult periods.

Asset managers and others in the professional services arena don’t have to inundate their clients every week with updates and analyses. Rather, the key is to make every contact relevant, reassuring, and most importantly, easy to understand.

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They recently put together a handy series of checklists into an e-book format. Included are tips on how to build a donation form, how to write for outreach, how to plan an event and more. To download their e-book please go HERE.

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I had visions of Jack Kerouac, Joan Baez, John Coltrane, Willem de Kooning and James Baldwin dancing in my head. When we took our senior class trip to NYC, I headed straight for Greenwich Village to see Washington Square Park and then to the 8th Street Bookshop to stock up on novels and poetry.

But according to Christopher Ketcham, the heart of the city is now its financial district not Broadway or the scruffier neighborhoods of the avante-garde. The immense wealth of Wall Street is crowding out the arts and perhaps more importantly, the communities that support and nourish them. Ketcham believes that income inequality in the Big Apple is killing one of New York’s greatest gifts to the world: Its artistic cultural production.

Read the full article: The Reign of the One Percenters by Christopher Ketcham

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Facebook

Come writers and critics who prophesy with your pens, the Facebook changes have come again. I recently logged in to get my morning Facebook fix when I noticed that the newsfeed was different. Very different. Status updates had become a  digital civil war between those who hated the changes, those who liked them and those who thought the whole kerfuffle was silly. Some of the comments were definitely not safe for work, nor were some of the graphics that accompanied them.

Communications professionals know that their personal opinion about such matters is of little consequence to clients. Clients just want to know one thing. How do I change my Facebook marketing to keep up with the ever changing moods of Mark Zuckerberg’s geek army at Facebook HQ?  Fortunately there are independent Facebook analysts who freely share their insights to help both communications professionals and clients make informed decisions. 

Below are a few suggestions to read before that big meeting about changing the Facebook page everyone worked so hard on:

• 10 Recent Upgrades to Facebook Your Nonprofit Needs to Know About Although it is aimed at non-profits, this very detailed article will help small and medium sized businesses adapt to the changes.
• Q&A: Facebook changes explained A quick summery of the changes if you just want an overview.
• Facebook Changes Could Make It Harder To Break Through Clutter A business oriented article that asks if increased Facebook user interaction will make it more difficult for marketers to be found amidst the heavier user traffic.
• Facebook Changes : A Complete Guide  A Slideshare presentation of a highly recommended webinar. Mostly oriented toward personal pages, but some useful info for non-profits and small business

And to make things even more interesting, the big Facebook changes still to come:

•  Facebook Changes Again: Everything You Need To Know  A closer look at the upcoming Timeline and media sharing capabilities.
• Facebook is Changing Again. Here’s Why That’s Good News for Content Developers The end of the “Like “ button and its replacement with ”Read”, “Listened” or “Watched”, as well as custom buttons from app developers, open up new possibilities.

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