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The Importance of Purpose

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The purpose of this video is to make me lots of money.

Isn’t that one of your main concerns as well?

Of course not!

While I might have some profit motive in what I’m doing – but as an audience, what you want to know is what’s in it for you, and for that to happen, I have to have a bigger purpose than just lining my pockets.

In a world where we’re increasingly using media channels to engage an audience, there has to be a bigger vision, an ethos behind what you’re doing, than simply making money.

For example, when Bill Gates started Microsoft in 1977, his vision was to have a computer on every desk, in every home. Ken Blanchard, the writer of The One Minute Manager, famously declared he wanted to champion human worth in the organization.

So what’s your purpose in running your business?

A purpose has to be genuine, and authentic, something that really gets you excited, but is also going to infuse your audience. So in my experience of working with hundreds of companies, there are very few people that go to work solely just to earn money.

So what gets you excited, and are you articulating that properly to your customers?

Having a truly good sense of purpose will engage a larger audience over a longer period of time, and of course, that inevitably will lead to more commercial success.

There may be small changes to the spoken word in this transcript in order to facilitate the readability of the written English

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Comments

  1. Another reference to this point is the now “semi-famous” Simon Sinek TED talk “How great leaders inspire action” – watched 29.5 million times!!

    I appreciate this is a worldwide viewing number – but how many business owners appear to have taken much of the message on-board? I have to say that it isn’t too obvious here in the UK – but maybe I am wrong! Sinek does seem to be referenced a lot more recently – so we can only hope.

    Your point Grant, about having a genuine and authentic purpose appeared in a blog in my industry of accountancy. Small/medium accountancy firms are using Sinek’s “why” but in a way which isn’t truly authentic – instead coming to the usual platitudes of being friendly, local, caring etc. Nothing wrong with all these of course – but they just don’t differentiate you from your competition.

    I think all this rather points to the assertion that small/medium business (largely) doesn’t understand marketing – despite the many great contributions by you and your contributors!

    It may be that the word “marketing” gets in the way of a proper understanding of the vital concepts that it embodies?

    1. Author

      Thank you Adrian for your insights.I have been talking about the importance of a business having a purpose/ethos since 2006. I agree that, at the moment, many companies still don’t quite ‘get it’. However, in this multimedia age it is becoming more important than ever.

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