For a few days now, a fellow we'll call Jim, was searching for a business to help market his products. Like so many other small business owners Jim was interested in the integrity and concern for environmental issues and his choice would be a marketing firm that expressed similar values. As Jim was part of a market that represented 25% of the general population you would think there would be quite a few firms expressing concern for how they give back to their community. But this is not the case.

Jim found plenty of firms that gave lip service to making improvements in the community, but he could only find one that stated facts and figures as to what they contribute toward a better world. And to find this company he had to scroll passed 30 entries for his search. This is unheard of for anyone to go this far down the list of sites, but what he was looking for was not up front in the listings.

The web shares information of all kinds but what it boils down to is that people look for social groups with similar value, and businesses look for business services and suppliers with similar value, and consumers look for retail businesses that share similar value.

Walmart, to a consumer, represents saving money on brand name goods. That's a popular value with growing families. Nordstrom represents exclusive quality to higher income buyers. And in terms of business to business relationships we are seeing a push toward "green" services and supplies. Values are changing and as a business owner we cannot assume that our market knows what we value the most.

A decade ago it would have been more difficult to market your products based on the values your business could share with its market, but today this is exactly what your market wants from your business web site. Ethical and 'green' business practices have become marketing strategies for big business regardless of any real value with government carbon offsets or bio-fuel incentives.

There may be reasons to be cynical about government programs and yet consumer markets have similar values for a greener environment that are, perhaps, more real and sustainable. Your business can be included by starting off with a 'green' web design. This is, in fact, the best way to start because there are real savings for your business and it means more than just talking the talk.

Sharing values with your clients is as natural as breathing. There are values in quality, safety, health, lowered costs and social connections that binds a business with its market. Sharing is what the web does, it is what social networks do, and it is the only way anything ever goes viral. Sharing stimulates growth on the web.

It seems that most of us like to share, and this is fortunate for all of us. Sharing opens new doors and promotes business, and sharing makes doing business more fun than work. Your market is happy when you share with them because you are the expert at what you make or the services you have developed. Otherwise how can your market learn the value of what you offer if you don't share?

Every month our personal involvement with the community is to put on a dinner to feed 250 homeless people. It is not a money donation only, we buy the food and prepare the meal. A small group of us contribute to the food cost of $500 per month and the volunteer time. This has been ongoing for 4 years and as long as the First United Mission needs our help it will be there. That's is the commitment as a small business owner.

What does it mean to have a "green" web design?
In a throwaway society a web template design works perfectly because it is low cost and completely disposable. As a virtual and digital product it doesn't sit in a garbage heap, but it does cost money for every new design being built. When you equate money to energy then the template design starts to show it's real impact on a green world. The alternative is a design structure that is flexible and reusable over and over. You would never know that a new web design made some adjustments to the structure without touching the contents and you have a whole new look and feel. For examples see…
CSS Zengarden

As a business
Web Psyche looks at ways to cut your costs by building proper business web sites. Proper? What does that mean?

The cheapest designs are never the best buy for your money. When you want your business web site to function in the marketplace there is a cost. The cheapest designs limit your marketing capabilities and become too expensive to fix and update.

Think of it as buying a new car and then being told you need brakes and a steering wheel, and to add them in it's going to mean taking the car apart to upgrade. You'd be furious because what good is a car without a steering wheel or brakes - but that is often the scenario a small business owner faces when buying the cheapest web design.

For this reason we like to educate small business owners that are committed to a long term web marketing strategy. Your web pages and your web design could do a lot more and cost you a lot less. You are paying too much for a web design that can't possibly reach your market for the following reasons:

1. Template design with limitations In this case "cheap" can be more expensive
2. Targeting common key words Trying to sell to everyone means selling to no one
3. Thin content Without useful content of interest no one hangs around
4. Advertising instead of marketing Marketing is the conversations you have with customers
5. Graphic pretentiousness A used car salesperson in a new suit doesn't fool anyone. And why would you want to fool with your market?

Our social consciousness is now at a place where most people would agree that life reflects our attitudes, and what comes back to us is often of our own making. This isn't a lesson in philosophy because if it's true in life then it becomes a business axiom as well, and the web is a perfect medium for linking through values.

Every business is unique because of the business owner. It is also true that the market shares the unique values expressed by a business. Web Psyche builds your website from beginning to end with a consistent focus on matching values between your market and your business.

Talk is cheap. In fact talking doesn't cost anything. So, go ahead and contact Web Psyche. E-mail is preferred for the initial contact for a bunch of reasons that suits scheduling and availability. As many small business owners already know, there are a number of hats to wear.

What prevents you from contacting Web Psyche?
Did you only want psycho-graphic marketing?
Do your needs include sophisticated programming?
Do you still think that good looks are more than enough?

E-MAIL LINK: