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Make The World Better Magazine

ShareWares: Taking the Single-Use Out of Take-Out

Getting take-out from our favourite restaurants has been a convenient advent of modern dining, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, environmental considerations are often sacrificed with the single-use package waste of these take-out meals. 

ShareWares tackles this problem head-on by taking single-use package waste out of the equation. We chatted with CEO Cody Irwin about ShareWares’ mission and goals, and what makes this company unique.

ShareWares scannable mug display.

Tell us about ShareWares’ mission. 

We supply, collect, and sanitize reusable packaging for Vancouver businesses. Our closed-loop reuse services help businesses make sustainable buying decisions by replacing single-use products with reusables. 

We care about the environment and people, and we believe working together as a community is the key to creating an extraordinary positive impact.

Our mission is to keep plastic pollution out of our oceans and terrestrial habitats by disrupting the single-use status quo. We are working hard to end the global plastic waste crisis by developing an innovative platform that offers businesses and cities the most convenient and easily adoptable reusable packaging solution.

What inspired your founders to start ShareWares? 

ShareWares is a phoenix born out of the “fires” of the pandemic. Our pre-COVID-19 business, Natural Source, which helped companies manage their in-office kitchen programs, took a nosedive when offices closed. We dropped 98% in four days. However, as devastating as this was, it turned out to be an opportunity of a lifetime! 

We pivoted hard and took a deep dive into the circular economy. The “take,” “make,” “waste” linear economy is unsustainable, and a transition to circularity is the only way to ensure we don’t deplete all our resources and destroy our planet. 

With the absolute best team of humans we could ever wish to work with and the support of the Canadian government’s emergency COVID-19 subsidies to keep us in business, we were able to create a game-changing business that has the potential for global environmental and social impact. 

What were some of the challenges you encountered? 

The plastic pollution crisis is very real and very big. We feel privileged to be able to work on one of the most challenging topics the world is facing. Like with any startup carving out a new industry, there are loads of challenges and obstacles, but we think it would be most helpful to highlight just one. 

Circular economy policies and funding in Canada are not a priority (yet) for the federal government when compared to what’s happening in Northern European countries. 

The awareness and support from all levels of government are critical for new circular businesses to start and scale up, as well as to incentivize existing businesses and the community to make more sustainable choices.

What do you consider ShareWares’ biggest success? 

Our biggest success to date as an organization was to stay resilient, adapt, see opportunity, and launch an innovative new business during the pandemic. 

We achieved this with the help of a wonderfully supportive team that we are so grateful for, COVID subsidies (thank you, Canada!), and the amazing team at the Vancouver Mural Festival who were excited to offer ShareWares’ reusable cups at their 30+ events in August. We are very excited for the months to come as we launch reusables for more businesses and industries.

What makes your organization unique? 

What makes ShareWares truly unique is that we didn’t have to start at zero. Since we were pivoting an existing business, we didn’t have to spend years building a team, finding a facility, buying vehicles, onboarding software, and pretty much everything else required to build the infrastructure for a scaled business. We were so fortunate to jump right into the fun stuff that will allow us to really accelerate out of the pandemic.  

What is this “fun stuff?” It includes sourcing and testing existing reusables, designing new reusable products, developing relationships with other local circular businesses, forming local infrastructure partnerships to help with quick future growth, building out multiple revenue streams, building a washing facility dedicated to reusables, and working with brilliant BCIT students to build a guide for creating high-value, fulfilling jobs for people with barriers to employment. That’s just some of the fun stuff we have been getting up to this past year.

Open ShareWares mug with breakfast.

How do you feel ShareWares makes the world better?

ShareWares, along with many circular businesses, will make the world better through the power of the circular economy. 

Circularity empowers businesses and communities to achieve truly exceptional environmental and social progress through avenues such as fortifying local economies, influencing producers locally and abroad, creating inclusive, high-value, fulfilling jobs, and creating resilient economies. We are extremely excited to get out there and fight in this revolution. 

One exercise I did that I thought was really insightful was mapping the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on ShareWares’ value chain at a scale. Through the power of the circular economy we can address 16 of the 17 SDGs. I think that is pretty darn cool.

Tell us about your organization’s goals. 

Well, circularity is uncharted waters and a virtually untapped market, so my brain goes wild with all the opportunities and areas ShareWares can play in to create impact. 

That being said, our main goal is to build an advanced automated washing facility to act as a new utility for future circular cities. This facility will not only wash and sanitize the wares we supply, but will also support other business so we can achieve a capacity of rapidly processing over one million units each day. 

Growing up, I spent a lot of time hand washing dishes at my dad’s guest ranch, and I would have been shocked to see my future self so excited for a career in dishwashing. It’s funny to say that I don’t think you will ever find someone more pumped to wash your dishes.

Are there any upcoming initiatives or projects you’d like to share? 

We are jazzed to work on several fun projects, but things are quite dynamic now, so we aren’t sure which ones will get the green light. I guess all I can say is that we hope you all “stay tuned,” as there are many exciting projects coming down the pipeline!

ShareWares cup at festival.

What do you most want people to know about ShareWares? 

I believe we are on to something really big, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect. 

The pandemic has set the stage for a transition to a circular economy, as people are noticing and becoming aware of the excessive single-use garbage generated over the course of the pandemic. 

Our current trajectory isn’t sustainable, and now is an ideal time to reevaluate and reset. Humanity has all the technology and expertise to make this happen, and ShareWares is so fortunate to be at the cutting edge. 

We have discussed our plans with numerous experts from dozens of industries, and so far, we haven’t had any doubters. We even got a “you are blowing my mind,” which was super nice to hear. 

We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but in theory, we have modeled the game-changer that could expedite a transition to large-scale citywide reuse programs. Fingers crossed!

How can people help or contribute to ShareWares’ mission?

Rebel. Rebel against single-use. Rebel with any reuse and circular business you can find. Use your hard-earned cash to make purchasing decisions to influence retailers, manufacturers, governments, and the people around you to go reusable. 

The current recycling and compost systems for packaging that have been in development for decades are not getting us close to where we need to be for a sustainable future. A transition to reuse is an immediate and effective way to make leaps in waste diversion and climate change. 

Remember, none of this is your fault. Humanity got caught in a runaway train of convenience. The good news is that now we see how bad it has gotten, we know we need to fix it, and there is a solution. 

Technology can make reuse convenient so let’s get going! Help your community and your planet by rebelling against the system that is designed to offer you only unsustainable options.

Furthermore, we would love your support in getting some conversation going with us on Instagram and LinkedIn to build up some groundswell. Social media is a powerful influencer, and we need your help to keep the circular chatter growing. 

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Raising the Roof: Building Lasting Solutions to Homelessness

The cycle of poverty can be difficult to break. It’s not just about being homeless, though that’s a major consideration. It’s also about being able to enter or re-enter the workforce, and having the skills to do so.

Raising the Roof considers the full picture of homelessness and comes up with concrete, long-term solutions with proven results. We chatted with Director of Resource Development and Communications Leslie Bellingham about Raising the Roof.

MTWB - Raising the Roof

Tell us about Raising the Roof’s mission. 

