Last Day Of Work; First Day Of The Rest Of My Life

Written on April 1st, 2008, by Chris
Today is my last day of salaried work. Hopefully forever—or at least for a long, long time. It is quite a liberating feeling, as many of you know. And I don’t expect the panic of how I’m going to pay the mortgage to creep up on me for at least, oh, say three weeks.

It was an amicable departure: a mutual agreement that when it’s time to go, it’s time to go. Though I’ve spent the last 15 months as the publications director at a local creative media agency, managing its print publications and much of the editorial content for its online publications, it’s the Web 2.0+ world of marketing that I’ve enjoyed learning the most about. It is a growing market (obviously). So that, and the fact that marketing is an area that most intrigues me, is the reason I have decided to start my own marketing firm.
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Let's Get This Blog Rolling!

Written on October 23rd, 2007, by Chris

I’m excited and proud to get my first post up on MarketGreener. It’s taken a little over a month to get this blog launched, but I’m sad to say that I missed my initial goal of launching on Blog Action Day. So let me take a moment to reflect on their success and what I hope will be an even greater success (of which I plan to play a part in) next year.

For now, here are some stats from this year:

Monday, October 15, 2007
first annual Blog Action Day

20,603
number of blogs that participated in Blog Action Day

23,327
total environmental posts for the day

14,631,038
number of RSS subscribers who read Blog Action Day posts that day

But as their site declares,

“The real reach of Blog Action Day is far greater than the numbers.”

As I read through some of the top posts for the day, a theme recurs that can’t be denied. We all can and do have an impact on our planet every day. Whether we drive to the corner store rather than ride the bike or recycle that beer bottle instead of throwing it in the trash, we are each faced with impactful yet sometimes seemingly insignificant choices every day. Many of them are simple choices that come down to doing what’s right over what’s just easy. Sometimes they’re harder, more life-changing choices, but what’s clear is that we each have the capability to make the right choice. Sometimes we just need to be shown what’s possible and what its effect can be. And given good information—and sometimes a little pressure—habitual, often uninformed choices can become habitual good choices.

The goal of MarketGreener is to help point out some of the choices that businesses and individuals have when making decisions associated with the way business is conducted and marketed and to help those businesses and individuals make the right choice for their customers, themselves and the planet. You’ll see posts ranging from green marketing tactics to what businesses are doing on a local, regional, national and global scale—both good and bad. (If you’d like to know a little more about MarketGreener, check out the “what is?” page.)

One last thing: this is a conversation. I don’t claim to be an expert in this field, just an enthused observer and reporter. I thrive on your feedback. Let me know what you think about what I have to say and about this blog. After all, one person can have an impact, but impact is only achieved when that person interacts with those around him.