Thank You Merchant Circle!!

We wanted to write a quick blog post, thanking the Merchant Circle Team for featuring our business story in the January 2009 Merchant Circle Newsletter.Our business is extremely pleased and honored to be affiliated with this awesome company.

As noted in the Newsletter, we are a fairly new organization. Our company started in July 2008, with a Start-Up Scholarship from Professional Basketball Player Shane Battier and the ServiceMaster Clean Corporation. Mr. Battier is originally from the Metro Detroit area and was a stand out high school player at the Detroit Country Day Prep School in Birmingham, Michigan. We are honored be a "home-town" representative of the Scholarship Program and look forward to making Mr. Battier proud in the years ahead.

Being a member of the Merchant Circle team of Merchants has been a blessing for us. Not only we were able to use the great resources of this website to promote our business, but, we have met other standout merchants that have assisted us with growing our business in the right direction. Those merchants include Design Business Engineering, The Glass Guy, MN , A Tile Nation and Treasure Islands of Santa Cruz. Without their help, we do not believe our business would be as far, as fast, on our web presence as we are today.

In addition, we look to share the Power of Merchant Circle with other business owners that are seeking to find or increase their presence on the web. Another honor that we recently received, is being named a Merchant Circle Market Advisor. With this position, we want to share the benefits of joining the Merchant Circle program with other business owners. The benefits include gaining a increased web presence within 30 days, having the ability to create blog postings, newsletters and coupons that are highly indexed by Google and Yahoo Seach Engines and being able to add marketing videos about your business to your Merchant Circle weblink.

Your business can create ads for the business that are indexed across the World Wide Web and receive top placement listings on Navigation and Mobile Search engines, in addition to internet search engines. Networking with a large number fellow merchants across the United States and a great forum to gather ideas to increase your business, are features that new or mature businesses will not obtain anywhere else on the web for such a low cost or even Free. If you would like more information on how joining Merchant Circle can increase your business, visit us at IncreaseYourWebPresenceToday.com.

Merchant Circle take pride in its offerings for local merchants and are willing to back it up with a great offer. If joining the Merchant Circle network with a paid listing does not have your business 100% satistied with its' marketing web campaign within one year, they will buy your Yellow Pages advertisment the next year.

In closing, thank you Merchant Circle for everything you have done for our business. We plan to be connected with the site now and well far into the future.

Sincerely,
Monica Ross-Williams
ServiceMaster Building Services
734-328-3025






Follow Our Adventures in Cleaning Blog and Sign Up for Monthly Our Green Cleaning Newsletter
Connect With Us On Merchant Circle For Coupons and Discounts

10 Quick Green Cleaning Tips for the New Year

By-Seven Generation

1) Use cleaning products made from safe natural and not-toxic ingredients to prevent exposure to the hazardous synthetic chemicals conventional cleaners contain.

2) Dust with a damp cloth to ensure that household dust, which collects toxins, is removed from surfaces and not stirred back into the air.

3) Open windows and doors occasionally (even in winter!) to rinse out any air pollutants that have accumulated inside.

4) Don't use aerosol products. They fill your home with microscopic droplets of whatever is being sprayed. These droplets remain suspended in the air for hours and are easily inhaled.

5) Avoid room deodorizers or other air "freshening" products, which are frequently made from unhealthy chemicals.

6) Don't use any pesticide products in your home, your yard or garden, or on your pets. Instead, supplement a preventative strategy with natural pest control methods.

7) If you decide to use them, keep conventional cleaners and other chemical products out of your children's rooms.

8) Use chlorine-free dishwasher detergent. The chlorine in conventional detergents is easily vaporized by hot dishwasher water and then released into your home's air.

9) Ask guests to remove their shoes when entering your home. That way, they won't track in pollutants.

10) Buy a vacuum cleaner with a HEPA filter. These special filters trap unhealthy dust particles.

.
Source-Seven Generation
http://www.seventhgeneration.com/learn/lists/10-quick-tips-green-cleaning

Let Merchant Circle Create a Web Site For You

Hello. My name is Monica Ross-Williams. I am a Market Advisor for Merchant Circle in the Southeastern Michigan Market. In this blog, I would like to give your business a brief introduction into the power of Merchant Circle.

Merchant Circle is a e-commerce business networking and marketing organization that has over 700,000 merchants across the United States and Internationally. As a privately-funded business based in Silicon Valley, Merchant Circle is dedicated to helping local businesses get more customers quickly, easily and cost effectively. We know you've got a business to run, and you can't spare millions of dollars and extra employees to manage your advertising and marketing efforts. We don't think you should have to. Instead, let us help you.