Raising the Roof provides national leadership on long-term solutions to homelessness through partnership and collaboration with diverse stakeholders, investment in local communities, and public education. 

Our vision is for all Canadians to have access to a safe, stable home and the support they need to achieve their potential.

What inspired your founders to start Raising the Roof? 

Raising the Roof was launched in 1996 by members of the Canadian Non-Profit Housing Foundation. The goal was to create a national charity dedicated to finding long-term solutions to homelessness. After receiving a grant from the McConnell Foundation, our team set up shop in an old warehouse in Toronto’s east end. 

Raising the Roof launched its first major fundraising campaign to help the homeless. Based in Toronto, the campaign featured a week of comedy events, public education activities, and a gala featuring entertainers. The shows, which later expanded to Halifax and Vancouver, continued to raise funds and awareness for the next 15 years. 

In addition, the campaign raised enough money to benefit the Toronto homeless community, help us expand across the country, and introduce our now-famous Toque Tuesday, where toque hats were sold throughout Toronto. 

Over the years, Raising the Roof has initiated several high impact public education campaigns and research projects which are informing national policy today, as well as several innovative pilot projects. 

Today, we have completed two housing projects in our Reside program, resulting in vacant properties being transformed into homes for people at risk of homelessness, and training people with significant barriers to employment to go on to futures in construction.

What were some of the challenges you encountered? 

Raising the Roof has always been about homelessness prevention, which includes our own research and pilot projects. There have been challenges associated with researching the causes of homelessness and ways to prevent it, as well as piloting new, untested, innovative prevention measures.

We have also been an organization that brings together diverse people, organizations, and stakeholders. This has had its own set of challenges, especially as a national organization, learning about unique geographic, cultural, social, and demographic issues across the country.

In every community we are a part of, we have prioritized listening to the local community members who know the needs and resources available in that community.

COVID-19 has also produced some challenges. One way was that the funds raised for the homelessness prevention initiatives were mainly raised through in-person events pre-COVID, so we needed to pivot. 

We are looking to reinstate many of these events in a modified fashion this year, but we have also added new distribution channels for our toque sales, distribution through Home Depot stores Canada-wide this coming Toque Campaign.

What do you consider Raising the Roof’s biggest success? 

While we’re very proud of our pilot programs and research, our biggest success is our Reside program. The initial projects proved to be so effective, we put all of our resources toward it and have helped end the cycle of poverty for trainees, teaching them hands-on skills and compensating them for their work. 

Eighty-five percent of the 147 trainees have obtained permanent full-time employment in the trades after completion of the program.

Raising the Roof not only provides job opportunities, but support for trainees, including mental health counselling, parenting classes, social workers assistance, and financial management courses. 

Past Reside program trainee, Edward, has a stable, way-paying career in construction, says his mental health and housing security has improved, and he’s saving to purchase a home.

In terms of the housing projects that the Reside program works on, one of our most recent successes was a renovation that is now currently rented to two young Black women who were previously living in a temporary, emergency youth shelter. Because of the quiet, space and stability, the women are able to pursue their educational goals. 

Not only that, the project created 6,000 hours of paid training and saw nearly 87% of trainees go on to unionized apprenticeship programs or full time careers in the construction sector.

What makes your organization unique? 

Raising the Roof is unique in that we are concerned primarily with prevention and long-term solutions to homelessness at a national scale. With our Reside program, we are implementing a holistic solution that not only meets immediate needs, but addresses important root causes of homelessness. 

Because we have an existing national network of agencies that we support through our Toque Campaign, we are in a unique position to be able to implement the Reside program across the country.

How do you feel Raising the Roof makes the world better? 

Raising the Roof makes the world better by connecting people and organizations through projects that solve complex social issues in a holistic manner. The Canadian Observatory on Homelessness has estimated the average cost of an emergency shelter bed is $1,932 per month. 

Over 20 years, the cost of one shelter bed would be $463,680. One of our next projects (in Winnipeg), will be creating 10 beds. By investing in this issue now, Canada can save millions of dollars by tackling the issue at the root cause, while also preventing homelessness through careers in the trades.

MTWB- Raising the roof

Tell us about your organization’s goals. 

In 2016, there were 1.34 million empty and temporarily occupied homes in Canada. At the same time, 235,000 Canadians experience homelessness each year. This presents an enormous opportunity for housing and hands-on training for thousands of people at risk of homelessness.

There is also an opportunity for green buildings, improving skills training of trainees, and ensuring long-term sustainability and affordability of the homes. We work with sustainability consultants to implement innovative GHG emission reduction measures that greatly exceed National Energy Code for Buildings efficiency standards, commission detailed energy models, and implement leading edge efficiency technologies.

We plan to take our Reside program and expand it to new communities across Canada. With projects located in six cities across three provinces, we have the potential to provide housing stability, income stability, and family support to over 450 people. With the projects we have in the current pipeline, we create sustainable, affordable housing for over 50 families and training opportunities for over 300 people.

Are there any upcoming initiatives or projects you’d like to share? 

Here are three of our upcoming projects:

Winnipeg:

  • Housing: Renovation of a vacant property into three affordable homes made available to Indigenous families who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of homelessness, and youth aging out of care. North End Community Renewal Corporation and FearlessR2W (an Indigenous organization dedicated to keeping families together and children out of care) will provide property management and individualized, ongoing wraparound support to the tenants.
  • Employment: More than 35 people with barriers to employment, mainly Indigenous people, but also newcomers to Canada, people with disabilities, previous incarceration and other barriers, will be employed by Purpose Construction. 
  • Timeline: Construction to begin in December 2021 with the goal of completing training and achieving occupancy by September 2022. 

Orillia:

  • Housing: Forty residential units, including 24+ units made available at affordable rates, specifically for women and children fleeing domestic violence, in cooperation with the Lighthouse and Redwood Park Communities. 
  • Employment: More than 70 people with barriers to employment will gain hands-on training and employment opportunities by finishing units and providing general labour support through the Community Builders Construction Training Program. 
  • Timeline: Construction to begin in November 2022 and first tenant occupancy by October 2023. 

Sudbury: 

  • Housing: Renovation of five vacant single-family houses into 10+ units of affordable housing, with supports for 25+ individuals and families experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of homelessness.
  • Employment: Projects will help launch a new social enterprise contractor, Community Builders North. Through the renovation of these five properties, 30+ people with barriers to employment, mainly youth under 25, many of whom are Indigenous, will receive hands-on training, wraparound support, and connection to local employers.
  • Timeline: Construction to begin in December 2021 with the goal of completing training and achieving occupancy at the first property by August 2022, and achieving occupancy at the fifth property by December 2024.
MTWB - Raising the Roof

What do you most want people to know about Raising the Roof? 

That we are focused on prevention and long-term solutions for homelessness. Our famous Toque Campaign supports local homelessness prevention initiatives and our national Reside program.

How can people help or contribute to Raising the Roof’s mission?

Buy a toque! They are sold on our website at www.raisingtheroof.org or in Home Depot stores starting in November. Alternatively, you can help identify vacant properties that would be suitable for affordable housing or connect us with local potential partners. 

