GreenBiz Writers Guide

The Big Picture: We are B-to-B, focusing on corporate environmental practice and strategy. Our goal is to help environmental professionals in mainstream companies be more effective help their organizations by cutting costs, reducing risk, enhancing quality, improving reputation, tapping new business opportunities, and generally creating value.

Target Audience: Senior leaders in large corporations. Some have “environment” or “sustainability” in their titles, but many don’t. They come from operations, HR, marketing, purchasing, facilities, real estate, fleets, finance, etc. Their firms are driven by hardcore business goals as much as by environmental ones, and they’re seeking to align the two.

Tone: First and foremost, it should be your own, whatever that is. In general, we want to be friendly, professional, authoritative, opinionated. Feel free to write in the first person and address the audience directly. Talk up to the audience, not down. Address topics at both the high level — overarching trends and context — and the ground level — the realities of life in the trenches. Be brutally honest, don’t sugarcoat, but be positive and empowering.

What We Want: Both shorter (400-600 word) and longer (800-1,200 word) pieces across a range of topics. Examples include (but are not limited to):

  • Stories of companies or initiatives — your own or others
  • Insights into business process, operations, or technologies
  • Profiles or Q&A with business leaders or thought leaders
  • Real-time reports and updates from conferences and other events
  • Personal observations, anecdotes, learnings, and experiences
  • Advice and how-to pieces
  • Questions/challenges to the audience to which you intend to follow up or respond

What We Don’t Want: Technical or scientific debates; politics, except to the extent it directly affects business strategy; reviews of consumer products; rants; repurposed press releases; or outright flackery, whether of yourself or others.

Our Filter: We continually ask ourselves the simple but brutal question: “So what?” That is, now that someone has read your piece, what did they learn? (A good gut check is whether they would forward it to friends or associates.) If it doesn’t have some kind of takeaway, implicit or explicit. it’s probably not worth reading — or writing.

Transparency: Credibility is key to our brand. If you’re connected to whatever you’re writing about, that’s fine, as long as readers know. Therefore, it is essential that any material relationship be disclosed — for example, if the subject is a client or employer (or yourself). Please honor in both letter and spirit. If you’re not sure, ask.

Exclusivity: We give priority to content that is exclusive to us. Of course, you’re welcome to promote it through your website and social media as long as you link to us.

— Joel Makower, Chairman and Executive Editor, GreenBiz Group