I just listened to a really interesting podcast today: June 12, 2017’s Click Funnels #FunnelHacker Radio.

Each week, host Dave Woodward interviews a new guest that’s out there setting the online marketing world on fire through their unique methods and processes.

Yesterday’s episode was an interview with Cole Hatter, who is a “serial entrepreneur” and discussed his career of passion, “Thrive”.

“Thrive”, much like “Over 50 Starting Over”, centers on helping people find their careers of passion. “Thrive” is utilizing a “For Purpose” slant which means a small percentage of each sale goes to a specific social issue. This method of marketing supplies a built in marketing component for your business while it creates real difference-making funding to areas of need.

“For Purpose” companies are gaining ground in the marketplace

Cole uses Tom Shoes as an example – and it’s a good one. An excerpt from owner Blake Mycoskie’s bio page:

“TOMS Shoes has provided over 60 million pairs of shoes to children since 2006, TOMS Eyewear has restored sight to over 400,000 since 2011 and TOMS Roasting Company has helped provide over 335,000 weeks of safe water since launching in 2014. In 2015, TOMS Bag Collection was founded with the mission to help provide training for skilled birth attendants and distribute birth kits containing items that help a woman safely deliver her baby. As of 2016, TOMS has supported safe birth services for over 25,000 mothers.”

I’m quite sure Blake feels pretty good about going to work in the morning. It’s worth noting that he’s also worth over $300 million bucks.

Cole also mentions Lstn Sound Company that makes premier headphones. For every headphone purchase, they donate a hearing aid to a child that can’t hear through the Starkey Hearing Foundation.

Beer maker, Stella Artois donates a percentage of their proceeds to Water.org’s “Buy a Lady a Drink” initiative that provides clean water to men and women around the world who have no access to clean water.

Philanthropic Consumerism is a movement that is likely to gain more and more ground

In the same way that inbound marketing has been slow to be adopted by traditional marketers due to its generous, selfless approach, philanthropic consumerism seems to be riding a wave of success that is seen with equal skepticism.

However, 84% of millennials surveyed said that they would leave their brands to go to a competitor’s brand if that company was offering assistance to a social cause.

That’s nothing to sneeze at.

Being a successful entrepreneur is more about motivation than it is business savvy or funding. Piggy backing a social cause onto your business simply can’t be a bad idea.

“For Purpose” businesses criticism

Cole addressed the popular pushbacks against “For Purpose” business. The first, of course, is parting with some of your profits.

As Cole explains, everyone that embarks on this kind of partnership simply tacks the additional donation onto the end of the price. Not only that, but the additional exposure and goodwill that is generated is like marketing gold. Which brings us to the second pushback:

Isn’t this kind of a gimmicky way to generate buzz?

No. It’s simply a business model. And think of how much better off that this world could be if more of us voluntarily backed businesses that support important social causes. Even at the local level (ESPECIALLY at the local level), publicly supporting an important social cause could generate more buzz in a week than a month worth of Facebook ads.

Imagine if your local food shelter or Animal Protective League received 20% more in donations for the year as a result. That’ll keep you motivated and feeling purposeful!

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