As the Internet has matured, more information is available locally, and consumers are searching for it. Technological advances have transformed the World Wide Web from an impersonal galaxy into the Local Internet. Merchant Circle helps you tap into the power of the Local Internet to reach these potential local customers, who are online right now, searching for deals, recommendations and information in your community. We created simple tools to help you to promote your products and services, and designed our site to get your business listed higher in search engine results on engines such as Google and Yahoo.

As a Local Market Advisor, my job is to assist your business in creating a FREE web site were you can market your goods and services throughout the World Wide Web. Also, to kick your web Search Engine Marketing campaign into high gear, introduce you to great tools such as:

-Web Site Verification-Where your business receives a verification certificate that will be displayed on your website that will allow local customers to have knowledge that your business has been verified by Merchant Circle and two current customers that you service.

-Web Site Linking-If your business has a current website that is "getting lost" in the area of cyberspace, let us link your current website to your Merchant Circle Page. Your business will improve on its hits received up to 40% within 60 days.

-Search Engine Optimization-By linking keywords, zip codes and cities that you serve, your Merchant Circle Website will engage in the Search Engine Optimization that will improve your Google, Yahoo or Other Search engine presence within 30 days of sign up.

-Search Engine Marketing-Your Merchant Circle Website will allow your business to create coupons, incentives-(advertisements) and deals that are indexed on every major internet search engine. In addition, you can create blogs, newsletters and upload video that can reach out to more potential new and existing customers.

-Use Merchant Circle Marketing Partners-With our Marketing Partners- Hourtown-A Free Online Scheduling System for your business; linked to your Merchant Circle Listing, Pitney Bowes-Ditigal Mailing Services and ServiceMagic-Homeowner Referral Service; start your marketing campaign with the right resources to connect your business with customers.

-Customer Recommendations-Have your customers connect with your Merchant Circle page and leave comments about the great services or products that your company offers. Your current customers can write a detailed review of your business. As any business owner knows, the best referral is Word-of-Mouth recommendations of your current customers.

And much, much more!!!

Some Search Engine Optimization and Search Engine Marketing services cost your business up to $1500 and more upfront, with minimum results on actually improving your web presence six month into. Our Merchant Circle E-Commerce Fast Start packages start as low as $99.00 a month and include increased marketing tools like:

-Direct listing in Online and Mobile Directories
-Get Your Own Instant Website
-Obtain a Merchant Circle "Certified Business Badge"
-Advertisements on Top Search Engine with direct placement services
-Professional Listing Creation
-Send your Newsletter Directly up to 1,000 customers
-Have Your Business Lisiting Directly Linked to up to 5 Cities

Click Here Now to started on either the FREE or PAID package services. Also, you can contact me directly at 734-328-3025 to discuss the options we have available TODAY your business and discuss my 1400 hits my personal receives on Merchant Circle.

Monica Ross-Williams
Market Advisor-Merchant Circle
734-328-3025
http://www.getyourwebpresencetoday.com
Or View My Business Merchant Circle Website
ServiceMaster Building Services

Cleaning Services is a Important Representation of Your Business

Recently, I was at my Local Business Networking event meeting talking to a Attorney member our group. He stated how he wanted to convince the leaseholder to add a janitorial cleaning service for the office.

A client, he stated, had came into the office and noticed dust that had build up in various corners, on desks and in other areas of the office. The client asked if the office had a cleaning service and if so, they were not doing the job the they were paying them for. The attorney informed the client that at the current time, they did not have a service. The client stated, "You should add one".

I am sure that the Attorney would have preferred that he did not have to briefly encounter this situation. As a networking friend, I know that he is a highly-respected counselor that performs excellent service his clients. In the same aspect, if this client was a potential customer how would they felt about the services they would receive from a dusty office? Would that customer have given their business to another attorney, by making a judgment regarding the business by the first impression of the office.

Think about going into a retail environment. If the store is messy, clothes are on the floor instead of the racks and the dressing rooms look like a group of two-year old children had a play date featuring "Mommy or Daddy" clothes playing dress-up. Would you feel comfortable shopping in that store? Would you wonder if the sweater you are about to buy for a decent amount of money, was on the floor before you could see it there? Could you find the item that you came into the store to shop for? Would you just leave and shop at another store or location?

Your business or home is a representative of you. How the area is perceived in the eye of the customer could gain you a additional sale or lose the potential client forever.

