01:00:00:01 – 01:00:04:01 AJ Vaden Most people believe that generosity is something that you do. 01:00:04:01 – 01:00:06:09 AJ Vaden Once you have a little extra to spare. 01:00:06:09 – 01:00:15:04 AJ Vaden But it’s giving free value as a deliberate strategy that builds trust and earns loyalty before any sales happened. 01:00:15:05 – 01:00:19:14 AJ Vaden Actually was a marketing strategy for leading companies. 01:00:19:16 – 01:00:23:05 AJ Vaden like, what if giving was your marketing strategy? 01:00:23:07 – 01:00:28:07 Rory Vaden So tithing is you give 10% reverse tithing as you live on ten, you give 90, 01:00:28:07 – 01:00:30:21 Rory Vaden And being very successful is one thing that enables you to give. 01:00:31:01 – 01:00:33:18 AJ Vaden what I’d love to maybe just get your thoughts on is 01:00:33:18 – 01:00:37:22 AJ Vaden how could giving as a strategy actually help you get to that point? 01:00:37:23 – 01:00:42:12 AJ Vaden I think a lot of people go, okay, I’ll, I’ll do that when, when 01:00:42:12 – 01:00:45:02 Rory Vaden it is the law of reciprocity, 01:00:45:02 – 01:00:48:07 Rory Vaden this thing that is baked into the human 01:00:48:08 – 01:00:49:00 Rory Vaden biology 01:00:49:00 – 01:00:50:17 Rory Vaden I give something to you. 01:00:50:17 – 01:00:55:14 Rory Vaden Your natural, automatic, baked in human tendency is. 01:00:55:15 – 01:00:56:04 AJ Vaden What can I do. 01:00:56:04 – 01:00:57:11 Rory Vaden For you? What can I do for 01:00:57:13 – 01:00:59:14 AJ Vaden You have these three buckets you can pull from. 01:00:59:14 – 01:01:00:11 AJ Vaden You have money, 01:01:00:11 – 01:01:01:10 AJ Vaden you have time, 01:01:01:13 – 01:01:02:18 AJ Vaden then you have information. 01:01:02:18 – 01:01:09:06 Rory Vaden giving compliments is one of the things that we can all give for free. It costs us nothing. 01:01:09:07 – 01:01:09:21 AJ Vaden Every day. 01:01:09:22 – 01:01:23:02 Rory Vaden There’s no barrier between you and achieving that mission other than just, you know, the time and the decision to go. That. Is it really about money? Is it really about impact, or is it only about income? 01:01:23:04 – 01:01:25:02 Rory Vaden Because if it’s really about impact, 01:01:25:02 – 01:01:26:09 Rory Vaden there’s no barrier. 01:01:26:11 – 01:01:30:19 Canned Open AI VO Ever wonder what it actually takes to build a reputation that generates revenue? 01:01:30:22 – 01:01:35:10 Canned Open AI VO Rory and AJ Vaden are the powerhouse duo behind Brand Builders Group, 01:01:35:12 – 01:01:37:07 Canned Open AI VO NYT bestselling authors 01:01:37:09 – 01:01:43:02 Canned Open AI VO the personal brand experts who have helped some of the world’s most influential leaders scale their personal brands. 01:01:43:05 – 01:01:43:18 Canned Open AI VO Now 01:01:43:21 – 01:01:45:02 Canned Open AI VO they’re pulling back the curtain 01:01:45:02 – 01:01:46:11 Canned Open AI VO on how to capture attention, 01:01:46:11 – 01:01:47:22 Canned Open AI VO build massive trust, 01:01:48:00 – 01:01:50:19 Canned Open AI VO turn your expertise into a lasting legacy. 01:01:50:20 – 01:01:57:14 Canned Open AI VO Get ready to elevate your influence and your income. This is wealthy and well known. 01:01:57:16 – 01:02:10:08 AJ Vaden today’s conversation is actually going to talk about generosity and giving as a business strategy. But not just a business strategy. A personal strategy of the one who gives is the one who actually gets the gift. In 01:02:10:12 – 01:02:13:03 AJ Vaden fact, this isn’t just what we think. 01:02:13:05 – 01:02:20:00 AJ Vaden Studies also show this is a report that actually came out by Wallaby Gift. Before you get in November of 2025, that states 01:02:20:01 – 01:02:29:16 AJ Vaden companies who give things for free value ads, write tips, guides, downloads, freebies, whatever samples. 01:02:29:18 – 01:02:38:13 AJ Vaden But it’s giving free value as a deliberate strategy that builds trust and earns loyalty before any sales happened. 01:02:38:14 – 01:02:42:23 AJ Vaden Actually was a marketing strategy for leading companies. 01:02:43:01 – 01:02:44:15 AJ Vaden So I just think about that. It’s 01:02:44:15 – 01:02:48:04 AJ Vaden like, what if giving was your marketing strategy? 01:02:48:06 – 01:03:05:19 AJ Vaden And I don’t think that’s new. I think we see it all the time. Like how many of us have signed up for a free lead magnet or downloaded a free study, but have we ever thought about that as a giving strategy that actually helps you find, keep, and retain customers longer? 