You could also organize a toque sales event, connect us with potential places to sell toques in your community, or participate in a Community Build Day. Community Build Days are fun team-building volunteer days that help us raise funds for future Reside projects.

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Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver: Mentorship that Empowers

A mentor in a child’s life can not only encourage them to reach their full potential, but also create a positive impact in their community. However, for disadvantaged youth, mentors are not always easy to come by. 

Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver draws on the 100-year-old ethos of now-international organization Big Brothers, connecting children and youth with mentors in the Greater Vancouver area. We chatted with Development and Marketing Manager Mandy Wong about Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver’s history, mission, and goals.

Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver

Tell us about Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver’s mission. 

At Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver, our mission is to enable impactful mentoring relationships where children and youth can discover their power and potential, in collaboration with our local communities. Our vision is that all children and youth are empowered to reach their full potential through mentorship.

What inspired your founders to start Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver? 

On July 4, 1903, a Cincinnati businessman named Irvin F. Westheimer started a movement that would grow to affect millions of lives around the world through child and youth mentoring.

When the young professional saw a boy rooting through a garbage can, he took him under his wing and became his “big brother.” He encouraged his friends to do the same with other boys and young men from father-absent homes. Before long, the Big Brothers movement was born.

Fast forward ten years to a growing delinquency rate in Toronto and the need for an innovative solution. Several businessmen became aware of what was happening in the United States to combat the same problem, and after seeing the positive effect the program had for our neighbours to the south, Big Brothers came to Canada.

Four decades later on March 8, 1957, five businessmen met in the boardroom of a bakery at the corner of Boundary and Kingsway for the first meeting of Big Brothers of British Columbia.

With a strong desire to support the children and youth in the Lower Mainland, founding board members Cecil S. Walker and well-known men’s clothier, Murray Goldman, got involved with Big Brothers shortly after the mentoring movement came out west. Goldman was introduced to the idea when one of his clients, former Executive Director Donald Waring, joked that he would agree to buy a suit from him in exchange for his participation.

Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver was established in 1978. We now run our strength-based mentoring programs in Burnaby, Delta, Surrey, New Westminster, the North Shore, Richmond, the Tri-Cities, and Vancouver. We have a broad service area for a diverse group of individuals. Today, young people who need a mentor come from all walks of life.

Although the Big Brothers movement was born out of a need to combat a growing delinquency rate, our mentoring programs now serve a much broader purpose. The notion of our strength-based mentoring programs remains the same, but the driving force behind the concept has evolved. 

We recognize that the mentor-mentee relationship is a shared, meaningful experience for both the child and the volunteer. Everyday experiences mean big impacts for the child, the volunteer, and the community at large.

What were some of the challenges you encountered? 

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an immeasurable impact on the lives of the young people that we support. A breakdown of usual routines, schooling, social opportunities, and many other activities has had a profound effect on so many children, the effects of which we likely won’t fully understand for some time. 

At the same time, health and safety guidelines drastically impacted our ability to deliver most of our programs, with some switching to virtual delivery, while others were postponed. As a result, we faced huge obstacles to provide young people in Greater Vancouver with programming and support, just when they needed it the most. 

Funding for the programs became unpredictable with economical impact around the world, and at one point, we weren’t sure if we would be able to keep our agency going.

Other than volunteers, our agency is in need of funding to maintain our programs so we can serve as many children and young people as we can through mentorship.

What do you consider Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver’s biggest success? 

Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver has been serving local communities for over 40 years. Our teams and mentoring coordinators are trained to serve long-term friendships and provide guidance on mentorship. We believe the knowledge and history we have at Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver has led to our success.

What makes your organization unique, and how do you feel Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver makes the world better? 

Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver believes that when our children are emotionally, socially, and physically healthy, everyone in the community benefits. With over 40 years of serving Greater Vancouver communities, we have worked with numerous community stakeholders to develop a variety of essential mentorship programs to meet the needs of children and families. 

We believe that by providing a mentor to young lives, we will in turn encourage them to live to their full potential and contribute to a better community’s future. We strive for innovative ways of mentoring that meet the changing needs of our children, families, and communities, while maintaining the highest standards of program delivery.

We are committed to the values of diversity and inclusion. We respect and welcome participation of all individuals. We believe that the diversity of our volunteers, families, and staff allows us to collectively strengthen our organization to intentionally support the communities we serve. 

Every child referred to us comes on the basis that they will benefit substantially by forming a continuing bond with a caring mentor. Many children we serve are from low income, single parent households or from struggling families lacking positive role models. 

The presence of a reliable, caring mentor provides support for the families as well as their children, and in many cases, connects the family with opportunities they would not otherwise have. 

In addition, children from new immigrant and refugee families experience considerable isolation and stress due to cultural issues and limited language skills. 

Our strength-based mentoring programs build the self-confidence and capacities of children so that they can develop healthy lifestyles, make informed and responsible decisions, and participate to the greatest extent possible in the social and economic fabric of society.

Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver

Tell us about your organization’s goals. 

Every year, we aim to serve as many children and young people as we can through our mentorship programs. We hope to serve over 1,000 mentees in our next fiscal year.

Are there any upcoming initiatives or projects you’d like to share, and what do you most want people to know about Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver? 

The Big Brother mentoring program is what we’re most well known for at Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver, and we are always in need of Big Brother volunteers. The program provides boys with a role model and a friend to talk to and share the experiences of growing up with. 

Through regular outings of two to four hours, once a week, for a minimum of one year, a friendship is developed between the Big and Little Brother that is built on trust, and common interests and values. 

Furthermore, the result is an impactful experience for both the mentor and the mentee. We’re currently offering this program virtually through Zoom, or in-person, subject to provincial social guidelines. Other than the Big Brother program, we also have other programs that support children and youth in Greater Vancouver communities. We are always in constant need for volunteers/Big Buddies to support our site-based programs and opportunities, which can be found at https://www.bigbrothersvancouver.com/our-programs/

Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver

How can people help or contribute to Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver‘s mission? 

If you would like to support Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver, consider volunteering to become a mentor or donate to support our mentorship programs. We have a waiting list of mentees waiting to be watched with a Big Brother or Big Buddy – with your help, we would be able to make that wait time even shorter. In some areas of Vancouver, children and young people are waiting two to three years to be matched with a mentor.

If you would like to volunteer and learn about our programs, please visit our website at https://www.bigbrothersvancouver.com/our-programs/

To donate and support our mentorship programs, please visit us at https://www.bigbrothersvancouver.com/donate-now/

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How to Set SMART Goals in Cause Marketing

Your company is doing amazing things to make the world better. Whether you’re creating a more environmentally-conscious and sustainable product, raising awareness for an important and impactful cause, or organizing volunteers to contribute to a local initiative, it’s important to be able to see the impact of your work.

Regardless of the positive mark your company is making, it can be challenging to measure the tangible impact of your good works and to visualize how each separate initiative contributes to your organization’s overall business goals and mission. It’s time to get SMART with the way you set goals! 

What are SMART Goals?

The SMART system, which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Timely, is a method of goal setting that includes clear, realistic, easy to measure targets. SMART goals increase the likelihood of success by encouraging you to determine which measurable metrics define success, and to verify that your goals are actually achievable. Plus, you can clearly see how close you are to achieving a milestone. They can also be used holistically to map out steps towards a long-term goal. 

