Page 345 - The Green Building Bottom Line The Real Cost of Sustainable Building

MARKETING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 323

■ Receive recognition from your community or your industry for your commitment
to green building.
■ Post quarterly or annual earnings.
■ Book one of your experts to speak at a meeting or be interviewed in the press.

MEDIA RELATIONS

A well-designed public relations plan includes media relations, or strategic outreach
to print, Web, radio, and TV media. The toolkit includes the basics: press releases, fact
sheets, and photography that illustrate your product or service. In keeping with your
green message, consider creating an electronic press kit and use the Internet for dis-
tribution whenever possible.
In designing Melaver, Inc.’s press materials, we have taken care to reflect the com-
pany’s green mission in how we deliver our news. News releases are distributed
online, and high-resolution photography is maintained on a website where media can
download the images they need (an FTP site—file transfer protocol—is the technol-
ogy we currently use). When we want to hand deliver materials, such as for media
attending a trade show, we create electronic press kits and store documents and images
on a “jump drive,” or USB-compatible memory stick. Not only do we conserve
resources, we also provide the media with a reusable tool.
In addition to traditional media relations (you write a press release, send it to an edi-
tor, and hope that it results in a story), you might have the credentials you need to
reach out to media in a collaborative fashion and establish someone on your team as
a subject matter expert—someone the media knows they can call upon to provide
insights or a quote on news or trends. Because green building is a new and develop-
ing field, media in your community or in your industry may be looking for people who
have experience and a story to tell.
Start by developing a bank of story ideas that can be marketed to media as
bylined articles (articles published under the byline of your subject matter expert).
To do this, gather editorial calendars for the publications that cover your organiza-
tion. You can typically find them online or get them from an advertising represen-
tative for the publication. Next, research trend information available from trade
organizations or from market research firms. If you are promoting a green building
project, the U.S. Green Building Council is a great resource. The organization
tracks national trends, and your local chapter may also have information about
trends in your area.
Once you have an idea of what is being written about and the trends that will con-
tribute to future news, combine that information with what you know to be your
expert’s core competency. Ideally, you will emerge with something to say that should
be compelling enough to get an editor’s attention. Put it in the form of a letter to the
editor who handles the publication or the section of the publication you’re targeting,
and write persuasively about your subject matter expert’s unique perspective. A well-