Care About Your Community
The first thing you have to do if you want to make an impact in your community is to care. You have to have a genuine heart for the community. In another blog post titled, Don't set out to make Money, Set out to Make a Difference, I speak about having the proper intention and goals for your business. Part of that is of course reaching out to the community. However, realize that your approach makes the difference. When people get a sense that you are completely in it for yourself, they will cease to gravitate your way. Don't get me wrong though, you should want to do better, and see your business prosper, but don't do it at the expense of sacrificing character, trust and integrity in your network of customers and friends. I also don't want you to feel that you should be a part of every community project. There will be certain things that you have a natural burden for and that is fine. Don't ever feel guilty about that. Everyone has a different burden, and that is what you should stick too, because that is where you will be the most successful and most fulfilled.
Look for Problems
There are problems to be solved everywhere. There are some problems out there in your community that will not sway you in any way, and again, that is ok, maybe that is someone else's burden. However, there will be certain problems in your community that will make you lose sleep until you start helping. It will be on the forefront of your mind, and it will essentially call out to you for help in some way. Make a list of those areas and organizations. Those are what you and your business should focus on in the short or long term.Give Time, Talent and Resources
Once you find areas in your community for which you have a passion and the skills and talents to make a difference in, reach out to those organizations. For many organization, maybe the most you can offer is finances, however you may have an opportunity to do much more; demonstrations, motivational speaking, tutoring, mentoring, etc. Your resources don't consist of money only, but they also include your time and talents. Use what you have, start where you are and do all you can.Provide Solutions
At the end of the day, the people that matter are not people that complain about everything they see, and champion every cause that comes along, but rather the people who come up with and implement solutions to problems. If you want to matter in your community, and you want to be a business that matters, then be an active part of bringing solutions to your community's problems. NOW, you are making a difference!You can start doing this in several ways, through social media, or attending meetings, or becoming part of organizations. Ultimately you will have to be a doer. There are a lot of talkers, especially in the business world, but you need to be a doer if you want to be influential!
If you follow this step by step, you and your business will become a light in your community. A shining beacon of being involved and giving back.