Here’s a breakdown of the SMART system and how to apply it to cause marketing.

Specific – Get specific with your goal. For example, “I want to reach more people” is too vague. Think about the why and how. “I want to increase subscriptions to our email newsletter to boost awareness of upcoming sustainable product launches by running paid ads on Facebook, where we typically see the most engagement” is much more specific. (But still contributes to an overarching goal of reaching more people.)

Measurable – “More” isn’t a measurement: percentage and quantity increases are. Using the example above, you could set a goal of a 25% increase in the number of subscribers. Or, if you’re setting a numerical target, 50 or 150 (or more) new subscribers might be reasonable.

Achievable – While it’s good to shoot for the stars, make sure your goal is realistically achievable based on your current performance and resources. Use your past numbers as baseline data, and if you don’t have any, now’s the time to establish KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and track them. 

For example, if you’ve got 1,500 email newsletter subscribers and typically see an increase in subscribers of between 10 and 20% after a social media push, trying to get an increase of 100% in a relatively short period of time may not be realistic.

Relevant – Ensure that your goal is value-aligned. Does it contribute towards your overall values and mission? In the example above, if your company’s mission is creating more ethical and sustainable products to help save the environment, getting more people to subscribe to your email newsletter to let them know about your upcoming product launches increases the likelihood that more people will choose your environmentally-friendly product, thus contributing to your sustainability mission.

Timely – There needs to be a deadline, so you know when you’ve achieved your goal, or how close you are to achieving it. Monthly, quarterly, and/or annual goals are a great place to start. Remember, 1,500 new subscribers in a month may be unrealistic. 1,500 new subscribers over the course of a quarter or a year might be more achievable. Adjust timelines based on your KPIs.

SMART Goal Examples 

Scenario 1: Sustainable product marketing to increase sales

Specific – We want to increase sales of our biodegradable soap product by running an “always on” sales campaign on social media and paid channels. 

Measurable – Our goal is to increase our current sales by 10% to sell 5,000 units. 

Achievable – The last time we ran a two-week sales campaign on those channels, sales increased by 5%.

Relevant – By selling more units, it means more people are using sustainable soap products, which contributes to our mission to protect the Earth’s fresh water sources. 

Timely – We will achieve this by the end of the quarter. 

Scenario 2: Building awareness for a cause

Specific – We want to raise awareness of the harm caused by tourist elephant riding by circulating a petition across all our social media channels to stop the practice.

Measurable – Our goal is to get 1,000 people to sign the petition.

Achievable – Last year when we circulated a petition on social media, we got 750 signatures over the course of six weeks from our audience of 5,000. Our audience has since grown to 11,000.

Relevant – As an ethical clothing retailer whose branding prominently features elephants, our mission is to end harmful practices against elephants worldwide. Raising awareness of the harm caused to elephants is the first step to ending these practices.

Timely – We will get 1,000 signatures over the next six weeks, before peak tourist season begins. 

How to Take SMART Goals Even Further 

You can also use the SMART system to break down larger impact marketing goals into specific channels and campaigns. For example, in Scenario 1 above, you could set a SMART goal for your sales campaign on Instagram. How many impressions are you aiming for? How many people would you like to see click through to your website? Smaller SMART goals can support larger SMART goals.

If you’re still new to marketing your impact organization, we recommend checking out our How to Create an Effective Marketing Strategy for Your Impact Organization blog first.

Let Sparx Help You Reach Your Cause Marketing Goals

You’re making the world better and we want to help you do it. 

If you’re looking to get your world-changing message out there, the experts at Sparx Publishing Group are always available to chat. We help purpose driven organizations secure their website, create great content, build experiences to delight their customers, and help grow their business. You can reach us here.

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Salt Spring Coffee: Brewing Good in Every Cup

Did you know that Canada is one of the top global consumers of coffee? Canadians love our coffee; it’s one of our simple pleasures. The only thing better would be saving the world as we drink it. 

Salt Spring Coffee set out on a mission to do just that: use coffee to be a force for good. We chatted with Digital Marketing Specialist Veronica Meas about Salt Spring Coffee’s goals, and what makes this company unique.

Tell us about Salt Spring Coffee’s mission. 

Our mission is to change the world for the better through coffee. Salt Spring Coffee wants to use coffee as the vehicle to be a force of good. Coffee allows us to make a positive impact along our supply chain, which includes communities from where we source our coffee all the way to our staff, our customers, and our community. 

What inspired your founders to start Salt Spring Coffee? 

Inspired by the Salt Spring Island way of life, founders Mickey McLeod and Robbyn Scott embarked on a journey to bring sustainable coffee to their community. 

In their quest for coffee that was environmentally friendly and fair to farmers, they built long-term partnerships with producers to source organic, shade-grown, fair trade coffee. 

What do you consider Salt Spring Coffee’s biggest success? 

Salt Spring Coffee’s greatest success is setting high standards from the beginning so we can provide access to coffee that is traded fairly and grown sustainably. 

For us, success isn’t based solely on profit, but also purpose – we will never compromise people, the environment, or quality for the sake of generating more profit. 

What makes your organization unique? 

Salt Spring Coffee was a trailblazer and among the first coffee companies in Canada to offer organic, fair trade coffee. 

What makes us unique is that not only are we organic and Fair Trade Certified, we are also a certified B Corp. While organic and fair trade certifications verify our products, B Corp certification verifies our practices and impact on people and the environment. It’s a third-party audit that helps us measure and constantly improve our social and environmental impact. 

How do you feel Salt Spring Coffee makes the world better? 

Salt Spring Coffee sources organic, shade-grown coffee. This means that instead of clear cutting forests to grow coffee in an industrial fashion, coffee is grown in its natural environment under tree canopies.

Shade-grown coffee preserves natural biodiversity, protects the ecosystem, and helps prevent soil erosion. Better soil quality means that coffee can be grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides.

Salt Spring Coffee is also Fair Trade and Fair For Life certified. This means that producers are paid a fair price plus an additional premium on top of the cost of coffee that goes toward the producer’s community. Additionally, Fair Trade also ensures fair working conditions that are free from discrimination, child labour, and forced labour. 

Salt Spring Coffee is proof that businesses can be successful while making business decisions that are better for people and the planet.

Tell us about your organization’s goals. 

Our goal is to make sustainable, fair trade coffee available to everyone. We currently offer whole bean and ground coffee, but we know that customers also enjoy other methods of brewing, such as using pods. 

We will continue to develop our offerings to include additional formats so that sustainable, fair trade coffee is available to all coffee drinkers. 

Are there any upcoming initiatives or projects you’d like to share? 

We’re working on a plan to invest in energy efficient equipment that will help us significantly decrease our greenhouse gas emissions. 

Additionally, we participate in a waste diversion program that tracks our weekly waste diversion. We are putting together a plan to help us get to Zero Waste by 2026. 

What do you most want people to know about Salt Spring Coffee? 

Twenty-five years later, Salt Spring Coffee is still family-owned and operated, and our aspiration remains the same: To be change makers through coffee – doing our part to make the world a better place. 

