How to Make People Fall in Love with Your Mission
Embracing creative planning and making others see you in a new light
Ahhh, love is in the air. With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, it seems signs of love are also literally around every corner. This season always gets me reflecting on my relationships (not just my family and friends, but rather my work family!). Specifically, I think about how I first - can better love on them, and, second - make them fall madly in love with me and my mission.
“I think about how I first - can better love on them,
and, second - make them fall madly in love with me and my mission.”
Here are a 3 ways to reflect on your relationships and make that connection more impactful:
1. Make a list of your people and your current MO.
If you were the FBI and you were trying to figure you every person you connected to, you’d make a huge web. Think about your business. In a 1 month span, who do you interact with? Knowing this and writing your list down will help you visualize the connections you make. Then, next to their names, write what the current ways you share your mission with them and bring them into your family?
Here’s my example:
My mission at Sereth Design is to tell stories through design to help business owners take action for causes that shape a better world.
Current and past clients — I love on them by sending cards/thank you gifts that have cultural touches to share my story
Potential clients — I live out my mission by writing this newsletter to give thought provoking tools
Digital colleagues / design community network — I make them fall in love with my mission by showcasing my clients and showing that working with people who give a crap about the world is not just possible, but fulfilling and fun!
2. Brainstorm some creative and engaging ways to share your mission.
Through the year’s I’m sure you’ve tried many different ways to get people to listen to your spiel, but today I’m encouraging you to push farther. Think about some ways that are perhaps a little more scary: maybe they’re uncomfortable for you or maybe it takes extra time in your schedule. But ultimately this time spent could pay back ten-fold, and wouldn’t that make it worthwhile?
Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
Share some figures. How many people have you serves? Amount of funding helped? Events organized? Lives impacted? People want to know the numbers!
Share (or re-share) the story of your business in a short- or long-form video.
Start up a monthly coffee hour to share your story with people and hang out casually.
Reach out to one potential client/donor/connection per week to set up a get to know you call or in-person chat.
Highlight someone on your team + tell their story
Interview (and record/post) a donor and share their perspective of why they love your mission
3. Start with one — the rest will snowball.
Choose one of the above items (or one from your own list), and commit to doing it by the end of February. You’ve still got 2 weeks, which is plenty of time to get the ball rolling. My theory is that if you start with one, the next one will naturally tag itself on, and you’ll create a snowball effect. Also, it won’t be as scary to get that next one on the books for March! You’ve got this.
Overall, the key is to work on finding ways that help share your mission and make people fall in love with your business because it makes them feel all the mushy gushy, feel-good stuff. Be THEIR Valentine’s this year - the one who comes up out of the blue and makes them see love in the world once again.
