Forget Buying Local, “Buy Social!”
I’ve been having a lot of fun at the farmer’s markets so far this year. Â My wife Katrina over at her site Art & Table can tell you more about that, plus show you some of her delicious meals made on the cheap with fresh produce.
But it has me thinking some about where my dollars go. Â In a booming economy, it seemed no one minded giving their hard-earned dollars to big companies that moved all the money to one side of the boat – tipping us toward a capsize. Â Well, I don’t want to go into the water.
Instead, a few years ago we as a society remembered what it was like to buy things from each other. Â Rather than a computerized woman checking out our oatmeal creme pies and CoCo Puffs, now we’re buying locally – handing cash (or in some cases, local currency!) across a fold-up card table in exchange for a heirloom tomato picked this morning in a farm just outside of town.
You know that feeling you get after a cross-country flight? Â That’s how your tomato feels too. Â …Buying local is great for taste, and your pocket book.
But there’s something I’m adding to the long litany in your purchasing portfolio:
BUY SOCIAL!
I’m finding my friends and family are taking advantage of our current economy along with the rise of Facebook and other sites like it to step into a new venture. Â My sister-in-law sells wickless candles, my friend sells gourmet meals, two of my cousins just released their first album (rock and folk), and my mom sells health products. Â I’m certain that I can get into the paper goods business, selling all my friends and family toilet paper and such.
Just think – the more connected we all become, the more we become self-marketers, (every status update is a promotion of you.) Â If you wanted to make money what better place to advertise than to your friends and family on a place where they spend an average of 45mins a day waiting for you to say something?
Now, no one wants a nag – and we’ll all have to learn to continue to treat our friends and family as real, honest people – something corporations with million-dollar commercials forgot a long time ago. Â Maybe with a real, honest social connection, we’ll know how to best keep our “warm market” from becoming “warmed over.” Â I love my family and friends more than I want their business. Â Much much more!
And it works. Â I’m finding that my family and friends involved in this new economy: 1) deeply respect the boundaries of marketing to me and 2) we are engaging each other in new ways as we talk about the products and services they truly believe in!
I love handing money to a local farmer – but I really love handing money to a friend or family member for goods and services. Â It is as if I am once again looking at changing my buying habits – why buy from Sam Walton’s family when I can buy from my own?

Jay 5:14 am on April 22, 2011 Permalink
Life would be easier if I could disagree with you.
The comfortable interpretation that says — since they will always be there what’s the rush, why bother, nothing can really be done about it, Jesus said so — just doesn’t cut it. If he was rebuking his poor disciples, what would he say to us with our opulence?