As the faithful know, Inquisix was founded on the principal that giving begets getting in business (and in life too for that matter.) The secret of the most successful business people is to ask “How Can I Help You?,”  and then actively connect others to the people, businesses and information they need.

We’re always pretty excited when we find others who think the same. Especially when they’re considered a leader in their industry. Brian Solis, Principal of the award-winning PR and New Media agency FutureWorks in Silicon Valley, is one. Considered an original thought-leader in Social Media, Brian’s latest book is Putting the Public Back Into Public Relations. Recently Brian extolled the benefits of “paying it forward” on his blog PR 2.0. Though his comments are specific to Social Media and “social economy” they are also transitive and work in any economy, be it business or social.

So we asked and received Brian’s full permission to repost it.

Enjoy.

Source: Shutterstock

So I believe if Social Media warranted a mantra, it would look something like this, “Always pay it forward and never forget to pay it back…it’s how you got here and it defines where you’re going.”

This is the credo I live by and something that has only been reinforced as part of my daily regiment, online and in the real world.

Paying it forward and paying it back is the balladry of reciprocity, the undercurrent of social media and the currency of the social economy. The words, “what comes around goes around” and the overall spirit of karma reminds us that there may be personal rewards and satisfaction for helping and contributing more than we take away from our environment.

In sociology, this form of alternative giving is referred to as “generalized reciprocity” or “generalized exchange.” In the same vein, the idea of giving something to one person by paying another is credited to Benjamin Franklin, which would ultimately serve as the defining foundation to “Pay it forward.”

According to the book, “The Support Economy“, by Shoshana Zuboff and James Maxin, corporations are failing individuals and the next episode of capitalism. The book speaks to the hopes and dreams of the modern individual and serves as a call to action for innovators across business, technology, social enterprise, and the public sector.

In a support or “social” economy, we are presented with an opportunity to showcase not only our own expertise, vision, thought leadership, artistry, or ideas, but also those of others.

It’s the power and unsaid significance behind a retweet on Twitter, a “like” on Facebook, the friending or following of someone to extend a social graph. It’s also expressed through the explicit act of commenting on posts and updates, engaging in online conversation, sharing the contributions of others as well as linking. These acts serve as the currency of social media.

It is through the dynamics of collaborative elevation that the true infrastructure for the creation of presence is fortified. In the process, we proactively exchange privacy for online recognition as we define our web persona.

In today’s social economy, it is our social, not financial capital that defines our stature across the landscape of social networks represented through the relationships we cultivate and establish. It’s the difference between curation and promotion, learning and ignorance, publishing and absorbing.

There is a balance required to engage, contributing as much or more value than you withdraw from each interaction.

The Social Web is powered not by self-promotion, but by the value of the community and the selfless act of recognizing, showcasing, and connecting the great people, content, and causes around us. And with it comes great purpose.

Did anyone see JigSaw’s recent announcement that they’ve sent up an exchange where you can sell a referral to your contacts?  It’s called “JigSaw Connect” and given the number of members they have (850K registered  members), this could be the first exchange to make selling a referral by the individual sales rep successful.

Selling a referral to your customer isn’t anything new.  Companies have been doing it at the corporate level for years.  They call it the affiliate program or the business development partner program or just the reseller program.  And this seems to be a well understood and accepted practice by the customers.

Individual sales reps and agents selling a referral to their customer in certain industries isn’t new, either.  The introduction of a mortgage broker by the real estate agent that just found your new home probably comes with a kick-back to the agent from the mortgage broker.  Maybe the referral fee is not as well understood by the consumer but I don’t think anyone would be surprised.

Now JigSaw is taking this to a new level.  It’s at the rep level where an individual rep can earn $200 by referring their customer to any vendor that’s signed up to advertise on JigSaw Connect.  And it’s many industries, even ones where traditionally the selling of referrals at the rep level is frowned upon.  The only other site I’ve seen that offers this exchange of referrals for cash is SalesConx, a startup based in New York City.  But they don’t have the membership scale that JigSaw has.

I’ll be very interested to see how JigSaw Connect fares.  JigSaw itself received a lot of negative press early on because people were offended that their business information was sold anonymously.  JigSaw will say that they’re just collecting business information differently than a Hoovers or OneSource but aren’t any different in the information they deliver.  I’ve used JigSaw for years and Inquisix is a JigSaw data partner so I don’t have an issue with the service.

Still, selling referrals versus giving referrals is an interesting dilemma for some.  BNI members give referrals to get them in return, i.e. “Givers Gain“.  At Inquisix, we encourage members to give referrals to increase their reputation with their own customer.  But no money is exchanged.

Would you anonymously sell the business cards you’ve collected to a data broker, i.e. JigSaw?

Would you sell a referral to a business contact you have?

There’s a big jump in effort, responsibility, and reputation between the 2 questions.  Let’s see how this pans out.

Pat Weber runs an online networking group called the Consummate Networkers and she’s invited me to speak to her group this week. The event is phone-based and anyone can join the call via BlitzTime.

Date: Thursday, July 23rd at 7pm ET

Topic: The Day After the Networking Event – What Do I Do Now?

Why not join us and participate by signing up here? The event is free and you’ll have a chance to meet other professionals interested in networking.

Make a referral week starts next week– are you ready? March 9-13, John Jantsch (Duct Tape Marketing) and some other really great sponsors including Inquisix are getting geared up for it… are you?

Did you take the pledge?

Did you sign up for the conference call?

Did you schedule yourself to listen to the other speakers?

How about the most important? Did you get yourself ready to make a referral?

Seriously, make a list of the people you know that need a solution for their business and make a list of the people you know that can fill that solution. (or make it easy on yourself by joining Inquisix!)

The goal is 1000 small businesses receive 1000 referrals.  This is not just about getting a referral but giving one too.  Some call it “giver’s gain” but we at Inquisix call it smart.  

For example, let’s say your good customer Bob (or Sally or Sanjiv or Fido or whomever your customer might be) told you they were in desperate need of a solution to a particular problem they might have. You run into or connect (on Inquisix!) to someone who does EXACTLY what your customer needs. Now what do you think happens when Bob (or Sally or Sanjiv or Fido) is introduced to EXACTLY what they need by you– your relationship to Bob just got better.  Your business just got stronger. Your a networking star (and now Bob or Sally or Sanjiv or Fido will recommend you to anyone they know!)

So as we begin Make a Referral Week make a point to GIVE than GET– you might find that it benefits you more in the long run!

Follow the action on Twitter: add #MARW09 to the end of your tweets!