In my next few posts, I'll be walking you through how to build a profitable website that can be green as well as promote your green business, endeavor, networking group, or opportunity.

What we've found at my web development company is that many people who are thinking of creating a website realize that they first need to organize their own content, such as their products list or line item of services, their mission, vision, and values, their contact information, and their about page.

We've found that planning to create a website actually helps you plan out your own business model.

Recently, we've been utilizing Drupal as a content management system. There are five main reasons we recommend this tool:

1) There are hundreds of available, free modules that have been developed by the Drupal community for you to use

2) It is free and open source to download

3) There are many ways to make this web tools fit your particular needs, depending on what you are promoting or selling

4) The balance of power for your niche market will tip in your favor with a  the search engine optimization inherent in Drupal (do a search for "successful woman" or "green business women" and you'll find my two community sites)

5) There is a learning curve, but once you pass it, you are able to do unlimited options on your site

Examples of ways to integrate Drupal functionality into your site include: 

• Photo albums
  
• Calendar of Events with RSVP
  
• Announcements
  
• Member listings
  
• Trouble tickets
  
• Job board
  
• Private messaging
  
• Member-created groups around topical or industry areas
  
• Mapping through Google Maps, such as creating a map of available properties in an area, or creating a user map of local network members
  
•  Blogs
  
• Forums/discussion boards
  
• "Friendslists"
  
• Facebook-style "wall" functionality
  
• User points for participation
  
• Comments, reviews, and star ratings 
  
• E-commerce

and the list goes on.

If you are interested in some of the capacity of Drupal, I invite you to review my slideshow with some samples.

http://www.slideshare.net/monicadear/samples-of-drupal-functionality-sm

Consider what would be beneficial in developing a member community around your particular niche interest. For example, you could allow participation for free but users who want additional access to members-only items must pay an additional fee. Or, you may offer micropayments for access to some functionality: a user may have to purchase "credit" with you in order to participate in some section of the site.

The sky is the limit with this powerful tool.

Social Networking for Women in Business, 136 pages of tips on managing your social media.

Use discount code begreengirl to download the e-version for $5.99: all major credit cards accepted.


Monica S. Flores @monicadear is committed to educating, empowering, and connecting women in business. She is available for consulting on web development through 10K Webdesign. She believes in the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profits. 

I'm now in my 6th year of business and my 10th year of developing websites through my company. Here are 5 ways you can make the most of your website budget:

1) Go with an open source tool.

Drupal, Joomla!, and Wordpress are all excellent tools with different capabilities. If you need a website, I highly recommend you go with one of these solutions, depending on the level of complexity you need, how much time you can spend on maintenance, and your organization's internal technological capacity. By using open source, you have access to a wide range of programmers, custom themers, and designers who know exactly what kinds of specifications you need.

2) Focus on content.

Your website grows best through organic search, which corresponds directly to the type, frequency, and quality of content you post. Focus on providing quality content, and your website traffic will come. As you grow, then you can invest more and more into visitor signin, additional functionality for logged-in members, and the like.

3) Ask for help if you need it.

You need help doing certain things, especially since most "regular people" create a website once or twice in their life but a web designer or web developer does it all day, every day. Tell a web developer your budget and see if they can come up with alternatives based on what you need.

4) Prioritize.

All of us would like to wave a magic wand and have a complete marketing tool/blog/social networking situation set up in one day. However, effective  website development (meaning, a site that generates income, an audience, or a set of users for you) takes time, care, attention, and an understanding of your own priorities.

Your priorities list can be broken up into "A-level" (which is a must-have), vs. "B-level" (nice to have) and "C-level" (would like to implement later on). Focus on getting your A-level items installed, then work on the remaining items as you build up your guest and user list. 

5) Develop a relationship.

You want to succeed, and your web resource person wants to succeed. Find a way to work together. For example, through my company we've done bartering, membership groups, pro bono work, sponsorship, advertising, referral discounts, coupons, and partnering to get websites delivered for clients we care about. If our clients do well, we do well: so we do our very best to come up with longer-range solutions and to think about potential mines and booby traps down the road.

Consider if the price you've negotiated will get you expert-level work and will allow your web resource person to continue to be available to support your business/organization in a year, two years,  or five years from now. When you develop a relationship, you have an ongoing resource partner who can act as a valued business advisor and will keep you ahead of web and technology trends.

 Next month, I'm offering a web-based class on "Drupal and Social Media for Nonprofit organizations". If you are interested in this powerful, open-source tool and want to make the most of your website budget, i invite you to learn more. Fees and availability online:http://www.10kgroup.com/drupalcourse.php

Social Networking for Women in Business, 136 pages of tips on managing your social media.

Use discount code begreengirl to download the e-version for $5.99: all major credit cards accepted.

Only 250 copies available at this price.

Monica S. Flores @monicadear is committed to educating, empowering, and connecting women in business. She is available for consulting on web development through 10K Webdesign. She believes in the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profits. 

• For example, have you really reduced your solid waste this past year? If so, by how much?
• Do you know how much electricity you use each month? If so, do you know 10 ways to reduce your usage?
• If you drive, what kind of gas mileage do you get? What's your plan for increasing public transportation and carpooling?

For example, in our profit and loss this past year for my company:

Our printing costs have gone down to $0. Yes, that's right: we no longer print ads, forms, papers, coupons, addresses, or notices -- we're going paperless and as part of being a green company, we encourage our clients and vendors to do the same.

