One of the greatest benefits of engaging in social media tools, like Facebook and Twitter, is meeting and developing relationships with outstanding people you wouldn’t otherwise have an opportunity to meet. And one of the most exceptional people I have been privileged to get to know is Dr. Mani Sivasubramanian. Dr. Mani is heart surgeon who is using his internet marketing business to fund heart surgery for under-privileged children in India. He is definitely making an impact.

As part of his efforts, he has established the Dr.Mani Children Heart Foundation, runs an annual 24-hour blogathon, and hosts A Day for Hearts each February 14th, all to raise awareness about Congenital Heart Defects. These activities are also geared to raise funds to sponsor life-saving heart surgeries for children from poor families suffering from congenital heart disease.

With his network of blogs and websites Dr. Mani is an energetic social entrepreneur, philanthropist and teacher. He is a firm believer in the concept of ‘business with “purpose”, Dr.Mani ties in every element of his online work with his passion to help provide expensive, life-saving treatment to poor children in India born with congenital heart defects.

I asked him to share his purpose, vision and mission, how that is helping him to have impact, and offer some guidance on how others can have impact.

1. Regarding Purpose (which has to do with HEART, what you FEEL)

What do you feel is your purpose in life? What is it that you have been put on earth to do? What is your passion, or the heart behind what motivates you? What do you feel it is that that really gets you going with contagious excitement and enthusiasm?

Whoa! That sure sounds weighty!

I am indeed a firm believer in having a purpose and working towards it. I define ‘purpose’ as being bigger and longer-term than a goal or target which can be hit or reached. A purpose evolves over time, gets bigger, reaches further, and in a sense, is never quite ‘finished’ or ‘achieved’… only ‘progressed towards’.

My skill-set when I started dabbling in online marketing was limited to heart surgery, where I specialized in treating birth defects in children.

The unfortunate reality is that most Indian families needing treatment for their child’s heart birth defects cannot afford the steep costs involved. That led me to explore other options to raise funds to make treatment possible.

So in a way my ‘purpose’ was driven by ‘need’ – and is in alignment with my lifelong dream of treating heart defects. It is what I’m most passionate about, have been since I was around 14 years old.

Working towards that dream, overcoming hurdles and getting past obstacles, persisting and sticking on when the going gets tough, all the while staying focused on the bigger picture of what I’d love to see happen is what keeps me excited and enthused.

My purpose, in that sense, is to ensure that every Indian child has access to affordable, high quality heart healthcare.

Everything I do is a step towards achieving that purpose, or at least, getting closer to that ideal.

2. Regarding Vision (which has to do with CLARITY, what you SEE)

Where are you going with your purpose, what’s the best case, ideal end result you are looking for? What do you see that others need to see? What insight, solution to the problems, or vantage point do you have that others could benefit from? How are you leading others toward that vision?

My ultimate desire might seem too unreal if articulated, so I’ll leave it within the pages of my ‘Dream Book’ for now

Even my intermediate vision is pretty ambitious, but having found some initial success with what started out as an ‘impossible’ wish, I am a lot more confident now about making it come true than even 5 years ago.

Within the next 3 years, I hope to be able to fund 300 heart surgeries for children every year through a combination of charitable donations and business profits contributed to the Dr.Mani Children Heart Foundation.

To this end, I am streamlining many initiatives already underway, and planning/creating some more with the help of a growing network of supporters and volunteers that in time will make this a reality.

The approaches I’m trying are neither simple, nor guaranteed. But because I am convinced that by trying it out, I will be able to give a few families and children a chance at receiving treatment that they would otherwise not be able to, I stay motivated and energized about these attempts.

My biggest challenge is to get others involved and engaged – not intellectually but emotionally – in the problems faced by parents of kids with CHD (congenital heart defects).

Once that is done, the kind of support that is showered on the project is unbelievable.

So a lot of my efforts are spent to trying to showcase this situation to the right audience, while also pointing out how they can be a part of the solution.

3. Regarding Mission (which has to do with ACTION, what you DO)

How do you carry out your purpose practically? What do you do that gets massive results? What action have you taken that practically demonstrates your ability to accomplish great things?

Initially, everything I did was ‘trial and error’ experimentation. I made many mistakes, wasted many hours and effort going after methods that didn’t work well. But everything was educational, and now I have a set of methods that work well in raising awareness, bringing in cash donations and attracting more volunteers to participate.

A lot of my work in spreading awareness and raising funds has been on the Internet. And to support this effort, a lot of things need to be done offline too, especially related to facilitating the process of transferring funds raised through drives and events into India where they can be used in performing operations. The paperwork and legal procedures to go through are intense and extensive… yet necessary.

