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The single most successful initiative I started when working in my own PR company was an Angel Network of wish granters and wishers.  I fell upon the idea hap-haphazardly, meeting a woman who owned a business center on the way to a dentist appointment. The woman had a big gap between her front teeth. I asked my dentist, under the influence of laughing gas, if he would become a Tooth Fairy to her, and fix her teeth for free in exchange for word of mouth marketing (excuse the pun).  As a master dentist, I knew he could close her gap in one day, and DDS Zmick of Oak Park was delighted and consented.

I told the story in my newsletter and other wishes and wish granters began to surface. People volunteering to do things and people hoping to get services wrote in. Others just wanted me to know it was a great idea.  But the great thing was that sharing this one small story of connecting people who could help each other was that it was contagious. It hit a nerve that within many of us, we want to give, given the opportunity. And there was this dash of magic that made it exciting…who couldn’t use a little of that?

What I learned from that event is that playing it forward is one of the strongest tools you can use to build your business.   It highlights your generosity, fuels your spirit, helps other people and connects you to your audience in a way selling could never accomplish.  Giving away is not actually giving anything away – it is a form of filling the well.

What have you done lately or been given lately that has either become integrated into your everyday mojo or that you are grateful for?  Do you find giving incredibly rewarding? And will you share a story of your own?