I have this question for you today: “How many vegans does it take to change a lightbulb? Two, one to change it and one to check for animal ingredients.”
Ha, ha. Funny? Not so funny?
Okay, here is another one: “How many vegans will it take to change the world?”
Ha! This one is definitely not funny, and one that I find depressing to even think about.
Sometimes.
Then there are times, when I get optimistic.
I believe that today, we have an unprecedented opportunity–and MORAL OBLIGATION, that was not here even 10 or 20 years ago, to spread our message and reach new audiences on the GLOBAL, MASSIVE SCALE.
It’s called the Internet.
So how many people do we need to “convert” before we see a real difference in the world?
“Any chance that we will achieve what we want to achieve–a VEGAN WORLD–depends on spreading our message and growing our movement—and not just a little at a time, but A LOT.
What do I mean by a lot?
I don’t mean hundreds, or thousands, or tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of new people embracing vegan lifestyle.
I don’t even mean hundreds of millions.
No, what I mean by a lot is billions and billions.
Only if the day comes when billions and billions of people believe in and practice the ideals that define veganism — only then will we have a realistic hope of achieving what we want to achieve.”
Now, different people can have different reactions to the enormity of the challenge we face.
Once this challenge is drawn in terms of real (and very large) numbers, some of you may say, ‘The situation is hopeless!’ Some will even go further and say, ‘The situation is so hopeless that I am throwing in the towel—giving-up—abandoning the cause.'” (Source: http://www.all-creatures.org/articles/regan-choice.html)
And some of you will decide that it’s time to STOP PLAYING SMALL and STEP UP OUR GAME.
To reach out to more people, educate them, inspire and ignite, keep building MOMENTUM and get to the TIPPING POINT that will make the change happen faster.
It’s time to begin the Vegan Revolution 2.0.
In order for us to be successful — faster — we need to learn how to LEVERAGE the tools and technologies that we have at our disposal today, as well as master the methods of effective promotion, marketing and sales, business building to accelerate the MOMENTUM and reach the TIPPING POINT and create change that we all so deeply desire.
One-to-one activism, leafleting, demonstrations, vegan potlucks and meetups will only get us so far. We need to start building a MASSIVE PLATFORM, getting BIGGER LEVERAGE, and keep building MOMENTUM that’s already there for the vegan message.
This means all of us stepping up our game BIG TIME.
It’s not just about setting up Facebook pages any more, or sharing your messages with your family and friends, or even writing and publishing a book or a blog.
This means learning to leverage the online technologies, sales and marketing techniques, as well as business building strategies, to stop playing small, and start reaching a truly massive audience around the globe.
Why join should you join me?
* Are you FRUSTRATED because you feel like you are NOT doing ENOUGH to help the animals?
* Are you OVERWHELMED with the enormity of the problem and the apparent indifference of the majority of people?
* Are you STUCK in a situation – a job, relationship, friendships — that question or are in conflict with your values. You would like to build your life, career and perhaps even a business promoting veganism and helping animals, environment, but you heard that there’s no money in veganism and you don’t think it’s realistic or something that you could do.
* Are you UNCERTAIN what is the best use of your time and money? You end up to just make a donation to the first charity that sends you their promotional materials at the end of the year claiming a victory for the farmed animals?
* Are you UNSURE what to say to people and how to be a vegan in the world with so much disinformation, conflicting messages, sarcasm and even plain hostility towards this message of justice and compassion. Even vegans seem to be clashing among themselves, so it’s not surprising that people are suspicious when they hear the word VEGAN. They don’t want to feel challenged, inconvenienced, overwhelmed — they prefer to stay “comfortably unaware.”
* Are you just plain BUSY with lots of things to do on your plate, and you don’t have much time to contribute to activism? Since you have little time and few resources, you are wondering how to spend them right and how to efficiently use time and resources that you have at your disposal?
* Do you wish you could devote more time and resources to promoting veganism, perhaps, even make a career out of it, but have heard that “there is no money in veganism,” the few jobs that are available working for vegan companies and non-profits are difficult to find and don’t really provide the income that you need to live comfortably.
* Do you have the feeling that TIME IS OF ESSENCE /of being PRESSED FOR TIME – time is running out /with climate change, environmental destruction, deforestation, species extinction, overfishing, etc. — plus, of course, millions of farm animals slaughtered daily for human consumption. Some predictions are really catastrophic. Why cannot other people wake up and see the truth.
Do any of those ring true?
* None of your friends responds to your Facebook posts about veganism and you have a growing suspicion that they secretly blocked you from their feed, as they don’t want to see any more pictures of animal misery and recipes for egg-free broccoli casserole with tofurky sausage.
* The discussions you join in good faith on mainstream websites, trying to explain the idea behind veganism, which are peace, compassion and justice, usually turn ugly and put you on the defensive, with people with bizarre nicknames calling you names, throwing all kinds of accusations, remarks full of sarcasm and hatred, even though you tried to stay civil the whole time; leaving you feeling drained, disenchanted, and angry.
* If you try to ignore them and don’t comment, you end up feeling even worse, like a traitor.
* Your mother thinks you joined a dangerous sect (mine does); and are going to permanently damage your children’s health, condemning them to the life of bland nutrition and limited social interaction (who would like to socialize with a grouch who doesn’t like pizza, burgers and tells everyone exactly where the meat for the hot dogs came from).
* Your blog and social pages (if you have them) attract mostly other vegans, and you wish you’d be reaching more diverse group of people, and not preach to the choir all the time.
* You end up spending most of your time in members-only Facebook groups with other vegans, venting your frustrations, but not reaching anyone new with the message.
Did you answer yes to any of these questions? If so, please keep reading.
Veganism is gaining momentum — let’s help reach that tipping point faster.
The tools that are available today give us the ability to speed up the process, if we only step up our game a little…
..or a lot.
With the right tools, tactics, and resources we could be doing so much more!
Whether you have one hour per day, per week or per month, with the right tools you could probably do much more that you are currently doing — you’d really be surprised!
Let’s make the change happen together–sooner, rather than later!
Joanna
PS. I’m currently putting together a series of ebooks, courses and coaching products that are designed to help vegan bloggers, authors, activists, coaches, entrepreneurs, business owners, or just individuals with a passion for spreading the vegan message, who want to create a bigger impact fast – to help them take their online presence to the next level.
I welcome any comments, questions and suggestions that you may have that will make this program, and this website as helpful and impactful as possible.
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