IM (internet marketing) Integrity
PRO BONO MEANS ~ FOR THE PUBLIC'S GOOD!
THE MANY VIRTUES OF PRO BONO WORK
By Stu Leventhal
Everyone knows that Lawyers are required to supply a certain amount of hours of free service to clients each year; this is called pro bono. The reason for pro bono work is that the USA Government and her citizens know that the rich are at an advantage and so, as an industry, Law must supply a way for the disadvantaged to be able to plead their cases competitively when facing wealthy adversaries. Hospitals too are not supposed to refuse patients in need, regardless of their not being able to pay. Obviously other industries could assist our society in benefiting from this type of forced charity regulation but alas not every industry or type of occupation is required to give back a portion of their bounty via pro bono efforts.
Even though many other industries are not required by laws to aide those who cannot pay, many working in all sorts of professional jobs give back to society on their own but most do so wanting the bragging rights. Remember that True Pro Bono is not for recognition, brand building or for profit even though many companies use their pro bono work to enhance their images within their communities as well as in their markets. Examples of non-attorney pro bono work would be when the many beauticians, hairdressers and even plastic surgeons throughout our globe donate their time and services, free of charge, to make low income patients look better and thus feel better about themselves and their medical situations.
Singers, comics and other performers often entertain the troops, pro bono, without wanting pay to show their appreciation for the service our soldiers are providing to keep us all safe.
Writers are always being asked to donate their time to write brochures and flattering ad copy for charitable organizations as are photographers, actors, sports heroes and other celebrities being asked to donate their time to help a worthy cause.
Idealistically you should just want to help where you feel you can help because it is the right thing to do not because you benefit. You are thankful for all the great things in life and business you have and you want others to benefit from your skills, expertise and good fortune too. You may even be motivated by your so called love for your work, craft and your industry itself and thus wish to bring some extra honor and esteem to your field of endeavor through your generosity. A sports celebrity may choose to coach a group of impoverished youth. A dance instructor may decide to teach a class of under privileged children ballet. A realtor may assist a person with little credit history procure a mortgage.
A roofer might repair the roof on the senior citizen center for free or just charge for supplies. A teacher may volunteer to teach the English Language to a night class full of foreign immigrants trying to adjust to living in the states.
Let’s face it; every occupation could do more to contribute to helping with evening up the differences between the wealthy, middle and lower classes. Attorneys and medical facilities are often forced to partake in the pro bono system of helping those in need but bankers, accountants and many other professionals do so on their own without legal prodding. It should be noted that many lawyers and doctors go much further than is required by law to help the needy when they can.
Still, that does not mean that other companies and individuals who profit well by participating commercially in their particular fields of enterprise, industries and various niche businesses that may not be required by law to do some pro bono work, should not feel that they too are obligated to give back, somewhat, to those who cannot afford to hire them. Giving back is what living and life is all about. We all have an obligation to give back to our fellow men and women plus we should be working together and on our own to advance mankind.
For many reasons, often, the giving of one’s time, advice, assistance or money, freely, is the only way to right some wrongs that fall through the cracks of our judicial and governmental systems or are being ignored by the traditional and popular social groups currently in power. Pro bono means, for the public good. Your motive is to help the populace, not to gain praise or fame.
There are plenty of reasons to work for free that do not benefit you directly, promotionally or monetarily. The biggest reason is because often when we are always being hired, we do not get to choose something we may really want to work on. Our professional projects are usually our customers and clients’ projects that we assist them with but rarely do we choose what is being asked of us. Like an actor who is type-casted to only be offered one kind of role, in business we can quickly gain a persona that we may wish to step outside of once in a while. We are an expert in this but we would like to dabble some in that for a change of pace. Pro bono work is great for acquiring the experience needed to fill out the missing spaces in one’s career resume.
There are also the obvious psychological reasons such as the spiritual benefits of being a good person who donated their time to help another human or group in need being worth its weight in gold!
Another big reason to volunteer one’s services to the under privileged is because you wish to test yourself in an area that you probably would not get a chance to if you wait to be hired. You may wish to experience what a different aspect of your profession is like that you have no access to participate in, so you take on a pro bono job to help someone who could never afford to pay you without your work being presented to them as a gift. If you are open minded you can see the many opportunities pro bono projects may present to you. Pro bono can be your foot in the door to a new sector of society or your chance to prove to others that you indeed do have some additional skills you are not yet known for.
