Common wisdom says the more you share your knowledge the better it is for you.
Had a discussion about this concept with my friend last night.
Overall the concept seems very logical and sensible and noble but then there are a few key exceptions where I tend to be highly polarized.
Doesn’t it make sense to help others by sharing whatever knowledge you have? After all, only if we help others, we can expect others to help us. Or is it really the case?
Here’s where I think the whole “Sharing for free” concept does not apply:
Business.
And since I am into internet marketing, let me bring you some examples from the internet marketing industry:
In this industry, if you are always sharing away all your tips and techniques and all those “secrets”, you are only attracting freebie seekers. And it’s very hard to convert those freebie seekers into buyers.
But what about “Karma”?
What about “The Law of Reciprocity”?
Because the truth is, no body shares this kind of information for nothing. Whenever we share this kind of knowledge, we expect some of form of benefit in return, either financial benefit(more about this in a second) or spiritual benefit(as in expecting good things to happen to you, out of the blue).
Example of how how an email marketer lost all the financial benefit down the drain:
Once upon a time there was an email marketer who was high on sharing useful tips and information for free. He had a large list of subscribers. Everyone liked him because he always used to giveaway his “tricks of trade” for free…. and they always expected more free information from him.
One day he sent out a promotional email to his list. It was a product his friend had created.
Only a few people purchased that product. Others on his list got angry and hurled all sorts of nasty comments to this email marketer. Why? Because his list consisted mostly of freebie seekers. They were not there to buy something, they were there just to get free information.
This email marketer, Ben Settle, learned his lesson and changed his ways. Now he’s raking in thousands of dollars every month. You can read his story in his own words over here: http://bensettle.com/blog/?s=freebie+seekers
It all boils down to this: Effort and Reward.
If you are in any business, you are actually there to sell. Period.
And selling is nothing but rewarding people for making the effort (of paying the price). And doesn’t it make sense to reward someone only if that person makes the effort to be rewarded?
That’s why in internet marketing, we always go after a market of hungry buyers, those who are ready to make the effort, not freebie seekers. I am not making this up. That’s what everyone in this industry will tell you.
One more thing, if “Sharing your knowledge” is like helping others…. then so is “Selling your knowledge”.
Suhail Algosaibi once said this and I agree with him: there’s nothing wrong with helping others profitably.
This has happened to you many, many times: You get down with fever. You go to pharmacy. You “buy” the pill. The pill “helps you” get rid of fever.
Here the pharmacist hit 2 birds with 1 stone. He made money by selling the pill AND he helped you get relieved from fever. This is called helping others profitably.
Same goes with internet marketing business, where your tricks of trade IS the pill you are supposed to sell, not handover for free.
When it’s not about business, then “sharing your knowledge” works just fine.
By doing this, you make more friends, who love you, and are always eager to listen to you. In times of need, they are the ones who will go out of their way to help you. You become a sort of authority on the subject you always share information about. You come in their good books. You earn people’s goodwill.
And that’s all right so far as non-business issues are concerned. Your eyes should always be on earning people’s good will and that’s a very noble pursuit. If everyone earn’s everyone else’s goodwill…. world will become a better place.
But when it’s about business, your eyes should always be on earning money and everything else (including earning people’s goodwill) should come as a result of it. Not the other way around.
Just one more example before I end this post.
It’s about Matt Furey, a person whom I have a huge respect for. Matt Furey is a highly reputed fitness guru on the internet. His book Combat Conditioning became a best-seller. In this book he basically teaches 3 exercises that easily burn fat and increase muscle. Thousands of people consider this book as their fitness gospel, because the techniques and exercises he teaches in this book work very well.
Matt became a millionaire by selling Combat Conditioning and other fitness products to his email subscribers list.
What sets him apart is, he sends out emails everyday. And no, they are not spam. No body thinks of his daily emails as spam. Why. Because his emails always contain value. He always shares useful information about health and fitness. And he does that in a very entertaining way. BUT he never tells you what those 3 exercises are that helps burn fat and increase muscles. If you want to know what those 3 specific exercises are, go buy Combat Conditioning.
That’s what I am talking about. That’s the place from where I say that sharing your knowledge for free might not be in the best interests of you nor the receiver.
Alright, that’s all for now. Looking forward to your input.
Osman.
But it makes sense that way.
)
