Happy 2nd Birthday to EnviroDad.com

I will always look back whimsically at the fact that despite spending many of  my professional years helping clients to both realize and tell their stories…it took someone else to help me discover that I had a pretty good story of my own that wasn’t being told.

For whatever reason, it never dawned on me that there was a rather unique convergence opportunity appearing right in front of me.  An opportunity for my passions as an environmentalist and environmental speaker, my being a father of 4 and a daddy blogger as well as the owner of a media consulting and production company to all come together in one succinct package.  There were tonnes of Mom’s out there posting and publishing about things that mean a lot to them, but there were very few dads.  There were even fewer who focused in on the environement, and even fewer still with a professional media background that could put something unique together.

No…for some reason it never occurred to me that there was a niche in the world wide web for an Enviro Dad like me to bring it all together.  But thankfully a fellow communications person I met named Leah Oliveira was kind enough to draw my attention to the fact that the void was there and I should consider taking it.  In addition there was a kind and talented web designer named Colin Carmichael to decided to teach me about WordPress and help get me started with what this site could look like.

Well I took the insights, the advice and the opportunity, and on March 19, 2011 – two years ago today, I officially launched EnviroDad.com.

In the two years since, I’ve made a lot of decisions about the site and I continue to make them almost weekly.  Perhaps the most important decison was what I wanted EnviroDad.com to be.  I didn’t feel all warm and fuzzy about building a site where I’d make random posts about environmentalism and being a dad.  Instead I wanted EnviroDad.com to be more of a resource.  A resource for parents who viewed things such as environmental stewardship and sustainability as key tennants of parenting, that they could turn to for reviews, insights, advice, tips and general news.  It had to be meaningful and helpful for that to me would be more valuable looking at it as a parent myself.

The categories and content that have been put together in the past two years have been my best guess at what eco-friendly families would want.  The Enviro Dad Test Drive for example, continues to be the most popular page and it’s also taken on a personal life of its own.  I remember starting to review cars when I did some local TV and then I did a little more when I wrote for Erica Ehm’s Yummy Mummy Club as “Who’s Your Daddy”.  However the idea of doing it all the time never donned on me, until the lease expired on the car I was driving and I realized that I really couldn’t afford to get another one.  I thought if I could convince enough automakers to grant me access to their eco friendly and family friendly cars, that there might be an opportunity to create a win-win situation.  Well more than 60 printed and videoed reviews later it’s been better than expected, for I’m now recognized as a credible eco-auto expert and because of it, I make regular appearances on TV, I travel North America attending shows and launch events and even am now a member of The Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC).

Another change since the launch is that I’ve increased the use of Guest Authors since I’ve begun to realize that it’s darn near impossible to keep the site fresh and relevant on my own.

I’ve also been deliberate to this point to keep the site clear of advertising.  While I have agreed to a couple of sponsored posts over the years, I’ve never been interested in monetizing the site until I felt I had sufficient leverage.  I’m honestly more concerned about protecting the credibility of the EnviroDad branding than about accepting a few bucks from syndicated ad buyers.  That may change over time though as I continue to build relationships with companies or organizations I’m proud to promote…but for now the site remains clean.

EnviroDad.com has continued to grow slowly and deliberately over the first two years and people are taking notice.  Last summer the Globe and Mail wrote about me as one of the most influential dad bloggers in Canada.  I’ve written as EnviroDad for the Toronto Star, and have had my work shared on sites such as EverythingMom.com, Parentsource.ca, Wondermoms.ca, Fortylicious.ca, Dadditudes.com and weewelcome.ca.  I’ve appeared on CityLine as a Modern Dad, and have a regular monthly spot on CP24. I’ve interviewed Ed Begley Jr. and Jane Goodall among many others with more exciting opportunities lining up all the time.

This week I’ll also be writing for the legendary Readingrainbow.com and it’s founder LeVar Burton.  As EnviroDad I’ve been a keynote speaker at conferences and events across Canada including TEDx UOIT and #140 Conference Ontario and I plan to grow my speaking business a lot more going forward.

This has been a whirlwind experience over the past two years, but in all honestly I can’t help but believe that the ride is only just beginning.  For all those who have read, shared, commented, suggested, criticisized or just paid any attention at all to this site in the first two years…I offer you my deepest gratitude and thanks.  Your support has meant so much to me, but please understand that I can’t dwell since we have so many more people to meet and topics to discuss.

I hope you’ll continue to join me for the ride…