Guest post by Pace Smith

Image by Photography_Gal

If you’re like most entrepreneurs, you’ve always got an eye out, scanning the skies for ways to increase your profits.

Idealism is probably not smack dab in the middle of your sights. It may not even be on your radar.

Well, it’s time to put in a call to Air Traffic Control. Idealism can be a big boost to the bottom line of your business. Here’s how.

Idealism inspires.

In the modern world, most of your customers’ basic needs are met. They’ve got food, water, and shelter. What they’re yearning for is something deeper — something meaningful.

Wear your ideals on your sleeve.

Share your values from your soapbox.

Post your principles on your blog.

Even if all you want to do is solve some tiny little fraction of your customers’ problems, as long as your work makes the world a teensy bit better, that’s still worthy of celebration. Small-scale idealists are still idealists, and idealism inspires.

Here’s an example.

Ray sells widgets. Ray tells you how widgets will make your life better.

Image by RogueSun Media

Marie also sells widgets. Marie tells you how widgets will not only make your life better, but if everyone started using widgets instead of sprockets, we’d save 120 acres of rainforest per year, people would have more free time to pursue their dreams and do what they love, and wouldn’t that be a beautiful world?

Do your customers see you as Ray or Marie?

Remember: People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.

People can smell insincerity.

If your primary motivation is your own profit, yes, people will still buy from you as long as you’re solving a problem they care about and as long as you have no competition. But the instant your customers have the opportunity to buy from someone they know, like, and trust, they’ll be on the next flight out of town and you’ll never see them again.

Before the internet and social media, businesses could get away with a lot. Those days are numbered. Remember ten years ago when a business could thrive without a website? Ten years from now they’ll be saying “Remember when a business could thrive without being sincere, authentic, and idealistic?”

Are you building relationships on social media because Laura told you it’s important for your business? Or are you really talking with people, getting to know them, and making meaningful connections?

People can tell the difference, you know. And if you get called out as an insincere schmoozer, that reputation has a way of spreading. Social media is a powerful force for your business. You want it working for you instead of against you.

When you do put your ideals first and your profit second, you’ll get both. Social media will lift you up. You’ll get referrals, rave reviews, and rabid fans — and that’s money in the bank.

Profitable Idealism

Image by Johnny B. Truant

This is why I’ve teamed up with Johnny B. Truant to teach a course on Profitable Idealism — the philosophy that profit and idealism aren’t at odds, they’re complementary.

In this course, we’ll teach you what we (and 6 other profitable idealists) have learned about running a business in a way that creates both money in the bank and good in the world.

You can learn more at ProfitableIdealism.com.

Pace Smith is the co-leader of the Connection Revolution, where she and her partner Kyeli teach people how to change the world through connection. She’s a spiritual geek, a peaceful entrepreneur, and is proud to be a profitable idealist.