Consultants, how much knowledge should you give away?

Consultant, how much knowledge should you give away when you create content for your audience? My take 👇

Give away your best stuff if you feel it would help your audience. Your ideas, strategies, tactics – you name it.

This might not go down well with a few people. They may be thinking, “If I give away what I know, why will buyers hire me or my firm? And what if my competitors steal the information?”

To “protect” what they think is their intellectual property (IP), they create boring content that does little to engage their audience, nor build affinity or trust.

The truth is that your knowledge is not your IP. Your real IP lies in how you and your firm create results for your clients. This includes your (and your team’s) analytical skills, curiosity, creativity, communication skills and project management skills, among others. It’s not possible for anyone to steal your IP in professional services.

So just giving away knowledge or information you’ve accumulated over the years will not jeopardize your business in any way. On the other hand, it will bolster your business significantly by creating affinity and trust with your audience.

Just take a look at any serious business author’s books. Their books are rich with ideas, frameworks, original research, case studies and other unique material. The price of a book is usually around $20, which is virtually free.

For example, Competitive Advantage by Michael Porter (co-founder of Monitor Group) is 600+ pages. He gave away his best ideas for a pittance but what he got in return was a solid reputation and…a flow of reputable consulting clients.

The revenue model of several business authors is built on the back of an efficient consulting engine, which is how the real profits are made.

Rich, detailed content gives you credibility. Credibility leads to new consulting engagements.

So don’t be afraid. Give away your knowledge freely…and thrive.

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