The Chronicle’s Business blog / Jerry Bellune

Last week, 15 local authors and 5 of us from our publishing company gathered at the library to autograph books.

These books make unique gifts because the authors personally autograph them to whoever you plan to give them to, many of them people who are hard to find gifts for.

The event is a fundraiser for our local adult literacy tutoring program. It is 1 of the local charities we support. It is enlightened self-interest. Illiterate people will never become book and newspaper readers.

This is not the only local charity we give to, not only money but volunteer time.

Years ago we supported a local Christmas charity called Adopt a Family. Aging widows, families in crises and others in need were nominated by churches, social service agencies and community leaders.

We personally visited each of them to determine their needs and published them, without their names, in our newspaper. Church, civic and business groups volunteered to adopt and meet their needs.

It was a lot of work. We did not think about it as enlightened self-interest but it proved to be. When we started another publishing company, the business leaders remembered and gave us their business.

We share such ideas in “Maverick Entrepreneurs’ Million Dollar Strategies.”

For a $20 personally autographed copy, contact us at 803-359-7633.

Copyright 2019, The Bellune Co., Inc.