Sure you are not getting paid but maybe you will get to work alongside someone you’ve admired for a long time. Maybe you will be afforded more responsibility than you are used to during the freebee you are offering. Perhaps you will be made the leader of the project and thus you can explore some of your own ideas that have been getting vetoed by bosses higher up on the totem pole during your for profit gigs.
Just giving money or doing any charity type of works are not usually considered pro bono. To be classified as pro bono the time and efforts donated must be professional services by pros. Lots of companies and corporations, in all kinds of fields, offer mentoring as well as consulting programs pro bono. Many nonprofit community organizations would not be able to exist without taking advantage of the generosity of pro bono workers. Social problems are alleviated, good causes are championed, the economy is strengthened and the public is educated thru pro bono work by professionals as well as by students learning the ropes of their future professions.
Yes, a lot of pro bono work is done for company branding motives. Volunteering for free is an obvious opportunity for any business to raise the general public’s opinion of them. Businesses are viewed as cold, even sinister, unless they do more for the communities they service than just make a profit off of them. On the flip side, those who do lots of pro bono work are thought of warmly.
People will do business with those who participate in giving something back just because they respect them for going that extra mile. Many highly sought after, expensive advisors can be convinced to donate their services and lend their expertise free, in return for a prestigious seat on the board of a popular nonprofit organization. Gaining a title within a nonprofit and being a known associate of a nonprofit will get you publicity that can be turned into business. Even non-celebrities, volunteering their services free of charge, can earn a noteworthy testimonial from a well-known, nonprofit organization that could turn out to be very valuable for attracting lots of paying customers.
Catering companies often supply food and beverages free or at cost for charity functions just for the visibility in the community.
Helping the less fortunate is personally rewarding for business pros. Professionals of all types can assist impoverished entrepreneurs get their business ideas started in a multitude of ways that are usually quite easy for the pro while saving a nonbusiness person a lot of time, money and aggravation. Many times the poor just need guidance and help to avoid the common mistakes made due to inexperience. Business professionals can give tax advice, hiring assistance and training tips, share their marketing knowledge and management skills, help with negotiations and connect their pro bono clients with other pros that they have an ongoing relationship with who could also help. One could also just simply be there for inspiration and support or as an insurance measure, be on call for your advice when an emergency pops up.
Usually the inexperienced and under financed need focus, structure and professionalism to help bring their dreams to fruition; someone with experience to look the whole operation over can be of great assistance. They need help with things like finding financing, making a formal business plan, with realistic yearly projections, budgeting, creating business development action steps and setting up achievable timely goals. They often need a cheerleader with clout too. Remember many people will be taking the safe bet and predicting your pro bono client is going to fail!
The little guy needs people and entities of authority to stand in their corner just to bring legitimacy to their project or efforts.
Pro bono work helps level the playing field…some. It gives a few members of the underprivileged class a fighting chance. This builds community unity and relieves some animosity between the economic and social classes of a society. The rich show that they are not heartless and that yes they do care and are willing to help.
Pro bono work is a great way for business pros of all kinds to feel good about their career choices. You are helping elevate the plight of the average person with your unique skills and determination. You are making a difference, your work has purpose. These are very appreciative clients you are helping and most of them have no one else to turn to!
You will make connections and network with other professional folks, who are also giving back and this crowd is very loyal to one another! When not viewed as a required chore, a pro bono job can put the fun back into your work.
Pro bono is great PR…new paying clients will learn about you by hearing about your generosity!
Fixing or helping to fix a neighborhood issue will not be forgotten by your community. Make a big enough improvement in people’s lives and the media will hail you as a local hero. Selfless efforts are admired and appreciated by all, the poor who benefit directly and the wealthy who care about the betterment of their community and all of its members’ wellbeing. It has been said by many who partake of the pro bono opportunity that those who freely give of themselves unselfishly are actually the ones who benefit the most.
Everybody wins! We can never have enough pro bono!
Are you doing your part even without being told you have to?
