America's Most Sustainable Businesses

Fourth of July festivities may be toned down this year, but America still has reason to celebrate. According to the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations for 2009 America has more sustainable companies than any other nation on earth..

The G100 includes companies from 15 countries encompassing all sectors. They were evaluated according to how effectively they managed environmental, social and governance risks and opportunities relative to their industry peers. The results were determined by Corporate Knights Inc., and Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, their evaluation revealed that over the last year the US has jumped from second to first place and for the first time America has more companies in the top 100 than Germany and France combined.

From consumer goods to utilities here is a list of the twenty most sustainable businesses in America

Advanced Micro Devices
Information Technology

Alcoa Inc
Materials

Amazon.com Inc
Consumer Discretionary

Baxter International Inc
Health Care

Coca Cola Company
Consumer Staples

Dell Inc
Information Technology

Eastman Kodak Company
Consumer Discretionary

Genzyme Corp.
Health Care

Goldman Sachs Group Inc
Financials

Hewlett-Packard Company
Information Technology

Intel Corp.
Information Technology

Nike Inc
Consumer Discretionary

PG & E Corp.
Utilities

Pinnacle West Capital Corp.
Utilities

Procter & Gamble Company
Consumer Staples

Prologis
Financials

FPL Group Inc
Utilities

State Street Corp.
Financials

The Walt Disney Company
Consumer Discretionary

United Technologies Corp.
Industrials

These corporations are leading the way by showing the business community that sustainability is an increasingly integral component of successful free enterprise. And for every firm mentioned in this list of corporate giants there are thousands of small businesses assuming the mantle of environmental responsibility and stewarding the transition to a more sustainable economy.


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Small Business Guide to Social Media

Dell is a leader in social media and a good example of the trend towards increased corporate environmental stewardship. Like many other firms, Dell has been hit hard by the global recession. However, despite a halving of profits, Dell's commitment to the environment represents the kind of positioning that can help many companies to weather this historic downturn.

Dell's environmental programs, "conserve product energy consumption, reduce or eliminate materials for disposal, prolong product life span and provide effective and convenient equipment recovery solutions. By streamlining business steps and processes to be as efficient as possible, Dell helps minimize stress on the environment while achieving speed, responsiveness and cost savings that are passed along to customers."

Based on Dell's conversations with customers, they have created a series of social media guides. Each guide includes an overview of the approach, the opportunity, tips for getting started, examples of best practices and case studies.

1. Listening to customers, prospects and influencers is the foundation of all successful social media programs. By listening to online conversations happening in blogs, forums and social networks, you can bring the voices of your customers directly into your organizations.



Download the guide



2. Many people equate "PR" to "digital PR" or "digital influencer relations." While they are similar in many ways, there are some important nuances to consider. Most importantly, online conversations are much more direct and personal, requiring the highest level of transparency and candor.



Download the guide



3. Twitter is fairly new to the social media scene, but many companies have already found ways to use it for business, from announcing new products to helping out customers in need.



Download the guide



4. Crowdsourcing is the process of enabling your customers to play an active role in creating a new product or service, or in some cases, solving a business challenge for your company. Let's face it – our customers know what they want and need better than anyone.



Download the guide



5. Facebook is the fastest growing social network in the world with more than 100 million active members. Facebook offers a variety of solutions for small businesses to connect with customers and prospects more deeply and leverage the huge, viral potential of this community.



Download the guide



6. Photos and videos can engage customers and convey more about a company and its people, products and services than text alone. Today, new technologies and Web sites like Flickr and YouTube have made it easier than ever for businesses to produce and share multi-media content.



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7. It's important to understand how a social media program is performing against specific business objectives in order to maximize the impact and justify further investment. The beauty of social media is that it is highly measurable using tools like Google Analytics.



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By following these guides you can use social media to grow your businesses and better serve your customers.
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Next: Shortening Your Sales Cycle With Social Media / Twitter / Social Media and ROI


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