Recently in Internet Marketing for Green Products Category

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The California Green Economy map features more than 2,200 businesses statewide in four categories--energy generation, energy efficiency, green building and transportation--that are likely to grow as California transitions to a low-carbon economy.

Companies on the map can be sorted by city, county and congressional district. The top five California  counties are:

Los Angeles County - 398 companies

San Diego County - 208 companies

Orange County - 202 companies

Santa Clara County - 173 companies

Alameda County - 131 companies

"To our knowledge, this is the first time that a map of California's green companies has been published online, creating a visual dynamic resource for people to better understand what a green economy looks like," said Tim O'Connor, an attorney and California climate change analyst at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

Southern California alone has more than 1,000 green companies, according to the Los Angeles Greenprint report, which details how the implementation of Green LA and Solar LA initiatives proposed by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa are expected produce high-quality green jobs for people living in the Los Angeles area.

Green LA by the LA DWP

Implementation of Green LA will be overseen by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the largest public power utility in the country and the utility that uses the most solar energy nationwide. The plan calls for fighting global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions 35% below 1990 levels by 2030 through the use of renewable energy, conservation, new green building standards and strategic land use planning.

Solar LA

Solar LA calls for growing the region's green economy by adding 1.3 gigawatts of solar power by 2020, enough to meet 10% of L.A.'s energy needs and more than is currently available nationwide.

"Los Angeles and Southern California are uniquely vulnerable to climate change because of existing pollution problems, our coastal setting and overstretched water supplies," said Erica Fick, an EDF clean energy fellow based in Los Angeles, who co-authored the report. "Green LA and Solar LA will be a shot in the arm for the entire Southern California economy, creating a lasting upswing in the manufacturing, construction, technology, and "green" service sectors."

SOURCE: Sustainable Business  and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

Signaling a fundamental shift in the publishing industry, The Christian Science Monitor  announced plans to shift from daily to a weekly print publishing format.

The national newspaper plans to invest heavily in its Web presence.

"We're the first national paper to switch to a web first strategy," said John Yemma, editor of the newspaper, which is more than 100 years old and has won seven Pulitzer Prizes. "We need to make it first rather than secondary, so we can make it more of a go-to destination."

AdReady is one of the new companies offering access to the display ad market on Internet websites.

AdReady promises to ease the headaches and guesswork and to lower the costs associated with buying display ads. A Ford dealership in California can pick from a pool of templates and customize an image of a revolving Ford car with the dealership logo and contact information. Then, the dealer can buy ad space through AdReady on major Web sites targeted to reach only Web surfers in California.

The AdReady system suggests tweaks, such as changing the ad background color, that have proven to draw more people to click on ads.

Advertisers can spend as little as $20, and AdReady is paid a cut of the ad buy.

AdReady and other services also give advertisers the ability to tie ad spending to response results that show how many people viewed a specific ad and how many people clicked on it. The car dealer could then decide it wants to turn off the ads that received the fewest clicks and run more of the ads that were more effective.

By drawing in new ad buyers, the self-service options also aim to address one of the nagging problems with the display-ad market: cheap prices.

As a flood of new Web sites compete for consumers' eyeballs, sites such as Facebook are having difficulty raising prices for ads. The cost for reaching a thousand Web visitors can be as little as a few cents on Facebook or MySpace.

Reaching the same number of viewers of a prime-time TV show can cost $30.

SOURCE: New York Times May, 2007

The Wall Street Journal updates us on how online advertising is becoming more of a Do-It-Yourself strategy. Is selling 250,000 impressions for $63 really sustainable for the advertising community?

THE CASE STUDY: ...the ad was seen more than 250,000 times. Quickly, Bonobos sold out of Clarks, at $120 a pop. Total cost for the ads: about $63.

Facebook is only one of a rising number of self-service ad options. There are new entrants such as AdReady Inc., AdBrite Inc. and AdItAll LLC. MySpace, like Facebook, is offering do-it-yourself ads that marketers can tailor to individual interests on the social-networking site. (MySpace, like [The Wall Street Journal], is owned by News Corp.)

Time Warner Inc.'s AOL Internet unit and Google have new self-service ad options for the opposite side of the equation -- for Web publishers who want to attract advertising to their sites.

