Written by: jehoshuakilen on October 5, 2009 @ 2:48 pm
Business can serve others
I’ve got a radical idea.
That we are at our most prosperous when we invest increased wealth to directly impact and renew communities.
Imagine if we used our prosperity for the good of others. Imagine if we live only with what we need and use the rest to give back to those who need our help the most. Imagine what would happen if those who have more invest in those who don’t so that they can produce and achieve.
Imagine if every business adopted a healthy lifestyle of serving others, first their families and then their communities.
Serving the Community
For example, a family owned grocery or market will agree to not just donate money or volunteer time (although that would be appreciated I am sure) to the local food bank, but actually use the extra revenue brought in though increased marketing efforts to buy extra food for the food bank. A credit union or local bank would dedicate some or all of its excess to fund a full time position that coordinates with local nonprofits on financial education or the creation of a select number of high risk, second chance accounts. See how it could work?
I have wanted to start a marketing company for some time, but I could never figure out the point of simply creating more wealth for its own sake. Where do we invest it? Spend it on ourselves, on bigger houses or more cars,or on bigger TV’s or more computers or expensive vacations?
How about reinvesting in the business? YES, reinvest in the business but don’t reinvest simply to expand the business so that the business can grow and become larger for the sole purpose of becoming bigger and more expansive. Reinvest in serving those that can’t help themselves and your business will grow as a consequence. But you will also be serving a better cause, not just the organization’s growth.
I know this sounds idealistic, but it is a lifestyle we can all live and the consequences of this behavior can have the most amazing impact the world has ever seen. Instead of growing to consume, we will grow to give.
Who’s with me?
Tags: Branding, Business, community, givingback, Marketing, Nonprofit
Catogories: Branding, Business, Community Renewal, Marketing, NonprofitRead more
WHY you do what you do
Written by: jehoshuakilen on May 25, 2010 @ 12:09 pm
You own a business, you sell things to customers and meet their needs. You probably want to sell more things to your customers and get new customers to sell even more things. But why? To make more money? To get rich? To not have to worry about your finances anymore? To increase your status in [...]
Catogories: Business, Community Renewal, StoryRead more
What if….?
Written by: jehoshuakilen on April 23, 2010 @ 6:51 pm
What if I just wrote honestly and not to please my audience? What would I write? What if I could live my life how I always dreamed of, what would that look like?
What if I actually learned to like people? AND all their issues and problems? AND stopped dealing with them as problems [...]
Tags: expectations, Personal, Story, value, values
Catogories: Personal, StoryRead more
What Calling Has God Placed On Your Life?
Written by: jehoshuakilen on April 14, 2010 @ 3:41 pm
For years I struggled with the question of a calling.
I wondered “What am I doing with my life?” and “What is it all supposed to mean?” Sound familiar at all?
To a Christian Business Owner it’s even more puzzling. You are supposed to have it all figured out, but it’s never that simple. You still have [...]
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Do you know why stories are important?
Written by: jehoshuakilen on March 23, 2010 @ 7:21 am
We tell stories because they are about conflict.
One man against nature, or another man (including himself), or against man’s own creations (machines).
The good ones always detail something to watch out for, something to be careful of that might diminish one’s resources.
Because humans have learned how useful stories can be, we inherently pay attention to them. [...]
Tags: communication, stories, Story, storytelling
Catogories: Story, StorytellingRead more
The “why” is the Story!
Written by: jehoshuakilen on March 17, 2010 @ 7:18 am
Too often we tell stories without connecting to the larger story. When we do that, the audience is lost in the telling.
They don’t know where the story you are telling right now fits in the larger story. Usually they aren’t sure why this story is really important in the long run.
Audiences must have [...]
Tags: Business, communication, Marketing, stories, Story, storytelling, value
Catogories: Branding, Marketing, Story, StorytellingRead more
How can YOU change someone’s life for the better?
Written by: jehoshuakilen on February 22, 2010 @ 9:27 am
Have you ever tried to change someone else’s mind? Talked and pleaded with them to see a different point of view but in the end failed to get through? There is an old adage that says we have to look at how hard it is to change our own mind before we try to change someone else. I think that’s true and a good place to start.
Tags: change, exceeding expectations, expectations, happiness, Story
Catogories: Business, Marketing, Personal, StoryRead more
Do You Know Why Stories are Important?
Written by: jehoshuakilen on January 10, 2010 @ 9:41 am
We tell stories because they are about conflict.
One man against nature, or another man (including himself), or against man’s own creations (machines). The good ones always show something to watch out for; something that might diminish your resources.
Because humans have learned how useful stories can be, we inherently pay attention to them. We [...]
Tags: Branding, Business, communication, Marketing, stories, Story, storytelling, value
Catogories: Branding, Business, Marketing, Story, StorytellingRead more
Spam to the world, the Adverts have come!
Written by: jehoshuakilen on January 5, 2010 @ 7:37 am
I recently attended a holiday event with my family, a 2+ mile drive through professionally constructed Christmas lights in Spanaway WA; nice enough for what it was, but it was the advertising that got to me.
Littered throughout the drive were large banner signs for local companies. They were sponsorships the event has sold [...]
Tags: Branding, Business, communication, Marketing
Catogories: Branding, Business, Community Renewal, MarketingRead more
Imagining The Soul of A Business
Written by: jehoshuakilen on November 6, 2009 @ 7:30 am
From Availing Wisdom, July 28, 2009
The soul, or pneuma, of a business is shown in its DNA, the very code that gives it life. A company is very much like a belief system offering values, community, relevance, leadership and vision, empathy, and trust to the body of customers (see believers) that buy (see follow) its [...]
Tags: Branding, Business, communication, Marketing, values
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