01:03:05:21 – 01:03:08:06 Rory Vaden I love this conversation. 01:03:08:06 – 01:03:21:16 Rory Vaden I think generosity is our number one marketing strategy. I think it’s also our number one relational strategy. I think it is perhaps our number one purpose strategy, like outside of God and like, you know, our faith. 01:03:21:16 – 01:03:27:14 Rory Vaden Is this going like this is the jam. Like generosity is where it’s at. And I have to share this. 01:03:27:18 – 01:03:32:18 Rory Vaden have a new friend named Greg who reset my paradigm on this 01:03:32:18 – 01:03:37:13 Rory Vaden He said, Rory, I live on 2% of my income. 01:03:37:14 – 01:03:41:02 Rory Vaden I give 98% of my income, 01:03:41:06 – 01:03:45:12 Rory Vaden And I was like, whoa, that’s a new freaking paradigm. 01:03:45:13 – 01:03:46:19 AJ Vaden It’s like reverse tithing. 01:03:46:19 – 01:03:49:04 Rory Vaden It’s it’s reverse tithing. And that’s. Yeah. 01:03:49:04 – 01:03:54:04 Rory Vaden So tithing is you give 10% reverse tithing as you live on ten, you give 90, 01:03:54:05 – 01:04:03:02 Rory Vaden and it’s like one fifth of that. Now there’s two things. I go, well, you know, you’re making a lot of money. That is one thing that enables that. 01:04:03:02 – 01:04:05:16 Rory Vaden And being very successful is one thing that enables you to give. 01:04:05:16 – 01:04:16:03 Rory Vaden So that’s a good thing. But then also to go imagine how much you’re giving up by giving. And I was like who that is. So that’s on the financial side. 01:04:16:04 – 01:04:23:18 AJ Vaden But I know it’s interesting because you said that it’s like, think about how much you’re giving at that point. But 01:04:23:22 – 01:04:36:05 AJ Vaden what I’d love to maybe just get your thoughts on is how could giving as a strategy actually help you get to that point? Because I think a lot of people go, okay, I’ll, I’ll do that when, when 01:04:36:08 – 01:04:37:04 AJ Vaden and but it’s not. 01:04:37:05 – 01:04:54:20 AJ Vaden And we’re talking about money. But I hear that also in time when I have more time than a volunteer, it’s like, well, we all know there is no magic pot of time, just like there’s no magic pot of money. But then the other thing I hear too is like, well, I can’t give them exactly what I do, then they won’t buy from me. 01:04:54:20 – 01:05:25:16 AJ Vaden Or like, how much information should I give away versus how much should I hold back? So I think this conversation. Yes, does have to do with money. It does have to do with time. But then I think it’s even when we think about personal brands and the giving strategy of content, value, information, resources, etc. like that can be a strategy that gets you to the point of living off of the 2% or living off of the 10%. 01:05:25:17 – 01:05:27:17 AJ Vaden So what’s your take on that? 01:05:27:18 – 01:05:42:00 Rory Vaden Yeah, I think if we talk about giving as a strategy, okay, which to me is can be a little bit dangerous because it’s like one of our mantras that we say in our communities, you don’t give to get, you give to give. But 01:05:42:02 – 01:05:49:00 Rory Vaden if you were to make the case, why is giving such a great strategy? There’s a few things that pop out for me. 01:05:49:00 – 01:05:50:16 Rory Vaden So first of all, 01:05:50:18 – 01:05:57:03 Rory Vaden it is the law of reciprocity, this thing that is baked into the human 01:05:57:06 – 01:05:58:19 Rory Vaden psyche, psychology, 01:05:58:20 – 01:05:59:12 Rory Vaden biology 01:05:59:12 – 01:06:05:22 Rory Vaden that if I do something for you, I give you something, whether it’s a compliment, whether it’s a favor, whether it’s money, 01:06:05:22 – 01:06:12:23 Rory Vaden I give something to you. Your natural, automatic, baked in human tendency is. 01:06:13:00 – 01:06:13:13 AJ Vaden What can I do. 01:06:13:13 – 01:06:14:14 Rory Vaden For you? What can I do for 01:06:14:20 – 01:06:15:13 Rory Vaden you. 01:06:15:15 – 01:06:36:22 Rory Vaden so as a strategy, what I think is key to remember is it’s not the theory of reciprocity, it’s the law of reciprocity. And what that allows me to do is to say I can give, give, give, give, give. And I know it’s going to come back to me now as a. 01:06:36:23 – 01:06:37:18 AJ Vaden In some way, at. 01:06:37:18 – 01:06:53:05 Rory Vaden Some in some way, at some time now as a hardcore BibleThump in Jesus Freak, you know, I live with the mantra you cannot outlive God. And what is ironic is the more that we have given, the more that has come back relationally, financially 01:06:53:05 – 01:06:56:08 Rory Vaden But as a marketing strategy, if you go like super tactical. 