I was at a fundraising workshop.
The instructor held up a chocolate and asked: "Who wants to buy this for $1?"
No one stirred. She went on: "All the money will go to Oxfam, and will be used to sponsor our child-support activities."
One of the audience stood up, then another, and another... until almost everyone bought a 5-cent piece of candy for one dollar each.
"When I first started this work, I felt ashamed to ask," she continued. "Until I learned a valuable lesson. I'm not asking for myself. I'm asking for a cause, a mission, a purpose. It helped make a difference. Now I confidently ask for a donation - because I believe in what I'm doing."
I sat up straighter in my seat.
The next speaker was an accountant.
"I know everyone of you probably hates doing the figures and accounts for your non-profit organization," he began. Heads nodded in agreement.
"I also used to - until I started looking at them as more than just rows and columns of numbers. Behind each of them, I now see the faces of the people I help. And that makes it different."
It sure does.
No longer will I grumble and groan as I tally up my daily worksheet. Behind the numbers, I will see the smiling faces of children whose heart birth defects were cured by support from our Foundation.
Small changes in perspective can make a HUGE difference in attitude. By taking a few minutes or hours to rethink our business, we could explosively increase the impact of our marketing.
When you begin to get convinced about the benefits your business renders to its clients, you start talking about it more passionately. You start writing, acting, and even thinking about it with more enthusiasm and energy.
And this energy conveys itself to your prospects and clients in different ways. It trickles down to your staff and co-workers. It infects the folks you do business with. It even percolates to the general public who may not otherwise hear about you and your business.
So take the time today to redefine your purpose. Then watch your marketing soar to new heights.
(c) 2004 by Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr.Mani Sivasubramanian is a heart surgeon and entrepreneur who combines his passion to help kids receive lifesaving treatment with outstanding marketing savvy, which got him named as one of Seth Godin's 99 Purple Cows". The result, predictably, is explosive. See his Heart Kids Blog Marathon here:
http://www.CHDinfo.com/chdaware/blogathon.htm
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