We met Sian in Glasgow at a B1G1 Seminar — she’d driven 3 hours to be there. All we knew was that she ran a successful pole-dance fitness studio called Soul Pole.

She joined B1G1 in a heartbeat and was quickly online giving. Already she’s given 2,380 days of access to life-saving water to people around the world, 64 people a nourishing meal and she’s played a part in changing the lives of 22 children.

Yet she used to be a homeless drug addict and a lap-dancer. Now people regard her as one of Scotland’s brightest entrepreneurs. Everything she does now involves giving — her new book ‘Teenage Kicks’ is out, giving back with every copy sold protecting a tree in Tanzania.

And now she’s about to become a successful speaker too. ‘B1G1 Giving really is a vital part of my life now — and it changes everything,’ she says.

Turning a gift into a REAL gift

Jo Shippen knows more about cute ‘gadgets’ than most people. At Hatters in the UK, Jo and her team put together wonderful promotional items for a host of clients. She’s so good at it that she’s just been honoured with a major award.

And now, through B1G1, giving is an inbuilt part of everything for Jo and the team. Just for example, Hatters has: Given 12,732 people access to water, 779 people medical support, 422 people accommodation, 366 children education support, 250 kids meals, 44 people in need medication, 13 goats to families in Kenya and protected and maintained 615 trees. (For a complete list, see here)

Jo would not describe her business as huge. Yet the impact she’s having, just by doing what she normally does, certainly is huge. It speaks volumes for the magic of B1G1 but equally for the passion Jo brings to everything she does.

“Now,” as she puts it, “my passion is matched with purpose and boy, does it feel good!”

Krisztian Panczel has sold $5 Million worth of products online since 2008. Yet he’s the humblest of people and totally committed to giving back.

Krisztian has grown his business, Cheap Sheds into the largest online retailer of garden sheds in Australia — and he’s done it all through what he calls ‘organic traffic generation’. And he’s got a great story about how he got into sheds too. Just click to ‘meet’ Krisztian and hear the story right here. 

Under-pinning it all is a deep commitment to giving—and you can see just how deep that is by looking here at how Krisztian and the Cheap Sheds team use B1G1.

Already, the team has impacted 136,080 people by giving them access to pure, life-saving water.

Krisztian is a shining example of the B1G1 philosophy: businesses have the power to change lives. Together we’re making that happen.

True Entrepreneurship

Key Person of Influence is one of the hottest business development programs launched in the past 2 years. It’s also one of the highest quality programs with absolutely outstanding results. And now B1G1 is thoroughly involved in it too thanks to the insights of Glen Carlson who’s launching the program in Australia in January 2012. 

“To us, you cannot be a true entrepreneur if you’re not giving back. We’ve always done that but now, thanks to B1G1, we’re able to do that in wonderfully impactful ways.”

“Equally importantly, we’re able to get our clients directly involved in the giving as well, giving them access to the same 700 projects that B1G1 makes available to us.”

“Top that off with the knowledge that a full 100% of our giving goes directly to the projects we choose and you begin to see why we’re so thrilled to be a part of B1G1.”

Everyone is involved

David Anttony was at there at very beginning of B1G1. So not surprisingly, giving is central to his business life.

He puts it this way: “At Magic Webs we give simply because we choose to and because it feels good to us. But we don’t give as a means to feel good, we give because it creates greater expansion in all that we do and experience.”

Now running a team of 25 people in Bagio in the Philippines — David is living proof not just of the power of giving but also on the power of focusing on doing great things. 

Getting people on the front page of Google and incorporating that with truly effective web site design is what David and his team do. And they do it exceptionally well with clients now coming from around the world. And the whole team is involved in giving back too;

“We love that we can also easily share this giving with our team and allow our team members to choose projects that inspire them,” says David.

Giving that’s truly emBEDded

Rion and Anissa Morgenstern’s brilliantly named ‘IntoBedWeGo.com’ sells great beds and bed accessories — as they put it, ‘everything you need for a healthy sleep environment’.

And giving back is seriously embedded into the La Jolla, California couple’s business and life. Everything they sell has an associated give back. When they sell a bed, they donate a bed through their giving partner World Bed. And when they sell anything else on their site, they give one for one with B1G1. 

“Our philosophy of giving is that everyone deserves a chance for better health, whether that means a good meal, a roof over their heads, or a comfortable bed to sleep on for restorative sleep. So, those are the projects we like to support - projects that give people those opportunities,” Anissa says.