In these difficult economic times, it can be a first thought to trim, cut or in-source environmental services. Businesses can wonder that maybe they can add the cleaning to a secretary, administrative assistant or others in the office. Downfalls of using the method are the office worker only cleaning the areas they believe are important, being upset silently that they are being used as the "Janitor" or a paying overtime for the office worker; costing the business money than saved, off the budget.

When everything you do to gain and keep a client is important, why risk it by not having a professional environmental services team maintain your business appearance?

Professional environmental services is a key term. There are many janitorial businesses. Some janitorial business prefer that they are not seen and rarely heard from by you or your office staff. The staff that they could employ might not be trained and view cleaning a office like cleaning a home. Other companies might view cleaning services as a part-time business and treat your business as occasional venture in their weekly schedule.

Contracting your office cleaning service to a professionally trained and managed environmental maintenance organization will increase your client satisfaction, lessen illnesses among staff and make your office a true representative of the services that you give to your customers. Using certified Green-Sealed products to clean your business, professional environmental maintenance companies can lessen any illness germs that be lurking around in the office. At the same time, Green-Seal products do not produce smells or chemicals that can harmful to workers with allergies or sensitivity which leads to less employee sick days used to increase productivity for your business.

Trained environmental maintenance staff know the right methods to cleaning, including using "Capture and Removal" type systems with Microfiber towels to gather dust from seen and rarely noticed areas and using backpack Hepa-filter vacuums to the benefit for asthma and allergy sufferers. The Hepa filter in the vacuums traps the fine particles (such as pollen and dust mite feces) which trigger allergy and asthma symptoms. Using High Efficiency Particulate Air technology, the filter that can trap a large amount of very small particles that other vacuum cleaners would simply recirculate back into the air of your office or home.

There is more to a true Professionally Trained Environmental Maintenance Company besides pulling out the office trash and cleaning the restrooms. Other valued added services like hard and wood floor care services, carpet care, PTAC (Air Condition Filters) cleaning, window and true "Green-Cleaning" methods should be available to your business from the company your office chooses. Asking the administrative assistant to run a floor buffer or a industrial carpet cleaning machine might be a little challenging, as well as hazardous for the employee.

Think about the value you can add to your business, profits and employees by seriously considering adding a true cleaning service provider for your business. Examine at all the benefits, awards and return on investiment that can be gained.

Monica Ross-Williams
Owner
ServiceMaster Building Services
734-328-3025

Our Merchant Circle Website
Our Business Website
Examine our Green Cleaning Methods Here
Our "Go-Green" Website

Attend a FREE Teleconference on Building A Great Web Presence

Starts:	Monday January 26, 2009, 01:00PM
Ends:	Monday January 26, 2009, 01:45PM
Event Type:	Conference
Location:	This is a virtual event.
Price:
Website:	http://Call-1-219-509-8111 Access Code-42784
Industry:	internet
Keywords:	marketing, consultants, web, presence, seo, pages, indexing, keywords, business to business
Intended For:	Any persons that are interested in increasing their presence on the World-Wide Web
Organization:	Merchant Circle Marketing Advisor-Monica Ross-Williams

Hello. My name is Monica Ross-Williams and I am a Marketing Advisor for Merchant Circle, the premier SEO marketing resource available in the e-commerce marketplace today.

Merchant Circle is an privately-funded business based in Silicon Valley, dedicated to helping local businesses get more customers quickly, easily and cost effectively. We know you’ve got a business to run, and you can’t spare millions of dollars and extra employees to manage your advertising and marketing efforts. We don’t think you should have to. Instead, let us help you.

MerchantCircle helps you tap into the power of the Local Internet to reach these potential local customers, who are online right now, searching for deals, recommendations and information in your community. We created simple tools to help you to promote your products and services, and designed our site to get your business listed higher in search engine results on engines such as Google and Yahoo.

Within my presentation, I will highlight -How to effectively use the Power of Merchant Circle to create your web presence -How to reach the top indexes on Google, Yahoo, City Search and other search engines within 30 days -How to connect with other local businesses to network creating a web presence for them, by improving your SEO for FREE -Why Blogging really does help your business and how Merchant Circle can help you with effective blogging techniques -Need help with creating a great website? This call will explain how Merchant Circle will assist you with that.

If you have paid thousand of dollars for a effective web presence and have gotten little results, you need to be on this conference call. Look forward to talking with you!! Ask a friend to join you. We welcome all business owners looking to enhance their web presence

Monica Ross-Williams

Merchant Circle Advisor (Canton, MI)

My Marketing Advisor Website

My Merchant Circle Webpage

2009 is the Right Time to Start with a "Clean" Slate.

