This past Friday, I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to attend the first TEDx event held at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. One of my favorite speakers at the event was Adam Braun, founder of Pencils of Promise, an award-winning organization that has built more than 150 schools across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

While Braun has many great things to say (“You change your words to change your worth” being one of them), my favorite part of his talk was about being purpose-driven. Instead of calling Pencils of Promise a nonprofit organization, he instead calls it a “for-purpose” organization. After explaining this term he’s coined (he doesn’t do charity work; he solves problems), he applied it to nonprofits and businesses alike.

“If you’re not building a business based on purpose … your business will erode,” he said.

This is so true. Look at Google, for example, whose mission is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” They certainly have done that, haven’t they? Google is a purpose-driven company.

Alternately, how many times have you seen a once-thriving company deteriorate upon being inherited? While the company’s founder was purpose-driven, his or her children may not feel that same passion and simply can’t fake it. Business is hard, and there’s only so long you can work that hard on something that doesn’t matter to you.

At Words by a Pro, being purpose-driven means inspiring readers to feel the same level of excitement as our clients do about their products or services by communicating their vision through clear and inspirational written copy. It’s not just about making things read well. Or getting to remove the Oxford comma from websites everywhere. And while writing and editing copy may not seem like a big deal to some, for us it’s truly about making a difference.

Through written copy, we help get people excited about fitness. We help others make educated decisions about whether to go through with a cosmetic procedure. We help still others understand the importance of having a diversified workplace. By providing clear, understandable copy to our clients, we have the privilege of changing people’s lives, and that’s not a privilege we take lightly. To the clients who have entrusted us with their for-purpose communication, thank you.

Melissa Biernacinski serves as partner with Words by a Pro. Email Melissa at melissa.biernacinski@wordsbyapro.com.