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We might be doing gift-giving all wrong.
We think of a gift as something that honors the recipient, something both receivers and givers say they prefer. But what if we should be focused on sharing something about the giver?
Lessons from my gang-member friend
Nearly 20 years ago, a former gang member gave me a book. It was an English translation of the memoir of a Chicano gang member and his life in L.A. It was an excellent read; I wish I had held on to it or at least remembered the title.
The giver was Miguel, a busboy at a restaurant where I waited tables in college. He was probably about 35 or 40. Whenever we were on the same shift, Miguel would follow me around and tell me I was beautiful, the only English sentence I ever heard him speak. It was, to be honest, kind of exhausting. I didn’t give him much thought. His behavior was fairly typical for the interactions between the crew of Mexican busboys and college-student waitresses. I mostly tried to avoid him.
Then one day, he brought me this book. He had another busboy translate for me: this book shows what my life has been like. I was surprised by the gift. And it was not something I would have picked – the cover signaled a lot of violence. Anyway, I took it home and decided to try a few pages; it turned out to be excellent. I devoured it in a day or two.
Miguel and I didn’t progress much in our friendship beyond that point – he still spoke no English, and I was still not too interested in expanding our interaction. But I saw him completely differently, and always appreciated his gift. I also still remember his name, while I’ve forgotten almost all of the dozens of other people I worked with at restaurants over those years.
Putting more focus on the giver, for once
The memory of Miguel’s gift came instantly to mind when I read this social psychology study suggesting that giver-focused gifts can be more valuable than recipient-focused gifts in an unexpected way: they can bring the giver and the receiver closer.
I’ve been pondering the value of gifts since I took an eye-opening inventory of all the free crap my kids brought home in January and February (99 things, you’ll recall). We’re all drowning in cheap crap, gifts have thus declined in worth, content is a form of gift, it’s our job to try to make these gifts valuable. That’s the mission I’m on. Let’s give white space, and let’s find ways to give delight, I have suggested.
But maybe we need another viewpoint to keep things fresh – that we shouldn’t just be bending over backwards to make things the audience will definitely like. They like listicles about common investing mistakes. They like how-to guides telling them where to put alternative investments. They like actionable blog posts.
This is good stuff, and it plays a necessary role in your content library.
But perhaps we should also make some giver-focused gifts. In financial content, I would put into this category anything about your viewpoint – your most strongly held opinions about the markets, about investing, about the right and wrong way to do things. Don’t just cater to what you know they want; show them who you are. Of course, in this industry, that means showing who the firm is, who the people are, and most importantly, what your people think about things.
The key to unlocking thought leadership
In fact, this is the kind of content that we think of as true thought leadership: strongly held opinions. In my seat as a ghostwriter and editor, I think these kinds of pieces are often watered down, with many of the fingers pointing at compliance. But plenty of people and firms in the industry do put out strongly held viewpoints – don’t they have compliance departments, too?
Your teams are staffed with people who have strongly held opinions. (In fact, this is the most fun part of my job – getting to know your strongest personalities.) When you’re considering content, make sure to ask the givers what they want to put out into the world, what they’re thinking about, what they want to say. It may turn out to be the most highly valued stuff you make all year.
Looking for a freelance financial writer to help you make valued content? Reach out and let’s talk about your project needs.
Posted By
Carolyn
Categories
Compound Return Newsletter, Content Marketing