Is giving with an ulterior motive the way to achieve what we really want? Email Article Print Article Bookmark RSS

And it works like a charm! Newsletters, freebies, articles, even advice, all draw potential art buyers to your site or shop and ready them for spending money. What a step up from "take-to-get"!

However, what I now see is that give-to-get is only a stopover on the way from take-to-get. The real end goal is to simply give.

Rethinking give-to-get

Giving to get is an interesting marketing concept. It opens the giver up to giving in the first place, and I'm sure that many people have benefited from the excellent free products and services that have resulted. But I have to admit I've been seeing some distressing signs of its effect.

"No more pro bono," I heard someone say the other day. Two clients she was working with free of charge during a training program turned out not to need her services after all. How wonderful, I would have thought - the world has two happier artists on the loose! But the lesson she took from this was "no more freebies." I'm not sure I see how she arrived at this conclusion, but I suspect it stems back to the idea of giving and then expecting to get.

"If I put links to other websites on my site," someone asked me, "won't that be an invitation for people to leave?" Perhaps. But can you really keep them captive there by not putting a link to a site you admire? And the simple fact of the question leads me to re-examine the market's general approach to giving.

The point I'm getting at is that giving to get is not really giving. Give-to-get is a marketing formula contrived to achieve a certain end. But is giving with an ulterior motive the way to achieve what we really want?

If true prosperity is the goal, then what is required is a generous and open creative mind. Prosperity achieved through a fear of limited supply, with the mean and narrow attitudes that tend to go with such fear, is prosperity built on sand. Giving is giving, with an open heart and for the sheer love of it. Being hesitant to give because we might not get something in return is a symptom of the competitive thinking that created the dog-eat-dog marketplace.

A true story

Some time ago, I received a request from a company head asking my advice on the creative direction his company was going. Now, I'd never met this man nor heard of his company, but I made the decision to answer him and to offer what turned out to be some rather in-depth advice. As we began tossing e-mails back and forth, it became clear to both of us that we were looking at a surprising and wonderful opportunity for us each to realize our individual visions and to create something exciting together in the process.

The amount of time I put into this relationship before I started getting paid for it was considerable. Why did I do it? Not because I'm a saint and not because I like working for free, but because I was genuinely interested in the problem. This man was drawn to my work because of articles I had written for free to help out other folks, and I was able to give of my time and advice to this man because he was right in line with what I love to do.

In the course of my doing what I do naturally -- i.e., making art, writing articles, celebrating creativity, and being grateful for all the opportunities the Universe sends my way -- a door opened to something I could not have imagined the day before.

Giving for the joy of it

From the outside, it may appear that I was giving to get because the actions involved look very similar -- but this is deceiving. Although the shift from "giving to get" to "giving to give" takes place within the heart, people are sensitive to the resulting energy and they respond in kind. They may not be aware of their response, but you will be.

My suggestion is that we pay close attention to the way in which we give.

• Make sure you love the art you do. If you don't, either fall in love with it or do something else.

• Practice an expansive approach, especially toward your customers. You cannot hold people captive. Be genuinely interested in their expansion and take steps to support it.

• Treat your fellow artists and their artwork with respect. We're all in this together. Build connections and links with one another. All parties involved will benefit from it.

• Remember the Source of all good. You would have nothing without it. Give thanks every day.

Stay aware of your giving attitude. There's no need to give till it hurts, and you certainly can't give what you don't have. But give just the same. It's a nice thing to do!

Related Articles:

• Learn to Sell Your Art without feeling like a Salesman
• 7 FREE Ways to Promote & Sell Your Art Online
• The Art of Rejection

Jori Lynn (Durga) Keyser is a creativity and prosperity coach living and working in Corsica. She's a weaver, a writer, and somewhat of a visual artist. You can visit her art in abundance website to learn about coaching, subscribe to her free newsletter, and find writings, tips, and links of all kinds at http://www.artinabundance.com.

Her book OUT OF THE GARRET FOR GOOD: A Guide to Prosperity for Artists, Writers, and Craftspeople is planned to be out next year.