Every business, small or large, is or will shortly be a greenmedia* business. This is inevitable based upon two inexorable trends: sustainability and social media.

Sustainability. It makes no difference if you are in the green industry directly or not. Your clients or the clients of your clients are-and so you are tied-in with them. Perhaps your employees support a green initiative. Eventually, they or your customers, or politicians or community advocates will ask for your support. Just out of curiosity, look for plaques commending green efforts on the walls of your customers’ offices-they are appearing with greater frequency. It’s best to get onboard now. This makes goods sense from the perspective of personal environmental stewardship and, given the billions the government is spending in this area, will definitely help your bottom line.

Social Media. It’s growing at an increasingly rapid rate, as is its presence in marketing initiatives. “Media” encompasses your website, social media platforms including blogging, and even news releases. Even if your company doesn’t have or believe in traditional media, you must begin to engage in social media. It’s the new listening post; your competitors are engaged, and they know what the marketplace is saying about you. Want to continue to “touch” your customers? They are increasingly tuning out of traditional forms of communication.

*Note source: “Every Company Is A Media Company” is a post from Brook Ellingwood.

Sustainability and the trend to renewable resources and responsible use is not new. It is as old as another word that begins with “S” and that is stewardship. Stewardship is a profound respect for and awe of creation. Out of this comes the desire to sustain what is innately good. It is a good thing that sustainability is now being used as a driver for good business practices.

The opportunity and obligation to associate with green initiatives is well above my earlier assumptions. This was made clear to me when I interviewed customers of my client who is in the packaging industry. Here are some signals of how green is manifesting itself:

• The lobby of a very large company displayed a plaque honoring this company’s environmental efforts.
• The customer of a customer is in the music industry, which is highly focused on sustainability.
• A customer that replaces bulbs in specialized lighting considers itself in the recycling industry, and insists on environmentally friendly packaging.

What are the cues and triggers that point out to you that going green and supporting sustainability are valuable business opportunities, beyond just being the right thing to do?