If you are in the Southeastern Michigan area, have a brick and mortar type business, current have Jaitorial Services or thinking about adding one to the office, think ServiceMaster Building Services first. We offer daily and weekly janitorial services to offices big and large. Our prices are reasonable to provide you the QUALITY in the services and keeping a environmentally clean environment to work within.

In addition to our Janitorial Services, we also offer Green Cleaning, Hard Surface Floor Care and Maintenance and Carpet Care. Trash Outs for foreclosed property settings, move-out cleanings for apartment complexes and PTAC cleaning for hotel air conditioners are other services that we can offer to your business.

Also, did you know that our company is health care environmental maintenance certified? We can clean your medical office in compliance of JCHAO requirements. We specialize in dental offices, allergy clinics and doctor's offices.

Finally for the 2009 New Year, Here is a treat....Sign up for New Janitorial Services for 12 months and receive 10% off of your first two months. That is a way to bring in a little savings into the new year. Say that you saw our posting on Merchant Circle and we will handle the rest from there!!

So, if your business is not 150% satisfied in your current provider, give us a call...we will give you a free quote.

ServiceMaster Building Services of Wayne County
734-328-3025
Our Merchant Circle Webpage

Happy Holidays from ServiceMaster Building Services!!

Wishing you every happiness this Holiday Season and prosperity in the New Year. Thank you for being either continuing to receive our newsletter, being a networking connection or client. We look forward to continuing our relationship with you in the coming New Year.

All the best to you and your family,

Monica Ross-Williams
ServiceMaster Building Services of Wayne County
Canton, Michigan 48188
734-328-3025

Visit our ServiceMaster Building Services Website
Connect with us on Merchant Circle
Network with our business on LinkedIn

Visit Us At the SHOP CANTON Holiday Festival This Saturday!!

Here is a exciting family event this weekend that we would love you to attend, if possible. Visit ServiceMaster Building Services at the Information Booth and we will be giving out FREE HandWarmers!!!

An Exciting Outdoor Event!
Join us for the 3rd Annual SHOP CANTON Holiday Fest,

Featuring Entertainment, Refreshments,
and LOTS OF FUN!

When: Saturday, December 6, 2008
12:00 - 4:00 p.m.

Where: Willow Creek Shopping Plaza
Located on Ford Rd. between Haggerty
and Lilley (Marshall’s Parking Lot)

SANTA will be on hand accepting donations of
canned goods, new children’s books, and new,
warm children’s clothing to help support the
Canton Goodfellows. Santa photos by CLIX!

Hosted by the Canton Downtown Development Authority, the Canton Chamber of Commerce and Canton Leisure Services.

Fun and Games Include
• Carriage Rides
• Live Reindeer
• Balloon Artists
• Carolers
• Arts & Crafts
• Games
• Give-Aways
• Coloring Contest
• Face Painting
• Magician
• Music
• Surprises!
Entertainment & Activities

Presented By:
Canton Downtown
Development Authority

Candyland Sponsors
Renewal by Andersen Santa’s Stage
World of FloorsColoring Corral

Gold Sponsors
Destiny Games
The Observer & Eccentric World of Floors

Silver Sponsors
ABC Warehouse Jimmy John’s
ServiceMaster Building Services (This is Us!! Visit Us at the Information Booth As We Will Be Handing Out Handwarmers and Coupons)
Shark Club

Refreshments provided by:
Jimmy John’s Shark Club
Tony’s Coney & Grill

Event Candids by:
Stephanie Weatherly Photography

Visit Candyland
For tons of family fun including Santa’s Stage,
the Coloring Corral, entertainment, activities,
and much, much more!
Candyland Trick-or-Treat through the nearby malls, and...
For more information, and Coloring Contest forms visit www.ShopCanton.org

November 2008 Newsletter Tibits

ServiceMaster Building Services Received "Top Merchant" Status with Merchant Circle By-Monica Ross-Williams ServiceMaster Building Services of Wayne County recently was honored to receive "Top Merchant" Status with the Merchant Circle business website. We were extremely honored to obtain this achievement. With the course of four months of adding our listing to the Canton, Michigan serve area managed to connect with over 80 other businesses in Michigan and United States. We have received three reviews of our business and have added over 10 new members to the Merchant Circle Connection. Merchant Circle is a a privately-funded business based in Silicon Valley, dedicated to helping local businesses get connect to more customers quickly, easily and cost effectively. MerchantCircle is led by an experienced team and funded by investors who share our vision and believe in the power of local businesses. Backers include Rustic Canyon Partners, Scale Venture Partners and Disney's Steamboat Ventures, who each bring their specialized expertise to help us develop and improve the MerchantCircle experience. . Please feel free to add comments to our "Talk to Me" and/or Comment sections of our Merchant Circle page.

