Sustainability Professionals: How to Express Yourself with Social Media

“Social networks aren’t about Web sites. They’re about experiences.” – Mike DiLorenzo, NHL social media marketing director   The path of business sustainability is a journey.  And what makes up a journey?  Experiences.  As sustainability consultants, we're aware that high level sustainability concepts are universal and easier to understand.  However, what is compelling is the expression of how an individual or a company embraces those sustainability concepts to deliver results.  We're all captivated by the unique sustainability experiences but equally important is its delivery and expression.   Social media has proven to be an innovative and effective way to address two of the biggest hurdles around sustainability: defining what it is and providing the means and channels for sharing sustainability experiences.     Question: Are You Making the Most of Social Media?    Leveraging today’s tools, progressive organizations armed with business sustainability strategies are reaching new levels of communicating sustainability successes.  But what about the sustainability professionals helping them?  As more and more of our colleagues have asked for guidance on online presence with blogging and profiles on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, we've discovered that both larger organizations and individual consultants are faced with an initial tripping point. 

• What exactly is social media?  

• How can social media support and enhance sustainability?  

• How to define the voice, tone and expression of online communications?

• What are the best platforms to express sustainability views, successes, and experiences?

• How can social media support sustainability consulting business development and branding?

Many sustainability consultants know they *should* be using social media. But getting up to speed on the different platforms can be overwhelming, and setting aside the time to create a social media strategy can be downright daunting.  After blogging for 3 years, gaining 25,000+ twitter followers, Taiga Company has been down that road, made the mistakes, and created best practices to effectively use social media as a tool for sustainability professionals.      Answering the question of Are you Making the Most of Social Media, we have teamed up with Jennifer Woofter at Strategic Sustainability Consulting to offer an 8 week, self-guided, online Social Media for Sustainability Professionals program that includes video lessons, discussion forums, additional resources, and homework assignments that will help you communicate sustainability via social media.    The role of social media shares similar values to sustainability: authenticity, transparency, and engagement. At Taiga Company, our sustainability consulting encourages all to leverage social media tools to communicate and share the sustainability success stories on social, environmental, and economic goals.     Start sharing your experiences today.   Home to one third of the earth's trees, the Taiga is the largest land-based biosphere and encircles the globe. Its immense oxygen production literally changes the atmosphere and refreshes the planet. It is this continuous renewal that has shaped Taiga Company's vision to drive similar change in the business world. Taiga Company seeks to be the "oxygen for your business".