01:06:56:09 – 01:07:09:15 Rory Vaden One of our deeply held beliefs, which is not that much to argue, is that trust must take place before there’s a transaction. So if I’m going to sell you something, trust must take place before this transaction. 01:07:09:15 – 01:07:13:08 Rory Vaden How do I get trust? I give to people first 01:07:13:10 – 01:07:24:08 Rory Vaden our entire digital marketing strategy is to give away everything you know, for free, but in small, bite sized chunks in all random miscellaneous order. 01:07:24:08 – 01:07:52:05 Rory Vaden Because our goal is to automate trust at scale. So all of the the funnels that we give our members, right. So that’s the new thing that we’re doing now is with this a generosity and never we’re in the middle of is giving our pre-built funnels that we’ve spent years, decades developing and we’re giving it to them. And all of this tech strategy, it’s all built on one idea, which is, is to go automate trust at scale. 01:07:52:10 – 01:08:01:00 Rory Vaden And so personal branding, specifically the digitization allows you to do this, is to go I can just give it away. And 01:08:01:02 – 01:08:13:01 Rory Vaden one of the things we talk about in the book is people don’t pay for information, they pay for application. And I think AI is accelerating that. I think AI is influencing this conversation and some unique ways, but 01:08:13:01 – 01:08:19:04 Rory Vaden we trust people that we learn from, we trust pastors, we trust lawyers and teachers and doctors and mentors and coaches, 01:08:19:05 – 01:08:34:04 Rory Vaden So you go, how can I give away my expertise so that I build trust? And if as they if that happens, it increases the likelihood of a transaction. If we just want to keep it like objective profit focused, it’s a massive strategy. 01:08:34:05 – 01:08:47:01 AJ Vaden Yeah. I think there’s a couple of things that I would I would share that I know that we we share this common sentiment, but I think it’s really important for everyone who’s listening is, you know, this is a biblical principle. 01:08:47:01 – 01:08:56:17 AJ Vaden but nonetheless, it holds true to regardless of what you believe, if you’re listening to this, which is, you have to prove that you can handle a little before you’re given a lot. 01:08:56:18 – 01:09:23:07 AJ Vaden Yes. And that that’s true with trust. It’s true in relationships, in business, with promotions, with responsibility. It’s like you have to prove that you will care and take care of what you’ve been given, whether it’s a little or a lot, before more is given. And I think there’s just something in there of like it’s not how much it is, it’s a reflection of who you are. 01:09:23:09 – 01:09:30:12 AJ Vaden If you take care of the small before the big right, and then it’s the small with the big right, and I think that’s it. But 01:09:30:12 – 01:09:36:19 AJ Vaden When you think about generosity of all the ways that you can be generous, right? We’re in the season of Thanksgiving, right? 01:09:36:20 – 01:10:02:06 AJ Vaden Which is a season of I think everyone is a little bit more open to gratefulness and gratitude and being thankful and generous and so glad we have a season of that says, how do we prolong that? How do we make that season all year long? But I want you to think about it in these different components, right. Whether you have a little or a lot, this is where you can kind of like pull from of the first thing is money, right? 01:10:02:07 – 01:10:33:00 AJ Vaden That’s an obvious I think a lot of people naturally associate generosity with money. And being generous is not about how much you give, it’s the percentage of what you have to give. It’s the heart stance of am I giving more than I feel like I can? It’s the it’s the heart stance of man. Like it’s not a lot of money, but to me it feels like it’s it’s out of what I feel like is reasonable to give. 01:10:33:01 – 01:10:34:01 AJ Vaden Like I remember 01:10:34:01 – 01:10:41:00 AJ Vaden we weren’t even married yet. We were dating and I was this was like in our early in our second, our first business. And my second year. 01:10:41:01 – 01:10:43:07 Rory Vaden Is this the church? I was going to ask you to tell this story. 