Newsflash-110% of Customers Shop Green By-Joel Makower This just in: pretty much every consumer is concerned about the environment and is thinking conscientiously about what they buy - how it's made, under what conditions, and by whom. All you have to do is make good, green stuff and they'll buy it! We've reached the tipping point! Sound too good to be true? It is, of course. But you wouldn't know it from the marketing studies I've been seeing - and the breathless headlines that result. As they continue to invade my in-box, I find myself getting increasingly irritated. Can market researchers be accused of greenwash? I'm beginning to wonder. Two examples: Approximately 50 percent of U.S. consumers consider at least one sustainability factor in selecting consumer packaged goods items and choosing where to shop for those products, according to a new survey by Information Resources, Inc. Nearly nine in ten Americans say the words "conscious consumer" describe them well and are more likely to buy from companies that manufacture energy efficient products, promote health and safety benefits, support fair labor and trade practices, and commit to environmentally-friendly practices, according to the BBMG Conscious Consumer Report. I don't profess to have studies that refute these, but you don't need to be a social scientist to know that neither of the above conclusions is on the money. Half of consumers do not consider sustainability when buying packaged goods - everything from cosmetics to cleaners, Rice-a-Roni to razor blades. (Do half your friends and family members shop this way?) And to think 90% of us are "conscious consumers" when it comes to the planet? C'mon. Half of us aren't even conscious about what we put into our bodies. Such studies aren't new. They have been coming out for years, boasting about the high percentage - usually, a significant majority - of consumers that say they are integrating environmental and social considerations into their purchases. I've written about some of these in the past (see here, here, and here). I don't mean to suggest that any of these research firms are misleading us. I know many of these people, and they are as earnest and diligent as the day is long. They ask questions, get answers, and crunch the numbers. But common sense - or simply looking around - shows us how far reality is from these numbers. Walk the aisles at your local supermarket or big-box retailer. How many of the products you see reflect sustainability values? How about the companies that make them? How about the stores that sell them? How many shoppers are bothering to ask such questions? Things are changing in ways that make some of these reports more sinister than seductive. Over the past six months, the G-word - greenwashing - seems to have risen from the dead to become a vibrant part of the conversation. There's now a Greenwashing Index, a Greenwash Brigade, greenwash lists, and lots of handwringing. And, of course, the Six Sins of Greenwashing. It's all good. As the number of companies making green claims grows - by the way, has anyone actually measured that growth? - we need vigilant watchdogs, even though there's far from unanimity about what is, and isn't, greenwash. (Ad Age's list of 2007's best and worst is telling - note that GE (via NBC Universal), Toyota, and Wal-Mart all showed up on both the good and bad lists.) In that light, these green consumer studies seem something of a sucker punch. "Come on, jump in. There's a vast audience waiting to buy what you sell. But it better be damn green, and your messaging better be pitch perfect in both tone and content. And your company better not have any skeletons, or be doing anything environmentally untoward or selling other products that don't seem green." We want it both ways. We want companies to do better, to green up their products, and to distribute them far and wide. We have high hopes and higher expectations. But we lack standards and basic agreement about how good things have to be - the products as well as the companies that make them. How does a company operate in an world of hyped-up market research, few norms or standards, and sky-high expectations from consumers and activists who monitor their every move? I'm not suggesting that we take whatever companies dish out. We need to shift products and markets in significantly greener directions. And they need to be good-quality, affordable products. Anything less is wasting our time and money - both limited resources, one of them nonrenewable. Source-Two Step Forward Web Blog http://makower.typepad.com/joel_makower/2008/01/news-flash-110.html

Detroit Resident Awarded Franchise from ServiceMaster Clean

This is a re-posting of my Franchise Award. Thanks for reading!!!

Detroit Resident Awarded Franchise from Servicemaster Clean and Professional Basketball Player Shane Battier

Detroit Awardee Monica Ross-Williams accept ServiceMaster Clean Scholarship for a Commercial Cleaning Franchisee. Shane Battier is a professional basketball for the Houston Rockets and a former high school standout at Detroit Country Day High School.

Detroit, MI, September 10, 2008 --(PR.com)-- ServiceMaster Clean and professional basketball player Shane Battier have named, Monica Ross-Williams, as the fifth awardee of a commercial cleaning franchise from The Shane Battier Franchise Scholarship. Mrs. Ross-Williams, a resident of Ypsilanti Township, and a Master’s degree candidate in Human Resources Administration at Central Michigan University, has had an extensive career in customer-service fields and community service through her Neighborhood Association.

