Discover How Giving Enhances Your Team's Potential | Expert Tips in 5 Minutes

There's a bunch of questions around the execution of how to do good that maybe we should address. Sherry is writing in about, she's thinking about donating a portion of her profits to helping donate books to children in hospitals. Uh, Mahoville is asking, does donating blood count, being a blood donor? Maybe just addressing the different ways that you can give back, different strategies, different tactics, different execution that people can feel like they're making that contribution.

Yeah, I think money, time, expertise, there's loads of different ways. Again, with this, I'd say always start small. Just take baby steps. Just take the first step with anything. Sell overseas, open up a German website, whatever. Always take, you know, don't try and rule the world in an afternoon. Go take baby steps, walk before you can run. So, you know, simple thing, depending, ask yourself, what do you really care about? And entrepreneurs, you know, why did you start your business in the first place? Because you saw a gap in the market, something really annoyed you about a product, that you will have something that really fires you up. And the second thing is, how can you go and get access to it? Because, and again, the great thing about social media is there's so much out there that you can connect your passion with a charity that needs help. All these charities will need help. And you're unique individuals. You've got tremendous expertise. You could give them half a day a month. You could give them a couple of hours. You could do a Skype call with them. There's loads of different ways that are relevant to what are their needs. It's almost like what we talk about on other Blabs. In this case, you've always got to go where the audience is. And then the second thing is, what is their needs? What do they think that they're stopping them? And then as you get to know them, you'll find that there'll be other things that they haven't even thought about where your expertise can help. And it's not always money. You know, money's— to Evan's point, money actually doesn't always solve the problems. And like as entrepreneurs, I think the same ethos we have, like bootstrap stuff, is awesome. We don't want charities that we're involved in wasting money. And you know, stop spending stupid money sort of philosophy, and treat the charity's money even more as if it's your own money, and make sure every dollar really makes a difference to the vulnerable people they're serving. I think there's a range of things, but what I advocate is just start small. Just start, just take maybe a couple of hours a month and then find out what are the needs and then start filling those needs. And I think you'll find a rich relationship where you can make a massive difference to something you really are passionate about.

Lynn is writing in, Stephen, what a touching, wonderful story. Thank you for sharing. I'll get another one, lead from the heart and the head will follow. Thank you, Stephen. So I mean, to summarize, I love how you brought that together where it's money, time, and expertise. And we've talked about a lot of different kinds of strategies. We've talked about donating a portion of your salary and maybe the government has some program to match it. Stephen talked about mentoring and going to Junior Achievement and giving back to the local charities there, mentoring people who have gone through criminal record or they're in impoverished neighborhoods and trying to help them get back on their feet. I think donating blood counts. Like, it's a way to give back, right? Maybe it doesn't fall into our 3 categories. Maybe there's like a 4th: money, right, time, expertise, and, and I don't know, body parts or something there. But, but like, it's a way to get— even if you have zero money, zero knowledge, zero expertise, you can still find a way to give back by donating blood or volunteering at a food bank that Stephen did with his team. There's always a way to do something. And I think, I think it's an important point because a lot of people watching or trying to think of how they might give back may feel like, well, I don't have money to start a foundation. I'm like, I love what Sage is doing, but I'm nowhere near that. I'm just trying to pay my bills and I'm put, you know, make sure my internet stays on and feed my family. But just through a little bit of time, by mentoring somebody or giving back to some local thing happening in your area, or, you know, being a caller for an anti-bullying campaign or whatever it is, there's always a way that you can give back to something that touches your heart. There's so many causes that are out there that need talented, dedicated people who— they'll take all the time you have. Like, if you have 10 hours a month, they'll take it. If you have 1 hour a month, they'll take it, right? There's always a way to go give back. And I think giving back also makes you feel better. And like Stephen said, he comes to the office next day with that extra little hop in his step because he feels good about the work that he's doing. So I love the advice that Stephen gave about starting small and just finding a way to do it.