01:10:43:08 – 01:10:48:07 AJ Vaden Yeah, but it’s like I was probably making $40,000 a year. 01:10:48:09 – 01:10:51:20 AJ Vaden Our first company was pay for performance, no salary, 01:10:51:20 – 01:10:58:00 AJ Vaden But the whole time I had been tithing 50 bucks a week. And that felt like a lot. 01:10:58:01 – 01:11:17:16 AJ Vaden Right? That was a grocery run for me. It was like, am I going to give this tithe? Where am I going to have, you know, the the groceries that I want this week and a 40 grand? That felt like a lot. And I remember sitting in church one day and it really did for me. It felt like the audible voice of God saying, double it. 01:11:17:18 – 01:11:24:05 AJ Vaden And I was like, what? No. 100. It’s like I’m like, doing the math. And I’m like, that’s. 01:11:24:07 – 01:11:25:08 Rory Vaden $5,000. 01:11:25:08 – 01:11:36:13 AJ Vaden A year. That’s a lot like, but then you do the math, and 5000 is just barely more than, what, 10%? Yeah. And then it hit me. It’s like, 01:11:36:15 – 01:11:48:03 AJ Vaden oh that’s what it means. Like. And I’m like, like literally sitting in the church like I had my checkbook. This is when I still carry checks and I’m like 50 or 100 like groceries or not. 01:11:48:03 – 01:12:08:10 AJ Vaden And then there was just something that was like, no, like double it. And I wrote $100. And in that moment it wasn’t like $100 was a ton for the church. It was a heart shift and a stance of going. Am I holding on to this for the sake of it benefiting me? Versus at the end of the day, that extra $50 wasn’t going to change my life. 01:12:08:11 – 01:12:29:01 AJ Vaden It was going to get me a different set of groceries, maybe organic, maybe an extra dinner out. But for somebody else, it might change their life, right? It might be the thing. And there was a moment in that moment for me where I was like, okay, I’m going to do 100. I’m going to trust. I’m just going to do the thing. 01:12:29:03 – 01:12:39:21 AJ Vaden And that’s my whole point. It’s not about the percentage and it’s not about the amount. It’s the heart stance of like, am I? Am I giving with an open heart, with generous hands, with open hands 01:12:40:00 – 01:12:47:08 AJ Vaden And so I think a lot of us, we think about being generous with just money. And I think that’s one category. 01:12:47:09 – 01:12:53:06 Rory Vaden Okay. So one before just on the money thing really quick because I want to talk to the other categories. But like 01:12:53:08 – 01:13:16:15 Rory Vaden the reason why I think giving money is so connected spiritually is because when you don’t feel like you have enough, you’re forced to rely on God. So when I make a proactive choice to go, God, I can’t afford to give you this 10%. 01:13:16:19 – 01:13:35:18 Rory Vaden And I think the best way to give is when you give. You give it with a prayer and you go like, God, I don’t have this 10% to give you, but I’m going to give it to you because I trust that you’re going to do you’re going to multiply it, and you’re going to do something more meaningful with it than I could do. 01:13:35:20 – 01:14:05:05 Rory Vaden And part of that includes that my trust in my provision comes from you and not from this money. And so it’s hard. It’s it’s it’s the physical demonstration of a dependency on God rather than a dependency on money. And that, to me is why Jesus talks so much about money. You know, in the Gospels, which were written by his friends and the people that were around him when he was alive, is to go. 01:14:05:07 – 01:14:23:15 Rory Vaden The reason why, he says, is you can’t have two masters. You can’t love God and money. He’s basically saying there has to be an order of priority. And the way, you know, the order of priorities, you go, which one do you actually depend on for your sustenance, for your survival? Do you depend on your own money or you depend on God? 01:14:23:17 – 01:14:40:18 Rory Vaden It’s like God doesn’t need your 100 bucks. Like, seriously, like God did not need your 100 bucks like God, God, creator of the universe. They can can create whatever he wants. But I think that is a it’s a demonstration of obedience, but it’s more of a demonstration of faith. It’s a demonstration of trust. 