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Hugh MacLeod: “selling by giving”, or, “gift economics”
I have been lucky enough to have worked with Hugh MacLeod on a few campaigns in the past and like to stay up to date with what he is up to. His most recent blog post really caught my eye and so I just had to share it with you. If I think about most of the most successful campaigns from the past couple of years they have all contained some element of gift economics. Take note and read below what this great man and friend has to say.
All the best,
Chris
Seth Godin does it.
Brian Clark does it.
Gary Vee does it.
Esther Dyson does it.
James Governor does it.
Kathy Sierra does it.
Dennis Howlettt does it.
John T. Unger does it.
Robert Scoble does it.
Fred Wilson does it.
These eight smart, kind, great people, some more well-known than others, are masters at what I call “Selling by Giving”.
They put stuff out there, as gifts. Great content, great ideas, great insights, great personal connection. By giving so much of themselves, for free, every day, they build up huge surpluses of goodwill, so when you’re finally in the market for something they’re selling (and they’re ALL selling something, trust me), they’re first on your list.
I do it, too, just not as well as these guys. I’ve published thousands of cartoons on this blog over the years, and that’s gotten me a lot of business. And not just fine art prints, either. It’s gotten me consulting gigs, full-time salary jobs, book deals, paid speaking gigs, marketing jobs, I could go on…
Selling by giving. Anybody who’s been watching any of these guys for a long time will know exactly what I’m talking about.
But here’s what’s interesting to me: I can remember not that long ago, say 5 years, when this type of marketing seemed pretty freaky to most people. Now it’s considered normal, at least to smart marketers. FIVE years. That’s all.
I could see that in another five years, ANYONE who wants to market ANYTHING successfully- be they small mom n’ pop shops to large companies, will have to be fluent in Gift Economics, to a level that seemed COMPLETELY alien only a few years ago.
This includes you. Are you ready for it?
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Tags: marketing, by, economics, future, gift, giving, hugh, macleod, of, selling
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Comment by Deon C. Louw on February 1, 2010 at 9:16am -
I’ve had the privilege to addend a workshop by Dave Duarte (Huddlemind’s creator).
One of the things that popped out at me is that this new generation doesn’t buy anything in the digital domain – they rip, copy or download it. It is pretty freaking hard to sell anything to a generation that are used to stealing everything they want!
Even though I don’t understand how Gift-Economics work, I do realize that one must find a way of describing the mechanics of trade in such a way that the tangible pay for the intangible. In some cases the intangible for the tangible (with cell phones you pay for the talk time but you get the phone for free).
A little footnote: I went back to university at age 30 to study economics for a documentary I was working on. What is worth remarking is that economic systems are all unique, but for the most part of it fit into a few pre defined economical systems (for example: capitalism and communism). And that each has a political system that normally goes hand in hand with the economical system. South Africa does not in any way fit the model of anything found in the old world or in the developing countries.
Data from any other system are almost never useful here. But, what works here, has often been exported to both the old world and the developing world.
Therefore, South Africans, be creative. Don’t take your queue from any-one else. Be your own nation with your own ideas and ideals.
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Comment by Michal Wronski on May 17, 2010 at 10:12am - You left out Chris Brogan!
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