By Stu Leventhal
Everyone knows that Lawyers are required to supply a certain amount of hours of free service to clients each year; this is called pro bono. The reason for pro bono work is that the USA Government and her citizens know that the rich are at an advantage and so, as an industry, Law must supply a way for the disadvantaged to be able to plead their cases competitively when facing wealthy adversaries. Hospitals too are not supposed to refuse patients in need, regardless of their not being able to pay. Obviously other industries could assist our society in benefiting from this type of forced charity regulation but alas not every industry or type of occupation is required to give back a portion of their bounty via pro bono efforts.
Even though many other industries are not required by laws to aide those who cannot pay, many working in all sorts of professional jobs give back to society on their own but most do so wanting the bragging rights. Remember that True Pro Bono is not for recognition, brand building or for profit even though many companies use their pro bono work to enhance their images within their communities as well as in their markets. Examples of non-attorney pro bono work would be when the many beauticians, hairdressers and even plastic surgeons throughout our globe donate their time and services, free of charge, to make low income patients look better and thus feel better about themselves and their medical situations.
Singers, comics and other performers often entertain the troops, pro bono, without wanting pay to show their appreciation for the service our soldiers are providing to keep us all safe.
Writers are always being asked to donate their time to write brochures and flattering ad copy for charitable organizations as are photographers, actors, sports heroes and other celebrities being asked to donate their time to help a worthy cause.
Idealistically you should just want to help where you feel you can help because it is the right thing to do not because you benefit. You are thankful for all the great things in life and business you have and you want others to benefit from your skills, expertise and good fortune too. You may even be motivated by your so called love for your work, craft and your industry itself and thus wish to bring some extra honor and esteem to your field of endeavor through your generosity. A sports celebrity may choose to coach a group of impoverished youth. A dance instructor may decide to teach a class of under privileged children ballet. A realtor may assist a person with little credit history procure a mortgage.
A roofer might repair the roof on the senior citizen center for free or just charge for supplies. A teacher may volunteer to teach the English Language to a night class full of foreign immigrants trying to adjust to living in the states.
Let’s face it; every occupation could do more to contribute to helping with evening up the differences between the wealthy, middle and lower classes. Attorneys and medical facilities are often forced to partake in the pro bono system of helping those in need but bankers, accountants and many other professionals do so on their own without legal prodding. It should be noted that many lawyers and doctors go much further than is required by law to help the needy when they can.
Still, that does not mean that other companies and individuals who profit well by participating commercially in their particular fields of enterprise, industries and various niche businesses that may not be required by law to do some pro bono work, should not feel that they too are obligated to give back, somewhat, to those who cannot afford to hire them. Giving back is what living and life is all about. We all have an obligation to give back to our fellow men and women plus we should be working together and on our own to advance mankind.
For many reasons, often, the giving of one’s time, advice, assistance or money, freely, is the only way to right some wrongs that fall through the cracks of our judicial and governmental systems or are being ignored by the traditional and popular social groups currently in power. Pro bono means, for the public good. Your motive is to help the populace, not to gain praise or fame.
There are plenty of reasons to work for free that do not benefit you directly, promotionally or monetarily. The biggest reason is because often when we are always being hired, we do not get to choose something we may really want to work on. Our professional projects are usually our customers and clients’ projects that we assist them with but rarely do we choose what is being asked of us. Like an actor who is type-casted to only be offered one kind of role, in business we can quickly gain a persona that we may wish to step outside of once in a while. We are an expert in this but we would like to dabble some in that for a change of pace. Pro bono work is great for acquiring the experience needed to fill out the missing spaces in one’s career resume.
There are also the obvious psychological reasons such as the spiritual benefits of being a good person who donated their time to help another human or group in need being worth its weight in gold!
Another big reason to volunteer one’s services to the under privileged is because you wish to test yourself in an area that you probably would not get a chance to if you wait to be hired. You may wish to experience what a different aspect of your profession is like that you have no access to participate in, so you take on a pro bono job to help someone who could never afford to pay you without your work being presented to them as a gift. If you are open minded you can see the many opportunities pro bono projects may present to you. Pro bono can be your foot in the door to a new sector of society or your chance to prove to others that you indeed do have some additional skills you are not yet known for.