But much of the hard work has paid off. The Dr.Mani Children Heart Foundation has sponsored 23 operations until now, and has funds to sponsor another 15 more. Better still, we now have an established donor base that will very likely fund many more operations in the future.

And as our profile grows and track record becomes more meaty, I’m finding that many more people gravitate towards this work we are doing, and offering to help in one way or another.

All this gives me hope that the next few years will see far speedier growth and expansion than the previous ones.

4. How have these factors allowed you to have IMPACT in and on the world around you?

In a deeper sense than I could ever have imagined, my life has become infinitely more satisfying, and even impactful on others, after I chose to start giving to others.

Far more people buy my digital products online because of what the profits will help achieve than they might have done purely for the quality or value they no doubt receive.

I mentioned this in an interview FAST COMPANY magazine did with me a year back. Whenever I run a special offer or promotion to my mailing list and mention that the proceeds will go to charity, my ‘response rates’ DOUBLE or better!

And many top experts in different fields have heard about my work, offered to help and introduced me to their audiences purely because of the work I do with my ‘heart kids’.

If I had been ‘just another infopreneur’, I doubt if any of them would have given me the time of the day!

And on a different note, I get email on a weekly basis from many others who follow me on blogs, forums and ezines, saying how they found what I’m doing inspiring enough to try and emulate this approach in their business, to support a charity or cause they care about.

So there’s a ripple effect that goes far beyond my own small efforts, and that touches many more lives in many wondrous ways. I’m delighted and excited about that, and it is one of the reasons I go against my natural shyness and reticence in ‘tooting my own horn’ to tell others about the things the Internet has allowed me to do.

This interview with you is one such example – if it gets even one reader excited about trying something different to make an impact on our world, to help an unfortunate group, to correct a wrong, to reach out with a helping hand, I’ll be delighted. And I’m sure you’ll be too, Dave. Isn’t that, in a sense, the reason you’re doing this fantastic set of interviews in the first place?

5. What advice would you have for others who want to have impact; to make a profit AND make a difference?

Follow your heart.

Your PASSION.

And don’t let anyone tell you it “will not work”. Trust me, it will. If you want it to work. And are willing to put in the effort to make it happen.

To do that, to stick through the hassles and setbacks, you’ll need a strong motivation. Your passion will be that motivator.

It’s the spark that sets off the fuel of purpose and creates a roaring fire that will warm the hearts of people who come into contact with you – and encourage them to come closer, get involved and join your effort to make a difference.

The profits are incidental, automatic and practically guaranteed. Yes, the money WILL follow.

I wrote a short ebook titled “How To Cross The Road” that’s been read by over 5,000 people.

It’s a parable that uses the example of an everyday act like crossing the road, but turns it into a guide to taking your chance, doing things that you’ve always wanted to, grabbing your opportunity to change the world.

It’s a free download from here – http://www.HowToCrossTheRoad.com

Read it. Cross your road. Make a difference.

Good luck, and I wish you all success.

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If you want more help to make and impact in your world, remember that next Tuesday, May 13th, Ken McArthur is releasing “Impact: How to Get Noticed, Motivate Millions and Make a Difference in a Noisy World“.

To build awareness of his new book, Ken is also giving away training from over thirty successful business owners with all kinds of specialties to help you succeed in business. It’s available free at The Impact Factor.

While I was in Orlando at JVAlert, I made the comment to someone there about how cool it would be to have an event like that in my hometown of Denver, Colorado. Then lo and behold I just ran across this event called The Capital Factor, being held in Denver April 5 & 6, 2008. This one-of-a-kind event combines how to raise business capital with killer strategies in internet marketing, direct & offline marketing, investing, financial independence, and professional development. Coming on the heels of my last post about business development and networking, I thought it would be good to put this out there for people to check out.

Whether you’ve owned your business for the past ten years, just started yesterday or even plan to start one next week, there’s no better place to be on April 5th and 6th than The Capital Factor.

Here are just some of the topics to be covered thoughout the weekend:

• Triple your profits using the right tools the right way … and see how technology can automate your marketing efforts and systematize your sales process.
• Create high impact off-line marketing … without draining your resources.
• Attract venture capital and angel investors … by learning exactly what they’re looking for in an investment project.
• Increase your leads and sales from the Internet … on a shoestring budget.
• Gain trust in your financial numbers … and make better business decisions.
• Use audio and video to promote your business … without spending the usual $2,500 to $15,000 production houses charge.
• Evaluate your current credit score … so you can make a plan to improve it and create more financial options.
• Enjoy significant tax breaks … and learn which programs can deliver tax incentives right to your bank account.