01:14:40:19 – 01:14:44:03 AJ Vaden But I think a lot of us, all we have to do is have a perspective shift. Yeah. 01:14:44:05 – 01:14:58:07 AJ Vaden It’s the perspective shift of what? What am I doing with what I’ve been given, however big or small that may be. And that part one is money, but part two is time, because I think there’s another group of individuals who go, 01:14:58:07 – 01:14:59:00 AJ Vaden you know what, 01:14:59:03 – 01:15:01:14 AJ Vaden I have a little extra money, so I’ll give them money. 01:15:01:14 – 01:15:03:07 AJ Vaden It’s my time. You can’t have. 01:15:03:07 – 01:15:03:15 Rory Vaden Yeah. 01:15:03:19 – 01:15:18:10 AJ Vaden And I don’t have time to volunteer. I got bigger, more important things to do. I don’t have extra time to go to this coffee meeting or go to this prayer meeting, or go to the volunteer thing, my kids luncheon. But I’ll give money. 01:15:18:12 – 01:15:26:12 AJ Vaden And I think there’s another category that we should all check of going. Well, where where where is that coming from? 01:15:26:13 – 01:15:35:00 AJ Vaden Right. And it’s like, this has been a series of, you know, breaking me, at least in the last eight years of like 01:15:35:02 – 01:15:45:21 AJ Vaden to your point is like, God doesn’t need my money, right? He wants me to give because I’m called to it. But it’s my time is just as much. It’s not just about money, it’s also about time. 01:15:46:01 – 01:16:04:08 AJ Vaden And as a business strategy, I think it’s one of the best and biggest trust building things you can do is time. I would even say over money. And I’ll give you a quick example, like there are lots of causes and lots of charities that we donate to professionally and personally. 01:16:04:09 – 01:16:05:17 Rory Vaden Well. And, and the company. 01:16:05:18 – 01:16:31:00 AJ Vaden That’s what I mean. Professionally. Yeah. Like we do a lot with that, but we’re anonymous names on a list to all of those organizations. Then there’s a few organizations because they’re here local, we get to spend time with, and those are people. We have real relationships regardless if money is associated with not. Those are real people that I can call them by name. 01:16:31:00 – 01:16:52:09 AJ Vaden They’re in my cell phone. They call me if they have a need. I call them if I have an idea that I believe that time multiplies trust more than anything else, because I could give a huge check to our organization and never hear from them ever. Or I can give a few hours and they know me by name and I know them by name. 01:16:52:09 – 01:17:09:23 AJ Vaden So when you think about that in terms of business, right, it’s like, yes, there are money back guarantees, right? That’s a way of using money as like a strategy of like, hey, it’s like it’s not going to cost you anything if it doesn’t work. And then the reverse of that is like, hey, the first call is on us, right? 01:17:10:00 – 01:17:36:07 AJ Vaden It’s the free call strategy, right? Lots of people do it. But that is time, real time. And that’s real relationship. Trust compounds with that versus like, hey, you get 10% off, right? That’s a financial component. But then the time component I think is equally as important. But then there’s the information. Right? So that’s how I said there’s generosity in three categories. 01:17:36:07 – 01:17:41:02 AJ Vaden When you think about this as a strategy there’s money there’s time. And then there’s information. 01:17:41:02 – 01:18:04:10 Rory Vaden I have I have a of a this is a silly story about time. But this rocked my world recently. This was something in my own life. You and I were in a mastermind and they asked this exercise they had. Everyone closed their eyes and they they said, I want you to pray and ask God, what moment in my life were you most proud of me for? 01:18:04:12 – 01:18:09:13 Rory Vaden And I was like, well, that’s a weird. I’ve never done that before, right? So I’m I’m sitting there, I have my eyes closed 01:18:09:18 – 01:18:26:09 Rory Vaden The thing that came up to me was a time when I was like seven years old. I had laid out all of my stuffed animals in my bed, and my grandma had given me this, like, little Bible thing. I was an altar boy, and so she gave me like, this little like set of, of sort of altar boy materials. 