Sure you are not getting paid but maybe you will get to work alongside someone you’ve admired for a long time. Maybe you will be afforded more responsibility than you are used to during the freebee you are offering. Perhaps you will be made the leader of the project and thus you can explore some of your own ideas that have been getting vetoed by bosses higher up on the totem pole during your for profit gigs.
Just giving money or doing any charity type of works are not usually considered pro bono. To be classified as pro bono the time and efforts donated must be professional services by pros. Lots of companies and corporations, in all kinds of fields, offer mentoring as well as consulting programs pro bono. Many nonprofit community organizations would not be able to exist without taking advantage of the generosity of pro bono workers. Social problems are alleviated, good causes are championed, the economy is strengthened and the public is educated thru pro bono work by professionals as well as by students learning the ropes of their future professions.
Yes, a lot of pro bono work is done for company branding motives. Volunteering for free is an obvious opportunity for any business to raise the general public’s opinion of them. Businesses are viewed as cold, even sinister, unless they do more for the communities they service than just make a profit off of them. On the flip side, those who do lots of pro bono work are thought of warmly.
People will do business with those who participate in giving something back just because they respect them for going that extra mile. Many highly sought after, expensive advisors can be convinced to donate their services and lend their expertise free, in return for a prestigious seat on the board of a popular nonprofit organization. Gaining a title within a nonprofit and being a known associate of a nonprofit will get you publicity that can be turned into business. Even non-celebrities, volunteering their services free of charge, can earn a noteworthy testimonial from a well-known, nonprofit organization that could turn out to be very valuable for attracting lots of paying customers.
Catering companies often supply food and beverages free or at cost for charity functions just for the visibility in the community.
Helping the less fortunate is personally rewarding for business pros. Professionals of all types can assist impoverished entrepreneurs get their business ideas started in a multitude of ways that are usually quite easy for the pro while saving a nonbusiness person a lot of time, money and aggravation. Many times the poor just need guidance and help to avoid the common mistakes made due to inexperience. Business professionals can give tax advice, hiring assistance and training tips, share their marketing knowledge and management skills, help with negotiations and connect their pro bono clients with other pros that they have an ongoing relationship with who could also help. One could also just simply be there for inspiration and support or as an insurance measure, be on call for your advice when an emergency pops up.
Usually the inexperienced and under financed need focus, structure and professionalism to help bring their dreams to fruition; someone with experience to look the whole operation over can be of great assistance. They need help with things like finding financing, making a formal business plan, with realistic yearly projections, budgeting, creating business development action steps and setting up achievable timely goals. They often need a cheerleader with clout too. Remember many people will be taking the safe bet and predicting your pro bono client is going to fail!
The little guy needs people and entities of authority to stand in their corner just to bring legitimacy to their project or efforts.
Pro bono work helps level the playing field…some. It gives a few members of the underprivileged class a fighting chance. This builds community unity and relieves some animosity between the economic and social classes of a society. The rich show that they are not heartless and that yes they do care and are willing to help.
Pro bono work is a great way for business pros of all kinds to feel good about their career choices. You are helping elevate the plight of the average person with your unique skills and determination. You are making a difference, your work has purpose. These are very appreciative clients you are helping and most of them have no one else to turn to!
You will make connections and network with other professional folks, who are also giving back and this crowd is very loyal to one another! When not viewed as a required chore, a pro bono job can put the fun back into your work.
Pro bono is great PR…new paying clients will learn about you by hearing about your generosity!
Fixing or helping to fix a neighborhood issue will not be forgotten by your community. Make a big enough improvement in people’s lives and the media will hail you as a local hero. Selfless efforts are admired and appreciated by all, the poor who benefit directly and the wealthy who care about the betterment of their community and all of its members’ wellbeing. It has been said by many who partake of the pro bono opportunity that those who freely give of themselves unselfishly are actually the ones who benefit the most.
Everybody wins! We can never have enough pro bono!
Are you doing your part even without being told you have to?