The rising number of self-service options underscores the expanding market for display ads, the graphic- and video-heavy ads in fixed spots on a Web page. The market for display ads reached $5 billion in 2007, according to market-research firm eMarketer Inc. That is far less than the estimated $8.6 billion in spending for text ads tied to online search. But in coming years, the mix is expected to tilt in favor of display ads, thanks to the rise of online video and the increasing push of brand marketers such as car companies into the display market.

But for the majority of mostly small- and medium-size businesses, it remains too difficult and expensive to buy display ads. To create an ad, businesses have to navigate the 15 standard sizes and half dozen standard formats and design something that will be eye-catching. They have to pick which Web sites or networks to buy ad space from, test multiple ads, track which ones draw the best consumer responses and adjust marketing campaigns accordingly. Doing this alone is daunting, and paying an ad agency to do it might cost thousands of dollars. Sites such as Yahoo Inc. often require advertisers to promise they will spend tens of thousands of dollars a month on advertising. SOURCE: Wall Street Journal

As a publisher of original content and aggregated news, I cringe at some of the prices being paid for search ads...there comes a point at which publishers can no longer afford to create quality content that is supported by bargain basement advertising.  Hopefully, the ad networks will be cognizant of that fact and the plight of the traditional media who are now feeling the sting of cheaper online advertising will serve as a warning and guidepost for what can happen to online content development. 

We don't have to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs!

"Transition" in business models is nothing new to green companies.  Traditional methods don't work.  New technologies must be bought, paid for and learned on the fly. New marketing methods adopted that emphasize transparency, reporting, FTC regulations about environmental messages...plus all the struggles to find qualified people with some green and sustainable business knowledge...and maybe a bit of experience?

Transition is also being faced by print media, and maybe there are lessons we can learn from these highly public companies that are having to make significant changes in full light of their communities:

Print-Online Transition Is Possible
The New York Times

Among the big questions currently hovering over the media industry is can print media survive the transition to the Internet? The question has taken on new urgency, as the tanking economy places even more pressure on newspapers and magazines (whose customers and advertisers were already heading to the Internet in droves even before the recession).

The experience of International Data Group, a technology publisher, suggests that it can be done. The privately held company claims to have successfully migrated its publications to the Internet, where online ad revenue now surpasses that of print. However, the transition was not seamless: It took years of investment, upheaval and changes in its journalism practices.

"The excellent thing, and good news, for publishers is that there is life after print - in fact, a better life after print," said Patrick J. McGovern, the founder and chairman of I.D.G. InfoWorld, the company's flagship publication, completely moved its operations to the Web a year ago. In April 2007 it generated ad revenue of $1.5 million on a slight operating loss. Today, the Web site makes $1.6 million a month with an operating profit margin of 37%. Overall, 52% of the company's revenue is from online ads, while 48% comes from print.  SOURCE:  NYTimes.com

It can take months of waiting nervously to see if significant changes take root and survive infancy to flourish:

The biggest single step in I.D.G.’s online shift came in 2007, when the last print edition of InfoWorld appeared and it became a Web-only publication.  The technology publisher has not just stabilized its business, but is also  growing at about 10 percent a year.

One strategy that transitioned over time is adopting an “online first” business model. Three years ago, the editorial staff was divided into three people who worked on the Web site only and the rest only on print. Today, there are no print and Web barriers. The total staff size, at 23, is one fewer than in 2005, but now most of them spend 80 percent of their time on the Web, while a handful of writers spend 80 percent of their time on the long centerpiece articles in the print magazine.

That same strategy can work for traditional companies that are transitioning into the green space.  By building an inside team who work through the transition one step at a time, they build the infrastructure, the corporate intelligence, and prepare the new managers for the new world. 

Larger, traditional companies have the luxury of this kind of transition, notwithstanding a corresponding problem that arises out of a fast transition to climate change regulations that necessitate a speedy response.

Smaller companies that are "totally green" don't have that traditional revenue behind them...nor do they have the legacy staff, the legacy shareholder expectations, or the legacy management to convince every step along the way.

But what is clear in the board rooms around the world, is that the green transition is of as great, or greater seachange than the Internet.  The survival of entire cities and corporate land holdings are just one of the dangers that are driving this transition. 

About 18 months ago, the Pew Internet & American Life Project issued a report on podcasting and found that just 12% of Internet users had ever downloaded a podcast, but just 1% said they downloaded podcasts on a typical day.

