Asking for Help in a Selfish World: A Rant
by Lisa A Kramer, in Creativity
, Books
, Arts and Social Justices
, Collaboration
It took 5 minutes.
5 minutes after I re-launched a campaign to help me publish Re-Creating the World I received the first of many messages to the campaign inbox that was basically--pay me and I will help this campaign succeed. Pay me and I will promote your campaign. Pay me or your campaign will FAIL!
I realize this may sound hypocritical, because I am fundraisng for something. I'm basically saying, pay me so I can achieve my dream and get this book published. And yet, there's a difference. Any money I get, will go into the needs for the book. I'm not asking someone to pay me to do something that I would not do myself, if I could.
These people pounce, saying they can promote me better than I can promote myself (possibly true for some, not for all). They assume that I am doing nothing for promotion myself. (Not true) And, they want me to hire them without any evidence that they will actually be of help. Many of them don't even write polite, fully expressed emails. They argue with me when I say, "no thank you." Why would I think they are trustworthy?
And, the reality is, I'm fundraising because I have no money. I've invested in this project already,--time, money, and lots and lots of guilt and tears. I am committed to seeing it through. I hate asking for financial help, as much as I love collaborating. But, the truth of our world is that you need money to do almost anything.
Still, these pitches drive me crazy. For you see, I give all the time. I will help promote anyone who I respect, or who does amazing work. I will spread the word. When I have the finances, I donate; maybe not a lot, but what I can. I also bend over backwards to connect people with other people who can help. That's part of what the book is all about--building collaborative communities to find creative ways to support one another.
A community needs to be built on trust and friendship. On finding common ground and discussing ways to move forward. It's not built on aggressive emails that say "you will fail unless you hire me."
My truth for this campaign is this: I would love the support to help me get the book published. However, if I fail because I am not promoting it enough, then I'll deal with that. I don't want to burden people. I want to get words and ideas out into the world for discussion. For a $5.00 donation, people get an e-version of the book. The words get out there, and are shared (hopefully) with others, or inspire someone else to create something more powerful that I will then help promote.
If you really want to help this campaign its simple:
5 minutes after I re-launched a campaign to help me publish Re-Creating the World I received the first of many messages to the campaign inbox that was basically--pay me and I will help this campaign succeed. Pay me and I will promote your campaign. Pay me or your campaign will FAIL!
I realize this may sound hypocritical, because I am fundraisng for something. I'm basically saying, pay me so I can achieve my dream and get this book published. And yet, there's a difference. Any money I get, will go into the needs for the book. I'm not asking someone to pay me to do something that I would not do myself, if I could.
These people pounce, saying they can promote me better than I can promote myself (possibly true for some, not for all). They assume that I am doing nothing for promotion myself. (Not true) And, they want me to hire them without any evidence that they will actually be of help. Many of them don't even write polite, fully expressed emails. They argue with me when I say, "no thank you." Why would I think they are trustworthy?
And, the reality is, I'm fundraising because I have no money. I've invested in this project already,--time, money, and lots and lots of guilt and tears. I am committed to seeing it through. I hate asking for financial help, as much as I love collaborating. But, the truth of our world is that you need money to do almost anything.
Still, these pitches drive me crazy. For you see, I give all the time. I will help promote anyone who I respect, or who does amazing work. I will spread the word. When I have the finances, I donate; maybe not a lot, but what I can. I also bend over backwards to connect people with other people who can help. That's part of what the book is all about--building collaborative communities to find creative ways to support one another.
A community needs to be built on trust and friendship. On finding common ground and discussing ways to move forward. It's not built on aggressive emails that say "you will fail unless you hire me."
My truth for this campaign is this: I would love the support to help me get the book published. However, if I fail because I am not promoting it enough, then I'll deal with that. I don't want to burden people. I want to get words and ideas out into the world for discussion. For a $5.00 donation, people get an e-version of the book. The words get out there, and are shared (hopefully) with others, or inspire someone else to create something more powerful that I will then help promote.
If you really want to help this campaign its simple:
- Make a pledge. Even $1.00 helps (and will get you a great big squishy social media thank you)
- Share this on your platforms, tagging people who might be interested in the book.
- If you have ideas of better ways for me to promote, and want to collaborate with me, send me a message.
