Five Steps to Choose an Appropriate Resource

With the plethora of options for green business women to find and make money, you will always find conflicting information from advisors, partners, associates, and paid consultants.

Since knowledge is power, here are five steps to evaluate a resource's potential to enhance and enrich your life:

1) Trust the source, but verify.

Typically, the system or company will have a deep and broad user base, with an established history of using that source, and who are happy to provide testimonials. Find a LinkedIn, Yelp, Better Business Bureau, Quora, or Google review of the company's methods, product offerings, or services. Try and find as broad of a response base as you can, as one or two unhappy customers may not be a reliable indication of the company's ability to deliver.

2) Seek past results.

While past performance does not predict future results, it is enlightening and informative to see the trajectory of the company's progress through the good times and the bad. Typically a company that is in business for 5+ years has more to offer than a startup. A business with multiple completed, satisfied customers has more to offer than a brand-new consultant or trainee. A professional service with a track record can give you prospectus information, past results, or white papers detailing specific case studies.

Ask for at least 3 year's worth of details; you can then see a better trend of how the company has delivered (or failed to deliver) adequate information or intelligence.

3) Go with a recommendation from someone you trust.

The personal recommendation of an existing client is golden - if that customer is extremely satisfied and can point out specific results that the service has completed for them, you will get a better sense of how the process works with a "real-world" example.

Make sure that the person from whom you are receiving the referral is not just a paid "shill"; not everyone is a genuine satisfied customer, but those who are happy with the service are usually thrilled to share their experience, especially if it has been a good one.

4) Be detailed and specific about your desired results.

The worst idea is to hand over your hard-earned cash for something you haven't agreed to, thought about, or planned for. How will you detail or evaluate your success? What is your definition of what an adequate response is? How will you know if something is satisfactory or not? Determine in advance what you need, then begin with the end in mind - make it clear what you need and ask the vendor provider to detail how they will give that to you.

5) Get a variety of options.

It always helps to grab 4-7 estimates from competitor firms; you can then see the overlap, similarities, or differences in approach. You can also better evaluate pricing, or value-added items, or additional service offerings.

When making a decision, you're relying on a combination of luck, gut instinct, the experiences of your acquaintances and friends, and the vendors with whom you come into contact.

If you're lucky enough to build a solid suite of people, resources, and information sources to support your personal, professional, and business growth, you will be a success and you'll be able to share that knowledge and skills with others in your community.

Choose wisely! From seeking Accurate Forex Signals to trading stock tips, to finding endeavors in which to invest as part of a crowdfunding movement, it's important to find reliable, up-to-date, vetted information.

Photo by Flower's.Lover