“And we can do that so easily through B1G1 by doing what we normally do— we love it!”

How to form Giving Tribes

Rob is the ‘leader of the many tribes’ at his company, Nixon Advantage.

The company’s been helping Accountants to improve their financial position through coaching, consulting, seminars, events and industry specific tools since 2005. And they do it very well. And now they’ve added creative B1G1 giving to the mix. 

Each quarter the company has a theme—this quarter it’s ‘ONE TRIBE’. The office has been decked out appropriately with leaves, trees and even authentic Djembe Drums. They’ve formed 11 teams, chosen tribal names and chosen projects from B1G1 that resonate with each team. 1% of the company’s revenue is allocated across the teams’ projects for giving. The selected project each week is notified to clients, potential clients and spread via social media.

Insiders tell us that B1G1 giving has inspired and motivated the team far more than in previous quarters where receiving a personal reward was the end goal.

A DJ gets a Gift that Gave

Athena Advertising is the creation of B1G1 Business Owner Diedre Tavares. Deidre doesn’t shout about her B1G1 link from the rooftops, instead she links her giving directly to the clients’ interests AFTER the sale. 

In DJ Terry’s case, Deidre was able to find several music projects on B1G1’s list of nearly 700. She arranged the gift of a sound system to an Indian School. And then she uses an inbuilt feature of B1G1 called the ‘Certificate of Appreciation’ to totally surprise Terry. 

What a great way to give not just recognition but a great way to give — PERIOD.

This is giving that wonderfully connects. Deidre puts it this way: “I am really loving this.”  So it’s not just a deeper connection with clients, it’s an even deeper connection with self too.

Now even a lanyard makes a difference

Then, thought Brenda, “What if the goal becomes HELPING everyone else not selling to them? what if we ‘ditch the pitch’?” The result? NetworkingWorld at www.networkingworld.net.au. And Brenda’s instinct was right — it’s growing like wild fire.

And B1G1 is very much a part of that growth. Whenever someone attends one of the Networking World events, someone in Kenya receives a nourishing meal through B1G1. And as people leave, they ‘vote’ with their lanyards by putting them in a box matching the cause they wanted to support. Brenda changes the projects at each meeting to spread the giving — something we’re seeing more and more of on B1G1.

“Obviously one of the best things about B1G1 is that it makes giving so easy. And it’s the flexibility to give across multiple projects and to be able to do it in so many different ways that makes B1G1 so appealing to us,”  Brenda says.

The right to smile — and more

David Hickey conducts literal pain-free dentistry in Chorley in the UK. He believes that everyone has the right to smile and to have a smile that they want the world to see. And the feeling of seeing someone’s smile that has been restored to its former glory is one that, for Dave, is hard to beat. 

Listen in: “Every day I meet people who are terrified of coming to the Dentist due to a previous experience they have had. Yet the truth is that there is a pain free solution for anyone in need of dental treatment. One of the biggest highs I feel in the day is the look of amazement on a client’s face when they realise that their treatment is over and they haven’t felt a thing. And now, thanks to B1G1 we take that feeling even further by giving back in unique ways through B1G1.”

Aside from 2 fully-fledged goats providing lifelong sustainable income to families in Kenya, David and his team have given 3,897 people access to clean water for a day, 320 people improvement of personal hygiene for a day and even more.

Dave puts it like this: “We’re loving it. And B1G1 makes it all pain-free too!”

Embedding the Giving

Knox Audiology was a single professional ‘hearing’ practice in Melbourne when Helen Campbell got involved in it in 2007. Now, in the past year, it’s spread over 3 locations and making a huge difference. Already, Helen and her team have given:

- 38,180 people access to clean water for a day
- 5,323 people medical support for one day
- 640 children education support for a day
- 450 disadvantaged people special education for a day
- 365 people in need accommodation for a day
- 138 families a domestic animal to provide income ... and more!!

And they do it by involving the team and their clients in the giving at every stage. Helen will tell you how B1G1 has helped her see huge possibilities and how it’s focussed her enthusiasm and passion. And we can’t help thinking that when those two things get linked with B1G1 giving, wonderful things happen.

Giving (and punching!) above its weight

Leading Australian Internet marketing firm, Traffika, is punching above its weight attracting some large international clients because of its unique approach to digital marketing.

