Hi everyone, first blog post here, thought I would share a few of my ideas.

7.5% of British Columbians went jobless last August, which is .2% higher than the national average. Since January our province has lagged behind the national average for unemployment. On top of this, many of the employed have seen reductions in the quality of their employment from lost hours, to having to take pay cuts.

I’ve had a lot of time to think lately (in light of me being forced from full-time to part-time). How many of my possessions are made in Canada? The answer isn’t something I’m overly proud of. I started thinking about how many of these possessions are made locally that yet I still chose to buy their Chinese equivalent at Wal-Mart. Are these products still available with that “Made in Canada” sticker on the bottom? This summer I was throwing my frisbee at the beach and noticed that it was made in Canada. The frisbee was as old as I am, and of great quality. I couldn’t help but wonder, does this plastics company that manufactured this frisbee still exist? Or had they been entirely replaced by their foreign competitors? I’ve never seen a frisbee of this quality in any store, but I certainly hope they’re still being made somewhere, though I fear the worst. How can local companies compete with their foreign competitors? I’ve seen a Wal-Mart open in every municipality I have ever lived, and thusly I have seen the influx of business closures that they provoked. Something needs to be done to help these small family run businesses to help even the fight, and I want to be a part of it.

Now in my free time I have devoted myself to what I believe fits my personal definition of altruistic marketing. I’ve bought a domain and paid for my hosting for a website titled www.bcproducts.ca (the name of my soon to be company). On this site I plan on compiling and categorizing all businesses in British Columbia, and eventually all of Canada, based on whether or not the goods they manufacture or sell are made in Canada or not. I will compile a list of specific goods they manufacture or sell so that the end user can simply type in the product they wish to buy, and find the nearest retailer that sells this Canadian made product. I will also rank companies on other factors in which I believe British Columbians are concerned, such as their ecological sustainability. I wish to travel from factory to factory, store to store, and write biographies on these companies and their history and then pass that on to the consumer. I want people to know who they are keeping employed by buying these products. I want to make shopping intimate again, rather than just buying mass produced garbage. Through my site, I plan on offering completely free marketing for companies deemed Canadian. Not only do I wish to support business, but I want to create an outlet for everyone with a product or service. I acknowledge that not only are physical goods manufactured in BC, but also culture, and art. I want to endorse everything, give a hub for artists in British Columbia to share or sell their art free of charge. The niche consumer base I plan on targeting are people such as myself who are eager to spend their money locally and support local businesses but simply do not know where to go to get the goods or services they require.

The extent of my goals are vast beyond what I have listed here. For example, I want to develop an app for mobile that allows people, by using the information I compile, to find Canadian companies simply by searching the product/service they’re looking for. There is a lot of work ahead of me, so here is hoping for a better British Columbia, and a better Canada. Cheers,

Richard