A couple weeks ago my son Kyler & I were driving down the road and the topic of charity came up.
I said, “one of these days I’ll be involved in some really cool projects.”
He says in a matter of fact way, “why aren’t you now?”
I had a million reasons WHY (I’m not now) running through my mind… (We need to build the business up to a certain point first, we’re way behind with projects as it is, yada yada yada...)
But, instead of saying any of those things, I said “hmmm… good question.”
I didn’t say anything for the next few minutes.
Next thing you know, we’re pulling in the driveway and right back into the buzz of a typical Monday.
But something happened.
The rest of the week was a blur.
I kept saying to myself, "why not right now?"
"How can I leverage my unique skillset to not only make a difference, but also experience positive change firsthand?"
One of my goals for the next couple years is to take my son to India or Africa to experience some totally different cultures… (Both the poverty-stricken areas and non-poverty areas.)
Then it hit me like a ton of bricks.
Why not just integrate something like "Charity:Water" or another outreach program we’re passionate about into what we are already doing?
Something simple where I can leverage my existing unique skillset to make a bigger impact even faster.
A little like bartering with myself… in a weird way.
Where we’d give 25-50% of the gross revenue...
(Example: the upcoming online Code2Video Ad Intensive, 1/2-Day Everlasting Ad Challenge 80/20 Recap Intensive, or Ad Testing Sprint…)
Or, 25-35% of high-ticket services like Coaching, In-Person Intensives, and Certifications…
…how cool would it be if we built THREE wells (that would save dozens of lives and prevent hundreds of diseases) in three different communities in Southern India just by having ONE Intensive at the Creative Cabin?
Where every customer of ours gets to put their name on a specific water project AND see it come to fruition through that charity's tracking system...
I“ONE Good Deed for ONE Good Ad.”
It’s TWO stories for the price of ONE. (You get ONE good ad - created by you with my team’s help, OR created by one of our certified FB/Instagram Storytellers…)
ONE Good story ad that turns strangers into customers.
ONE Good story of life transformed.
Or, an entire community transformed...
...that we put your name onto and we send you updates of the outreach progress, including photos, Videos, and GPS locations of your SECOND story. Your impact. Our impact.
To the doubters & skeptics: I know this is not a brand-new idea.
TOMS Shoes first brought the big idea of combining for-profit with non-profit to the masses almost ten years ago…
People in my industry partner with charities all the time with specific projects, programs, and with their business profits.
But, I thought why not try something where we take a big risk and give up a huge portion of our sales on every single product or service we launch?
Why not bolt on some serious passion projects to what we're already doing, instead of having to go out and start an entirely new passion project?
IMPORTANT: This is an experiment to experience something that may just lead to something amazing - something I’m unable to imagine at this point in linear time.
It may end up bombing in a big way.
If it does, oh well. The wisdom gained and relationships built from the experience will more than pay for itself.
And like Steve Jobs famously said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.”
My mentor Victoria Labalme always says, “its the idea that leads to the idea.”
So, what if this charity ad idea is a great experiment on it’s own, but also leads to something even more amazing down the road?”
My gut feeling says YES.
Whenever I have listened and acted on my true intuition, it has NOT failed me up to this point in my life.
Ever.
But, when I listened but didn’t act - things didn’t turn out so well.
I don’t even want to think about the possibilities that did NOT come to fruition in the past when I didn't listen to my gut and act.
So, before you jump to criticize this idea, why don’t you jump into the first inaugural experiment and join in on the fun?
I have a good feeling that you might look back later and be very happy that you did...
(At least for the epic Ad-Building systems we're delivering in these upcoming Intensives & Sprints!)
Let's Do This.
-Keith