But even more than that, it’s punching above its weight in giving. When Traffika became involved in B1G1, the company set an initial goal of impacting 1 million people by 2014. But once the team saw how effective B1G1 giving was, already raising 5 per cent of their goal in just three months, they raised their target to 5 million.

Traffika uses a “results driven” approach to digital marketing and it uses eight core values to drive everything it does with the ‘give back’ philosophy firmly embedded in the mix. As Matt Format puts it, “It’s that integration with an enormous range of projects that makes B1G1 an important part of what we do here at Traffika.”

Giving more for the Person who has Everything

Now, at Great American Days, gift buyers are automatically adding in much more than just out-of-this-world gift experiences. 

Marketing Director Jan Stockbridge explains: “We’d always wanted to give back — it’s part of our belief structure as a company. And B1G1 makes it so easy and relevant."

"We’re now able to match the customers’ gift selection DIRECTLY to a meaningful project; for example, when the customer selects a Nascar Drive gift, a child in India gets a bus ride to school instead of a 10k walk. When a customer buys from our ‘Spa’ range, a child gets access to water giving directly. It makes such a difference.”

Through the link with B1G1, Great American Days has now added a meaningful ‘dimension’ to its already exciting gift giving programs. And more importantly, it has added an increased sense of meaning into doing business.

Design that saves the forests (and more)

Ryan Fitzgerald runs a very different web design company called Piper DM.

And not only are his clients delighted with Piper, they’re much more connected than ever to the company thanks to B1G1.

“We don’t just use the B1G1 Certificate of Appreciation to thank our clients, with B1G1’s help we went further and created a special video on one of our favourite causes, protecting the environment of the endangered orang utans in Borneo.

B1G1 makes it so simple to give with real impact and, just as importantly, simple to connect more deeply with our clients. And of course, it gives our team that extra ‘purpose’ which makes working here at Piper even more meaningful."

The Giving Spans the World (and saves it too)

The magic of Minimonos is that it’s an New Zealand-created site directed at children around the world, not just in New Zealand. In fact, the ‘sweet spot’ for the company is the 8-12 year old child in the USA. 

The International Team involved in the site is led by CEO and Founder, Melissa Clarke-Reynolds. She puts it like this:

“Of course, we’ve given to charities before but e love the total transparency of B1G1 knowing that every cent we give goes direct to the project of our choosing.

We use B1G1 to source sustainable projects for us so now, whenever a child in the US joins our site, a child in India gets access to water. For us, B1G1 simply continues to be a no-brainer way of making a real difference."

From Integrated to Make A Difference

Michael Foldi really understands that people just don’t buy what you do, they buy what you believe in.

And nowhere could that belief be more clearly communicated than in the name of the business. So after some conversations with B1G1 Chairman Paul Dunn, Michael turned his Melbourne-based business Integrated Office Supplies upside down in a dramatic way — he changed the name to Make a Difference Office Supplies.

“B1G1 is now right at the heart of our business — it powers everything we do. In fact, the B1G1 ‘message’ is now the way in which we introduce customers to our company. And the difference that Make a Difference makes is simply profound.

Our entire team gets it — even on our site (www.14reasons.com.au) you’ll see the messages they post about what giving back in this way means. We’re changing lives at so many levels now.”

ROOZT - It’s a Triple Win

Roozt is LA-based Brent Freeman’s fast-growing, huge impact coupon site with two major differences. First, ALL of the products featured on Roozt are products of Social Enterprises. Second, every time someone buys from the site they give to a specific B1G1 Project — right now it’s adopting one square metre of endangered rainforest.

Brent explains the B1G1 link this way. “In the US it’s easy to link with over 1.7 Million charities online. But B1G1 was simply different. We’ve been able to concern ourselves totally with the IMPACT of the giving and we’ve been stunned by how such tiny amounts have huge impacts. Plus with B1G1, we can easily change our projects each month so that we keep our giving fresh and relevant and resonant with our buyers. They’re already winning big-time with the online ‘deals’, and now people around the world are winning too through our B1G1 Giving.”

Giovanni Silanesu started his construction business in 2006.

"I have always felt that this should be the most exciting adventure that we undertake, this is to be the place where we raise our families share our heartaches and pleasures with the people that mean the most to us."

And B1G1 has played an important part in making that even more possible for Gio, his team and, most importantly, his clients in recent weeks. 

