Be Real. Be Good.

It seems like it shouldn’t need to be said, but it does.

Since we first started creating websites back in the 90’s, (yeah, last century), we have witnessed scads of money-making internet schemes.

The supplement that cures everything
Investing secrets the pros don’t want you to know
How to make THOU$AND$ a week stuffing envelopes at home

So many “get rich quick” tactics. So much false marketing. They all seem to scream one thing: Get exponential returns – in your health, finances, or love life – with as little effort as possible. It made us want to flee from marketing.

The truth is as long as people are people, there will be fly-by-night scams that lure the unaware into buying too-good-to-be-true promises. It happens with every kind of business, including online.

Search and Social can help or hurt you

Fortunately, the internet is growing up with Search engines (specifically Google) and Social media changing the marketing game. Once you learn how to use them they have both become extremely helpful determining what’s real and what’s good.

Google’s reason for existence is to deliver the best results for your specific search. At last count there were at least 2oo ranking factors used to find determine those search results. The Good and Real will make their way up the search results page when your marketing efforts are applied. Guess where the crappy, fake or spammy stuff will end up in the results, regardless of the effort? Yeah, page 9. (When was the last time you clicked past page one in your quest for answers?)

Social media and peer review sites have helped us all connect and collectively find the best widget or experience quickly. Have a bad experience at a restaurant? Guess who’s going to hear about… Everyone in your social media feeds, not to mention any of the review sites like Yelp or Tripadvisor.

In both search and social the “Good” or “Real” products and services will end up being promoted. The shoddy or fake get penalized, or shelved in the land of virtual obscurity.

So. What does “Be Real. Be Good.” really mean?

It means being honest and transparent and producing something that offers solid value to the person who is looking for it. Hopefully, it will also benefit humanity at large. Both of these values were included in our 12 Values and Filters for building Work + Love.

So if you have been thinking about a good or real solution that can help solve a problem, satisfy a need, or fulfill a desire, you’re heading in the right direction. With the help of search and social, you can begin attracting an audience that will benefit from what you have to offer.

Remember though, just because it’s possible, doesn’t make it right. You’re not only trying to build relationships with your customers, but you’re growing a marriage alongside your business, which hopefully includes building trust and transparency.

Be Real.

Domino’s Pizza is one big example of a company being real back in 2009. CEO Patrick Doyle looked into the TV camera and fully owned what we remember from our college experience… “Our pizza tastes like cardboard. We can do better”. The company reworked their pizzas from crust up and retrained all of their employees. Everyone was shocked, (not sure how they got it past the board), but in the end they got real with their customers. They listened and their stock price shows before and after 2009 the tangible value of their decision.

Be Good.

It means just that: make whatever it is you’re selling the best you can make it. If you actually have a good product or service, you don’t have to scam anyone into buying it!

Simple Green Smoothies started from two friends who just wanted to feel healthier and have more energy to be better moms. When they solved their own problem creating nutrient dense smoothies, they realized they could help others who were struggling like they were.