As a wife to husband Carter and mother to teenagers Deonte and Ashlei, Monica sets a great example for how family life and entrepreneurship can work together. Raised in a loving home which fostered her love for education, Monica never let adversity keep her from “climbing up to the top of the mountain”. Said Ross-Williams, a graduate of Cleary University, “My father taught me that education is something that no one can ever take away from me.” Memories of family sustain Ross-Williams, who was inspired to apply for the Shane Battier Franchise Scholarship after her father, an automotive industry worker who had just recently retired, passed away in 2007. She grew wistful recalling seeing her dad’s face at her college graduation, and wondered how proud he would be of her now, seeing her accomplish the dream of business ownership.

With her educational background in Human Resources Administration, Monica is ready for the task of hiring and mentoring great workers. When asked about advice for other “aspiring bosses” she said, “You have to be fair and consistent with every worker. Show it in what you say and in what you do.” She continued, “Set expectations from day one.” “I want success,” said Mrs. Ross-Williams, “And I want my employees to be successful, too.” She also had advice for her future employees, “Show me I made a good investment in you.” If success was built on pure determination, then we know The Shane Battier Franchise Scholarship program has made a good investment in Monica Ross-Williams as its newest awardee.

Undaunted by the economic hardships facing her home state of Michigan, Ross-Williams understands the tough market she is facing as a new business. Leaning on a foundation of faith, education and business skills, Monica emphasized that she will succeed, “despite the foreclosures, layoffs and business cutbacks” because, she continued, “I feel blessed by this awesome opportunity. I consider God in all I do.” When asked what success looks like to her, she answered without hesitation, “I want to have a business, be successful, work hard and enjoy my life!”

The Shane Battier Franchise Scholarship Program, which launched in March 2007, aims to award commercial cleaning franchises, with hopes of helping women and minorities overcome the obstacles that can be associated with building a new business. Previous winners of The Shane Battier Franchise Scholarship include Jeff Kent of Austin, TX, Michael Powell of Houston, TX, Jesus Martinez of Miami, FL and John Davis, Jr. of Cleveland, OH. Battier has great expectations for all of the recent winners, “[They] will make everyone proud, and they will be great business owners.” Additional franchises will be awarded in 2008. For more information on the program or to apply online, visit: www.ownafranchise.com/
battierprogram.

About ServiceMaster Clean
ServiceMaster Clean is a member of the ServiceMaster Family of Brands. ServiceMaster currently serves residential and commercial customers through a network of over 4,500 company-owned locations and franchised licenses. The Company’s brands include TruGreen®, TruGreen LandCare®, Terminix®, American Home Shield®, ServiceMaster Clean®, Merry Maids®, Furniture Medic®, and AmeriSpec®. The core services of the Company include lawn care and landscape maintenance, termite and pest control, home warranties, cleaning and disaster restoration, house cleaning, furniture repair, and home inspection.

Our October Newsletter

When a Bleach Company Cries "Sustainable"

The Clorox Company leverages sustainability for Growth
By-Ashley Braun

More green biz reporting from the Sustainable Brands '08 Conference.
Even the Clorox Company, with $4.8 billion in sales last year, has set out to get a piece of the proverbial green apple pie that the conscious American consumer is becoming. Recognizing that sustainable products are no longer a wee e-niche market, Bill Morrissey, VP of Environmental Sustainability at Clorox, described the company's extensive research on what motivates a consumer's interest in the environment.

From these efforts, four key areas emerged:
Personal protection -- What's going in me/on me/around me (and my family)?
Cost -- I save $$ by reusing/reducing consumption.
Status -- I let others know that I care about the environment.
Altruism -- I do it because it's the right thing to do.

Traditional environmentalists may squirm to hear it but good ol' altruism was the minority factor in driving environmental interest today. On the other hand, personal protection was the heavyweight that held the top rank. This aligned with another study's report that consumers identified more with "My Environment," which they perceived to be inside their control, as opposed to "The Environment," which they considered outside of their control.

With "health and wellness" and "environmental sustainability" representing the next two mega-trends on the rise, businesses can leverage themselves to these trends in two-and-a-half ways: By making existing brands more sustainable and by investing in new sustainable brands (internally or through acquisition). Morrissey went on about how Clorox is striving to do that with three of its brands:

Brita Water Filters, an existing Clorox brand, that concerns what goes "In Me."Burt's Bees Natural Personal Care Products, a newly acquired brand that goes "On Me."Green Works Natural Cleaning Products, an internally produced new brand that goes "Around Me."