01:18:26:09 – 01:18:56:02 Rory Vaden And it was a little Bible in there. And I was preaching, I was pretending to be the pastor to my stuffed animals. And this is the image that popped up in my mind. And I was just like, that’s the moment God that you were most proud of me was when I was fake preaching to stuffed animals. And so then the next thing the facilitator said is, he said, go back and ask God, why was that? 01:18:56:02 – 01:19:23:21 Rory Vaden The moment you were most proud of me? And I heard God say, because you were talking about me to the audience you had access to. And I was like, I was spending my time talking about him to the audience I had access to, which was stuffed animals. Yeah, well, I got of everything I’ve ever done. That is the moment that I felt like God said, I’m most proud of you. 01:19:23:22 – 01:19:31:18 AJ Vaden Well, I think it matters because for all of us, when we think about generosity as a strategy, not just a business strategy, let’s just call it a life strategy. 01:19:31:19 – 01:19:32:14 Rory Vaden Life strategy. 01:19:32:14 – 01:19:33:16 AJ Vaden It’s a life strategy. 01:19:33:18 – 01:19:40:16 AJ Vaden You have these three buckets you can pull from. You have money, you have time, and then you have information. 01:19:40:18 – 01:20:02:00 AJ Vaden And at any season of life and with any particular audience, you can pull from each of those buckets, because there are some people that you’re going to come across where they don’t need your money. But what they do need is information that you possess that only you can give, and you’re going to meet other people where it’s like they know so much more than you, and there’s so much more wealthy than you like. 01:20:02:01 – 01:20:24:23 AJ Vaden Like you’re thinking, what could you need from me? And sometimes all they need is an hour long coffee meeting to just have a real life human conversation. They need a friend. They need a listening ear. They need someone to believe in them, to send them a text to. They need something. And it’s like. So when you’re thinking about generosity, I just I again, this is a live strategy. 01:20:24:23 – 01:20:27:21 AJ Vaden I think that those are the three buckets that you pull from. 01:20:27:22 – 01:20:29:08 Rory Vaden Time, talent, treasure. 01:20:29:14 – 01:20:34:15 AJ Vaden Time, money. You call it time, talent, treasure. But time, money, information. 01:20:34:15 – 01:20:36:03 Rory Vaden And information would be like talent. 01:20:36:09 – 01:20:57:15 AJ Vaden And I think one of the things that I have just found is like there for each of us, there’s there’s one of those buckets that it’s easier for you to pull from. I don’t have an attachment to money. I can give money pretty freely that, you know, that I overcame, that. I don’t mind sharing anything I know. Right. 01:20:57:16 – 01:21:03:20 AJ Vaden But I know other people where it’s like, no, no, no. Those are trade secrets. And I’m like, but we’re friends. You’re really not going to tell. 01:21:03:21 – 01:21:04:16 Rory Vaden Me. 01:21:04:18 – 01:21:05:04 AJ Vaden What. 01:21:05:04 – 01:21:06:12 AJ Vaden Do you make there? 01:21:06:12 – 01:21:28:07 AJ Vaden Like, no, no, no, that’s proprietary. And I’m like, you kidding me right now? But they’re serious. They are not kidding. And it’s like, that is a bucket where they’re like, I am not generous in this bucket. And that’s not my bucket. The bucket I have personally always struggled with is time. And it has been such a discipline for me to go know the Lord for me in my life. 01:21:28:07 – 01:21:46:06 AJ Vaden The Lord is calling me to be more generous with my time, and he’s like, I know that you’ll give them money. I know you’ll give the information I need you to give your time. That’s what I’m calling you to. And it’s not that he’s not asking me to do the others. It’s in what season? For what purpose? For what cause? 01:21:46:07 – 01:21:58:15 AJ Vaden So it’s not like these are exclusive. And I would just. I would just ask everyone who’s listening, like, what bucket can you give freely from naturally, and what bucket do you have closed off. 01:21:58:15 – 01:21:59:05 Rory Vaden That’s good. 01:21:59:05 – 01:22:17:13 AJ Vaden And I think in this season of going like it’s not one or the other, it’s how do we pull from all of them based on the purpose, the season, the reason, and to pull from each of those of going, it’s not about one. It’s not. We’re not just saying we’re not having this episode going, hey everyone, you need to go, you know, do reverse tithe, live on 10%. 