📄 How to avoid death by charity

There’s a really dangerous trap that you can fall into, and it can be devastating to your business.

It can, in fact, literally take your business down.

It’s called ‘death by charity’, and it's extremely common, especially with integrous people, the kind of entrepreneur with values and ethics and a commitment do doing right by people.

You too might be at risk, especially if you’re a nice person and you want to help people.

Because you either run a business, or a charity. Can’t have both, and you shouldn't subsidise your buyer's business.

What you can have though, is the ability to be charitable, when called for and when possible.

That’s called a good human being, and it’s also good marketing.

Where most good-egg coaches and consultants get it wrong though, is making charity part of the branding and operations.

That's when coaches start giving away free sessions hoping it'll land them buyers.

Or when consultants have eleventy sales meetings with a buyer, until the buyer is so wisened up because of it all, they run off and go implement on their own.

Instead of making charity part of your marketing, make it part of ‘surprise and delight’.

When someone deserves it, and you believe in them, and they’re either a giver or a matcher?

AND you have the financial stability and filled pipeline that enable you to give your scarce time away for free?

Then sure, you can do things for free, as a gift. Why not. By all means.

But be careful not to make free stuff the driver of your marketing, because death by charity is real.

And the better kind of person you are, the more you might be at risk.