‘Can I play games on your iPhone?’ Eye roll…sigh…long pause…’Sure’.
However reluctantly I give up my cherished technology, I usually say yes when my 9-year old asks. Practice what you preach, right? And, he is really good at sharing. In our growing 27-member family, he learned early on that giving up a toy to a younger cousin earned him the respect and affection of his revered eldest cousin position.
Sharing is a lesson that helps us understand mutual benefit when we are young. “Okay, I’ll buy it – but only if you share it with your brother.” “Sure, I’ll let you play with my Barbie if I can have the Dream Car.” And, in the words of Tom Sawyer, “Say, Jim, I’ll fetch the water if you’ll whitewash some.”
Businesses leverage the power of sharing in all sorts of ways. Google ‘sharing opportunities’, ‘shared advertising’, ‘share business’, or just ‘share stuff’ and you’ll see many of them. But sharing hasn’t been part of business buzz since food co-ops saw a surge in the 60’s.
In the age of shared digital content, social networks, phenom success by shared buying sites like Groupon, and recession-driven budget cuts, co-op is cool again. Sharing isn’t just for children and people who live hip, organic lifestyles anymore. I love it!
In 1999, I started AssociAD based on the principles of force multiplication, collaboration, cooperation, group buying, win/win/win, economies of scale, or any other way you want to say sharing. Now, I want to share sharing! Join me for some detailed how-to’s of sharing for business, with highlights from your entrepreneurial and professional success stories, on the LinkShareGrow blog.