“I did B1G1 on a small project a few days after we joined. The lady was speechless, I started to well up, and when I left, I felt that not only had we helped 150 children in India but we had lifted the spirits of someone that deserved it here as well. I cannot explain to you in words the value that we feel when we are connected to our clients and community in this way through B1G1. I named my company Inspired Constructions for a reason. I wanted to inspire our clients in every way. Our team are ecstatic and there is a real buzz around the place."

Every time someone buys a painting, someone who cannot see gets ‘vision’

Jorn opened Thavibu Gallery in Bangkok in 1998 with the vision of inspiring people through local art.

“As the business grew, I felt that I wanted the company to contribute to worthwhile causes. But we’d never done anything about it—until the winter of 2007. That’s when I met Masami Sato, the founder of B1G1, and she explained their inspired approach to transaction-based giving.  I began to imagine how great it would be if every painting our clients bought made a difference to others as well. And working with B1G1, we selected a cause; to help blind people get hope and opportunities.”

Over the last 3 years, every painting Thavibu Gallery sold has supported one blind person for a month at St Nicholas’ Home for the Blind in Malaysia. There, they receive life-transforming occupational training and discover their own unique talent ranging from software programming, baking to music.

By enjoying the art, Thavibu Gallery’s clients get to share the great vision with someone else.

Leveraging the business connections to give even more

Jon Mailer started life as a Sheep Shearer. Now he and his wife Danyelle own and run one of the most extraordinary business training companies in Australia — the National College of Business.

And together with an amazing team, they’re rapidly becoming not just a hub for great businesses but a hub for great giving. Just after two months of B1G1 Membership they’ve helped impact 234,652 lives. For example, 367,068 children received education support for a day. And this was possible because of the great connections they have with other businesses.

Jon encourages all of his clients to become B1G1Businesses. He puts it this way: “B1G1 literally transforms us and the businesses wework with. It gives us all a higher sense of purpose and commitment toexcel every day.”

Now, Jon’s business makes an impact far beyond just the companieshe works with. It changes lives around the world. Every day.

By becoming fit, you lift lives of others.

Owen Bowling and CrankIt Fitness team are passionate about what they do. They have developed the innovative CrankIt Straps that allow people to perform over 350 specially developed exercises in almost any location. And they are also far more environmental than conventional gym equipment.

And what makes the team even more passionate and proud of their innovative products is giving.

“We all know that water is the essential element that every animal on this planet needs to survive. Every 22 seconds, a child dies from poor sanitation and lack of water. Imagine doing your workouts without any water to replenish you and keep you hydrated”, says Owen.

With every CrankIt Straps bundle you purchase, over 150 children in India get clean water for a day reducing the risk of fatal diseases across youth.

“Until B1G1 we’d never thought about having an impact beyond making ourclients really fit. Now it’s so much more than that.”

Every time time someone has a cup of coffee, a child receives clean water

Allan and Corianna Quack love the atmosphere of Una Vita Café in Brisbane, Australia. It’s become popular for its great coffee and service since they opened in early 2011.

But there is another reason why customers like Allan and Corianna enjoy it even more. They also know that they are making a difference whenever they visit Una Vita.

“I love the fact that when I sit and enjoy a chai latte for my own pleasure, the business I am frequenting consciously looks beyond their own gain”, smiles Corianna.

Allan, who often holds business meetings at Una Vita, points out that Una Vita’s focus on giving through B1G1has far-reaching implications. “80% of the world earn in one day less than what I just paid for my coffee and I think it’s important to recognize how wealthy we are”, he says.

Now, a cup of coffee nourishes more than just the people who drink it.

Every dress carries a message of love AND supports someone in need

At some point in our life we’ve all wanted to find a special gift to someone we love. But it’s not usually a very easy task.

Erycka Pereira’s ‘made in love’ clothing and jewelry changes that. French-born Erycka now lives in Perth, Western Australia and has a huge passion for giving. That shows itself in everything she creates. 

The simple and elegantly crafted clothing she creates can be worn in many ways and it always carries uplifting, positive messages. For example, one of hercreations has deep pockets with the inside of each pocket carrying beautifully crafted messages like, ‘I am Love / I am Divine / I am Life’

And now through B1G1 that message has even more impact. Erycka’s clothinghas helped give 68,000 people access to clean water for a day. That really is a gift!