This compares to Pew survey data released last summer that found 57% of Internet users have ever watched online video and 19% download or watch video from the Internet on a typical day.

This disparity between podcasting and online video says a lot about the appeal of podcast programming and the user experience. Tens of millions of people in this country have iPods or other gadgets which can play digital audio files, yet the primary application is playing music -- files that have been ripped from a CD collection or downloaded from the Internet. Music appeals to nearly everyone, and the processes required to transfer music from the 'Net or a CD collection to a digital music player are relatively simple.

Podcast programming is a different story. Most people are unfamiliar with podcasts (with the exception of repurposed radio programs) and downloading, updating, and subscribing to programming involve additional steps. Compared to radio programming, most podcasts sound amateurish and slow-paced, and the ability to find interesting programs is severely limited by the directories, rating systems, and search functions found on iTunes and other podcatchers and podcast-oriented sites. No wonder relatively few people have tried downloading podcasts, and fewer still listen to them on a regular basis.

One of several Readers' Responses...

What also needs to happen is to recognize that, unlike terrestrial radio, podcasts are much like "appointment radio". As we know, the average time spent listening, in radio, is measured in 15 minute segments. But my listeners tell me they listen to our entire two-hour show, cover to cover... This is a throw-back to the way people consumed radio before the advent of television. Perhaps success in podcasting will come from returning to those roots... everything old is new again!

Cheers!
robin

... and from Stephen:

Your piece does shine some retrospective light on the gap between the hype and hyperbole and that often accompanies new technical developments and the reality of the marketplace a few years later. I was an early critic of podcasting hype, but I think you've undervalued two of the most important characteristics of the podcast stage of the digital media revolution.

First, podcasting really has helped to democratize media by eliminating the program inventory and bandwidth limitations of conventional broadcasting. This allows not only amateurs but disenfranchised professionals to distribute their programs, and allows service to previously unserved niches.... Thus it makes more sense to evaluate many of these programs from a public service perspective, like public broadcasting.

Second, the quality standards and practices of professional mass media do not necessarily apply to small audience niche programming. A more professional sounding and better produced program like Leo Laporte's TWiT may achieve a higher audience share, along with whatever benefits that delivers to the producer, but there are already podcasts that achieve their objectives with limited quality and audiences of less than a thousand. These have to be counted as different criteria of "success."

Finally, along with many others I believe that podcasting, i.e. distribution of audio media media via RSS subscription downloads, will be largely replaced as a service model by streaming as wireless internet connectivity evolves. In a truly "always on" world, only a link to a given bit of content is needed and it can be delivered to the user on-demand in real time.

...and from P.G. Holyfield:

If you are looking at podcasting solely from a monetization point of view, I would agree that most feel that podcasting should be further along the lifecycle than it is today. But from an end user perspective, as one of the 1%? that download podcasts on a daily basis, I feel that podcasting is a greatly successful application of .rss, and with the growth of video podcasting, hardware such as the iTV, and the emergence of internal corporate podcasts as a medium of communication, podcasting is becoming more mainstream on a daily basis.

Podcasting allows an audience to find audio/video content on the topics they love, and allows a podcaster to find an audience that shares their love of a particular topic or genre, unlike anything ever seen before. The time-shifted nature of podcasting allows for content to be viewed/listened to on our schedule, and just as television is just beginning to comprehend how DVRs and online content is affecting their 'world,' all forms of broadcasting are beginning to understand the power of subscribable, sustainable content.

Due to podcasting I have reconnected with my favorite radio show (The Tony Kornheiser show). Podcasting has given computer gaming magazine writers I love a voice that I can now associate to their writing. Due to podcasting, I have made friends and acquaintances all around the world. I have discovered authors that I love (and have gotten to know personally). And on an even more personal note, nearly 5,000 people have given my own writing a try... so I consider podcasting a success.

Commercial success is a matter of perspective. For writers using podcasting as a marketing and audience building tool, the success stories are just beginning to emerge. As Joe mentioned above, Scott Sigler would certainly consider podcasting a success. Seth Harwood and J.C. Hutchins would certainly consider podcasting a success. How successful? Only time will tell. I hope the funeral dirge won't be sung before we have a chance to find out.

