Attracting and retaining top talent is one of the most pressing challenges for businesses today—especially for social enterprises and climate-focused startups. If your business is driving meaningful change in areas like climate action, women’s empowerment, sustainable agriculture, or reducing inequality, you’re likely competing with larger organizations that offer higher salaries and extensive benefits. So, how do you keep your team engaged, motivated, and committed to your mission? More importantly, how do you make your company the kind of place where top talent seeks you out?

NOTE: This post is based on topics first covered in this Awarepreneurs podcast episode.

As a social entrepreneur, you’re likely driven by a passion to create a positive impact in the world. However, balancing this impact with the need for sustainable growth is essential for the long-term viability of your organization. In my recent podcast episode, I explored three key mistakes that can hinder growth in social enterprises. Let’s dive into these pitfalls and how to navigate around them.

Discover how to leverage Google Alerts for your impact business with this comprehensive guide. Learn to identify growth opportunities through strategic keyword research using tools like Ubersuggest and Wordtracker. Find out how to stay informed, gain a competitive edge, and improve your products and services. Perfect for social entrepreneurs and climate tech startups.

In the dynamic world of social entrepreneurship, the landscape is constantly evolving, presenting both opportunities and obstacles for impact startups. As we make our way through 2024, it is crucial to address three significant challenges faced by social impact startups and explore practical strategies to navigate these hurdles.

I’ve had the honor to live in New Mexico since 1993 - longer than anywhere else I’ve lived in my life. It really is a special and unique place.

And in that time, I’ve seen some real train wrecks in the business world that resulted from a well meaning coach or consultant trying to apply strategies that worked well on a project in California or New York or Hong Kong … but turned out to not be a fit here.

In the dynamic world of podcast guesting, audio quality, video clarity, and an appealing background play crucial roles in determining your success. As a professional looking to grow your audience, investing in the right equipment is paramount. With these tips, a small investment of time and money can have a BIG impact.

In the ever-evolving landscape of business, adaptation and innovation are key to staying ahead. One of the most transformative tools in the savvy entrepreneur’s toolkit is podcasting. Not only does it have the potential to elevate your brand, but it also enhances your network, builds trust, and fuels content creation. Let's delve into these three dynamic strategies for turbocharging your business through the art of podcasting.

Do you want to prevent burnout as a social entrepreneur?

The very first suggestion I have is to acknowledge and celebrate your successes.

For example, I recently heard from a client that they got a contract that doubled their revenue.

As the host of the leading social entrepreneur podcast Awarepreneurs, I can't help but marvel at the benefits that come from this underutilized medium. Podcasting not only provides a platform to share inspiring stories and ideas but also offers an invaluable opportunity to build and enhance your network by staying in touch with your social entrepreneur podcast guests.

But it took me over 200 episodes to really "wake up" to this powerful aspect of being a host.

Today, I want to shed light on how this aspect of hosting a podcast can really help you reach your impact business goals - so you don't have to wait that long.

There’s been a LOT of talk lately about ChatGPT and what it can mean for various aspects of business. Honestly, I tried early versions and though I could see it was headed towards being very significant in the future, I wasn’t that impressed. However, I’ve been told by people I respect that it’s been getting better and that the recently released version 4 was particularly good.

So, I decided to test it again.

A few month’s ago, I did a solo episode titled Podcast Guesting: The Best Marketing Strategy of 2022? for the Awarepreneurs podcast.

The short version is that being a guest on established podcasts is a powerful opportunity to leverage an existing platform.

In other words, the host of an established podcast has done the work of building their audience of 100’s, 1000’s, 10,000’s or even more listeners for each episode. If you select podcasts that are a good fit, I think podcast guesting is one of the best free marketing opportunities of our time.

It's a real honor to be one of Libsyn's "Rockin' Podcasts" this month - I'm a big fan of their product and have been using it since I started.

In the post I share:

In recent chats with several prospective clients, I’ve asked one question that’s changed the clarity and flavor of our conversations. Good but not extraordinary dialogues suddenly became compelling ones.

With one question.

This past week I’ve had a wave of new inquiries of folks looking for a social entrepreneur coach. These entrepreneurs are dedicated, impact motivated folks who want support to do 3 main things:

1. Increase the positive impact they are having.

2. Grow their revenue.

3. Develop robust systems so their businesses can run smoothly and efficiently.

One of the books that has impacted my thinking and lifestyle the most is The Power of Full Engagement by Tony Schwartz and Jim Leohr. In fact, a number of years ago I saw Tony talk about his work with business leaders that he and his team do at his consulting company, The Energy Project.

A key takeaways I’ve gotten from Tony’s work is that it’s much more effective to orient your decisions around managing energy rather than managing time.

In January, it’ll be 15 years ago that I started my business. A lot has changed in that time …

One of the things that was a source of stress for me early on was how to create a beautiful, affordable and effective social enterprise website. And though it’s become even more important than ever to have a professional looking and well functioning site, the founders and leaders I work are still dealing with the same core question:

One of the most frequent questions I’ve been getting about this new site is “How did you get such great photos?”

So in this post, I wanted to share some tips for getting great photos for your site.

Market research is something social entrepreneurs often ignore or resist - which means more struggles and less profits.  In this podcast, Awarepreneurs CEO and founder Paul Zelizer shares 3 different approaches to doing market research so you can increase your social entrepreneur success - both in terms of your impact and your income.