The question of growth—and profit—is a daily struggle for most business owners. The Capital Factor Conference, features 11 business growth experts who will show step-by-step strategies that will explode your business growth right now.

Armand Morin started online in 1996, generating over $35,000,000 in revenue from his personal online businesses since then. This doesn’t include the millions of dollars his students have produced from his teachings. Armand will show specific real-life examples of what works today online rather than what used to work even just two years ago. He’ll talk about blogs, SEO, copywriting, website layout, sales letters, and how you can apply these tactics to your own Internet strategy and get result the very next day.

Rick Raddatz was a technical executive at Microsoft from 1988 and 2000, where he often met with Bill Gates and other high-level executives. As part of his job, he consulted with CIOs at over 100 Fortune 500 companies. He founded Xiosoft, his current company, in 2002. Xiosoft has helped more than 10,000 businesses realize their true potential by pioneering several widely used web-based tools and utilities.

Rick has a knack for taking complex technology and making it easy to understand and apply. “As a business owner,” he says, “… you don’t have time to do everything. Learn to use tools and let them do some of the work for you to make a difference in your bottom line.” Rick will show how to triple your income using the right tools the right way. He’ll demonstrate several new web-based tools to help increase your leads and sales. Just one of these tools helped a brick & mortar business with a depleted marketing budget enjoy $78,000 in sales from just 2 audio e-mails.

Slap Google back! A former Google employee, Simon Leung is now a full-time Internet Marketer and Google AdWords consultant, author, speaker, coach and mentor. Simon has insider knowledge that you can use to maximize your online ad campaigns, get higher positions while spending the least amount of money per click, and get the most return possible. Simon will share with you the most current tips and tactics for using Google AdWords to their fullest potential.

David Bullock is best known for introducing advanced testing and tracking and innovation methods that have increased conversion rates for his students as much as 600%. He has been featured in both Direct Marketing News and Black Enterprise Magazine and Entrepreneur Radio. He has been a successful online/offline business owner for over three years after a successful $100,000,000 international sales career in the industrial automation and manufacturing industry.

David will help you to understand your prospects on a deeper level which will help you ultimately convert more targeted prospects into paying customers. Put his scientific selling approach to use immediately for your own business and watch your sales soar to new levels.

Bob Smith has been responsible for generating more than $1.3 billion in new sales for businesses over the past 6 years. One of his clients produced $24 Million in just 48 days. Bob was recently honored as the single best entrepreneur for marketing on ABC’s Heartbeat of America. In 2006, he was the first runner-up at the Stevie Awards (the Oscars of the marketing world). He will share several high-impact off-line marketing strategies for the 21st century that, until now, have been proprietary and reserved only for his high paying clients. He will show how to out market, out maneuver, and bury your competition using high impact marketing.

Brendan Burchard is the author of Life’s Golden Ticket and a highly-acclaimed life coach, leadership speaker, and business consultant. Brendon was blessed to receive life’s golden ticket—a second chance—ten years ago after surviving a dramatic car accident in a third-world country. Since then, he has dedicated his life to helping individuals, teams and organizations create and master change. His clients have included Accenture, JC Penney, eBay, Best Buy, Nordstrom, Levi’s, Gateway, Walgreens, Federal Mogul, and thousands of executives and entrepreneurs in speeches and seminars across the country. His media appearances have included ABC World News, CBS-NY Early Show, NPR stations, Oprah and Friends, and other popular programs.

Brendon will share why nonprofit and corporate partnerships are the most important and effective marketing strategy for building your brand and business; how to position yourself so that nonprofits and major corporations will spend thousands of dollars on promoting YOU to their members, customers and communities; how to identify “perfect-fit” nonprofit and corporate partnerships…and how to write the perfect partnership proposal to stand out and win the deal fast; how to incorporate your partnership platforms in marketing materials, loan requests, book proposals, sponsorship requests or any document that can build your business; and what you MUST do to win partnerships and sponsorships.

As I mentioned in my last post, I heard Brendon speak at JVAlert and he is a dynamic speaker with a powerful message. There will also be other speakers to talk about investing, real estate and finance, as well as a panel discussion moderated by a friend of mine, Mark Crowley, who is a former Broadcast Citizen Of The Year from The Colorado Broadcasters Association.

It looks like to me this will be a really good event for anyone in business who wants to learn marketing, investment and finance strategy.

It’s late notice, but they do have an Early Bird Discount, but it is almost over. If you register by February 22nd you get a $400 discount.

Go here, and infuse your business with The Capital Factor.