First, Clorox jumped on the anti-plastic water bottle bandwagon by promoting Brita filters as sustainable alternatives to those bedeviled bottles (Clorox said, "Drink Responsibly"). With an added eco-twist to their marketing approach, one Brita TV ad shows someone running on a treadmill, trusty one-time-use plastic water bottle in view, while the words "30 minutes on a treadmill" flash across the screen. Next the phrase "Forever in a landfill" drove the message home as it appeared next to the plastic bottle.

Well, maybe not forever, but a one-thousand-year-decomposition time probably feels like forever to the average viewer. And with 60 million plastic bottles thrown away each day in the U.S., the Brita brand makes a great case for drinking "healthier, better-tasting water" with one Brita filter instead of the equivalent 300 standard bottles of water.

Still, one conference attendee asked why a take-back program for used Brita filters hasn't been established in the U.S. like it has in Germany. Morrissey responded vaguely that Clorox is "working on that as well," which goes to show that environmental sustainability is, of course, an ever-continuing process for any business or individual, and that you'll be hard-pressed to find a "perfectly green" product. Still, since Clorox/Brita launched this sustainable marketing effort, the brand has seen double-digit growth from previously flat to declining sales.

However, Burt's Bees comes pretty darn close to green product heaven, and Clorox knows it. Morrissey described Burt's Bees as "an environmental exemplar within our walls, and that's been very valuable." When Clorox acquired Burt's Bees late last year, Morrissey admitted their first goal was "not to screw up this business." Everyone in the audience got a chuckle out of that, to which Morrissey replied, "No, we're serious."

Leveraging sustainability for Burt's Bees is fairly simple considering their mission is "to make people's lives better every day NATURALLY." And they live by it. Embracing "The Greater Good Business Model," Burt's Bees takes the highest level of social responsibility by incorporating environmental and humanitarian concerns into their natural ingredients and product processes. In terms of marketing these natural lip balms and lotions, Clorox is trying to let its products speak for themselves because "sustainable practices yield sustainable results" -- which in this case, can mean growth and lots of it.

The final technique for leveraging Clorox in a sustainable market has been through its first new brand in 20 years -- Green Works natural cleaners. Concerning the "Around Me" environment, these products are described as "99% natural," biodegradable, not harmful to animal and aquatic life, non-allergenic, plant-based, and (deep breath) having transparent ingredients and recyclable packaging. According to a blind consumer test of Green Works cleaners against conventional cleaning products (some owned by Clorox as well), Green Works is reported to have performed as well as or better than the leading conventional cleaners. But I'm left to wonder, What exactly is in that 1% unnatural part of the cleaner, and is it harmful?
"This is a big deal for Clorox. We're the first major ... player to enter natural cleaning. What we hope to do is mainstream these products."

--Bill Morrissey, the Clorox Company In their attempt to mainstream these products, they twice had to delay launch to get it just right. Characterized as "powerful cleaning done naturally," Clorox is so convinced about the new Green Works brand that they have not only the Clorox logo on the label, but also U.S. EPA Design for the Environment accreditation for "environmentally preferable chemistry," and a vetting and endorsement by the Sierra Club, who also has their logo pasted on the label (although not without backlash from both its members and many other nonprofits for doing so).
So a bleach company is now in on the natural cleaners market; $6 million in the first three months in, in case you were wondering. But perhaps an even bigger surprise came during the Q & A session when Morrissey who -- unprompted -- started to protest that "bleach is a very sustainable product." I know my ears about fell off when he said that, and as he went on to explain further a simplified version of chlorine bleach's stain-fighting chemistry.

I applaud Clorox's efforts to clean a little greener, but if that means exposure to a chemical that "can cause irritation of the eyes, skin, respiratory and gastrointestinal tract" as well as "severe corrosive damage" to those areas when met with high doses, as the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry reported, I have to scratch my head in doubt. The words "can be fatal" on the side of a bleach jug just don't seem to jive with my (and I would think most people's) idea of a product being "more sustainable than everyone thinks." Perhaps he should have stuck to talking about Green Works instead of trying to make bleach sound green.

At least Morrissey did acknowledge the inherent unsustainability of Clorox's GLAD plastic baggie line. Well, we'll give 'em the benefit of a doubt. Maybe Clorox reuses them.

Source-Sustainable Business Conference
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/6/13/1438/13955

Is It Really Green?

