By Mary Clare Hunt of In Women We Trust

According to the Natural Marketing Institute (NMI), a research firm, Conscious Consumers will take the $209 billion LOHAS (Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability) products market past the $400 billion mark by 2010.

Last month we conducted our own WECAI survey about what drives us green – if it’s a given that the market is going in that direction, then understanding the women who are motivating to buy “green” is the first step. It turns out that just like “diet and exercise” are the ultimate answers to weight loss, there are consistent motivators emerging in green consumers as well.

Our greenest SHEsponders fell into two groups, either died in the wool tree huggers from way back or those new to the green game.  I have to give kudos to those in the middle. They came into their ways during the blazing days of the 80s and 90s when many stopped caring. What’s really interesting is that less than 2% turned green this year. My take away on that 2%?  Mass advertising doesn’t work, not on our habits anyway. Think about all the TONS of green “everything” that’s out there now from Gore to non-profits  and TV stars to products. One would think that we’d all be screaming green at this point and yet…

How long have you been a Green thinker?

 Less than 1 year – 1.85%

 2 to 5 years – 44.44%

 5 to 10 years – 9.26%

 10 to 20 years 9.25%

 20+ years – 35.19%

How Socially active are you?

In our self-selected surveyed green group, 66% were bloggers and 22% were ready to join.  To me that shows a willingness to be socially engaged.  You’re the type with things to say and they aren’t afraid of saying them.

Are you a blogger? 

Yes – 66.04%

No – 11.32%

Not yet – 22.64%

We also asked, how many of you belong to ONLINE and OFFLINE groups? We were curious as business is focusing on women for our word of mouth potential. If you were trying to influence a greener world where would you go?

ONLINE 46.24% average 2-5 groups,

OFFLINE – 67.92% average 2-5 groups.

Does that mean we’re more loyal to our face-to-face groups and add more groups vs. leave and form new friends? (probably) I know that I stayed in a book club for much longer than I would have because of the friendships formed – dropping out of an Internet group doesn’t carry any social stigma.

Are you selling a green product? Intersect with the ground groups. Want a quick “buzz”? Stay online.

Who are the groups? Over 44 of the groups we joined were business related and 18 were green. We had 10 social type groups. All in all, we are taking our business lives seriously and building up our social skills and also our green connections. Granted this was a self selected group of survey takers interested in the green movement, but oddly enough no one named a religion in their “groups.” That surprised me. Perhaps we don’t see the weekly grouping around a spiritual theme as a group or maybe, the greener the crowd, the less ties to religion. What do you think?

 To read the full results, visit: http://wecai.org/Attachments/WECAIGreenSurvey.pdf

 To see the survey, visit Women’s Green Commerce.

 Women who took the survey received a list of more than 100 Green Resources.  If you’d like that list, leave a comment and you too can access the Resources!

 Earth Day is right around the corner and we are excited! Excited because our Spring Issue of WE Magazine for Women is our TRIBUTE TO MOTHER EARTH which you will be reading more about in just a couple of days.  

As a prelude to the launch of the Spring Issue, we hosted an online poll and thank our readers for sharing your input, the results which you can read below. 

And we have another BIG Favor to ask??? In conjunction with our TRIBUTE TO MOTHER EARTH we are hosting a more in-depth Survey. 

It is called Women’s Green Commerce: Purses, Peers, Posts and the Power to Move Green Markets. 

In this survey, you are asked to complete a survey that asks questions about Sustainable Lifestyle (green living). It should take LESS THAN 5 MINUTES to complete the questionnaire. 

In exchange for being brave and letting us into your life, we’ll give you our Directory of more than 200 GREE RESOURCES we’ve collected just for you. The list consists of Information, places and things to help you achieve your green lifestyle goals (personally and professionally). You will also be entered into a drawing for a chance to “win” a full page ad in the Summer Edition of WE magazine for Women. (Void where prohibited) 

Please go to www.WomensGreenCommerce.com and take the survey today. 

Be sure and take the Women’s Green Commerce: Purses, Peers, Posts and the Power to Move Green Markets – Survey at www.WomensGreenCommerce.com

And thanks for reading WE Magazine for Women!

“When women are fully involved, the benefits can be seen immediately; families are healthier; they are better fed; their income, savings and reinvestment go up. And what is true of families is true of communities, and eventually, of whole countries.” Kofi Annan

103 women responded to our poll asking about what they plan for their philanthropic practices in Business for 2008. The results follow: 85% of the women said they will continue to support their favorite charities, 72% of the women responded that it is important for them to do business with companies that support charities,  51% said they have more time than money to give to charities, 20% said they have more money to give to charities in the coming year and 9% of the respondents said they are not in a position to contribute this year.

Although I don’t have data to back it up, I believe most women feel they are spread too thin because they want to support as many community organizations and nonprofits as possible.  And so they are not able to give as much as they’d like to causes that come along they find worthy of supporting.  Martha Taylor, Vice President, University ofWisconsin Foundation wrote an interesting article on the topic: “Facts About Women, Wealth and Giving Eight Strategies for More Effective Giving.”

Here are two of her strategies:

1. Begin your philanthropy as early in life as possible. Even if you can’t give as much as you’d like, your gifts will add up and begin to form your legacy.
   
2. Find your passion, and focus your gifts, rather than scattering them. Think about two or three areas or causes you want to support, and make this your philanthropic mission. Not only will your gifts have more impact, but you will find your giving more satisfying.

