In my opinion more important than dedicated "barter" items is the idea of "gift" items.
These can be for winning favor, for helping in acquiring a "favor", to show your respect for a person, to repay a deed done for you, any number of things.
What got me thinking about this was right before Christmas. We always look forward to the little "gifts" we get from a couple of suppliers for a couple of our businesses. One sends your average run of the mill corporate gift type items- big bags of popcorn, a nice quart of honey, peanut brittle, etc. Not a single item is high value, but their is a boatload of them that come all at once. Another place- who admittedly we spend very high dollars with yearly- sends an awesome gift basket. I just had to know this year and searched the net and found them online for $300. each. The basket has a multitude of snacks, fine chocolates, nice meats and cheese, etc. Sent them an email thanking them for it- I know it's always nice to get a thank you.
It will sound silly, but we always look forward to getting those things and we use 90% of them. To be honest, it makes you feel good getting gifts like that. They are saying "we value your business."
We do the same for one of our businesses where it's possible to do that sort of thing- usually sending $25. and $50. gift cards to places like Applebees, Ruby Tuesdays, etc. On the mail order business it's done in ways like a few extras thrown in with the order- Yes those aren't screwups on our part and yes we can count, LOL. One guy that got 5 more sutures than he ordered thought I simply couldn't count! LOL
So the purpose of gifts like this in business is to say thanks, to curry favor, to seal a business deal, to give thanks for a "referral" etc.
How can we use this same concept in the preparedness realm?
Pretty much the same fashion.
There is a couple of guys- I won't embarrass them by naming them- that come to the Southeastern campouts that are two of the most giving guys I know. One regularly brings mounds of gear and either does some very lop sided barters for them (with him clearly coming out on the low end of the trade if you look at it solely from a value point of view) or simply gives things away to new folks that need it.
Whether it's his intention or not, he is piling up large amounts of goodwill with his actions. To some now a days, "goodwill" means nothing except a clothing store- but to the RIGHT PEOPLE goodwill still matters and IS appreciated and honored.
And I do believe in the "what goes around comes around" concept. Scripture tells us whatever a man sows the same he shall receive. If your putting good stuff out there, it's gonna come back to you.
So we need to explore this concept versus a "charity" type approach in the survival concept.
The idea of "charity" pre-supposes a greater than/less than relationship- i.e, I am greater than you cause I can provide this to you who doesn't have it and therefore is less than me.
That is not where we want to be at.
We want to look at gifts as a way to curry favor, to expert pressure or power (I'll expand on this later) like a lobbyist would, to develop goodwill and to help build relationships.
Understand that with this sort of thing, you cannot "expect" to get something back. You WILL normally but you shouldn't expect it. If you give expecting to get something in return, you likely won't.
So does that mean you give trinkets or worthless crap to be a cheap arse? No most definitely not. The "gift" should have real value and usefulness or it will be quickly discarded or "re-gifted" LOL.
A proper "gift" should be thought of for the person specifically. Giving a baptist minister a bottle of Absolut you have stashed is not what I'm suggesting. The "gift" needs to be tailored to the individual or the group to be effective. Avoid social faux pax in giving incorrect gifts in this manner.
Now understand I'm suggesting this from a point of decent logistics to begin with. Just as we can't "dispense charity" if we are in no position to take care of our own selves, we can't use "gifts" to their full advantage if we are destitute.
What's y'alls thoughts on this?
These can be for winning favor, for helping in acquiring a "favor", to show your respect for a person, to repay a deed done for you, any number of things.
What got me thinking about this was right before Christmas. We always look forward to the little "gifts" we get from a couple of suppliers for a couple of our businesses. One sends your average run of the mill corporate gift type items- big bags of popcorn, a nice quart of honey, peanut brittle, etc. Not a single item is high value, but their is a boatload of them that come all at once. Another place- who admittedly we spend very high dollars with yearly- sends an awesome gift basket. I just had to know this year and searched the net and found them online for $300. each. The basket has a multitude of snacks, fine chocolates, nice meats and cheese, etc. Sent them an email thanking them for it- I know it's always nice to get a thank you.
It will sound silly, but we always look forward to getting those things and we use 90% of them. To be honest, it makes you feel good getting gifts like that. They are saying "we value your business."
We do the same for one of our businesses where it's possible to do that sort of thing- usually sending $25. and $50. gift cards to places like Applebees, Ruby Tuesdays, etc. On the mail order business it's done in ways like a few extras thrown in with the order- Yes those aren't screwups on our part and yes we can count, LOL. One guy that got 5 more sutures than he ordered thought I simply couldn't count! LOL
So the purpose of gifts like this in business is to say thanks, to curry favor, to seal a business deal, to give thanks for a "referral" etc.
How can we use this same concept in the preparedness realm?
Pretty much the same fashion.
There is a couple of guys- I won't embarrass them by naming them- that come to the Southeastern campouts that are two of the most giving guys I know. One regularly brings mounds of gear and either does some very lop sided barters for them (with him clearly coming out on the low end of the trade if you look at it solely from a value point of view) or simply gives things away to new folks that need it.
Whether it's his intention or not, he is piling up large amounts of goodwill with his actions. To some now a days, "goodwill" means nothing except a clothing store- but to the RIGHT PEOPLE goodwill still matters and IS appreciated and honored.
And I do believe in the "what goes around comes around" concept. Scripture tells us whatever a man sows the same he shall receive. If your putting good stuff out there, it's gonna come back to you.
So we need to explore this concept versus a "charity" type approach in the survival concept.
The idea of "charity" pre-supposes a greater than/less than relationship- i.e, I am greater than you cause I can provide this to you who doesn't have it and therefore is less than me.
That is not where we want to be at.
We want to look at gifts as a way to curry favor, to expert pressure or power (I'll expand on this later) like a lobbyist would, to develop goodwill and to help build relationships.
Understand that with this sort of thing, you cannot "expect" to get something back. You WILL normally but you shouldn't expect it. If you give expecting to get something in return, you likely won't.
So does that mean you give trinkets or worthless crap to be a cheap arse? No most definitely not. The "gift" should have real value and usefulness or it will be quickly discarded or "re-gifted" LOL.
A proper "gift" should be thought of for the person specifically. Giving a baptist minister a bottle of Absolut you have stashed is not what I'm suggesting. The "gift" needs to be tailored to the individual or the group to be effective. Avoid social faux pax in giving incorrect gifts in this manner.
Now understand I'm suggesting this from a point of decent logistics to begin with. Just as we can't "dispense charity" if we are in no position to take care of our own selves, we can't use "gifts" to their full advantage if we are destitute.
What's y'alls thoughts on this?
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