   The principals no longer travel as much as we used to: we've cut our travel costs down to 10% of the former budget (from $3264 to $356). Now we have much more reliance on phone calls, Skype, WebEx, Gotomeeting, and other methods of collaborative meetings. It's not as easy, but it is in keeping with our desire to reduce our gasoline usage.

The company cut down on postal service by clearing out one of the physical mailboxes: postage and
delivery costs a year ago were $1072 and now they're $237. By moving everything to e-delivery and focusing on a
digital mailbox (which scans our snail mail and sends us an e-mail copy), we're reducing our paper usage.

Going green can give you a real savings in the pocketbook but most importantly it helps you understand how your physical actions contribute to waste, inefficiency, and overall trashing of our planet. Let's take a stand this year and focus on two or three areas where we promise to reduce our overall expenses --- and our footprint.

If we're really going to go green, let's come up with a statement of what that means to you, your business, your organization, and your household. It's good to say "I like going green" and "it's cool to be sustainable": now let's talk about the how.

Walk your talk, and talk your walk, and let's discuss more about creating and supporting sustainable, green businesses.

Social Networking for Women in Business, 136 pages of tips on managing your social media.

Use discount code begreengirl to download the e-version for $5.99: all major credit cards accepted.

Only 250 copies available at this price.

Monica S. Flores @monicadear is committed to educating, empowering, and connecting women in business. She is available for consulting on web development through 10K Webdesign. She believes in the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profits. 

The beauty of our marketplace today is we can always find a green option, even for items that we wouldn't think have a LOHAS or sustainable or eco-friendly option.

Here are top ten things that I think you, as another "green girl", will want to know. Give yourself one point for each item you know already!  

1) What day is recycling pickup for the office/building/neighborhood? http://www.google.com/search?&q=recycling+center

2) Where your reusable shopping bag is at all times, ready to use for produce, groceries, or a quick trip to the farmer's market: http://www.520-nm.com

3) A supply for 100% post-consumer-waste printing paper: http://www.buygreen.com/newleafencore100.aspx (better yet, you're going totally paperless)

4) How much the electric bill is and what steps to take to reduce ithttp://www.smartmoney.com/spending/deals/13-simple-ways-to-lower-your-electric-bill-22933/

5) How to go more green by bringing your own cup or mug to the local café: http://greencafenetwork.org/category/cafes/ (you would be amazed at how many single-use coffee cups litter our landfills)

6) Where to find other green businesswomen in your industry: http://greenbusinesswomen.com/?q=directory (post a free listing here and access great members-only discounts ---- share your own promotions with our members, too)

7) The best ways to meet online instead of meeting in person: 

WebEx http://www.webex.com and GoToMeeting http://www.gotomeeting.com and Skype http://www.skype.com for phone calls.

8) What kind of compostable, biodegradable utensils to offer at the next company event: http://worldcentric.org/biocompostables/utensils

9) Company policy on working from home, telecommuting and remote access:http://greenbusinesswomen.com/?q=content/offering-telecommuting-and-work-home-options

10) Where to get ethically-sourced, sustainable gifts to support women in developing countries: (my favorite is http://www.bridgeforafrica.org), where to get recycled, handmade products nearby http://www.etsy.com/search_results.php?search_type=handmade&search_query=recycled or where to get luxury sustainable jewelry http://www.sulusso.com

Do you have any other items to add? @monicadear

So how did you score?

8-10 points == you'd be a great fit  as a Green Girl Guru, consider sharing your knowledge as an author here!

4-7 points == Good going... increase your ability to practice sustainable options by reading this blog on a regular basis

0-3 points == It's a start. Let's learn and share together: Bookmark http://www.thegreengirls.com

 Social Networking for Women in Business, 136 pages of tips on managing your social media.

Use discount code begreengirl to download the e-version for $5.99: all major credit cards accepted.

Only 250 copies available at this price. Learn more...

Monica S. Flores is committed to educating, empowering, and connecting women in business. She is available for consulting on web development through 10K Webdesign. She believes in the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profits. 

I've been keeping goal lists since high school, and I've been continuously tracking how they come true. What I've found is that your goals tend to come true when:

• You believe they are achievable 
  
• You singlemindedly focus on them
  
• You commit to your own success and your own vision of what success looks like to you
  

 How I focus on my goals is by using a visionboard and displaying images and phrases that match what I want. I've put those visionboard pages together using a simple presentation software. For my own use, I've also put together music that matches the mood of the presentation.

Here is a PDF version from my visionboard. If you find it interesting (and indeed, it is only extremely interesting to me, as it totally reflects my own personal, individual self -- your visionboard will be very interesting to you) I recommend you create your own visionboard.

In terms of a green business, you can create a separate visionboard for your business, or you can internalize your business practice through your visionboard and create external systems and processes that match your internal beliefs, mission, vision, and values. 

Questions to get you started on the visionboarding process:

1) What do I want?

2) Where am I today?

3) What do I see myself doing in 5 or 10 years?

4) What makes me happy?

5) What brings me joy?

6) If I had a day totally for myself, what does the schedule include? Where is it? Who is with me? What do I do on my special day?

7) Where do I feel most productive?

8) Who are the people that make me feel good?

9) When am I most at peace?

10) Why am I here? What is my purpose?

To consider as you're writing your statements and creating your visionboard.

• Truly believe in what you post 
  
• Create statements in the present tense 
  
• Put a timeline on ideas you want to achieve faster 
  
• Your external reality is almost always based on your internal belief system 
  
• To change your external world, you first change your internal world
  

If you'd like to see the full visionboard, I have it on Slideshare.net.