Kristie T asked an interesting question the other day: Are you making a living, making a life, or making a difference?

It’s clear for me that I’m interested in making a difference. But her question got me thinking…How do I actually make a difference through my business? Boy, that seems like a big question.

But if I begin with Kristie’s definitions, I think I can take the breadth of this question and get it into a post without writing a novel. Here’s Kristie’s definitions:

• Making a living is about doing something for the money
• Making a life is about creating a business that supports the lifestyle you want to live
• Making a difference is about giving your best to others in service and getting back tenfold

Well, I’m certainly not in business just to make money. I also think that her second bullet point about making a life is really the same as the first. I mean, after all, we work to make money to have the lifestyle we want. Otherwise, we’d have no motivation to strive for more.

Author David Maister writes that making a difference means sometimes struggling “to do what’s meaningful and not just what’s pragmatic.”

Ah, yes, do what’s meaningful. Or, another way to put it – do what is full of meaning.

So, what’s full of meaning for you?

Well, now that I’ve bared a bit of my soul for you all to see, I’m not sure where to go next.

When I wrote the post on Friday about my ‘Gotta Get Goals,’ I didn’t realize it would have such an effect. Not only on you, by your comments – which I thank you for, but on me as well. Over the weekend and into today I’m a little foggy on how I want to proceed.

I’ll certainly continue blogging about small business development, marketing, using the web, blogging, etc. And, it feels right to begin doing so with even more of my own, unique perspective.

When I work with clients, it’s never just about business building. It’s much more. Often I share with my clients how to bring themselves more forward in their business. Not just ‘own,’ but how to bring more of their own, authentic selves forward in caring for their clients and customers.

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Do you think of your consumers as clients or customers? I know I often use these terms interchangeably. Yet, I always think of customers as people who buy products. Since I don’t sell any products (yet), I always end up thinking of my consumers as clients.

But what’s the real difference?

I know there are a number of ways to look at this so let’s begin in the most obvious place, the dictionary. Dictionary.com defines each as:

• Client: a person or group that uses the professional advise or services of a lawyer, accountant, advertising agency, architect, etc.”
• Customer: a person who purchases goods or services from another; buyer; patron

Interesting. So by the dictionary’s definition, a client is a person who uses services while a customer is someone who purchases products or services. Does that then imply that clients are active users while customers are simply purchases – who may or may not use what they purchase?

So what would you rather have, clients or customers?

The goal of your website copy is to get your prospects to identify themselves in your business. You want to show them clearly that you understand their problems and can provide a unique and workable solution.

One way to do this is through testimonials and case studies. You know, something like this…

When Judy called me, her business was struggling, her website traffic was stalled and her newsletter list was all-but stagnant. I helped her see what she was doing wrong. I corrected those problems for her and now he business is thriving.

Sounds fine, right? My client needs to be rescued and I can save them from their peril.

I thought so too until I read Drew McClellan’s post Are We Playing the Wrong Role in Our Stories. Drew’s post changed my thoughts on how I approach case studies and testimonials. He suggests that when we tell out clients story we have the classic setup…

We have a hero, a problem/villain, a victim and a glorious solution.
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What do I get?

Every single person who visits your website or interacts with your business is asking this question. And most often, we’re answering them with, “if you do this you’ll get that.”

You find this way of thinking everywhere. Yet I say it goes against our true human nature. Yeah, sure, we want to rule and control our environment. But even that gets old. Think about the last argument you ‘won.’ Might have felt great for a little while, but didn’t you soon start to feel a bit empty inside, as though something got taken from you?

Now think of the last time you gave something to someone. Not just gave something, but gave them something they loved. Now go further in thinking about the last time you gave something to some that they loved openly without wanting or expecting anything in return – at all.

Didn’t that feel great? And do you remember how the feeling filled you up with excitement and warmth that stayed with you for a while?

That is THE secret to business success…giving. But not just giving, giving freely, openly without expecting anything in return. When you give like this, it’s like planting seeds fertile soil. With a little time, some sunshine and regular watering, that seed will product a tree that gives you fruit year in and year out.

So give. You’ll find it to be the most effective marketing approach you’ve ever used.

So, how do you give?

Yesterday I did one of my free 25-minute phone consultations with a prospective client. She is a communications expert who helps companies and organizations get the word out about what they do well. In some ways, she’s a marketing copy writer.

So we talked about her business and how she wants to use her website to take her business to the next level. Then I asked THE question…”What problems does your work solve for your clients.” Like many small business owners or service professionals, she told me about what she could DO for her clients, but nothing about the actual problems that she solved for them. I listened intently and said nothing more – coaching at that level is beyond our free consultation.
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Last week I had the priviledge of speaking with blog consultant Mike Sansone of Converstations.com and BlogTalkRadio. Mike is one of the organizers of, and a speaker at, SOBCon07 this May in Chicago.

Mike and I talked for quite some time, covering many topics. There certainly were highlights I took away from our conversation.

But one comment Mike made to me stood out. At one point, when we were talking about how we found each other’s blogs, Mike said, “I saw your name come up constantly in blogs I read and comment on. I had to find out who this ‘Dawud Miracle’ was.” (note, not a direct quote)

This moment in our talk really stood out for me. Why? Because that’s exactly how I sign all my comments – Dawud Miracle.
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Like anything involving business, a blog should be part of an overall web-based business strategy. It should serve a purpose and that purpose should be clearly defined and understood. Moreover, if a business decides to blog, they should learn a bit about how to best use engage the blogosphere.

Lee Goff from GetUWired asked the question a while back, do you need a blog? He wrote:

Many small businesses are finding that a business blog is the best way to both establish a web presence and disseminate information to clients, customers and employees. …The best small business marketing blog allows a company to handle all kinds of dynamic information exchange internally and with the public.

Now his writing is a little dry for my taste – and he never really answers the question – but it did get me thinking…why do small businesses and service-oriented professionals need to be blogging? What do they gain? And what are they missing out on if they don’t blog?

Recently, Kathy Sierra of Creating Passionate Users wrote an interesting post on what she calls the secret of Loveocracy. You should read it, if you haven’t. It’s a great post that highlights what’s good for your target audience is what’s good for your business.

The secret is simply this: you have a much better chance for success when your business model makes what’s good for the users match what’s good for the business, and vice-versa.

I couldn’t agree more.

Just poke around the web and you’ll find a huge number of small businesses and service professionals who are focused on themselves. When you read their website you’ll find out all kinds of information about them. From bios and mission statements to what services they offer and why they’re better than the competition.

But where is their target audience? And more importantly, if I’m their target audience, where am I? Where are they speaking to me and my problems?

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On Friday I had a prospective client ask me this question, “What do you get from your blog?”

My answer was quick and certain…”I get a website that’s alive.” And that’s exactly what I think I’ve gained from blogging – a website that’s alive.

Static websites are just that – static. Most often for small businesses static translates to stagnant. Stagnant websites are rarely engaging to read, they don’t offer your prospects a way to interact with you, and they seldom truly display the type of service your clients get from you. Worse yet, the content is usually out-of-date because they’re often not easy to update.

So, in essence, static websites are often (but not always) dead. Even if they’re drawing business.

But blogs are alive. Like vegetables growing in the garden, they need sunlight, water and nourishment to grow and thrive. And when they do, they provide an endless potential to feed new clients into your business.

How is your blog alive…or, what do you get from your blog?Â