Humanity Unites Brilliance (HUB) is a for-profit company that uses personal development training as an economic engine to generate an ongoing humanitarian impact. Being a HUB member means that monthly contributions feed three, educate three, provide clean water for ten and fund pooled micro loans.  In return HUB provides members with personal, business and humanitarian training.  Additionally, members have access to HUB’s social networking site.  One feature of HUB’s social networking site is that it matches people based on similar passions to create mastermind groups called a Circle of Brilliance where people can network with others for their business, personal and humanitarian projects.   

            Charlie Gay is one of the founders of HUB.  Charlie has served as a rock and roll promoter and event producer for clients such as Pink Floyd, Pavarotti, Madonna and Fleetwood Mac, as well as the UK government of Margaret Thatcher.  He is the former Executive Director of The Mineseeker Foundation and Sole of Africa Campaign, whose patrons include Nelson Mandela, Graca Machel, Sir Richard Branson, Brad Pitt, Queen Noor of Jordan and John Paul deJoria.  The Mineseeker Foundation’s mission is to eliminate land mines throughout Africa.  Mohammed Yunis, Nobel Prize winner for his Grameen Bank micro loan program, has met with Charlie Gay and supports HUB’s work as a perfect example of this new model of corporate philanthropy.  He said that for profit companies should get involved in helping fund social programs rather than leaving that task solely to non-profits.
You can learn more about HUB at: http://wearethechangeagents.hubhub.org/index.php

Below is a link to a 45 minute presentation that Joe Vitale gave.  Joe considers this Karmic Marketing because he is essentially giving this presentation away for free.  You can watch the presentation by visiting the link below:

http://blog.mrfire.com/prosperity/inside-attract-wealth/

Mike Myers is coming out with a new comedy, The Love Guru, this summer June 20.  The Love Guru is about an American, Guru Pitka (Myers) who is left at the gates of an Ashram in India as a child and raised by gurus.  He returns to the US seeking fame and fortune in the world of self-help and spirituality.   According to the website, his karma is huge.  Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake and Deepak Chopra also make appearances in the movie.

This movie is taking advantage of the viral nature of the Internet with video clips on YouTube, a Myspace page, Facebook page, and a blog by Guru Pitka on Intentblog.  This movie and some of its viral marketing has already raised controversy as it pokes fun at Eastern spiritual traditions.  Interestingly enough, Deepak Chopra, who is an advocate for Eastern philosophies, is in the movie and also makes jokes about some of the stereotypes associated with himself and other Eastern mystics.  Chopra also hosts the blog for Guru Pitka at his website, http://www.intentlbog.com 

The humor in the movie is just that.  It is simply humor.  The movie reminds us not to take ourselves so seriously and that life is capable of being a cosmic playground for us to enjoy, laugh at and have fun.

You can watch the trailer of The Love Guru at http://www.lovegurumovie.com/

What once started out as a grass-roots campaign, Earth Day, to celebrate the environment, has now become a marketing bonanza.  April 22, Earth Day, may become the next Christmas for brands looking for a way to stand out in the market place.  Companies such as Wal-Mart, Banana Republic, and News Week all offered special discounts for the weeks surrounding Earth Day.  The entertainment industry also jumped on the bandwagon with green logos and environmental campaigns seen on the major television networks. 

To be fair, some of the companies genuinely do care about raising environmental awareness and increasing their own sustainability.  But, others are simply touting their environmentally friendly company policies and marketing efforts to raise their profits and increase commerce.  Their intentions are not exactly consistent with the 1970 grass-roots campaign for a national holiday honoring our planet.  Even the FTC has stepped in by saying it will be stricter in monitoring the validity of companies’ claims that their practices and policies are “green” or environmentally friendly. Does the intention to make more money really matter if the company is helping raise awareness for the environment or changing their companies’ policies to increase sustainability? 

 
The ultimate decider of whether green marketing is effective is the consumer and many of the consumers are starting to be skeptical.  “Consumers can see through messaging that is not backed with a longer-term commitment to green,” said David Wigder, senior VP-Digitas and author of the blog Marketing Green. “Moreover, if consumers are bombarded with too much messaging, they may simply tune it out.”
 

Consumers often voice their concerns and criticism in the blogosphere.  Bloggers are known for meticulously checking facts and companies’ claims.  Thus, a good source for whether a company is truly green or environmentally sound is the blogosphere. According to Nielsen Online, Tree Hugger, World Changing, The Oil Drum and Alternative Consumer are among the most popular sustainability blogs on the web.  Tree Hugger is the largest environmental blog with 10 regular staffers and 50 contributors from around the world.  The staffers include advocates, scholars and experts.  David Binkowski, senior VP-director of word-of-mouth marketing at Manning Selvage & Lee explains, “[It] better not just be window dressing, because bloggers fact-check everything.”

So whether or not green marketing is just the latest fad or a legitimate platform to raise awareness for both brands and the environment remains to be seen.  However, companies that advertise their environmental claims are sure to face more scrutiny and will need to deliver a product that meets the consumer’s expectations.

