Giving People a Return on Their Investment in You (Non-Financial)

Transcript:

A friend recently gave me a book, and I read it pretty quickly after he gave it to me. I texted him and let him know I'd read it and enjoyed it. When I met up with him, he said, "Oh, it's great that you read that — when I give someone a book, I never really expect them to read it."

That got me thinking about the concept of giving people a return on their investment in you. I'm not talking about financial investment — that's obvious. If you work for someone, have business partners, or have clients, getting them a financial return goes without saying. I'm talking about personal or professional investment.

If you have relationships in your life that are important to you, that you want to grow and nurture, and you respect those people and want that respect and connection to be a 2-way street — it can be something as simple as this:

They give you a book and you read it, then share what you liked about it. If they give you a podcast recommendation, listen to it and bring up an idea it sparked. If they give you advice you believe is good, take it, let them know how it went, and tell them you respect them enough to follow their lead.

This matters because sometimes someone positively impacts you — an idea changes you for the better — but you never close the feedback loop with them. Or you do, but it's years later and they've half-forgotten they ever said it.

If you can quickly share feedback and demonstrate a return on someone's investment of time, energy, advice, or ideas, it goes a long way. You'd be surprised how few people actually do that, and how much it can mean to someone when you follow through on something they shared with you.

That kind of return is intangible. It's not about money or anything numerical. It's more like what Dan Sullivan once pointed out: the word "appreciation" has 2 meanings:

In a financial sense, it means the growth of an asset's value. But appreciation also means valuing someone — recognizing their efforts and the value they've shared with you. When you express that, the relationship itself appreciates. It grows in value.

Michael McGovern

The Wildman Path

Who I am and how I work:

I'm an ex-filmmaker turned direct-response marketing strategist who co-founded the Business Acquisition Summit (the premier virtual M&A event for entrepreneurs)...

I’ve worked with 7-and 8-figure companies in different niches like financial publishing, precious metals, online education, business coaching, real estate, eCommerce, and health & wellness.

Now, I help entrepreneurial businesses unlock hidden growth with campaigns that actually sell & drive real enterprise value — using Hollywood storytelling techniques and deep buyer psychology.

I work in one of three ways:

1. Creative strategy and/or copywriting for companies ready to grow via marketing that pays for itself [driving a LOWER cost per customer acquisition (CPA)… and a HIGHER average order value (AOV) and lifetime customer value (LTV)]

2. Equity “growth partnerships” where I bring an owner’s mindset to your long-term growth as we prepare to win back your time & freedom via an exit (either of the day-to-day operations or of the business fully) in 1-3 years, together

3. Full acquisitions of $1-10M businesses as an investor alongside my experienced M&A team at Relentless Growth Group

Behind the business stuff — I'm a former digital nomad now resettled back in my hometown of San Diego, California, a lapsed Jiu Jitsu blue belt, a student of Portuguese (because of my Brazilian wife), and a newly minted Dad of the world's cutest baby boy.

To get a conversation started with me, simply reply to this email with the word "GROWTH” now. Feel free to add extra info/ context if you’d like.