How can people help or contribute to Salt Spring Coffee’s mission? 

People can help with Salt Spring Coffee’s mission by supporting organic, fair trade, and B Corp companies. By supporting these companies, people have the power to show businesses that they want to buy from brands that care about more than just the bottom line. It can help create a world where every business has a positive impact on the people and the environment.

This story was featured in the Make The World Better magazine:

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Make The World Better Magazine

Plan International Canada: Advancing Children’s Rights

As children, we’re told we can be anything, from astronauts to Hollywood movie stars. Unfortunately, for many kids (especially girls) around the world, their dream is basic rights and opportunities. 

Plan International Canada works to remove barriers so children in underdeveloped countries can live out their potential. We chatted with Plan International Canada about their mission and what makes this organization unique.

Shalini, looking at the camera, is advocating for the end of child marriage in Uttar Pradesh

Tell us about Plan International Canada’s mission. 

Plan International Canada works for and with children, community members, and governments so that all children around the world can exercise their rights. We do this by focusing on eight core areas, with gender equality as a foundational objective.

Our work seeks to tackle the root causes of gender inequality and remove barriers that keep children, especially girls, from reaching their full potential. 

Plan International Canada is a member of a global organization dedicated to advancing children’s rights and equality for girls. Plan International has been building powerful partnerships for children for over 80 years and is now active in more than 75 countries. 

What inspired your founders to start Plan International Canada? 

In 1937, British journalist John Langdon-Davies founded what was originally known as Foster Parents Plan for Children in Spain to help children whose lives were disrupted by the Spanish Civil War. By 1938, 300 Spanish children were sponsored by Plan International. The following year, Eleanor Roosevelt became a sponsor, continuing to support the organization for many years. 

Plan International marked its 60th anniversary in 1990 by reaching an incredible milestone: supporting its one millionth sponsored child, a young girl from Mali. By 1999, the number of  Plan-sponsored children grew to over 1.2 million children. 

A decade later, Plan International began highlighting the unique challenges faced by girls in low-income countries, launching our Because I am a Girl initiative in Canada to promote gender equality in the countries where we work. 

Plan International celebrated its 84th anniversary in 2021, marking our continued commitment  to children’s rights around the world. 

Millions of girls around the world are in crisis. Their futures are already written for them, as they experience the tragedies of child marriage, no education, sexual violence and exploitation.

Together we can Stop The Setback by helping girls rewrite their futures for the better.

As we move into the fourth phase of our global fundraising campaign, we aim to raise awareness of the work Plan International does and drive donations to help us support the world’s most vulnerable girls and provide them with the support they need to fulfill their potential.

What were some of the challenges you encountered? 

Plan International Canada has over 80 years of experience in international development and  humanitarian response, and remains committed to children’s rights and equality for girls as the world navigates and responds to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The COVID-19 crisis has affected people across the globe and has become a challenge in the humanitarian world. Primary health impacts have been grave, and associated lockdowns and disruptions have led to additional (secondary) impacts. 

The pandemic has caused unprecedented hardship for people around the globe, but for girls in crisis, it’s done more than just set them back. It’s unravelling decades of progress. Thirteen million girls are at risk of becoming brides, two million girls are at risk of experiencing female genital mutilation, and millions are at risk of never returning to school once they reopen.

Through its global response, Plan International has been assessing the extent and severity of the secondary impacts of this crisis on women and children, especially girls, since March 2020. 

We are constantly working to ensure that progress is not reverted in terms of children and  girls getting their rights. 

What do you consider Plan International’s biggest success? 

Plan International’s gender transformative approach to international development and, increasingly, our work during emergencies aspires to support women, girls, men, and boys in all their diversity to change this reality.  

Through Plan International Canada’s ambitious 20 Million Reasons Campaign, we’ve  reached 18.4 million children around the world – over halfway to our target of improving the  lives of 20 million children by 2022. 

How do you feel Plan International Canada makes the world better? 

Plan International Canada knows achieving the Sustainable Development Goals ambition of “leaving no one behind” requires transformative change. We confront and challenge discrimination and human rights violations based on gender. 

All of our work – programming or advocacy – tackles the root causes of gender inequality and helps reshape unequal power relations. It focuses not only on providing equal opportunities and outcomes for all, but on removing the barriers that keep girls and women from achieving their full potential and exercising their rights. 

Our focus is to meet and grow our commitments to children, as well as the more than 86,000 communities we work with over the long term. 

Plan International Canada has developed a comprehensive girl/woman centric index – the Women’s and Girls’ Empowerment Index – that measures changes in the root causes of gender inequality and captures the breadth and scope of gender transformative change. 

A gender equality approach is about understanding these relative differences and intersecting identities, appreciating that they are not rigid and can be changed. It is important to keep these differences and intersecting identities in mind when designing strategies, policies, programs, and services. 

Ultimately, promoting gender equality means transforming the power relations between women and men, girls and boys, and individuals with different gender identities in order to create a more just society for everyone. 

Tell us about your organization’s goals.

We strive for a just world that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We engage people and partners to empower children, young people, and communities to make vital changes that assist girls in accessing their rights. 

We want to fulfill the promise of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal. Plan International Canada’s strategy is to work through our 20 Million Reasons Campaign, which intends to improve the lives of 20 million children, especially girls, by 2022 so that they can learn, lead, decide, and thrive. 

Within the strategy, we also have an ambition to transform the lives of 100 million girls. Child sponsorship and grassroots community work are central to our strategy and achieving this ambition. 

How can people help or contribute to Plan International’s mission? 

Every day, millions of girls around the world are denied their basic human rights simply because they’re girls. 

Through initiatives such as Because I am a Girl and the Child Sponsorship program, Plan International is working to advance girls’ rights by helping them unleash their inherent power and potential. The contributions support girls in championing change in their communities by helping them access their right to education, healthcare, and clean water. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed and magnified injustices around the world – especially for those most vulnerable. Through the Stop the Setback Campaign, Plan International is working to ensure girls have access to the supports they need to powerfully claim their right to a safe, healthy life, and a path of their choosing. 

Visit plancanada.ca for more information and follow @plancanada on social media to #StopTheSetback.

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Purpose-Driven Marketing Tips

How Companies Can Harness the Power of Technology and Social Media to do Good

Whether you’re tackling ever-evolving climate crises, social justice issues, or animal welfare concerns, it can be challenging to know how to effectively utilize technology on your company’s journey to making the world better. Luckily, it’s at your fingertips with the click of a button (literally). Here’s how to harness the power of technology and social media to do good.

In life, there are the dreamers and the doers. If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance your company aims to be the latter. But perhaps you’re wondering: how can we really make a difference? In our ever-evolving world of climate crises, social justice issues, and animal welfare concerns, it can be challenging to know where to start or how to make actionable change.

Luckily, doing good can be achievable with the click of a button — literally. Social media and technology are two powerful ways to enable your company to authentically live its values and make a difference. 

Participate in Community-Led Movements Online

When it comes to activism, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Unless your cause is smaller and unknown, there’s a good chance community members have already begun a movement, and trying to do “your own thing” can not only be perceived as self-serving but can actually hurt the reach of existing movements. 

