Share Your Expertise But Don't Give It Away

The fine line between sharing your expertise and giving your services away for free can be difficult to locate unless you set some rules. You may want to draw your line on the basis of time: anywhere from a few minutes to an hour of your time is free; anything over is an attempt by the potential customer to escape paying for services.

You might decide to share information outside your primary area of expertise. For example, I conduct several workshops a year for job seekers who want to improve their resumes, a subject I'm well-qualified to teach but one that's peripheral to my main business.

Consider sharing information that will help others to do it themselves--but might also convince them that some expert guidance is essential. For example, an accountant might provide a checklist of items that should be looked at during an audit.

Networking events and workshops allow you to exchange information while staying within the limits of what you want to share for free. While you respond to questions, you may even discover profitable ways to reposition your own business.

The blogs that appear on this site provide excellent examples of sharing. They help business owners consider their businesses from a different angle. When you re-define a problem for a customer, you also become the resource for a solution.

The benefits of sharing are well worth the risk, including increased business, the emotional reward of helping others and a reputation for giving value.