Robin Hood - Good or Bad guy? You decide.

For some Robin Hood was a thief, but to many, he was simply redistributing money.

This is how the story goes.

The rightful King (Richard) went abroad on crusade. His brother (John) usurped power, raised taxes illegally for his own use, and got his friends, including the infamous Sherrif of Nottingham, to collect the money for him. Those friends collected for the King, plus a cut for themselves, all totally outside the law. This is not the same as lawful taxation; it was extortion. John is not a lawful tax-gatherer, he is a thief. He does not have the authority to raise the levels of taxation, and his friends did not have the authority to steal more on top.

Robin of Loxley objected, and as a result, his land and property was taken from him and he was declared an outlaw. He went into the forest to live with the other outlaws, who, inter alia, ambushed those carrying the extorted money to the thieves. They took the money and gave it back to those who had been robbed of everything they had, and who had no means of living left to them.

Meanwhile the King had been captured, and an immense ransom asked for. His brother, who had no reason to pay this ransom and lose his power, refused to pay it. Robin went to the poor of the land, and asked them to give what they could. Between them they raised the necessary ransom, sent it abroad and the King was released.

When the King returned he pardoned Robin and the outlaws for any crimes they might have committed, and restored Robin's lands to him. He stopped the unfair taxation levels, set more reasonable taxes, and made sure the thieving stopped.

Therefore there is no question, according to the story Robin was a good guy.

Nottingham is my home town and that is how we know it and how generation after generation also knows it.

I think there must be something in the water where we come from because just 3 minutes drive from where I lived in Nottingham, Sir William Booth was born.

He is the founder of the Salvation Army.

Remarkably, He took his business of helping people to 58 countries before he died, and that was "without the internet"!

So here we are today, 2017.

My business is meetmagic and we are about to officially launch what is a world's first B2B platform for business and philanthropy on March 8th.

This day is significant for a number of reasons.

A year ago in 2016, we got our ABN (Australian Business Number), It's International Women's day and also my daughters 14th birthday. All of this happened by chance.

The one thing that is clear to me, is that we stand for the same things as Robin and Sir William. To help people. That is at our core.

We redistribute and repurpose existing money.

In our case, marketing budgets that are today used for everything from expensive business conferences, events, inside sales reps, social media marketing, lead and demand generation where the ultimate goal is one thing. To connect with decision makers and share their story.

Only there is declining effectiveness and falling returns on investment

50% of companies increased Lead / Demand Gen budgets in 2016, as the drive to increase revenue intensifies across all industries, but ALL continue to struggle to find effective ways to meet with decision makers.

So we have solved the problem and do this by connecting sales and business development executives directly with business leaders and company decision makers who get to nominate what charity receives that marketing budget.

At the end of the day, we turn business meetings into funds to help those in need.

It's just a modern day version.

Thank-You Robin and Sir William - for your inspiration.

You can join us for our launch by registering here

Carl

2017 is a pivotal year for B2B marketing budgets. 8.6% - 10% of revenue is spent on lead/demand generation activity - time to repurpose and do good.