... and J. Daniel Sawyer:

But podcasting is not radio, nor should it be. Although it does work as an excellent way to time-shift radio programs, it does something far more useful and important: It provides a platform for a variety of formats and format experimentation, from underground music programming to the miraculous resurrection of the once-dead-in-the-U.S. radio drama, to the innovative loss-leader distribution of fiction innovated by Mark Jeffrey, Tee Morris, and Scott Sigler. There have also been a number of other formats tried with various degrees of success - audio blogging, a'la "Tag in the Seam," business tutorials, a'la The Survivor's Guide to Writing Fantasy and Answers for Freelancers, and, of course, there are a lot of formats and podcasts that simply don't work. The low barrier to entry means many - perhaps most - podcasts will never make it past a few episodes, or attract more than a couple dozen listeners.

Source:  TheStandard.com

Internet platforms that focus on identifying or predicting  environmental trends include
FT Predict,
intrade,
IdeaWorth,
newsfutures,
Popular Science Prediction Exchange,
ZiiTrend 

Add to that list Industry Standard (IS), a consumer-driven platform to predict the future. A “market” is simulated in which members place a bet on whether an event will or will not occur.  They use “virtual currency” called “Standard Dollars”.  The  “community consensus” is calculated as the weighted average value of the bets placed for or against the prediction coming true.

Marketing the agritourism business is a little different than retail businesses.

Retailers depend on repeat business. Agritourism operators depend on word of mouth between satisfied visitors who visit very rarely (if their visit is even repeated)...but who can tell LOTS of other people to come, see, enjoy and experience the adventure.

On-farm or on-ranch activities are diverse across America...and the globe. Options include

• bed and breakfasts
• on-farm camping
• farm vacation
• ranch vacation
• youth exchange
• Elderhoste
• wagon rides
• horseback rides
• U-pick fruit and vegetables
• on-farm processed product purchases
• on-farm agricultural craft and product purchases
• farm/ranch tours
• school tours
• garden tours
• winery tours
• technical agricultural tours
• historical exhibits
• petting zoos
• exotic animal farms

Potential agritourist visitors read the following types of media (in order of favorites)

• Newspapers
• Travel magazines
• Cuisine magazines
• Environmental magazines
• Internet

Tell Your Story...So That It's Repeatable!

But by far, visitors learn of agritourism sites mostly from FRIENDS and Word of Mouth (79%)! Additional sources include newspaper and magaizine articles, business signs, the Internet, fliers, agritourism map, tourism bureau and magazine ads.

Editorial Coverage is Better than Paid

Although newspaper and magazine articles (which do not typically result in costs to the operator) reached 38 percent and 28 percent of visitors, respectively, paid advertising in similar outlets was considerably less effective, reaching only 13 and 8 percent.

Word and Deed Make up the Successful Agribusiness

Since word-of-mouth advertising has consistently been noted as an effective publicity technique for agritourism sites, operators should keep in mind that a visitor is likely to tell her/his friends about a positive (or negative) experience.

Therefore, in addition to any formal advertising, attention paid to the customer service aspect of an agritourism operation is likely to enhance the reputation of the site and maintain a flow of visitors. After all, agritourism and on-farm nature tourism combine elements of farming and ranching with the service sector. Agritourism operators are thus likely to be most successful when they are able to skillfully manage both.

 SOURCE: UC Small Farm Center

Two dimensional (2-D) bar codes are showing up everywhere — on food, auto parts, drug packaging, even U.S. defense equipment. What's driving this trend?

Common cross-industry demands for improved supply chain velocity, reduced packaging, better item-level traceability, and security — are intersecting with new data capture technologies to drive increased adoption of 2-D bar codes.

Data capture solutions support this trend, with breakthrough near-far area imaging technology that reads 1-D, 2-D, composite, and postal codes, from 6 inches to 50 feet away.

A QR Code is a matrix code (or two-dimensional bar code) created by Japanese corporation Denso-Wave in 1994. The "QR" is derived from "Quick Response", as the creator intended the code to allow its contents to be decoded at high speed. QR Codes are common in Japan where they are currently the most popular type of two dimensional code.

Although initially used for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing, QR Codes are now used in a much broader context spanning both commercial tracking applications as well as convenience-oriented applications aimed at mobile phone users.

Micro QR Code

Micro QR Code is a smaller version of the QR Code standard for applications with less ability to handle large scans.

Design QR

Design QR makes it possible to incorporate eye-catching images of logos, characters, or photos into QR code, while calculating without losing any information of the code. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code