Pre-S: First off, you’re way ahead. I cherish you for this. 🙂 Replies to yesterday’s email were around “that’s the only way to get ahead“.
But that’s not the regular response in several industries. There’s a lot of angst around that very question:
What if you give your ideas away?
Here’s what might happen.
- Your clients will know how you do the work.
- Your clients will see how easy it is for you to solve a specific problem
- Your competitors will build on your ideas.
- Your approaches will be copied.
- Your ideas will be public.
This scenario scares the shit out of people —especially in a highly competitive industry or market.
But you know what?
When you do all of that, and embrace the facts listed above…you’ll truly be a thought-leader, because:
→ Your ideas will be leading.
→ Your competitors will follow your thinking.
→ Your clients will see you’re the go-to.
Everyone will know how you approach things and self-select themselves to work with you.
Sharing your ideas for free —at scale— can take many forms.
The thing here is, doing so can (and will) have a larger impact in your work, than overservicing and overdelivering.
Because while you’ll be keeping your work, you’ll also be helping others at scale.