Adding a few fun activities to your life can really boost business. Think of it as non-traditional marketing.

This goes for nonprofits, public agencies, and commercial businesses alike. Getting out into the community, having a little fun, and connecting with other people in a genuine way not only alleviates stress from the daily grind, it makes your day-to-day activities more effective, and ultimately more profitable.

This summer I latched onto my love of community theatre and got involved in the Milledgeville Players’ production of Once Upon a Mattress. Just for fun? Of course. You may ask, “But Leia, how in the world could you possibly have time for that in the midst of building a new business AND working a part-time job to pay the bills?” Simple. Write it off as outreach time.

You’ll notice that I haven’t written a blog post in quite a while, and that’s because I’ve used my time differently over these past couple of months. As a one-woman-show (for now), sometimes I have to let things slide to make room for other things. This summer, I decided to make fun time my marketing time, and I’m so glad I did! I’ve established relationships that not only nuture my soul and creative spirit, but that will most probably aid me in future business growth. Let us not forget that people do business with people they like. This goes for you fundraisers as well:  people give to people they like! If you don’t take the time to establish genuine relationships in the community where you’re doing business, you might as well call it quits.

So… go have a little fun!