Instead, get involved in community-led movements that matter to your organization, and spread the word by posting on your social media channels and using the existing hashtags. Some ongoing movements include Black Lives Matter, Stop AAPI Hate, and #MeToo. 

Just remember: as with any cause marketing, ensure you do it in a meaningful, actionable, and non-performative way. Show genuine support for causes that matter to your organization, encourage your audience to participate, and contribute to the conversation where appropriate.

A company that often gets involved in movements on their social platforms is ice cream retailer Ben & Jerry’s. They have created multiple Instagram posts to support the Black Lives Matter movement and continue to show their support for new movements on a frequent basis. 

Use Grassroots Marketing & Technology to Amplify Specific Causes

Through social media, community movements can grow into global movements. Grassroots marketing, or creating inspirational and highly shareable content targeted to a very specific niche or locale, is a great way to raise awareness of specialized causes that matter to your organization. Remember the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge? This is a classic example of successful grassroots marketing.

Social media is a fantastic medium for grassroots marketing due to the fact that it’s easy to share content. To be successful with a grassroots social media campaign, you’ll want to keep the target audience tight, either psychographically or geographically; tell a story that resonates and inspires; and, most importantly, encourage people to share your content.

Alternatively, if your organization is built on particular values, social media posts can be a way to educate your audience about very specific issues. Canadian clothing retailer tentree uses social media to bring to light a variety of environmental issues that matter to them. For example, they use Instagram to highlight the environmental impacts of the dyeing process, the importance of protecting coral reefs,  and the benefits of the circular economy.

Innovative use of technology is another way to help amplify and raise awareness of important causes. For example, National Geographic ​​used Meta Spark to show Instagram users what the world will feel like in 2070, while a VR experience called Greenland Melting shows the unfortunate effect of warm ocean waters on glaciers in Greenland. 

Take a Stand on Causes That Matter to You 

According to Sprout Social’s #BrandsGetReal: Brands Creating Change in the Conscious Consumer Era Report, based on their 2019 survey, 70% of consumers believe it’s important for brands to take a public stand on social and political issues and 66% believe brands should do so because they can create real change. And social media is a great place to publicly show your stance and advocate for real change, especially if it’s something that is relevant to your organization. 

For example, Nike is a brand for athletes, many of whom are Black people who experience discrimination and police brutality, particularly in the United States where Nike is headquartered. Knowing they’d receive backlash for supporting Colin Kaepernick, who took a knee in protest at a football game in 2016, they made him the face of a global campaign in 2018. 

Amplify Advocates and Activists Within Your Community 

When it comes to doing good, letting others take the lead is, sometimes, the best path to take. There are many notable organizations and activists who are on the front lines of causes and supporting them helps amplify their important work. 

Follow relevant organizations and activists on social media, reshare their content, and reach out to partner with them for initiatives, such as an Instagram takeover, contest, or content swap. Similar to participating in community-led movements, you’ll want to ensure you’re doing this in a meaningful and non-performative way.
Patagonia, a B Corp–certified outdoor clothing retailer, often shares content from like-minded creators and activists in the outdoor space. For example, they featured a non-binary climber who advocates for a more supportive climbing community, and their Run To film series, promoted on Instagram, features runners who are advocating for issues, such as saving a watershed and honouring Indigenous scientists, past and present. 

Make Goals for Sustainable Change 

It’s one thing to have big ideas to do good, but it’s another thing to execute them. Social media is a great opportunity to hold yourself accountable to your goals. 

You’ll want to post about your goal and update your audience when you reach certain benchmarks. For example, Glossier, a US-based beauty company, opted not to use a vague post about “doing better.” Instead, they pledged to donate to various BLM organizations and commit to ongoing change within their company, as shown in an Instagram post. 
But how do you know if you’re getting close to your goal? There are various apps that can help you track your progress, like Strides, Way of Life, and ATracker.

Let Sparx Help You Use Social Media And Technology to Do Good

By engaging with social media in these ways, companies gain the power to amplify their own purpose-driven initiatives, support and boost the visibility of ongoing mission-aligned efforts and changemakers, share impact stories to an ever-growing audience, and drive positive change.

At Sparx, our mission is to create content to make the world better. 

If you’re looking to make an impact using social media and technology but aren’t sure where to start, the experts at Sparx Publishing Group are always available to chat. We help purpose driven organizations secure their website, create great content, build experiences to delight their customers, and help grow their business. You can reach us here.

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Purpose-Driven Marketing Tips

Recognizing and Eliminating Unconscious Bias in Your Organization

You’ve read anti-racism books, you’ve watched LGBTQIA+ documentaries, you consider yourself well-versed in diversity and inclusion, you stay up to date on human rights issues, so you’re impervious to being unintentionally prejudiced, discriminatory, and exclusionary, right?

Well, not exactly. Everyone has unconscious biases: “unconscious assumptions, beliefs, attitudes and stereotypes that human brains have about different groups,” as defined by the University of Victoria. 

Here are some examples of unconscious bias.

  • Affinity Bias – gravitating towards people who share similar interests, experiences, and backgrounds to us 
  • Confirmation Bias – drawing conclusions based on your personal desires, beliefs, and prejudices rather than unbiased merit 
  • Attribution Bias – judging a person’s behaviour based on prior observations and/or interactions you’ve had with them
  • Conformity Bias – acting similar to the people around you, regardless of your beliefs or desires  
  • The Halo/Horns Effect – placing someone on a pedestal after learning something impressive about someone (halo), or, alternatively, viewing someone negatively after learning something unpleasant about them (horns)
  • Contrast Effect – comparing two or more things that have occurred simultaneously or one after another, causing you to exaggerate the performance of one in contrast to the other
  • Gender/Racial Bias – judging or preferring one gender identity and/or racial identity over others  
  • Ageism – having negative feelings about a person because of their age
  • Name Bias – judging and/or preferring people with certain types of names, typically names that are of Anglo origin 
  • Beauty Bias – believing attractive people are more successful, competent, and qualified
  • Height/Weight Bias – judging people who are taller or shorter than average height, or smaller or heavier than average weight.
  • Anchor Bias – making decisions based on an initial impression that you’re unable to “unsee” 
  • Nonverbal Bias – ​​analyzing nonverbal communication attributes, such as body language, and letting it affect a decision or opinion
  • Authority Bias – weighing and/or giving more attention to ideas provided by authority figures because it’s thought to be more accurate
  • Overconfidence Bias – being more confident in your capabilities than is reasonable

Unfortunately, unconscious biases can have unwanted consequences for your organization, including negative PR or marketing campaigns, exclusionary products/services, and unfair hiring practices. Here’s why you should consider addressing unconscious bias in your organization and how to do it. 

Why You Should Address Unconscious Biases

  • Allows you to be more diverse in your marketing efforts. Unconscious biases could be preventing your organization from showcasing a true representation of your audience in your marketing.

    Take a look at your current marketing collateral; what do you see? People of varied abilities, genders, races, sizes, and ages? What are each of the roles of these individuals? Do those roles conform to outdated or stereotypical societal expectations? It’s a good idea to check your copy for potentially offensive or outdated language as well.

