Have you ever been sold by an advertisement you saw or heard?

It doesn’t happen very often for me. Maybe I’m just weird but I think it’s because I don’t worry about a lot of things in life.

I can recognize a great ad, laugh at a good Super Bowl commercial, and acknowledge an effective product. However, I don’t think any of these things are what makes you buy something. Branding and marketing professionals might say that large-scale ads are designed to get you to buy something right away and that proves my point.

While a branding ad is good for awareness, it doesn’t create tension.

Marketing Generosity

The goal of The Impactmaker Movement isn’t to sell anyone on a specific way of giving. That’s your job!…no pressure.

It’s really the job of every one of us. The movement is designed to help us motivate each other, learn, and celebrate along the way.

You could say the movement is a way of branding generosity as an important concept in society. It is with that brand that you can execute your own methods of “selling” the importance of giving.

The great thing about marketing these days is that there are so many ways to do it. You don’t (and frankly, you can’t) have to be an expert at all of them. You should find the way that works best for you. Some examples include:

social media interactions
networking
writing/blogging
video
podcasts
simple acts of generosity

When all else fails, just be generous!

The Generous Canadien

I am writing this blog entry on December 31st, 2022 in Quebec City, Canada. This place is beautiful and I am thoroughly enjoying the trip. I almost didn’t enjoy it, though.

Montreal was also a great place to visit - until I lost my phone.

I was walking behind Mrs. DePasquale and her mother and decided to take a picture. It was a picturesque shot as they held arms and strolled through the snow-capped city. Honestly, I was very proud of myself for capturing the moment.

Little did I know that at the time I was admiring my work, I dropped the phone in the snow. It made no noise and so I had no clue as to my clumsiness. I continued to adjust my coat and caught up with the ladies.

I realized my phone was gone when I went to show them the photo.

I panicked and they could feel my distress. There was an incredible amount of tension.

You know that uncomfortable feeling when you lose something of significance? Most of us can’t go five minutes without looking at their phone, no less five days until I can get a new one.

At that point, it wasn’t about checking Twitter or e-mail. It was all of the other data I had on the device and the hassle the rest of the vacation would be.

There was a clear problem in that specific moment.

There’s a difference between a risk and the resulting problem if the risk comes to fruition.

The risk I took by taking my phone was one I didn’t even think about when venturing out; and it shouldn’t have been. The reward of having it to get around an unfamiliar city far outweighs the possibility of losing it.

You could have offered me the most effective phone tracking/safety app or system in the world and I would have thought nothing of it that morning. There was no tension in the risk.

But when I realized I had lost my phone, tension went from non-existent to near its maximum. It was during that period of time in which I could be most affected.

The Call

Trisha (Mrs. DePasquale) called my phone a couple of times when we realized it was lost. Eventually, a Canadien man answered. He picked up the phone on his way to the bus. We suppose he thought it better to get it out of the snow and potentially return it to someone later.

It was hard to understand the man with his accent over the phone. He said he was on his way to do something and he could return in about an hour to a nearby Metro station. It was a long, cold hour, but we waited hoping he didn’t have malintent. He showed up a little more than an hour later and was as kind as can be.

See, there are some really nice people in the world!

The Transfer

Our good samaritan handed me the phone with a smile and thought nothing of his act of kindness. He took two hours of time to deliver a carelessly dropped phone that he picked up out of the snow. It was in good shape and unless he secretly hacked into it, it was the perfect series of actions to relieve the tension that we were experiencing.

There was one, and only one thing I needed then - someone to pick up my phone and bring it back to me. I didn’t need to be convinced of the importance of phone security or a brand-name solution.

The Relieved Americans

There’s no doubt the lost phone incident could have ruined that day or the entire vacation. My wife and mother-in-law were cold and frustrated with me and I felt terrible. There was something about attempting to capture a nice moment causing a major problem that made it even worse.

They say good advertising makes people acknowledge a problem and provides an immediate solution. The Internet and social media make it easy to share messages and Amazon makes it easy to buy things in “one click.” Yet, the ability to do things quickly doesn’t make a sale or convince people of the importance of something.

The Canadian Man provided us with the relief we sought.

Here’s the kicker:

We didn’t need a product. We needed generosity.

Living Generously

You might say some marketing tactics are morally questionable. When you’re trying to create tension you can push it too far. You know I love to encourage “pushing” for greatness, but not at the cost of others. The whole point of our greatness is to support others.

There are enough people in the world that many product and service companies have plenty of prospects. It’s a fight for the ever-valuable customer though.

Our product or service, however you want to look at it, is the most needed. I believe this to be very good. Everyone needs generosity (the tension) and this is not because we are all struggling (that would be bad). It’s because this is our inherent way of bonding with each other.

Listen to Speaking of Impact episode 118 with Wendy Steele of Impact100 Global. She’ll tell you all about oxytocin and how important it is to give. Or, if you don’t want to hear from me anymore, watch her TEDx Talk.

All we have to do is live generously.

This is our “secret sales weapon” against tension.

Testimonials and Reviews

Most websites highlight social proof. Testimonials and reviews are a key part of a company’s advertising. What better way to show you are worth hiring or purchasing from than happy existing customers?

In order to have happy existing customers, you have to be providing your product or service. It can be hard getting those first few people to commit, but if you can get them on board, you’ll have sources of social proof.

The "startup” process for generosity is much simpler than that of a SAAS (software as a service) company. Start with some simple acts of kindness and you’re building a “portfolio” of generosity. Your "portfolio” is not a source of praise for you but an addition to the broader world of giving that exists. It provides social proof for The Impactmaker Movement and anyone who is living generously whether they claim it formally or not.

The business plan is easy to follow:

Start with the tension (it already exists for everyone)
Act generously (you already do this)
Enjoy Oxytocin exchanges (see Wendy’s material)
Repeat (gets easier the more you do it)

Using the Assets

Repurposing assets is another important concept in marketing these days. Why make it harder on yourself to find material when you already have plenty?

The solution is not to be “twice as generous” or to be generous more times over. I would encourage you to challenge yourself to give more time, money, or other resources. However, the overall message of generosity is most important. In other words, it’s better if you lead five people to giving than to burn yourself out trying to give too much (yes, this is possible).

The “assets” we have are all of the stories of generosity and statistics about giving. The other thing to note about there being so many people in the world is that there are definitely people that have not heard or seen the message before. You can share things again. You can tell stories repeatedly (bonus: you’ll get better at telling them).

The most powerful message stories are those where you’ve experienced generosity as the receiver.

My story from Speaking of Impact episode 1 is more polished now but it’s always been the most meaningful. The Canadien samaritan is another. I am sure you have some of your own to repurpose. Pass on the good feelings you received to others. This is your social proof for generosity.

What are the times when you’ve been the beneficiary of a generous act?

Here are a few memory joggers:

a co-worker helped you fix something at work
a friend helped you when you were sick
a stranger gave you directions
someone found a lost item (like a cell phone 😉)
somebody fixed something for you

Comment here or let me know on the socials - Instagram or Twitter.

Have a generous 2023! 😃

Tension Creates Attention