FREE HOT DOGS!

by Matt Mattson

hot-dogWe have been inspired on more than one occasion by the author, thinker, innovator and blogger, Seth Godin (see here, here, here, and here).  Here we go again.  Today’s blog is about generous gifts.

Generosity is one of the four pillars of Social Excellence.  Generosity is about making people’s day, week, or life a little bit better.  Put simply, it is about being nice (that link is very much related to this post, read it too!).

Generosity is not about exchange or transaction.  It about giving.  It is about pure intentions.

Yelling “FREE HOT DOGS!” just to get people to talk to you so that you can con them into coming to your organization’s recruitment activity… not generous.

Having candy, pizza, or free give-aways with your logo on it at your table is not generous, it’s either smarmy or just plain cheap.

How can you be generous, not selfish?  How can you give more gifts?  How can you share your organization’s “art” with the world?  How can you make people’s days, weeks, lives a little bit better?  Are you brave enough to do that without immediate reciprocal reward?

Seth Godin’s blog post from today is below.  I think you’ll see the connection to organizational recruitment.

Generous gifts vs. free samples

Free isn’t always generous. Free can be a legitimate marketing strategy, an ultimately selfish way to increase sales. Once you spread your ideas (and free is the best way to do that), there are all sorts of ways to profit. But don’t be confused. Free samples and free ideas and free bonuses are not necessarily generous acts.

A generous gift comes with no transaction foreseen or anticipated. A gift is a gift, not the beginning of a transaction. When you see a Picasso painting at the Met, Picasso doesn’t get anything (he’s dead). Even his heirs don’t get anything. His art is a gift to anyone who sees it.

Giving gifts is a fairly alien endeavor. In most families, even the holidays are more about present exchange than the selfless act of actually giving a gift.

The cool part, the punchline, is that giving a gift for no reason and with no transaction contemplated is actually incredibly powerful. It changes your approach to the market, it changes your relationship with the recipient and yes, it changes you.