01:22:17:14 – 01:22:37:16 AJ Vaden Give the 90. That’s not it. And it’s not like everyone has extra hours in their day, every single day to go volunteer, you know, the local whatever. And it’s not that we’re saying you should give away your trade secrets, but there is a combination in each of those. That one comes easier. One does not, but they’re all really important. 01:22:37:16 – 01:23:06:02 AJ Vaden When you think about generosity as a life strategy, because every single day I encounter all three needs every day, every single day, I encounter someone who needs money. Like every day I run across at least 2 or 3 people who are unhoused in our hometown, where they have a sign going a dollar a meal, a water like they need my money, right? 01:23:06:03 – 01:23:19:04 AJ Vaden And I run across every people, every single day who need my time, specifically my husband and my children. Right? They are constantly, I need this, I want this, and it’s like my team, like people. Me like, there are a lot of. 01:23:19:04 – 01:23:21:06 AJ Vaden Needy individuals in my life. 01:23:21:08 – 01:23:33:08 AJ Vaden And every single day I run across people, primarily through our business who need information. And if I close any one of those buckets off or I’m stingy with any of those buckets, I am denying a really important group of people 01:23:33:08 – 01:23:41:14 Rory Vaden To your point about how you can help even people who are way more successful or rich than you. This this happened. This is another true story that happened recently 01:23:41:17 – 01:23:58:02 Rory Vaden I don’t think you would mind me sharing this. This is a story about Ed Millet, and you and I have a friend mentor who gave us the exercise, and he said, text someone right now that you love that you believe in and just text them. 01:23:58:02 – 01:24:02:08 Rory Vaden Nothing else. Just text them. I believe in you. And so 01:24:02:08 – 01:24:05:01 Rory Vaden I’ve now known Ed for four years or something. 01:24:05:04 – 01:24:20:05 Rory Vaden Added four years of knowing Ed like pretty well. We’ve probably had two phone conversations. Everything else is voice memos back and forth and like, you don’t get a meeting with Ed. He doesn’t take meetings. You you talk to him in little chirps here and there. 01:24:20:07 – 01:24:24:21 Rory Vaden So I text Editor Millet, I believe in you. He calls me right away. 01:24:24:21 – 01:24:46:07 Rory Vaden He’s like, what’s wrong? Are you dying? And I was like, wait, what? He’s like, why? Why would you send that? And I was like, I just want you to know I believe in you. And he’s like, really? You’re okay? And I said, yeah. He goes, right, I’m about to step on stage in this arena. You have no idea how much I needed that right in this moment. 01:24:46:08 – 01:24:50:17 Rory Vaden Yeah, and that was crazy because it was just like, you know, 01:24:50:19 – 01:24:57:07 Rory Vaden giving compliments is one of the things that we can all give for free. It costs us nothing. 01:24:57:08 – 01:24:57:22 AJ Vaden Every day. 01:24:57:23 – 01:25:06:03 Rory Vaden And you have no idea how many people are desperate for just to hear that they matter, that what they’re doing is good, that they are good, that you see them. 01:25:06:04 – 01:25:27:06 AJ Vaden They honestly that falls in the bucket of time. It’s like, do we have enough time margin to see the need and then to act on the need. Does it’s about time. And I think, well, just to be clear, for everyone who’s listening, I texted Rory, he texted Ed, I texted Rory, I believe in you. And then here he goes texting it. 01:25:27:10 – 01:25:28:16 AJ Vaden I will not take offense to that. 01:25:28:17 – 01:25:30:07 Rory Vaden I texted it to you to. 01:25:30:08 – 01:25:30:13 AJ Vaden No you didn’t. 01:25:30:13 – 01:25:34:21 Rory Vaden I texted you back. 01:25:34:23 – 01:25:55:07 AJ Vaden That doesn’t count. But I do think there is this sentiment of like. Like if you really want to figure out how do you build faster, stronger relationships? Totally. How do you create more relational equity? As our friend Allie Trowbridge would say, how do you create more brands loyalty than it’s likely going to come from one of these things in the form of generosity. 