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The LEADER
by Stu Leventhal Tenacity… stick to it! Baby steps… You can do it! Don’t shy away from help… Don’t be too proud to share the glory! Great people are humble. Sometimes they stumble. And even bumble things up, Just like you and me. But what makes them great people, Is not that, they never ever fumble. It’s that they bounce right back up and Aren’t scared to take full responsibility! Remember, desire always trumps… Ability! Yes… You have to be able to see great, To be great! Train yourself to recognize the real deal from the lies. Don’t settle for money. Forget about greed. Friendships are all the wealth… That you’ll ever need. Know that every great leader… Had help to succeed! Geniuses aren’t always great people. Being able to Don’t entitle you to fly! Idiots often appear wearing the disguise of the wise. The strong don’t always make the best heroes. Be scared of eyes that never cry! Real leadership can’t be passed down from father to son. Just cause you inherited the company, Doesn’t mean you know how to make her run! But luckily, greatness can be taught... Just remember, real crowns have to be earned. They can’t be bought! GURU MARKETING TIPS ~ POETRY By Stu Leventhal IM (internet marketing) Integrity
Internet Marketing with Dignity Wow.. what the.. huh.. jeez!... by Stu Leventhal Some Genius tech wiz-kid figured out how to send emails to my account so they appear as if I sent them to myself from my same darn account! The ploy to trick my spam filter worked! Of course I deleted his email after I read the first line. As I am sure countless of his other victims did too! I often wonder what marketers are thinking? Throw enough stuff against the wall and so what if some of it sticks? All I see is a dirty wall that someone has to clean! In war, they say, all is fare. But Marketing is not war. Sure you want to beat up on the competition but never at the expense of your own integrity. I know it is frustrating when someone does not even bother to open your emails that you spent so much time pining over to get every word just perfect... |
MORE BIZ BOOKS... By Stu Leventhal MARKETERS, COPYWRITERS, BUSINESS PROFESSIONALS... Want to Up the effectiveness of all your business marketing and promotional efforts? Unlock your Creative Power then every ad you create, pitch you pen will persuade better, sell better and give you far better results! Read ~ A NEW TALE By Stu Leventhal A Creative Writing Tutorial ! 
Better Writing Will Improve Your ROI, Return on Investment of all Your Promoting Efforts!
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But tricking folks into opening your email does not do you any good. In fact, it makes it harder for you to convince them to do business with you now because business is about establishing trust!
If your goal is to get someone to spend their hard earned money with you, tricking them never goes over very well!
Many internet marketers do not get this major principal of marketing! People will spend tons of money with you if they trust you. If they do not trust you they will turn and run as fast as they can!
Now-a-days it seems everyone is an Internet marketer and they all have a golden goose to sell you. One IM actually tried to sell me a list of email subject lines he claimed beat the spam filters and guaranteed 33% more recipients would open my emails! I asked for a few samples.
Here are the few guaranteed to be opened subject lines he sent me:
Big news, 1 cent sale, long waiting claims, time sensitive, time is running out, Sale ends at midnight. (I will not bore you with the rest.)
I did not buy! But evidently some people did since every now and again I get sent one of those gems! It gives me a chuckle.
Contrary to what many internet marketers would like you to believe; there is not much different between a regular marketing letter of old and an email except the newer version is viewed digitally on a monitor.
Before the internet, mailed marketing pieces had a tougher spam filter to beat. The secretary or office assistants were referred to by us in the industry as the DAMN GATEKEEPERS! They read all the mail first and only passed on to the boss the stuff they deemed important.
The way to beat spam filters and gatekeepers is to write something that they will recognize instantly as being valuable to their boss! Because, all your other copywriting is wasted if the secretary or the spam filter sends your hard work to the trash bin!
The first step to knowing what is valuable to someone (your intended customer or his or her assistant) is finding out as much about them as possible. Thus buying what some self-titled IM claims are universally good subject lines or copying the same headlines your competition uses, does not work well. Do a little research and pre-launch recognizance! Once you know what makes the boss tick, it is easy to craft a headline or email subject line that will classify your message as important to both the boss and the gatekeeper!
Craft your headlines and subject lines to spur the emotions of the Gate Keepers. If the boss has a problem that you are about to fix, your message goes to the top of the incoming pile. The worse the problem the better! Explain how you can help their boss and why you are the best if not only choice for the job. Do a good enough job and they may even print your email and hand it to the boss themselves!
