What we should do when things go bad.
When the financial market is in chaos all across the world, people consider clinging on to whatever they have and also reduce expenses. And they think that everybody does so, mainly because newspapers proclaim as such.
Everyone ISN`T responding in that manner. There are many people and many ventures that flourish, whether the economy is down or not. And if you are wondering why it is so, the solution is available there where it is often likely to be overlooked. It will be a good idea to search for the answer together.
Whenever there is a downward trend, whatever it is, the best way to overcome it is by rising higher than it. If we drift with the wind and go where it takes us, we might find ourselves in dire straits, waiting for the wind’s mercy for deliverance.
The reality is that when we learn how to be in control and in our power, we can stay above everything that is happening no matter what happens around us. Let’s take a look at how.
‘Go-getters’ or ‘Go-givers’
Imagine a scenario where we want to have more – better profits, a higher salary, more leave, better liberty, and wider chances.
When we want something, the first thing we tend to do is to go and get it. So, we call ourselves ‘Go-getters’. And being a ‘go-getter’ is, let’s face it, a sign of leadership, activism and an early-adopter mindset. This is of course one of the keys to the success formulae we often read about. But there is a problem. It turns out that when we use this ’strategy’, there are some unexpected (but quite predictable) consequences.
The crux of the problem is that after ‘getting’ and ‘owning’ a thing, what eventually happens is ‘dropping’ it. We either actually throw it away or become indifferent to it.
So then we immediately shift our focus to getting more. And here’s the real problem; the more we do that, the more we create a cycle that actually makes us continuously feel as though we do not yet have enough. It’s like a carbohydrate addiction!
But what if we turned our ‘getting’ into giving?
You might be conscious that the act of contributing produces a unique pleasure. This arises from gratification and not from alarm or self-indulgence. One can go on contributing and get so much in return like a most rewarding expedition.
Our abundant and providing attitude creates abundant and providing clients and team mates while our cost awareness and ‘getting approach’ would draw towards us only similar clients and team mates. And those are the type of people we would not like to be friends with!
Creative capitalism
Most ventures are today aware of the inspiring role of capitalism. They are ever ready to contribute more through many avenues. The idea has strongly impacted the business world as they realise how giving is central to business interests. A typical example is Bill Gates, who expounded the philosophy of ‘Creative Capitalism’ in July 2008 in a TIME magazine article.
He explained that helping others might be the fine deciding point that could persuade people to prefer one product to another.
What he’s actually saying is that when a company links its business to giving in some way, that company and its products become more attractive to customers. It takes us way, way above what’s been called ‘the sea of sameness’.
Creative Capitalism is concerned about reaching higher than what we might reconcile for to arrive at where we hoped to arrive. When we can make the most of our design and inspiration in a way that assists and fosters the larger community of nations and continents, we are preventing the wastage of supplies, endeavours and capacities to succeed. Then we are crafting the most authentic success for ourselves and for the financial stability of the countries across the world.
The charm of effective giving
CSR or Corporate Social Responsibility is the word used for delineating the process of business establishments giving back to the community. It is becoming an obligation on the part of enterprises to do so. But when they donate as a duty or just for creating a good impression, it would soon become easy to make out. However, it works as an interim ploy for survival.
However, ‘giving’ people and businesses always attract more. The passions and beliefs behind what they do are shared with the people with whom they connect. They attract something beyond what the slick PR or marketing campaign provides.
So, what happens if we allocate some of the marketing budget to go toward giving?
Giving gives rise to something greater than what we actually are. It has the power to inspire. And true inspiration is possible only when it echoes on the people whom we want to enthuse. And we are enthused only when we put our heart and soul into the procedure. It is simply not sufficient to listen to the interesting tales. One has to become part and parcel of the whole process. Everyone has this inclination to make one’s own input – to one’s immediate relatives, friends, and to the society at large.
Transaction-based giving causes it to happen on its own
A far better atmosphere for donating has become possible because of an idea (or we can call it a ‘phenomenon’) by the name Buy1GIVE1 (Buy One Give One). Buy1GIVE1 is the abode of transaction-based giving. Transaction-based giving overhauls everything. Let us put to use our resourcefulness and decide why.
How wonderful is the situation where every time someone buys an ice cream, a child somewhere in an underprivileged country gets a cup of milk?
Equally exemplary would be the situation where whenever someone subscribes to a magazine, a tree would instantly get planted in a barren patch in another continent? Or, if every time one eats a hamburger another would instantly get at least a handful of rice?
