National Day of Service and Community

[free hugs campaign, started by Juan Mann, music by Sick Puppies - 3:39]

Employees and customers are every business first community, along with the whole supply chain partners and providers, physical neighbors and local authorities. Today, businesses have more reasons to embrace their communities - in this connected economy, without them there would hardly be any business. 

Social responsibility is becoming more important, not just as a bullet point  or a check off box on the annual report or corporate brochure. Those companies that are able to anticipate the values of their customers, super serve them and never waver have the opportunity and permission that such intent and actions create. One such company is the Body Shop. 

I wrote about Anita Roddick at the time of her passing in September 2007. Ms. Roddick believed in the power to do good and communicated that commitment in The Body Shop's mission statement, "To dedicate our business to the pursuit of social and environmental change."

She had the reputation of a fearless and challenging businesswoman who believed in putting forth solutions. One of the vehicles for those conversations on environmental concerns is The Body Shop Community Trade initiatives, which made fair or community trade relationships more mainstream with 42 projects in 26 countries and aiming to develop more.

"How can I bring values into an industry that is certainly not values-laden?" That is the question she posed in her biography. She inspired many to do something. Her business transparency in the sourcing of the products' ingredients was a smart move and her insight as to corporations needing to open their doors to consumer power voluntarily were both ahead of the times.

Maybe that belief came from being an entrepreneur at heart. Dame Roddick, as she was called, talked about how that is something you cannot teach – how do you teach to be an outsider and "march to a different drumbeat"? However, there are certain qualities common to entrepreneurs; among them is the ability to be a great storyteller.

The Body Shop has been defining the customer experience by telling a different story – one of vision, responsibility, and care. By doing that, they have turned an idea into reality; people and customers come first. Today at Fast Company Expert blog we discuss how thebodyshopusa could improve its customers' experience on Twitter to make more connections.

In this National Day of Service, we can learn to do the same by pledging to put our skills and talent to work for the community we serve - that of our readers. Some ideas:

• Get to know your readers better every day. This will help you send business their way and share resources with them. I use personal welcome messages for first time visitors who leave a comment to get the dialogue started.
  

I work on learning 3 things about someone new before I hit reply: who they are, what they're working on, how may I help? If you have a blog, a biography, and a call to action, you will probably receive more support up front. We can discover the rest together, if you're game.

• Connect people in your network with each other by creating projects and opportunities for them to come together and help each other. In this manner, you strengthen not just your network, but the whole community. 

It's a great day when you learn that two people you introduced to each other have started a business together, or are working on an interesting project.

• Join or create worthy initiatives like Blog Action Day not just to raise awareness, but as a participant in using the tools to help with the fund raising necessary to make the ideas work.

Many of you are already involved in this kind of activity. The Body Shop has a robust program in place. Have you thought of what your values are and how to activate them? Ms. Roddick once said "the business of business should not just be about money, it should be about responsibility. It should be about public good, not private greed."

• Find ways to mentor students and young professionals by helping them with job interviews, career transition, references, and business tips. Perhaps you can make this a barter and ask them to teach you the use of some new technology.

Mentoring is not just good for the mentee, it is also an incredibly useful way for you as a mentor to learn more about what you know. It's the same with teaching and presenting. It allows you to focus and distill from knowledge and experience.

• Barter services with your network. In tight economic cycles, the barter system is one of the best ways to help each other look good if there is no money to go around. This will also give you a chance to learn how you work with someone else.  

What other ideas do you have? Remember that often all is needed is an open mind, a big heart, and a listening stance. Sometimes, a hug is all we need.

Comments

[Steven Woods]

Valeria,
Again, a great post and much enjoyed. I do think that Anita Roddick was a great business example of doing the right thing. I think there's an important burden though on us in social media, and more importantly on us as consumers to make sure that businesses do what they can to support the causes (environment, community, ethics, etc) that we hold dear.

Business is by its nature driven by economics. If we as consumers reward those businesses that do well for the causes we support, they will continue and more will follow. We must, however, as consumers reward them by being customers. That may not mean the biggest brand, the lowest price, or the option all our friends are talking about.

As bloggers, we are educators to many, and it's up to us to educate consumers on the good and the bad of what companies do for the various causes. If we leave this to the companies, we can't complain about "greenwashing" or other such things as the companies will naturally present their efforts in the best light possible.

The social web presents us with a great opportunity for change, and thanks for pointing it out so clearly Valeria.

[Valeria Maltoni]

I tend to buy certain items only in Europe to support local businesses in my home town, for example. Down to grocery shopping, I will only go to stores that have a robust communication program on where they source and how they treat employees (you can also see it when you deal with staff there).

We tend to talk freely about where we shop and what we buy online, I think :) And there are no shortages of opinions.

I'm amazed at the opportunities businesses miss to connect with real people - not "leads".

[veronika / dotcalm]

"It's a great day when you learn that two people you introduced to each other have started a business together, or are working on an interesting project."

That it is! I love doing that; I say I'm an woman entrepreneur who loves helping other entrepreneurs succeed! I think it's the best job in the world - and if you don't think you can do it as gainful employment then try it as a hobby; you'll be surprised by the rewards it offers.

This year I hope to develop two websites: "ItsGoodToKnowMe.com" where I hope to journal how I've connected people with others or with resources and the success they had from those connections (promoting my clients successes being the goal); and and "NetworkingKarma.com / KarmaNetworking.com" - not sure of exact direction yet but maybe sharing good things about companies instead of negative.

It only takes a moment to share a piece of info that could make a huge change in someone's life/business.

I think transparency is one of the greatest gifts you can offer - not being afraid to share what you know and what you're doing can lead to all sorts of connections - like Jack Canfield says, you can't find the person that's destined to help you with your dream if you hide your dream. I would extend it further to say you can't help others with their dreams if you don't let people know who you know, what you know, and what you have to offer.

Participating in the community and lifting up the people around you creates a space for everyone to succeed.

Thanks for sharing that video - I've seen it before but it's something that always makes me happy to be alive!

V-

[Jayne Moffitt]

Thanks for sharing that video, I've never seen it before. Serving others, serving the world is the greatest goal we can aspire to. And as your video points out....we don't have to have much to serve the world. Just a sign and a heart. Thanks again.

[Valeria Maltoni]

@Veronika - I love the concept of networking karma. I wish there was a direct metric to that inside organizations to help people do more of it. I had seen the video before as well. This time it felt appropriate to share it.

@Jayne - glad it was inspiring and thank you for stopping by.