Monster Interview: Lewis Green

Lewis Green, Chief Communications Officer and Founder of LandG Business Solutions, a marketing and communications firm, brings three decades of business management experience. LandG Business Solutions, LLC, represents his third company. Additionally, he held management positions with GTE Discovery Publications, Puget Sound Energy and Starbucks Coffee Company. He has been invited to speak to groups large and small about various business practices. Lewis’s fifth book is entitled Lead With Your Heart.


1. Who is Lewis Green?

I'm a 61-year-old baby boomer with a lot of
enthusiasm for life. Everyday brings the opportunity for a new adventure.
And I have been blessed with more than a few, including: 8 years military
service, undergraduate degree in Journalism for the University of Florida,
post-graduate and graduate work in education and theology, daily newspaper
writer, teacher, book editor, publisher, free-lance writer, magazine editor,corporate communications manager, VP Marketing, and entrepreneur. My wife
and I have been married for 33 years and traveled throughout North America,
Hawaii and Europe.


2. Why did you start LandG Business Solutions?

LandG Business solutions is the son of Lewis Green Communications, a firm located in Seattle. My family and I are long-time New Englanders, so when I had the opportunity to head the marketing department of a Connecticut business, I jumped at the chance.
Within six months, that position went away when the company died, and I
started LandG Business Solutions because I love working for myself and crave
the entrepreneurial challenges of serving others in all phases of
communications, including creative and marketing.


3. What interests you most about social media?

I believe that building a business has more to do with building human relationships than with our products and services. Social media is a great way to build relationships, both personal and business. I don't see the social media toolbox as a panacea or a one-stop shop. The tools of social media need to be integrated with traditional tactics to create a marketing/communications plan that meets our customer's wants and needs. At the end of the day, everything we
do and say should focus on our values and people, and social media allows us
to both talk and listen. And listening tells us what people want and need if
we share the right content and ask the right questions.


4. "Lead With Your Heart, Sell Happiness and You and Your Business Will
Flourish" is your latest book. You talk about happiness from a business
perspective. Isn't business really about profits?

Profits are a part of business, but the business model I propose in the book is about the "who"(people) not the "what" (profits, products and services). If we go to work everyday with the goal of making people happy, creating great people
experiences, the profits will come. And I believe that happiness begins
inside the business and then spreads to everyone we touch, like a giant warm
blanket, which makes us feel both safe and happy.


5. What is your philosophy for LandG?

LandG Business Solutions is build on a foundation of values, which are:
1. LandG treats every person with respect and dignity.
2. LandG promises always to place trust, credibility, honesty and
integrity above profits.
3. LandG only takes on clients where L&G can make a difference and can
help that client’s business grow.
4. LandG gives back to the community by offering its services pro bono to
organizations and institutions deemed suitable and appropriate.
5. LandG commits to enhancing both working environments and natural
environments.

And our purpose is to grow our client's business, and we guarantee our work.


6. You say,""Blogging is the least expensive and most productive marketing
tool in terms of marketing and growing LandG Business Solutions brand..." How
could television networks use blogging and bloggers to grow their audience?


I think television is already reaping the benefits, and the arrows, of
blogging and bloggers. They are a variety of blogs focusing on TV fare. If
TV executives were smart, they would facilitate the ease of blogging by
inviting bloggers to use their materials to discuss shows. Give it away and
join in the discussion. Don't hide. That really annoys bloggers and who
needs bad press? Joining in the discussion won't guarantee good press, but
at least TV executives would have a chance to participate in the
conversation. Who knows? Maybe they might learn something about viewers'
wants and needs.


7. How do you feel about being authentic? How can that help a business
owner?

To me, authenticity is about being true to yourself; being who you
are. That means that some will like us and others won't. And that's okay,
especially in the b2b world, where relationships are the key to success.
Sooner or later, people figure out who we are. We can't fool them with a
fake persona. And the most important values within any relationship are
trust and credibility. If we fake it, if we aren't authentic, trust and
credibility take heavy hits and so will our integrity and our business.



8. You have also said,"Blogging is best-suited for those who care more
about readers than rankings." How do you feel about page rank, Alexa?
Are they important?

Rankings are important because they drive new readers to our
blogs. However, we make a huge mistake if we write for rankings, in other
words links. We should, instead, always write for readers just as our
business always should exist first for people not profits. When we write for
readers, we add value to the blogosphere. And they will respond either
positively or negatively based on how well we do. And that is a good thing,
as readers will choose who survives and who doesn't.


9. What do you think is next for social media? For you?

I think social media needs to work out the kinks, especially in the way businesses use the tools. That will take time. As for me, I have a 10-year plan for my business, and that features an exit strategy to build valuation and then sell LandG to some lucky entrepreneur or corporation. I won't ever completely retire, but I want to get back to the days when my job was writing. I have more books in me, and most aren't business focused. Instead, I want to expand on the
happiness idea to help make people's lives better. If the Pursuit of
Happiness is good enough for our Constitution, it should be good enough for
us.


10. Anything else you'd like to add?

Thank you so much for thinking me worth of an interview. I am humbled.


Lewis Green, Chief Communications Officer and Founder
LandG Business Solutions
We Care About You and Your Business
Business Strategies, Business Analysis,
Marketing, PR, Sales
T. 860.673.7543 F.860.673.7055
Cell: 860.805.9392
E-mail: lewis.green@l-gsolutions.com
Web: www.l-gsolutions.com
Blog: http://lgbusinesssolutions.typepad.com/solutions_to_grow_your_bu/