Consider the scenario of someone attending a coaching session. It would be commendable if someone who needs similar coaching would get it as a direct consequence (and just at the cost of not more than 60 cents for the day’s coaching).
Or maybe even the speaker you hire for your conference makes sure that kids who can’t speak (because of facial deformities) now can by automatically giving back to a worthy cause connected to those kids. All of a sudden, you feel good too because you’ve done some good!
Consider whether you will be able to use transaction-based giving in your own exclusive way to go with your services or products to make your customers and other team-mates part of the saga of contributing. This is how you can do it.
The actual winning economy
Business ventures, on a global basis, have already internalized the efficacy of this transaction-based giving. A case in point is TESCO, one of the foremost supermarket chains of UK. The company’s programme ensures that a Kenyan child gets a school uniform when someone buys a pair of school trousers from them.
Mineral Water Company Volvic also rolled out their transaction-based giving program successfully last year. For every 1 litre of Volvic people buy, Volvic gives funds to build wells in Africa in a program they call Buy1 GIVE 10 (since every 1 litre sold essentially creates a flow of 10 litres in the well.
Middle level and comparatively small enterprises are now in the forefront in widening this global giving phenomenon through Creative Capitalism. Buy1GIVE1 (www.b1g1.com), a Singapore-based Social Enterprise came up with an effective strategy which has turned this transaction-based giving into a movement that anyone who wants can participate in.
Buy1GIVE1 is the home of the most impactful transaction-based giving in the world because it connects any business of any size to any cause in the world. It’s creating a global community of business givers and for SME`s, Buy1GIVE1 connects businesses, their customers AND charities in a way that hasn’t been done before. And it all happens automatically.
Any person can become a citizen of this phenomenon of global giving merely by getting a Buy1GIVE1 `VISA` directly off the Buy1GIVE1 site at www.b1g1.com. Those who have their own enterprise can become a B1G1 Business through applying online and selecting the charity and the primary service or product for launching the giving. Buy1GIVE1 forwards the entire contribution amount to their international Worthy Cause Partners (more than 528 projects are available for members to choose from) thereby making their contributions highly productive.
Have you considered?
* Half the world-nearly three billion people-live on less than two dollars a day.
* Even when the new millennium dawned there were still almost a billion people who were illiterate.
* UNICEF has reported that more than 30,000 children die every day due to abject poverty, which makes it 20 child a minute and 210,000 a week.
* 85% of the world’s water resources are utilized by just 12% of its population. And of this, even 1% does not live in the Third World.
* Medical aid is not available for one billion people of the world population.
* 63,000 square miles of rainforests are destroyed each year.
Statistic From Global Issues
Buy1GIVE1 Businesses-check out these examples
* Buy1BUILD1 (www.sunsplashhomes.com, www.arkgroup.com.au)
* Learning to learning (www.kipmcgrath.com.au)
* Medical treatment helping in medical aid (www.primanora.com)
* Phone card to communication (www.ultimatecomms.com)
* Mind Expansion to curing (www.meditate.com.au)
* Weight loss to kids’ meals (www.bodychain.com)
* Aesthetic blinds to lights to schools (www.blindscouture.com.au)
* Socks for feet to socks for social effect (www.socksforhappypeople.com)
* Coaching to train social entrepreneurs (www.b1g1forcoaches.com)
* And to get a complete picture, just go to www.b1g1.com.
Unearthing what we are looking for-Nature’s eternal secret
So let’s begin again from where we had set off-financial instability and succeeding in having what we need. The requirements are in reality quite clear-cut. It is just a triumvirate starting with the letter C – correlation, cooperation and community.
When we can pool resources and not segregate and when we can divine a proper way to augment what everyone has got and not cut down from what each has got, we understand that there is a veritable cornucopia of sources to be had in the world. And when we bond, not just with our physical persona, but with our intrinsic selves, we discern something completely fascinating -that we’re all ONE. Then we comprehend how uncomplicated it is to form a universal community from something as ordinary as giving.
And the truth is there in all its glory in nature.
In earth’s natural workshop, beautiful butterflies fertilize flowers and help to produce gardens that continue generation after generation. It was there even before recorded history.
When a crisis hits the world, we can see an opportunity to get back to the simplicity. It is now actually time to be grateful for what we have in order for us all to keep thriving.
And when you choose to start giving today, you will feel so much better despite the economic challenges. And when you feel better you will discover a renewal of hope and you will remember all tides change and the down will soon be up. Giving today is the one thing that you can do to change everything.
Discover more about how Buy1GIVE1 (BOGO) can transform your business using Cause Marketing. You can get a unique content version of this article from the Uber Article Directory.