From-Grist-The Environmental News Company

Laundry detergent made from flowers! Cars that don't pollute! Potato chips fried in organic oils! These days, everything seems to be marketed with an eco-spin -- even products that are notoriously bad for people and the planet. So are companies truly seeing the green light, or are they just greenwashing?

If green is the new black, then greenwashing -- the practice of putting an eco-friendly spin on a not-so-eco-friendly product or company -- is the new gray area.

Do you have to devote all your time to investigating every company's corporate record to figure out who's really making change and who's just talking a good game? Fortunately, no. Here are a few red flags to watch for, and a few tips for shopping smarter -- put them together, and you can feel more confident about choosing products that really make a difference.

Buyer Beware: Greenwashing's Red Flags

The official U.S. organic label
Vague claims. Words like "natural," "green," "eco," "nontoxic," and even "biodegradable" don't mean much on their own. They're easy to slap on a product, and they're not currently regulated. Look for more concrete terms like "organic" and "recycled," which are overseen more closely by the federal government and can be verified with a symbol on the package. (And note that "recyclable" just means you might be able to recycle the product in your community, while "recycled" actually means the company has already incorporated some amount of recycled materials in the product.)

Pretty packaging
More and more products, especially cosmetics and household cleaners, are adopting a "natural" look, eschewing the bright colors of old and replacing them with a cleaner, softer design. Is your laundry detergent really made from flowers, or has it simply added 1 percent flower oil to its chemicalicious mix? Read the ingredients to find out.

Nontransparency
If a company doesn't have the space on its product to explain its green claims, it should make the information available on its website or through its customer service department. Look for a phone number or web address on the package -- if you can't find it, or if it's hard to track down more details once you contact the company, there's something fishy going on.

Big promises. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Can you really make up for a year's worth of driving by paying a carbon-offset surcharge when you buy a car? Can a biodegradable diaper really biodegrade if it's smooshed into a deep, dark landfill? (Doubtful, and no.) Companies want to ease your mind with such promises -- but try not to make purchases based on emotions. Instead, learn as much as you can about the realities behind the claims.

Buyer Be Smart: How to Choose Eco-Wisely

Look for certification. There are a few trustworthy certifications out there that, while not perfect, are reliable. Use them as your guide. Look for the federal government's Energy Star designation (over to the left) on appliances and electronics; the USDA organic seal on food and cosmetics; Green Seal (and, in Canada, EcoLogo) on household cleaning products; and the Forest Stewardship Council logo on wood and paper products. (Beware of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative label, which was concocted by the timber lobby.)

Think about how you buy, not just what you buy
Green products can be great, but the choices you make when you buy any product can be just as important when it comes to lessening your impact. Some tips: buy in bulk to reduce individual packaging; when you buy a product or package that's recyclable, make sure it's actually recyclable in your area (and make sure to actually recycle it!); buy durables instead of disposables (things like rechargeable batteries and reusable mugs); and always think carefully about whether you really need the item in the first place.

Trust your gut
If a company is making green claims that seem counterintuitive, approach with caution. Car companies and oil companies are great examples of industries that are eager to convince the world they're "green," through ads with happy children or logos with puffy clouds -- but meanwhile, they keep manufacturing low-mileage vehicles and plunging ahead with damaging resource extraction. These are polluting industries, and it will take more than token gestures to clean up their act. While their green leanings should be encouraged, consumers shouldn't lose sight of the big picture.

Do your research
Sometimes you've got to make a decision while standing in the grocery aisle, but if you have time in advance or if you're considering a bigger purchase -- like a car, washing machine, or TV -- it pays to do some digging before going to the store. Sites like Consumer Reports' GreenerChoices.org, Greenercars.org, and the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) can help you make sense of manufacturers' claims on big-ticket items; the Environmental Working Group and Responsible Purchasing Network have helpful information on smaller items like cosmetics, cleaners, and food.

Sources:
This article originally mentioned a Today show appearance scheduled to happen on Tuesday, Jan. 29,

ServiceMaster Building Services of Wayne County
46036 Michigan Avenue
Canton, Michigan 48188
http://www.svmbuildingsrvs.com
734-328-3025

0 comments | Edit

Detroit Awardee of the ServiceMaster Clean Shane Battier Scholarhip

We are excited to share the news of our business first press release with our visitors at Merchant Circle and others. Read about how we started our ServiceMaster Clean franchise ServiceMaster Building Services in Canton, Michigan and our small connection with Professional Basketball Player and former Detroit Country Day High School Standout, Shane Battier.

You can read the article today at PR Log Press Release. Also, thanks for reading our blog postings.

Sincerely,
ServiceMaster Building Services