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Writers' Guide

Who reads SB?

As a B2B sustainability resource, Sustainable Brands' content is aimed toward professionals seeking insights into how to maximize their positive impacts in the business world, rather than consumers looking for tips on sustainable living. Our core audience of sustainable business innovators trend toward mid- to high-level managers or decision-makers who are looking for new ways to build business and brand value by pairing reduced environmental and social impact with positive economic results — ideas and strategies that go above and beyond compliance and what their peers might already be doing.
Our readers already understand the opportunities in "doing well by doing good." They already get why we need a more intentional approach to business and want insights into how to strategically implement sustainability into their operations — through innovation, effective communication, collaborative models and opportunities, tested approaches and frameworks with demonstrated success metrics, and more.

Important tips

  • Content must be:
    • non-promotional in nature. No sales pitches!
    • exclusive to Sustainable Brands. We will not accept previously posted content.
    • of interest and value to a business audience — i.e. no 'sustainable living tips' or similar content more geared toward consumers.
  • Use of terms such as "green," "eco-friendly," "sustainable" (without the appropriate/correct context), "saving the planet," "doing well by doing good" and other similarly overused buzzwords and phrases is highly discouraged and could result on us passing on your article (you can do better than that!).
  • Please make sure we either haven't already covered your topic or that it is in fact newsworthy in the context of what we have covered.

What we're looking for

The SB editorial platform serves as a resource for companies and professionals looking to learn more about how companies are evolving beyond a conventional, linear approach to business — creating new revenue opportunities and competitive advantage through strategies, initiatives, partnerships, products, services and business models that create value for society and the natural world along with the business.
Our readers look to us for insights on assessing where they can have the most impact in their own operations, and for those leading the way to share their successes and failures for others to learn from.
To that end, we feature and seek original content that examines how companies around the world are:

Other suggestions

  • Think Sustainability 2.0. Emphasize “resilience,” "innovation" and "opportunity" over "responsibility" or "compliance" (Ex: If your building is LEED-certified, let us know when it meets LBC or Cradle to Cradle standards!).
  • Think "big picture." Focus on insights, initiatives and case studies from which a broad range of companies or industries can learn (Ex: Fashion Giants Join Forces to Scale Circular Apparel, Footwear ). Instead of a self-promotional pitch about how great your company's latest program is, share insights and benefits that your company has gained as a result of the program.
  • Share metrics. Quantifying the impact and ROI of sustainability initiatives is of particular interest and value to our community (Ex: Natural Capital Impact Group Develops Single Biodiversity Metric to Help Companies Reduce Impacts ).
  • Reference current trends. Peruse SB's editorial channels and latest news for a look at what topics we've published on in recent months. You may find inspiration from the industry surveys, company news, interviews with business leaders, and past contributions from SB writers. Any references to previous SB coverage should be hyperlinked within your text.

Formatting

  • The target article length is ~700-1200 words, with a single space between sentences.
  • All desired references and hyperlinks must be embedded in the document (not footnoted) prior to submissions.
  • Word and Google docs preferable to PDFs.
Once you've reviewed these guidelines and are confident your idea is a good fit for SB, feel free to submit a proposal (PLEASE NOTE that inquiries from general content writers, sites just looking for link-backs, and proposals not relevant to our audience will not receive a response).