I read the most wonderful post written by Seth Godin this morning. He called his article Quid Pro Quo (Santa Math) The idea that most people are selling something in the exchange for something. SO you buy a sandwich you pay $3.00 for the sandwich and you get it with no onions. “This for that he says“. He goes on to say “that when you engage online – like I am doing with this blog – he says “I don’t write this blog to get gigs or business, although it may happen” it is not the highest intention. It is more to build a relationship with the people that read it – in the hopes that on this long, fun and interesting journey – I can SHARE with others the knowledge, success and challenges that come – with the integration of social media – as an important marketing channel for your business.

I think that many miss that huge part. That brand evangelism stems from the relationship you build with a person, product, service or company. That relationship can only be grown one step at a time. We say in our strategic planning proposals – that you need to crawl, walk run. A hard thing to do for most of us (yes me especially), as we want to dash off and win the race – leaving dust behind – as we stretch for the trophy. Sometimes your heart has to lead you first  – and in that simple and honest gesture – in many cases you  find – that it leads you where you may of intended to go – with no intention being used as the motivation to get there.

Think there may be something to that Santa Math – definitely worth the consideration. Let me know how it works.

Enjoy Seth’s article! I sure did.

Best Nicole

Walk up to the falafel stand and hand the guy $3. He hands you a falafel, no onions.

This for that.

Something for something.

The time between surrendering the money and getting the sandwich is tiny. You gave him something, you got something. It’s simple.

Now, stretch it out a bit. You order dinner in a restaurant. They treat you nicely, the room is beautiful, you enjoy the evening, then you pay the bill. This, pause, pause, pause, that.

Go to law school. Pay a lot of money. Spend a lot of time. Be taught a bunch of things you don’t particularly want to know, things you probably don’t need. Get a degree with a modicum of scarcity. Pay for a bar review course. Pass the bar. Then you get a job that pays a lot of money.

This, then a multi-year pause, then, in return, that for the next forty years. We call it return on investment.

Online, though, I’m not sure the math is so obvious. You don’t write a blog to get gigs. You don’t help people out in a forum to build a freelance business. Sure, that might happen, but that’s not why you do it. If you are busy calculating quid pro quo, that means your heart isn’t in it, and the math won’t work out anyway.

Online, the something, the quid, the this, doesn’t cost cash. It takes heart and energy and caring, which are scarce but renewable resources. As a result, many people are able to spend them without seeking anything external in return. Even better, the act of generosity, of giving without expectation, makes it easier to do art, to create work that matters on its own.

I think it’s more like Santa math. Santa flies around the world, giving stuff away, and for what? He earns gratitude, trust and friendship, that’s what. Sure, one day he might decide to license his image or try to sell you something. But right here, right now, gratitude, trust and friendship are plenty. Especially if you enjoy doing what you’re doing. Quid, no quo.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 26th, 2010 at 10:34 pm and is filed under Brand Evangelism. Tagged: BLOG, BRAND EVANELISM, ENGAGE ONLINE, FORUM, NICOLE MCKINNEY, QUID PRO QUO, SANTA MATH, SETH GODIN, SHARE, SOCIAL MEDIA, WWW.BCADGROUP.COM. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.