Seth Godin Believes in Giving First!

Give First Economics in the real world

I’ve been relatively quiet about Give First Economics (GFE) – gently pointing out instances where I’ve used it, or when I want to call attention to others employing it.

Some may not think of GFE as an economic theory, but it works – and people are employing it in real world situations.

I jumped out of my chair the other night while reading Seth Godin’s blog. He talks about the typical marketing mindset, and then about his father – about giving first.

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“What do I get”

Even though he’s using the title – “It’s all about me”, Seth’s point is that his father accomplished, and was quite successful at, many many things while always putting others first.

“It was so they could get more.” – Seth says that his father was not at all concerned about himself, but about the other people – raising money for charity, improving the workplace, helping people.

Marketing doesn’t have to be “this for that”

Seth goes on to say: “It works for a factory in Buffalo but it also seems to work for others… for successful marketers all over the world.”
And that is going to be happening more and more – it isn’t how much you can take from someone else, or even how much you can offer at open market prices – it’s how much you can give!

Seth’s conclusion is as strong as I could ever make and I’m going to direct you to read it back there in context – and see if you don’t become as excited as I was when I read it.

Looking for more

With this post and my belief that there are very few coincidences, I’m going to be on the lookout for even more situations where Give First Economics is at play. To see some of our previous articles, check out the Giving Category in the Timely Insights archives.

What can you give away today?