The Green Industry has a serious identity issue that it needs to address quickly. I spoke Thursday at GreenTrends 2010 in St. Petersburg. Afterwards, I visited the booths in the trade show, visiting with several of the exhibitors. I asked a similar question to several of them ("what's the most important thing in your exhibit?") and got some surprising replies. A few pointed out a particular product or service, but many said something to the effect that "we do it all." Consulting. Construction. Design. Wholesale. Retail. you name it, they do it. What's wrong with covering more bases? Here's what:
The exhibitor that offered the most services even mentioned that they included architectural services, too. But wait... I'm an architect! So... why would I hire someone that does what I do? The same thing applies to any of the other people attending the conference... they all specialize at something, and would likely come to a similar conclusion. These exhibitors who cover all the bases might find their pitch well-suited for some in the general public who are about to build or renovate. But that's not who's at conferences like GreenTrends. Rather, the people that attend conferences like this tend to me more motivated and more knowledgeable about the subject matter than the general public. In most cases, they're somewhere in the industry themselves. So if you offer every service you can think of, then you're making yourself a competitor to almost everyone attending the conference.
So I have some advice for the emerging Green Industry... or maybe I should call it the Green Industries, since it's such a broad set of products and services. Here's my recommendation: Find something that you're exceptionally good at and that is noteworthy and memorable, and do that! Don't try to be all things to all people, or you'll be nothing to them except a competitor instead. Find a need that isn't being met and fill it... there are certainly enough of them still around!
