Creating Digital Assets: A climate-first mindset

👉 This is part of the Creating Digital Assets series.

Why put the climate-first mindset step at the end of the series?

Turns out, I did a terrible job of talking through how this mindset permeates almost every other step in the process - this is a backpedal 😳

It’s easy to assume that everyone else knows what you know.

In general, if your approach is to only sell people things they need, you're removing the likelihood of future waste ever existing, and that's huge (drop-shippers take note).

For just about any digital asset, you can start creating it with a climate-first approach, which could be as simple as considering some of these ideas:

• You'll become a supplier to your client, so consider who your suppliers will be. Can you use a green web host to home your digital asset? Open an account with an ethical bank to accept payments from day one? Engage a developer familiar with the Low Carbon Website Approach to build your landing page?
• Consider who your clients will be - with BrandPocket, I'm aiming for climate-tech clients as I believe the values will align nicely, and will fiercely exclude companies who are not a values-match for me.
• Where can you minimise waste? Trim the scope so you're not piling on services in an attempt to add value; Trash superfluous Zoom meetings that burn time and resources; Delete the video from your landing page.
• If you recommend tools, services, or other products to your clients as part of your service, consider the recommendations you'll make. Check their climate and sustainability commitments, and brag about the fact you're vetting them for this reason.
• If you send gifts to your clients, seriously consider what you're sending, where it's sourced, and if you even really need to. Seeing your logo on shiny new merch... honestly, the person it's most exciting for is probably you. If you really want to send a branded gift, put your client's logo on the mug instead of yours.

One final thought

Historically, my biggest argument against buying carbon offsets is that you can make a much more positive impact by just stopping certain activities or switching suppliers...

...with a climate-first approach, you're taking steps to not even enact certain activities or suppliers that would later require offsetting / switching / removing.

Prevention is better than band-aid.

That's the last step in the series. Thanks for reading along, I really hope it's triggered some ideas for you.

If you'd like more of this, I'm hosting a free webinar next Friday at 11am AEST titled "Creating sellable digital assets for soloists" (as part of NSW Small Business Week).

If you'd like to attend or would like the recording, please register here.