    If this exercise brings forth some areas of concerns, rest assured that you’re not alone. Research has found that stock image websites do show gender bias in work-related images. 

    So, why showcase diversity in your marketing? Not only does it make members of your community feel seen and heard, there are many business benefits to doing so. We’ve outlined these benefits in our Why and How to Add More Diversity Into Your Marketing Efforts blog. 
  • Helps you best serve your customers. Unfortunately, biases can lead to exclusionary, offensive, or even inaccessible offerings for certain customers. If you and your employees haven’t had occasion to think about things like accessibility ramps in buildings, closed/open captioning on videos, or text readers for website browsing, there’s a good chance your organization may be inaccessible for customers who have certain disabilities.

    Alternatively, perhaps confirmation bias has led your organization to provide offerings that unintentionally exclude the end customer — or some of them, at least. This can be offensive at best and dangerous at worst.

    For example, the automotive industry uses crash test dummies the size of the average man, so women can actually be more injured in a car crash because of this unconscious bias.

    By taking unconscious biases head on, you can think of all of your current and potential customers and provide products they want and need. Not only will this curb any potential PR incidents, but you’ll improve your sales and customer satisfaction and retention.
  • Adds objectivity during the hiring process. Biases can also cloud judgement when looking for new candidates. For example, men get hired more often for scientist roles, Anglo-sounding names get more interview requests, and CEOs are disproportionately taller (and male). 

    In addition, the affinity bias may be guiding you to unconsciously hire people who are similar to you instead of diverse candidates. 

    Other biases to look out for are ageism, racial, weight, beauty, and/or nonverbal. You may also be comparing candidates who you saw back-to-back with the contrast effect, or letting the halo/horns effect affect your judgement if you learn something impressive (i.e. where the candidate went to school) or less-than-perfect (i.e. a gap in the resume) about the candidate.

    By addressing any unconscious biases during the hiring process, you can look at what’s important: the skills and fit of the candidate for the job. That way, you get the best person for the role, and in turn, help foster a diverse and inclusive workplace. 

How to Eliminate Unconscious Biases in Your Organization

  • Discover your unconscious biases. We all have unconscious biases, whether we realize it or not. Even the most well-educated, cultured, “woke” people have to challenge the biases that were hard-wired into them from birth. But it’s one thing to accept you have unconscious biases, and another to find them. 

    One way to discover the biases you may have is to take an Implicit Association Test (IAT).

    An IAT will ask you to classify certain images and words into specific categories as quickly as possible. For example, you may be asked to assign terms that are accepted as feminine and masculine to categories associated with science or humanities.

    Knowing what your biases are is the first step to improving. After all, you can’t fix something you don’t know is broken. 
  • Educate yourself and your staff on unconscious biases. So, you know you have unconscious biases and what they are — now what? In order to address these biases head-on, you need to educate yourself on how to tackle them. It’s a good idea to involve your staff (perhaps have them do an IAT as well).

    By involving your entire organization, they’ll be able to challenge biases in their specific roles, provide understanding of marginalized groups they may come from, and be better equipped to catch issues that may come up in the future. 

    Unconscious bias training is really a stepping stone into a much bigger conversation. Many organizations who have done one-off training and then called it a day generally do not see long-term change, which is why this practice has been seen as controversial.

    Instead, be prepared to pair unconscious bias training with a more systemic, integrated approach to diversity and inclusion, including hiring diverse staff and creating sustainable initiatives in all departments. 
  • Audit your business to find where biases could be occurring. Go through every department, looking for processes that may continue to run with unconscious biases in the background. Auditing your marketing content and customer-facing collateral is a great place to start.

    We’ve covered how unconscious bias can affect things such as your marketing efforts. However, unconscious biases could be lurking in other areas of your business, too. For example, do you offer gender-neutral washrooms for customers or staff in any physical locations you have?

    Like finding mistakes in your own writing, it’s not easy to find issues in your own organization. Sometimes, you need to have someone else take a look. Diversity and inclusion consultants, like Canadian Equality Consulting, offer an objective look at your organization. 
  • Ensure diversity among your employees. When an organization is filled with the same type of person, conformity bias can occur. This could result in “blind spots” which may impact various initiatives and campaigns. 

    However, when the staff is diverse, insights into other types of lived experiences are expressed, issues related to exclusion or inappropriateness get flagged, and products and services can be designed with more types of people in mind. 
  • Listen to your employees and customers. Did you know only 29% of employees are engaged at their workplace? It’s one thing to have diverse employees and customers, but it’s another thing to actually empower them to get involved, listen to their insights, and implement their ideas and suggestions. 

    Did a customer bring up a pain point? Come up with an action plan on how to address and change it. Does a staff member have a great idea for making a product or service more accessible or user-friendly? Consider implementing it.

    Alternatively, you can use social media polls (like on Instagram Stories), physical suggestion boxes, focus groups, or feedback forms/surveys on emails (like Google forms) to generate data on areas of your business that may be affected by unconscious biases.

***

By addressing the unconscious biases within your organization, you can add diversity to your marketing efforts, and better serve your customers and staff. Remember, challenging biases is a lifelong process, so lean on your people and keep striving to do better. 

Let Sparx Help You Challenge Unconscious Biases in Your Marketing

At Sparx, our mission is to create content to make the world better.

If you want your marketing to better reflect diversity and inclusion but aren’t sure where to start, the experts at Sparx Publishing Group are always available to chat. We help purpose driven organizations secure their website, create great content, build experiences to delight their customers, and help grow their business. You can reach us here.

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Purpose-Driven Marketing Tips

5 Ways to Repurpose Evergreen Content

Content may be king, but it also requires a significant investment of effort and resources. Constantly churning out new content pieces to be your next “crowning achievement” requires a lot of researching, writing, editing, approving, and publishing. 

Luckily, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to achieve your content marketing goals. Your older content has been waiting in the wings and it might finally be time to give it an encore. 

There are many perks of repurposing evergreen content (content that continues to be relevant), such as providing an SEO boost, reaching new audiences, driving traffic, and potentially getting sales. 

However, not all of your old content is evergreen or should necessarily be given a second chance; sometimes, it’s already served its purpose. Instead, look to your best, top-performing, and still-relevant content to give a facelift.

Once you’ve audited your existing collection, keep reading for our five ways to repurpose evergreen content.

1. Transform Evergreen Content into New Content 

These days, books become TV shows, TV shows become movies, movies become, well, more movies. Content is versatile and malleable; it has the ability to become new, exciting things in different mediums. 

This should be good news for your content team. They may have put a lot of effort into creating a piece of content, and transforming it helps ensure you get the most out of their efforts. 

Use the information in an evergreen blog or landing page to create an infographic. Infographics use texts and graphics to display information in a fun, digestible way. Here are some great examples of infographics to inspire you. 

Video content continues to be one of — if not the most — popular forms of content these days. Fifty-four percent of consumers want to see more video content from a brand or business they support. In addition to video content, over 11 million Canadian adults listened to podcasts in the past year. If you have either recording or film equipment, you could turn your content into a podcast or video for your audience to enjoy. 