To read the other six strategies visit: http://www.ohio.edu/development/women/wealthgiving.cfm

If you are interested in more information, here are four online organizations that provide women with programs and services to enhance their knowledge of philanthropy.

Women’s Philanthropy Institute is a leader in donor-centered education for women. With a cadre of experienced presenters and an extensive knowledge base, WPI’s programs and services are designed to unleash women’s philanthropic power.

Women in Philanthropy at University of Michigan

Learning to Give

Women in Philanthropy  

• Nearly 71% of respondents fall into the Services and retail categories.

• Close to 84% of respondents reported having a business that was both Virtual and Brick and Mortar

• More than 60% of respondents had undergraduate/post graduate college degrees.

• Almost 61% of women reported starting their first business between 18 and 39

• 42% went into business to be their own boss and to create a more balanced work-life ideal.

• The number one long-term business goal chosen by women is “to produce an income-generating venture that will sustain a comfortable lifestyle.” (74%)

• More than 45% reported a 20% (or greater) increase in revenue in 2007 compared to 2006

• 47% of women reported networking with business/professional organizations and Virtual/social networking groups.  More than 75% say they plan to participate in social networking site in 2008.

Dialogues with hundreds of women business owners as well as the results from the survey confirm that women are not only equipped to take risks to succeed, they do it each and every day as evidenced by the types of businesses they run and the lengths they will go to in order to exceed their goals year after year.  Sometimes it’s taking a step back, at other times its finding funding or exposing themselves to new networking opportunities.  Other factors that women attribute to overall success: the majority of women believe in ongoing education to stay ahead of the competition in order to exceed the goals achieved in previous years. Giving back to the community, mentoring others and being role models are also important motivators to their overall feelings of achieving success. To read the full report, visit: http://www.wecai.org/wbosforecast2008.pdf.

Survey Methodology

The Woman Business Survey was distributed via email invitation to several women’s organizations and individuals around the globe. While the combined total of women who received the survey cannot be measured, within our own circle of influence we estimate that more than 12,000 women received an invitation to participate.  The results: 545 Women completed the survey.  Although the majority of women who responded were from North America, (US – 466 and Canada – 43) there were a handful of respondents from the following countries: Australia (6), England (5), France & Germany (3 each), Hong Kong & Italy (2 each), Sweden, Singapore, Israel, Dubai, The Netherlands, Yamhill, South Africa and Switzerland (1 each).  Seven women did not respond to the “location” question.

About the Women’s eCommerce Association

The WECAI Network™ is a network of organizations, tools and resources to “help women do business on and off the WEB.” The voice of business, professional and executive women, the Women’s eCommerce Association provides virtual and in-person opportunities for collaboration, networking, personal and professional development, increasing prosperity, leadership development and international recognition.  For more information, visit www.wecai.org or call 1-877-947-3667 (US).

ContactHeidi Richards Mooney, Founder & CEO
heidi@wecai.org

954-625-6606

We Magazine recently conducted an informal poll online asking the question: What Best Describes Your Business Attitude?

Women could choose up to 3 answers that best described their business attitude.Of the 111 respondents, 39% said they are Confident in business, 36% said they are Optimistic, and 34% describe themselves as Forward-thinking, Visionaries.  Here are the rest of the results:

39% Confident

36% Optimistic

34% Forward-thinking, Visionary

32% are Do-it-Yourselfers

23% said they are Innovative

17% responded Intutitive

9% chose People-persons

8% Claim Techno-Geek in Business

7% describe themselves as a Leader in Business

5% Chose Inventor

3% responded to being Risk-takers

Not one person chose Technically challenged or Follower.

Our new poll, “When do you start creating a marketing plan for the New Year? is now live. 

In addition,  437 women have taken the Women Business Owners Survey to date.  We are still accepting respondents and there are lots of great incentives (enticements) for sharing your insights.  Read all about it here: http://wemagazineforwomen.com/women-business-owners-survey-lots-of-freebies/

 Visit www.WomenBusinessOwnersSurvey.com to take the survey.

After two weeks and no internet access for 7 days, our first annual Women Business Owners Survey and State of Business Forecast is finally READY and we NEED YOUR HELP!

We need 5,000 women to take our survey before December 31st, 2007.  That’s where you come in!  We are asking you to share your feedback with us about your business.  And we want to make it worth your while….

As a THANK-YOU for sharing your feedback with the women’s business community, you will receive the following gifts with our compliments:

2008 Self-Marketing Dictionary

YOUR Marketing Calendar 2008

Access to the Marketing2Women Audio Program

AND

A coupon good for $50 off any ad in WE Magazine for Women – http://www.wemgazazineforwomen.com! 

You will also be entered into a drawing for a $100 VISA Gift Certificate (void where prohibited).

The Women Business Owners Survey & State of Business Forecast is brought to you by the Women’s eCommerce Association, International http://www.WECAI.org.

The information gathered in this survey will be used to create programs and tools to help women do MORE business on the web. The Women Business Owners Survey results will be published in January, 2008.

To access the survey, visit http://www.womenbusinessownerssurvey.com TODAY. 

Also, if you feel it appropriate, please forward the survey link to your colleagues and friends.

Wishing each of you a exceptional week filled with love, laughter, good health and prosperity.

Heidi Richards Mooney, Publisher & Editor-in-Chief