What Does Giving to Receive Really Mean?
Giving away free information is a popular and effective internet marketing strategy.
But is this practicing the true spirit of giving?
What does it really mean to "give before you get" and how can we apply this in our online marketing, and our lives?
The Practice of Giving to Receive
Authors in the field of personal development have written volumes on how we must be more giving in order to receive.
Here are some quotes that illustrate this:
From Napoleon Hill:
"Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness."
"It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed."
"The man who does more than he is paid for will soon be paid for more than he does."
From Wayne Dyer:
"When I chased after money, I never had enough. When I got my life on purpose and focused on giving of myself and everything that arrived into my life, then I was prosperous."
From Zig Ziglar:
"You can have everything in life that you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want."
Marketers have applied these concepts of giving in two main ways:
- finding a need and filling it
- offering free "stuff" as an enticement for a future purchase
In this way, marketers are giving with a definite agenda to expect a return.
However, the concept of giving goes beyond this agenda.
Here are two teachings from scripture on giving:
"…It is more blessed to give than to receive."
- Acts 20:35
"…give and it will be given to you; a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back."
- Luke 6:38
These passages reflect the deeper meaning of giving:
To give freely, without expectations.
How many times have we performed an act perfectly free of any personal gain?
We all have the opportunity to give:
- our time and resources
- our unique talents, interests, and knowledge
- our love and compassion
As internet marketers, focusing on the true spirit of giving, not just in our marketing but in our whole lives, will have a profound effect:
We will come to realize that we already have everything we need and we will be grateful for anything and everything that comes into or lives.
This relieves much of the pressure to perform, the stress from performing actions and expecting specific results.
Ultimately, this will make us much more effective marketers.
In conclusion, ask yourself these questions:
- what do I have to give?
- what am I expecting in return?
- how can I be more giving today?
- what can I freely share with someone, a loved one, for their benefit?
Today, I am grateful for the opportunity to share the wonderful gifts that have been so freely given to me.
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March 5th, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Yeah Mark,
I'm with you on that
While scriptures are not an authority for me, there are plenty of other accounts, including personal experience, that show that giving is good for you… giving without expecting any return…
Misha
Map Quest
March 5th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Nice points about the importance of giving before you receive. In the field of persuasion, both Kevin Hogan's Law of Reciprocity and Robert Cialdini's Rule of Reciprocation make a similar point. However it's not often emphasized that these rules work best when the gift has significant perceived value and it is unexpected. So you are right to point out that we should give freely without expectations.
March 6th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
What a wonderful post Mark, I particularly like Wayne Dyer and Zig Ziglar's sayings.
Putting this one on my Tumblr too.
March 6th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
@ Misha - yes, I've also had the experience that giving without expectation is good for me.
@ Robert - I've yet to read Robert Cialdini but I have heard that his "Art of Persuasion" (I think that is the name of the book), is an extremely popular book among many successful marketers and copywriters (like Yanik Silver)
@ Suzie - Thanks so much Suzie. I like those saying too.
March 8th, 2008 at 10:40 am
Mark,
You are right. As with many things, it comes down to our attitude of giving. Is it being done for marketing purposes or without any expectation except to help others. Both are good for different reasons. Each has different benefits.
March 9th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
I think the return really matches your authenticity. The more you are honestly giving to just give, the greater the return will be.
But we are all human, so until we can genuinely give just to give, we can give to receive. The more we give, the easier it becomes, and the more we become true "givers."
Fake it until its real, right?
March 9th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
@ Roger - I like the saying: "attitude of gratitude"
@ Emily - good point. We are not perfect so let's "fake it until we make it".