GIVE IS THE NEW GET

“No one has ever become poor by giving.”

—Anne Frank

Something special happens when we give. ink of something as simple as giving a smile to a stranger walking down the street. Try it. You will likely get a smile returned. If you choose to keep it to yourself, you might walk around all day without seeing someone smile at you. But if you initiate the smile—if you give first—you can and eventually will receive a smile and maybe more in return.

You know the truth of this simple act of giving. You’ve heard it and experienced it in one way or another your whole life. Albert Einstein once said, “ e value of a man resides in what he gives.” e Bible says, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

Deepak Chopra echoed these principles when he said, “ e universe operates through dynamic exchange . . . Giving and receiving are di erent aspects of the flow of energy in the universe. And in our willingness to give that which we seek, we keep the abundance of the universe circulating in our lives.” 12 e consistent thread of these teachings is that when you give, you set into motion an invisible dynamic that cannot help but come back to you, and you benefit from the intentional act of giving first. You initiate the energy with your act of giving, priming the pump so to speak, and it will flow back to you. is shi to giving first is foundational for creating a Groundswell.

What does it look like to flip from fishing for leads to investing in others?

Neil Patel is a shining example of this transformation. Patel is a New York Times bestselling author, top influencer, marketer, and creator of one of the one-hundred most brilliant companies according to Entrepreneur magazine. He is a monster content creator: his blog, podcast, and YouTube channel are consumed nearly twenty-five million times each month.

12 “ e Law of Giving & Receiving,” Chopra, May 26, 2015, h ps://chopra.com /articles/the-law-of-giving-receiving.

And he’s also one of the most generous people in the digital marketing space. He gives away free content, training, and even soware tools—the SEO tool that his competitors charge a hundred dollars a month to use, Neil gave away for free. Not only is he giving, but he’s giving high value. His free marketing school content is be er than most people’s courses.

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Neil, and I was in awe.

13 I asked him why he gives away all this amazing content, most of which is be er than any book.

In response, Neil said, “ e way I see it is if you give [things] away— and you demonstrate your capability and experience and value— then a certain percentage of people go, ‘Well, you know this be er than I do. I trust you. Why don’t I just hire you?’ ”

Michael Brenner, a champion of the customer-centric approach to business, agrees: “ e best content marketing is giving away your experience. Because, in fact, when you demonstrate your experience, it’s an asset of the company that can be utilized over and over again.” 14

13 Sco A. Martin, “Neil Patel | Karma Marketing,” June 17, 2019, in Groundswell Origins, podcast, 35:03, h ps://groundswellorigins.com/podcast/neil-patel.

14 Sco A. Martin, “Michael Brenner | Why Human Centric Content Marketing?” e economics of Give still trip people up, so we need to break down why giving works—both in real life and on paper.

May 7, 2019, in Groundswell Origins, podcast, 1:06:57, h ps://groundswell origins.com/podcast/michael-brenner.

To begin, the very act of giving is underscoring your values. According to science that David Allison explains in Valuegraphics, it is your values, not your advertising money, that bring people in. When interviewed about his research and work around Valuegraphics, David explained:

Neuroscientists will tell you that the prefrontal cortex . . . is the CEO of your brain, and that nothing happens in your body. You don’t do anything or think anything until the CEO tells you that’s what you’re going to do. And the CEO uses one thing to determine how it’s going to react to any inputs coming into your system: your values.15

David’s study validated the idea that people are not rational or emotional buyers. Ultimately, we are driven by what aligns to our values. is is great news! It frees you to a ract both rational and emotional types, simply by being more authentically who you are. And so, if we really want to hit the mark and turn our Give into dollars, we must understand and declare our values as an intermingled part of that process.

Doing so begins with throwing out archaic marketing language. is may sound familiar, as we addressed the distinction between an “acquiring customers” mindset and a “connecting with people” mindset earlier in the book. In fact, each of the previous phases continues as before, as well as having additional layers of application. Another example is a concept we addressed in Build: we named identifying common values as one of the fastest ways to connect to others. Now, in Give, we can apply it in new ways to uncover our unique application.

15 Sco A. Martin, “David Allison | Marketing Using Demographic Stereotypes Is Dead,” July 5, 2020, in Groundswell Origins, podcast, 56:15, h ps:// groundswellorigins.com/podcast/david-allison.

No ma er what kind of business you’re in, even a charitable organization, serving your audience requires an exchange of value. e value returned to you might be money, or it might be participation or feedback. Either way, this exchange is what business is all about. But before the exchange can ever happen, we have to get our audience on board with us. Before you can get, you need to give true value.