01:25:55:10 – 01:26:16:12 Rory Vaden And here’s here’s the thing about giving information that is amazing is it does all this heart posture stuff. It also is a great business strategy. But one of the challenges I have with mission driven messengers, which is who we serve right, is people come to us and they say, I feel a calling to help the world. I feel calling to share what I know. 01:26:16:17 – 01:26:20:04 Rory Vaden I feel a calling to make a difference in people’s lives. And 01:26:20:06 – 01:26:41:13 Rory Vaden I know that’s what you guys help people do. And I also want to make a career out of it. I also would like to make money. I’d also like to speak on stages. I’d also like to get on shows, but but like their initial, the core of their posture is not that they need income, it’s that they have a desire to make impact, but then they won’t record a podcast. 01:26:41:15 – 01:26:43:07 Rory Vaden They won’t write a blog post. 01:26:43:08 – 01:26:44:05 AJ Vaden Send an email, send it. 01:26:44:08 – 01:26:45:03 Rory Vaden They won’t send an. 01:26:45:03 – 01:27:12:04 Rory Vaden Email, make a phone call. And I’m like, wait a minute, you said you wanted to do this because you wanted to make a difference in the world. You wanted to share what you know. It has never been easier to share what you know globally, like instantaneous. Instantaneously. You take out your phone, you push a button, and you can share what you know, and and you go, even if nobody buys, even if you make no money. 01:27:12:10 – 01:27:40:12 Rory Vaden You did the thing you said you wanted to do. You wanted to make an impact. If that’s really what you want to do, push, record, hit, send, sit down and write the thing. Like do whatever you have to do to get it out there and go. What I’m telling you is that’s the key to making money, is you give away as much as you can and like money again, if we leave the sort of spiritual heart posture conversation and we just go to the like financial ROI conversation. 01:27:40:14 – 01:28:07:16 Rory Vaden Money is a byproduct of value, meaning the value you provide. The more money you, the more people you help and the deeper way you help them. Money shows up as a byproduct of that. And so you go. The amount of money we make is in many ways directly proportionate to the amount of impact we make, the number of jobs we’re providing, the number of people were helping, the depth at which we are able to help those people. 01:28:07:16 – 01:28:17:04 Rory Vaden And you go, you have the tools of the day more than ever before to just go do that and go. Even if you made nothing, at least you’re accomplishing the mission. 01:28:17:05 – 01:28:30:09 Rory Vaden There’s no barrier between you and achieving that mission other than just, you know, the time and the decision to go. That. Is it really about money? Is it really about impact, or is it only about income? 01:28:30:11 – 01:28:34:08 Rory Vaden Because if it’s really about impact, there’s no barrier. 01:28:34:10 – 01:28:59:13 AJ Vaden Yeah. Well, on that note, on the topics of generosity and money and time and information, we’d love to give some of that to you. You can actually request a free call with our team. And this is a way of us building trust with you so you can go to free brand call for and request a call with our team. 01:28:59:14 – 01:29:15:04 AJ Vaden Now, why would we give you a free call, right? One? Because we do believe in generosity as a strategy. And we also know that this is the quickest way for us to build trust with you, to see if you’re a good fit for what we do and to see if you’re a good fit for us. And so we would highly encourage you. 01:29:15:04 – 01:29:38:18 AJ Vaden If you’re wondering, like, what does my business strategy look like? And how do I build my personal brand and how do those connect? Request a free call free brand call for. And on the information side, if this was a helpful if this was an enlightening podcast, this is information. This is a resource. This is something that you can take and give to someone else. 01:29:38:23 – 01:29:57:07 AJ Vaden In a generous spirit of hey, I heard this and I thought of you. I thought you would like this. That is how you can give information in a generous spirit of going, hey, I was thinking about you and I took the time, right? Time to send you something that you might like so you can send this to someone. 01:29:57:07 – 01:30:15:14 AJ Vaden That’d be helpful. If you haven’t already, subscribe, leave us a review. Send this out into the ether. Take it to all the places. We’re so grateful that you were here. Thank you for being a part of this episode with us. Stay tuned. Come back next time and we will see you on the wealthy and Well-known podcast.