Despite all the hype saying otherwise, the data we compiled here in the Philadelphia hospitality arena, shows without a doubt that Bars, clubs, entertainment venues, restaurants as well as almost any other Philly companies doing business locally have the most success gathering email addresses, leads and contact info from their website. Second is their blog. Social Media comes in third but only if they are not aggressively pursuing other online methods like article distribution, news releases and PPC (pay per click adds) which can get expensive. BUT...
The number one way of selling online, selling being defined as actually getting a sale and not just getting someone to click on a link, is still with E-MAIL CAMPAIGNS! All the other stuff you read about on line, no matter what some SEO sales man or so called IM expert tries to tell you, should be used for gathering leads and contact info, specifically for getting a current, active email address because...ONLINE YOU SELL WITH AN EMAIL CAMPAIGN!
If you are not using e-mail campaigns effectively to monopolize your market and destroy your competition, contact:
anewtale191@live.com for a free consultation
Of course there are numerous, very fast, easy to understand methods for compiling appropriate email addresses as well as for getting other important contact info. E-List Building is thoroughly explained in GURU MARKETING TIPS by Stu Leventhal ~ Become an Online Offline Web Champion!
If your goal is to get someone to spend their hard earned money with you, tricking them never goes over very well!
Many internet marketers do not get this major principal of marketing! People will spend tons of money with you if they trust you. If they do not trust you they will turn and run as fast as they can!
Now-a-days it seems everyone is an Internet marketer and they all have a golden goose to sell you. One IM actually tried to sell me a list of email subject lines he claimed beat the spam filters and guaranteed 33% more recipients would open my emails! I asked for a few samples.
Here are the few guaranteed to be opened subject lines he sent me:
Big news, 1 cent sale, long waiting claims, time sensitive, time is running out, Sale ends at midnight. (I will not bore you with the rest.)
I did not buy! But evidently some people did since every now and again I get sent one of those gems! It gives me a chuckle.
Contrary to what many internet marketers would like you to believe; there is not much different between a regular marketing letter of old and an email except the newer version is viewed digitally on a monitor.
Before the internet, mailed marketing pieces had a tougher spam filter to beat. The secretary or office assistants were referred to by us in the industry as the DAMN GATEKEEPERS! They read all the mail first and only passed on to the boss the stuff they deemed important.
The way to beat spam filters and gatekeepers is to write something that they will recognize instantly as being valuable to their boss! Because, all your other copywriting is wasted if the secretary or the spam filter sends your hard work to the trash bin!
The first step to knowing what is valuable to someone (your intended customer or his or her assistant) is finding out as much about them as possible. Thus buying what some self-titled IM claims are universally good subject lines or copying the same headlines your competition uses, does not work well. Do a little research and pre-launch recognizance! Once you know what makes the boss tick, it is easy to craft a headline or email subject line that will classify your message as important to both the boss and the gatekeeper!
Craft your headlines and subject lines to spur the emotions of the Gate Keepers. If the boss has a problem that you are about to fix, your message goes to the top of the incoming pile. The worse the problem the better! Explain how you can help their boss and why you are the best if not only choice for the job. Do a good enough job and they may even print your email and hand it to the boss themselves!
Despite all the hype saying otherwise, the data we compiled here in the Philadelphia hospitality arena, shows without a doubt that Bars, clubs, entertainment venues, restaurants as well as almost any other Philly companies doing business locally have the most success gathering email addresses, leads and contact info from their website. Second is their blog. Social Media comes in third but only if they are not aggressively pursuing other online methods like article distribution, news releases and PPC (pay per click adds) which can get expensive. BUT...
The number one way of selling online, selling being defined as actually getting a sale and not just getting someone to click on a link, is still with E-MAIL CAMPAIGNS! All the other stuff you read about on line, no matter what some SEO sales man or so called IM expert tries to tell you, should be used for gathering leads and contact info, specifically for getting a current, active email address because...ONLINE YOU SELL WITH AN EMAIL CAMPAIGN!
If you are not using e-mail campaigns effectively to monopolize your market and destroy your competition, contact:
anewtale191@live.com for a free consultation
Of course there are numerous, very fast, easy to understand methods for compiling appropriate email addresses as well as for getting other important contact info. E-List Building is thoroughly explained in GURU MARKETING TIPS by Stu Leventhal ~ Become an Online Offline Web Champion!