Manuela is the founder Social & Green Marketing and applies her expertise to make good marketing for good companies. We are impressed with the amount and diversity of her projects. Thanks to Manuela and enjoy the interview down below!
What is your mission and vision, and why?
With my company Social & Green Marketing, I use communication to raise society’s awareness for sustainable, social, or ecological issues. I want to inspire to make little steps towards changing global challenges.
Two innovative concepts inspired me when I founded my company: Social Entrepreneurship and the Economy of Common Goods.
Social Entrepreneurship
- SOCIETAL DIMENSION: The primary goal of social entrepreneurship is to solve societal challenges, which include both social and ecological aspects.
- CORPORATE DIMENSION: A social entrepreneurship company has a stable financial background.
- GOVERNANCE DIMENSION: If the social entrepreneur generates profits, reinvestment is prioritized. The distribution of profits to shareholders has a lower priority.
Reference: Link
Economy for the Common Good
Another concept is the "Economy for the Common Good". It is a global social movement that advocates an alternative economic model, which is beneficial to society, future generations, and the environment. The concept focuses on value-driven businesses – which are committed to human dignity, solidarity and social justice, ecological sustainability, transparency, and co-determination.
Therefore, these two "new" concepts made me re-think my own values and my expectations from the labor market and the economy itself. Communication has been always a powerful tool and I want to use it to make the world a better place. I see myself as an accelerator for the messages of the good companies and organizations from the social & green sector, done with
- Clear and creative communication
- Effective and innovative marketing concepts
- Strong and meaningful public relations
Reference: Link
What clients do you work with?
Regardless if an organization helps people, animals, protects the environment, saves resources, or produces sustainably I am keen to support with my expertise.
The work for Hunderettung Europa e.V., an animal rescue organization, is one of my passion projects. For me, the compassionate and caring treatment of animals has personal importance due to my belief that all beings on our planet need to live a dignified and species-appropriate life.
Hunderettung Europa together with the local partner in Romania rescue dogs from killing shelters and bring them to our local partner shelter. Also, abandoned and stray dogs are in the shelter. As the team leader for the Facebook team, my team and I are responsible for the promotion of the dogs being rescued and nursed. The goal of our work is to introduce the dogs to find an appropriate home for the dogs in Germany. With our posts, we also inform about animal protection, dog keeping and adoption, and the circumstances in the killing shelters.
Another company I have worked for is Take a Garden, a startup developing an online platform for sharing gardens. On this platform, owners of unused green spaces meet with people who are looking for a garden e.g. for urban or rural gardening, relaxing, or a garden for a barbecue with family and friends. I developed marketing strategies and realized new cooperations for public relations. Also, I took care of the social media channels.
I also work for the local association of the green political party Die Grünen/ Bündnis 90 and I created e.g. election campaigns for our local social media accounts. Now, I create content to support the projects in our local area.
Please share with us a memorable client story
I was part of the project “Mutmacher” from Lichterkette e.V. and I have visited a secondary school as a speaker. I was also once attending this school and therefore am an authentic "Mutmacher" (encourager).
It is common that graduates from the secondary school have fewer chances in the labor market than kids from high school. These young people often must deal with language barriers or social discrimination due to their migration background. The aim of this project and my visit was to encourage the kids to develop their personal strengths. Further, to give them an example that with passion, enthusiasm, and endurance everything is possible – simply to be a role model.
For me, it was a very personal and memorable moment because I felt that I was able to inspire them and give them a bit of support with my story.
You are a marketing expert. Can you share some tips and insights on how to do marketing with a little budget?
Especially non-profit organizations and social start-ups have small budgets. Unfortunately, they often can’t afford big PR campaigns, expansive shootings, or paid ads like global brands. However, they have highly important messages. Here 3 pieces of advice for low budget, but efficient, marketing:
Cooperation
Find people who are having the same passion and purpose as you. I can recommend the Reflecta Network. The platform is like LinkedIn, but mainly for users and companies with a social and sustainable purpose.
Barter Agreement
Another way not to spend any money at all is to find the right cooperation partner and set up a barter agreement. Both parties have advantages of this win-win situation.
Communicate that your budget is limited
Obviously, a start-up / freelancer has a limited budget. But usually, the supplier simply doesn’t know, so communication is key: negotiating prices and determining the budgets with the supplier together might help to set up a deal.
Tell us about your favorite products, tools, life hacks in daily life
In summer my biggest hobby is going to the Alps for e-mountainbike tours. I really enjoy being in nature, having great views while doing sports. This feeling gives me freedom. One of my first tours was to the Schachenhaus. This tour was amazing, enjoyable trails and at the end, you arrive at the historical building Schachenhaus surrounded by impressive mountains and pure nature. For exploring new and nice e-mountainbike tours I recommend the book “E-MTB Führer” – I have done a lot of tours and I never got disappointed 🙂.
Moreover, I practice Yoga, meditation, and mindfulness exercises. With these practices, I discovered the right balance between activity and recreation. For me, it is very important since the system of meritocracy and my own demand for performance and efficiency pushed me to the limit.
It helped me to find my inner peace, to take my time for recreation and self-care, and to be grateful for every moment and every person that comes into my life. Breathing exercises allow you to live fully in the present – your thoughts are not in the past nor in the future. You experience this moment, doesn’t matter if it is good or bad / positive or negative – you take it as it is.
Finally, I also wanted to say
Follow your passion, be mindful and find your inner peace. Love what you do since time is too precious to waste it with things, jobs, and people which don’t align with your values and beliefs.
https://www.manuela-laura-hentschel.de/
https://www.reflecta.network/changemaker/manuela-hentschel
https://www.reflecta.network/organisationen/marketing-consultant
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