2. Use Your Evergreen Content to Make an Email Newsletter

If you have an email newsletter, you know the time and energy it takes to come up with quality, consistent email content. Luckily, your older blogs can make their comeback in your next email send. 

Depending on your goals and newsletter style, you could tease your blogs in the email copy and drive traffic to these pages to give them an SEO boost. Crossing an email off your to-do list and boosting your SEO? It’s a win/win. 

Alternatively, you could “borrow” copy from the blog to put into the email itself. For example, a listicle blog could be repurposed into multiple email content blocks or an infographic embedded in the email. Here are some great examples of listicle-style emails. 

3. Turn Your Evergreen Content into a Social Media Post

According to Global WebIndex, 53.6% of the world’s population uses social media with an average daily usage of 2 hours and 25 minutes. There’s no doubt that a good portion of your customers are hanging out on social media — so why not meet them where they’re at? You’re likely already doing social media posts for updates on your latest offerings, so adding in more content-focused posts is a great way to get your content in front of your audience.

Here are some quick stats from Forbes: 54% of social browsers use social media to research products and 71% watch videos on social media to laugh. With this in mind, think of your existing content that could check these boxes. Social content that is interesting, helpful, or funny is more likely to get shared and engaged with. 

So how do you take a blog or webpage and make it into a social post? It’s simple: think of the content and the platform. Stats can be turned into tweets; infographics can be turned into Instagram grid carousels; listicle blogs can be turned into Instagram stories. Don’t be afraid to get creative!

4. Refresh Your Evergreen Blog Posts

Turns out, you can teach an old blog new tricks. Give an old blog a second chance by updating dated information. For example, if you had written a blog at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic about changes to your service offerings, you could update that information with your latest protocols instead of writing an entirely new blog. That way, you don’t add unnecessary work for your copywriters, and you maintain the SEO value of the original blog. 

As consumer behaviour changes, we’re learning how to best market to our target audiences.  Perhaps you had written a long-form blog which isn’t seeing the same performance it once did. Don’t worry, it’s nothing personal. 

According to a Microsoft Study, people have an attention span of eight seconds, a decrease from 12 seconds back in 2000. Consider refreshing that long-form blog into a shorter listicle blog. Alternatively, you could take that longer blog and stretch it out into several, shorter blogs, depending on your goals. 

5. Combine Your Evergreen Content into Long-Form Content

People might have shorter attention spans these days, but that doesn’t mean that longer form content doesn’t have its place. There are lots of reasons for long-form content: they earn the most organic traffic, readers spend more time with them, and Google rewards them. 

So how do you take your existing blogs, infographics, or social media posts and combine them into long-form content? Some ideas include: combining multiple blogs into an ultimate guide or ebook, building out an infographic into a slidedeck for internal brand trainings, or making a blog post featuring your top social media posts. 

Old content doesn’t have to be left behind; it can boost SEO, drive traffic, reach new audiences, and more. Choose evergreen content that’s relevant, high-performing, and engaging, and don’t be afraid to get creative with how you repurpose it. 

Create Incredible Content with Sparx  

At Sparx, our mission is to create content to make the world better.

Whether you want to give your old content new life or create new content, the experts at Sparx Publishing Group are always available to chat. We help purpose driven organizations secure their website, create great content, build experiences to delight their customers, and help grow their business. You can reach us here.

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Work Life & Culture

What is Sparx Trading? A Content Marketing Success Story

Think of your last (virtual) dinner party – maybe terms like “zero-commission trading” or “ETF” came up in conversation. These days, it seems like everyone and their grandma is interested in DIY investing. Perhaps you’ve even considered it, finding yourself Googling online brokerages.

If you’ve ever tried to find information to compare online brokerages, you know it’s not always an easy feat. In fact, you may have spent more time going down reddit rabbit holes than actually putting your hard-earned money to work. Solving this problem was the spark that brought Sparx Trading into existence.

Founded in 2011 in Vancouver, Canada, Sparx Trading was built to make it easy for self-directed investors with different levels of knowledge and experience to research and choose an online brokerage. The overwhelming number of products, services, and materials available in the online brokerage space resulted in a clear need for an educational platform that provided reliable, straightforward, and most importantly, accessible information.

What Does Sparx Trading Do?

  • Helps self-directed investors research and compare online brokerages. Investors come in three main types: those who use portfolio managers to help them make investing decisions, those who use robo-advisors, and self-directed or DIY investors, those who build and manage their portfolios themselves. Sparx Trading’s main focus is on self-directed investors.

    While self-directed investors don’t pay for the services of a portfolio manager, they still have to invest via an online brokerage — which has its own set of potential fees and features — to be able to trade stocks on an exchange.

    Sparx Trading is a one-stop source of industry-grade information for DIY investors about online brokerages. Users are able to find deals, read brokerage reviews, and compare online brokerages with a comprehensive tool.

    The information is designed to improve financial literacy and increase transparency when it comes to online brokerages and the world of investing. In other words, to level the playing field for DIY investors. The material is usable, impartial, accurate, and all in one place, so users at varying levels of experience can make their own decisions on which online brokerage is best for them.

    By having access to this information, self-directed investors are empowered to build their wealth by choosing an online brokerage that can best help them achieve their specific financial goals. 
  • Provides information and analysis for industry professionals. When it comes to news and trends in the online brokerage space, it can be challenging for those in the industry to stay up to date on everything that’s happening, too.

    Each week, Sparx Trading releases the Weekly Roundup, an informative and fun blog that curates important developments in the online brokerage space, and delivers an insightful and data-driven analysis of each development.

    The Weekly Roundup also helps professionals stay on top of overarching customer sentiment by highlighting topics that self-directed investors are discussing across a variety of online forums.

Why is Sparx Trading a Great Example of Content Marketing?

With its unique Weekly Roundup blog series, brokerage comparison tool, index of current deals and promotions, and comprehensive review pages for online brokerages, Sparx Trading produces some pretty valuable and successful content — and others think so too.

In fact, after Sparx Trading was launched in 2011, it attracted the attention of DIY investors and major Canadian financial brands (including several big banks), as well as other businesses in the finance space. Not only did these audiences find value in our content, we also connected with companies who wanted content marketing help, similar to what they’d seen on Sparx Trading. And so, Sparx Publishing Group was born!

Starting with Sparx Trading, a brand that is entirely content-driven, Sparx Publishing Group has worked with many brands on increasingly complex digital marketing challenges. Meanwhile, we continue to build content for Sparx Trading and find new ways to deliver even more value to audiences in the online brokerage space. 

By doing this, we exemplify what we’re able to achieve with content marketing: publishing consistent, timely, value-added content to an engaged audience. We know our content marketing methods work because we’re both the chef and the guest!  

Sparx Trading also aligns with Sparx Publishing Group’s mission to make the world better. Through the content produced by Sparx Trading, self-directed investors are given the tools to improve their financial well-being, a key indicator of overall lifestyle and happiness.

Create Impactful Content Marketing Campaigns with Sparx 

At Sparx, our mission is to create content to make the world better.

If you want to create successful, value-added content but aren’t sure where to start, the experts at Sparx Publishing Group are always available to chat. We help purpose driven organizations secure their website, create great content, build experiences to delight their customers, and help grow their business. You can reach us here.