By the time anybody following you has learned what you know, you’re miles ahead. And in the process you’re building a phenomenal reputation. Jeremiah Owyang is a testament to this golden rule. I don’t know anybody who gives away as much knowledge as he does and just look at his twitter followers – over 14,000 people! He is THE man in social media.

The bottom line. Prospective clients are lazy or limited for time. Dazzle them with your knowledge and you won’t be able to meet the demand. And people who copy you will always be a ‘few to many’ steps behind.

I follow Jeremiah’s blog and tweets religiously. His tweet leading me to your blog was fascinating to me because I struggle with this constantly. I write an online column called “Retail Ideas” for http://www.furnituretoday.com and also write a 2000 word article/month for a series on “Technology and The Retailer” for Furniture World magazine. I have been writing the online column for three years and the offline column for eight months.

I have given away a LOT of valuable free information through these articles, but, in my industry, very few CEO’s understand the implications of social networking for their business so it is imperative to educate first and become known as a “go to” resource. The free information helps me to do that.

Has it paid off financially. Yes. I get asked frequently, “Leslie, why would people hire you when you’re giving all this away for free?” And, the answer is: context and specificity-exactly as you state, Scott. I understand the furniture industry-having been it for 26 years-and help my clients understand how to use SN tools to solve specific business challenges. It is very hard for people not familiar with SN to develop a SN strategy and therein lies the reason I give so much away for free. If I educate them, help them see the connections, even lead them in the right direction, they will be able to connect the dots and understand why they need to hire me for specific programs.

In addition, by giving away information for free, I am asked to speak, write and give interviews internationally on this topic for my industry-just as is happening for all of you who are educating me. This, to me, is the power of what you and Jeremiah and others are doing. You are expanding your business opportunities(=profit)through education. It’s an infinite pie. It could easily be that my clients outgrow my capabilities, for instance, and I refer them to you as they become more secure in the ROI on SN and are ready to take the next financial step. If you weren’t giving away so much valuable information for free, I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing that.

Clients understand what you are doing. The more they feel in control of asking educated questions, the more they will call you for specific assignments and be willing to pay you for it.

They can’t pay for what they don’t know is even a possibility.

Thank you both for the discussion. You are making a difference in my life.

Leslie

In reality, I suspect that those of us in the industry who are avid followers of online analysts, such as yourself and Jeremiah, are contributors to your effort by participating in active conversation, debate and an exchange of ideas.

I appreciate the open dialog that is inherent in the social media industry and think that the value analysts bring to corporate clients is in your ability to distill the proper information in the proper context for each client in a unique way. The concept of “selling the farm” by routinely publishing online what your clients are paying you for isn’t something that I would be overly concerned about because of this reason: your clients’ core competencies are something other than social media such as: running hotels, manufacturing computers, managing investments, etc.

Between this list, and the one I first put forth, we’re applying many of the older principles that analysts have had –but now using the online social tools.

Perhaps the biggest change is that value is going to be shared in front of the paywall, not just to clients.

Your thoughts?