I tend to consult with companies I like. As in I'd do business with them as a customer. Recommend them to friends. Respect what they represent. It's why when I recently worked with Ode Magazine, more then 50% of the blogs I contacted chose to write about them, with great enthusiasm, two even inviting me to write my own content on their sites. My genuine affinity with the businesses I choose to consult with generates better quality results.
Energy Circle, my most recent client, is a home energy efficiency focused business who knows well how to effectively use social media. They are a business I want you to get to know better. Not because they're my client, but because more than likely, they have several ways they can directly benefit you and those in your life, and in doing so, make a collective impact that is substantial. Their business model and how they execute may also be a source of inspiration for your own business.
Energy Circle is an ally to those seeking to make their home more energy efficient, and professionals helping people do it. During a time of constrained budgets, from personal to institutional, with a president actively in support of green collar jobs, particularly in terms of home energy efficiency, Energy Circle is a a case of right timing, with a compelling offer.
Solar and other renewables get a lot of press, but the smartest way to green your home is by starting with energy efficiency. Energy Circle is an excellent, assured, friendly resource for anybody to do it. Whereas Google's Powermeter and other technology is still in the works, they've got many "right now" solutions available, including this quick, ongoing, useful article demystifying how and who to go with for home energy audits. In a nod to the wisdom of their audience, they encourage them to continue filling in the blanks. And it's working.
In a wise business move, they smartly don't lead with green, they start with being money saving and energy efficient, something most anybody can agree on. EnergyCircle is made up of people who were much like those they serve - trying to make sense of how best to make their home more energy efficient. Now they show you how to do it, with the appropriate tools/components to do it right.
Plenty of sites/stores cater to the more hardcore DIY types/professionals, but few even try to reach out to your everyday person - The ones that, collectively, will make a much bigger impact, in energy reduction, smart use of materials when remodeling, and the broader awareness that comes when they talk about it to their friends.
They make quite effective use of social media tools, an active, nuanced participant on Twitter. Their three blogs take a logical progression: the first steps you through the basics, as in insulation and home energy audits. The second keeps you up on the latest news and developments in home energy efficiency, like the Aube Telephone Thermostat, a tool that allows you to change your thermostat by phone. Then the third is where real people get to share their stories, expertise, tips, mishaps.
Finally, rather than leading with their store, it's the last, extensive option.
One of their favorite products is emblematic of their philosophy of how to make your house energy efficient: The Energy Detective. As they put it, it's "a real-time home electricity monitor that is the equivalent of a digital stethoscope." When you're aware of your usage patterns and which thing uses how much, you can then make smarter choices, a knowledgeable base to start from. Rather then being merely a cool concept gadget to be released someday, it's here, right now, making an impact in today's world. This video on installing it makes even someone as tool foolish as me want to do it:
Their use of video is something to study as a business. Done with a light, assured touch, they make making your house a healthier, more affordable place to live a much less intimidating process.
Readers: What other businesses have you seen effectively integrating social media into their model? Where else have you seen the arcane made common sense? Do you have any feedback for Energy Circle as a consumer or business owner?
Paul Smith is a sustainable business innovator, the founder of GreenSmith Consulting, blogs weekly on green start ups of note at Triple Pundit and has an MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco. He creates interest in, conversations about, and business for green (and greening) companies, via social media marketing.