On Earth Day, Disney revealed that it is creating a new production house, Disneynature, that is focused on documentaries about the environment. Their first movie released in the US is ”Earth”, from Alastair Fothergill, producer of “Planet Earth” series.  It will be narrated by James Earl Jones and released April 22, 2009.  

   
Disney prexy-CEO Robert Iger explained, “Disneynature is a concept we look forward to building across the company and across the globe for years to come, and we hope these films will contribute to a greater understanding and appreciation of the beauty and fragility of our natural world.”

Disney’s emphasis on nature docs is similar to when Walt Disney was running the studio.  From 1948-1960, Disney’s True-Life Adventure series won eight Oscars, including best feature documentary for 1953’s “The Living Desert.”      

No matter what your job is or no matter how much you like or dislike it, you have the opportunity to turn it into a spiritual experience.  St. Francis gives us some guidance about how to do this when he said:

“Make me a channel of your peace.”

If we can apply this ideal to our jobs, then our day at work can become a form of spiritual devotion.  While prayer and meditation are powerful and effective, in order for us to reach our full potential as human beings, it may be helpful to begin to see all aspects of our life, including our jobs, as an opportunity to have a spiritual experience.

For example, how many times have you ever noticed your coworkers stressed out, angry or in the need of some extra help.  What if you approached your colleagues from a mindset of peace and service by giving them the extra help or simply asking them if you can get them a cup of coffee?  Everyday there is an opportunity to emote love and peace to our coworkers.  These simple acts of kindness do not go unnoticed and their effects are both practical and profound.   

The interesting paradox is that by approaching work with a mindset of peace, service and giving to others, the more we will receive on both a spiritual and objective level.  For instance, your coworkers will begin to notice that you are a source of peace for them throughout the day and be that much more inclined to help you in return when the time comes, or give you more responsibility and think of you when it is time for a promotion.  Additionally, people are more effective workers, have increased creative thinking skills, and increase their overall productivity when they are experiencing peace, love or joy.   

By recontextualizing your job as a form of spiritual devotion, the pressure that you may feel throughout the day begins to go away because you are focused on serving others or some higher purpose instead of seeking some end result or gain for yourself.  This practice can actually become a form of meditation if we ask God or our Spirit to take over for us throughout the work day. For example, instead of over-thinking every little detail about how to get the job done, we can simply allow our Spirit to make the decisions throughout the day for us by trusting our inner guidance and intuition. 

It is easy at times to separate our spiritual and work life.  However, if we can begin to view our job as an opportunity for personal, emotional and spiritual growth, then the job can become an authentic spiritual experience. 

In The World Is Flat, Best-Selling Author, Thomas Friedman explains that the world is flattening because globalization and lightning swift advances in technology and communications connect people from all across the globe as never before - creating a global market place for labor, services, products and employees.  In this flat world people from all socio-economic backgrounds are competing for jobs with other people from all over the globe.  For example even professions such as accountants, attorneys and radiologists are now losing their jobs because people from other countries can do those same jobs more efficiently and at a lower cost.  In order to be successful and thrive in this new flat world, a person has gotta follow their passion!
 

The only people who are not in danger of losing their jobs in a flat world are the untouchables.  Friedman defines the untouchables as employees who cannot be replaced because they bring an intangible quality to the market that cannot be replicated or outsourced by someone else who can do the same job better or for a lower wage.  When we are following our passions we are doing what we love and expressing that intangible and untouchable part of ourselves.  This unique expression of the sacred part of ourself can never be outsourced to someone else who can do the same job at a lower wage or automated by some machine or a computer.  
 

This is why following your passion is absolutely essential and even a financial necessity at times in todays global market place. Freidman recognizes this when he writes, “When the world is flat, curiosity and passion for a job, for success, for a subject area or even a hobby are so much more important. . . . That innocent passion for a certain job, without knowing the salary or the working hours or the preparation required, is what you need to get back in touch with.  It’s that childlike feeling of, ‘I want to do that because I want to do that-and I don’t have to explain why,’ that we all need to rediscover.”
 

We can learn how to turn ours passions into our career by cultivating and developing our right-brain capabilities.  For example, Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age, explains:
 

“The left hemisphere handles sequence, literalness, and analysis.  The right hemisphere, meanwhile, takes care of context, emotional expression, and synthesis. . . .  Until recently, the abilities that led to success in school, work, and business were characteristic of the left hemisphere.  They were the sorts of linear, logical, analytical talents measured by SATs and deployed by CPA’s.  Today, those capabilities are still necessary.  But they’re no longer sufficient.  In a world upended by outsourcing, deluged with data, and choked with choices, the abilities that matter most are now closer in spirit to the specialties of the right hemisphere-artistry, empathy, seeing the big picture, and pursuing the Transcendent. . . .”
 

Pink concludes, “When you hear your parents or your college graduation speaker telling you to “do what you love,” they are not giving you some syrupy pabulum.  They are giving you a survival strategy.”
 

Of course, Friedman and Pink’s contention that following your passion is a necessity in today’s new flat world may be incorrect.  However, the alternative is to not follow your passions and to live a life wondering how things might have been.  It seems at the very least, the intrinsic motivation and joy of the journey that following your passion provides one with makes it well worth the risk.