I’m not sure exactly when I realised that so much in life revolves around consuming, but since this realisation occurred to me, its a dilemma I simply cannot resolve.

As someone who worries a great deal about the future of the planet, I know that much of the trouble we find ourselves in has to do with our relentless consumption of goods. Producing anything requires precious resources. Like many, I was horrified to discover that creating a single pair of jeans uses thousands of litres of water. I have bought more pairs of jeans in my lifetime than I care to admit.

It gets worse because I make my living through marketing. Which means I spend a lot of time crafting communication for the purpose of selling things to people, either a product or a service.

And with the money I earn — I consume more. I confess: I’m someone who enjoys a bit of ‘retail therapy’ as a leisure activity. New clothes, shoes, DVDs, books, etc etc. Big stuff too; I dream about buying cars all the time. I’ve come to realise that simply buying something — whether it’s a kitchen doodad or a new hat — gives me pleasure. 

And after a lifetime of consuming, I now have so much clothing, for one, that I couldn’t possibly wear it all out. Admittedly, some of these I’ve owned for a great many years, but still… I own so many shoes I actually forget to wear them! I could get away with three pairs but I have triple that number… or more. I don’t know — I forget!

And this craziness has only gotten weirder with the onset of Covid-19. Now that I’m self-employed and working from home, I need these things even less. I barely leave the house, so why do I need so many shoes? I could live in flip-flops and nobody would care. Well, perhaps my wife would… on our occasional trip to a restaurant. 

How has it got to the point where so much of our life is spent earning money, only to endeavour at every turn to find ways to spend it? We know consumption is bad for our bank balances… and our planet. But we do it anyway.

It is a dilemma I would love to have the answer to. I would love to know the cure. Is it Eastern mysticism? Zen? Simple discipline? If so, I’m failing miserably at it. On so many occasions I’ve said to myself (especially after a shopping spree) that THIS is the last item of clothing I will buy.

Only to find myself once again roaming the endless corridors of some mall, just popping in to see what new goodies are on offer from Levi’s or Vans (my favourite clothing brands).

Caught out once again by the relentless desire to consume!

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is one of these things that so many know about but aren’t sure exactly how it works. 

While there is much you can do to your website to help search engine crawlers, quality content is what will build your brand and promote engagement. Why? Because you’re talking to people, not machines.  

You can’t fake quality

People find your site or page because they’re looking for answers, i.e., quality information that is presented in readily-digestible format. Google and other search engines are wise to tricks and shortcuts that people use to optimise their pages. Quality content, however, is always given the green light and, most importantly, appreciated by visitors.

If you provide original and interesting content, easily absorbed and understood, visitors will stick around. They may even come back for more and tell their friends. Why? Because you’ve delivered content they value.

SEO checklist

1. Good content is easy to read and understand. Write for the average person – no-one cares about how smart you think you are.
2. Deliver content to help people achieve a goal or solve a problem.
3. Make sure grammar and spelling is good to go. This is where professional SEO writers make all the difference. We’ll create an article that is easy to read, interesting and presents your company in the best light.
4. Ensure you have the right amount of key words that blend in beautifully.
5. Use short paragraphs (1 to 4 sentences) and sub-headers – avoid big blocks of text.
6. Let your headings tell a story. People scan a body of copy before they read it. So make sure they get the gist of the story through the headlines.
7. Use pattern interrupts – tools that keep your readers engaged, i.e., short videos, numbered lists, bullet points, etc.
8. High-quality content is king! It doesn’t matter how much you optimise your page if the content is low quality.

Optimising a page – key tips

1. Key word placement – your key word should be in the URL, title, first sentence and sprinkled a few times throughout the content but not ‘stuffed’ to the extent that it makes the content poorer for it.
2. Key word variations – use Google’s suggested results to find key word variations to place within your content and headings
3. Page-loading – make sure your pages load quickly and easily and are optimised for mobile phones.
4. Link out to trustworthy sources.
5. Hire a professional writer! A real professional will deliver a well-researched, beautifully crafted piece of content that will draw the visits you desire.

If you need quality content for your blogs, newsletters, social media or website, I’d love to assist. Contact me on croziermark@gmail.com.

I came across an article in the New York Times recently about a new cosmetics brand called Thrive Causemetics. 

Started by a young woman, Thrive is giving some heavyweight brands in this heavily-contested category a run for their money. What’s their differentiator? Well, they’re not only vegan and cruelty-free but they donate heavily to causes they care about, hence the Causemetics part. 

It’s a big part of why they’ve quickly become wildly popular among millennials (Thrive has 830,000 Instagram followers, as opposed to just over 150,000 for L’Oreal USA).

Buckets of dough

We’re not talking about pennies either, but serious buckets of dough. The owner — 34-year-old Karissa Bodnar — says her goal is to donate $1 billion. OK, so far she’s only managed a mere $125 million, but still, give her time — she’s only 34! The causes they favour are listed on their website and include things like cancer, homelessness & poverty, under-resourced youth, veterans, education and other things you really can’t find fault with.  

The question is, why aren’t other companies doing this? There are very few with such a worthy brand profile; possibly only Patagonia springs to mind. Patagonia is iconic in this space because they’ve done it longer than anyone and are now essentially on a single-minded mission not to make money but to fight climate change. 

People before profits

Founder, owner and all-round environmental guru, Yvon Chouinard, made headlines not long ago after he donated the whole company to the cause. This means the entities he set up — the Patagonia Purpose Trust and The Holdfast Collective — now control the company. The Holdfast Collective is a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting the environmental crisis.

Sounds very hippie-like and a bit crazy but Patagonia is one of the most premium brands in the multi-billion dollar outdoor lifestyle industry. And they’ve been working with this mindset since their founding in 1972. This latest move is just a manifestation of Chouinard’s original vision: “To have a for-profit business that works for the planet.”

1% for the planet

Since 1985, Patagonia, Inc., has committed 1% of its total sales to environmental groups (estimates place their donations to date at $85 million) and they’ve been active on climate change for decades. 

Hasn’t hurt their sales model any either… Patagonia as a global brand is estimated to be worth $3 billion with annual sales of over $1 billion.

The bottom line is doing good for others as part of your business model is never a bad move for your brand. It just doesn’t have a downside (charitable donations are also tax deductible). So why don’t more companies do it? 

I stand to be corrected but as far as I’m aware no South African businesses follow this model. I’m not talking about CSI programmes, which many of them DO have (or claim they do). I’m talking about donating a percentage of every sale they make. 

Clearly, the idea of giving money away for nothing is anathema to many business people. But they need to understand that customers LOVE the idea that the money they spend with a brand is also doing good in the community. 

End to buyer’s guilt

When you buy from a company with a strong philanthropic attitude, it helps alleviate the ‘buyer’s guilt’ we all suffer from and fills you with warm fuzzies. It’s also a superb way for brands to differentiate themselves. Of course, the product has to be good too — you can’t have one without the other. It doesn’t matter how big your heart is, if your product or service isn’t great, you’re not going to make it as a business.

But if you DO have a good product and you start just giving away a percentage of those handsome profits to worthy causes, you’ll immediately stand out in the marketplace. You’ll be heralded for it EVERY time your business is mentioned. You can spends millions on PR and never achieve that kind of impact. 

Isn’t that reason enough to go for it?

You can read more about Thrive Causemetics’ business model here: https://thrivecausemetics.com/pages/how-we-give