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Why sharing your knowledge is not a problem
November 21st, 2008The most common question I get when I explain to people what I do online or blog about is: “Why do you give away your tips and tricks? Doesn’t that give you more competition because everybody knows how you do things?”. It is easy to think this way, but the reality is that sharing your tips and tricks is not a problem, most people are watchers, ideas gatherer or simply don’t really care about what you say.
Passion/Reputation
Before I explain what I mean by “most people are watchers, ideas gatherer or simply don’t really care”, let’s talk about reputation. The first answer I give to the questions above is “passion”, “reputation” and “authority”. That is a pretty simple concept: I share my experiences because I’m passionate about what I do, I help other people, learn at the same time and if I do this all good, I will gain reputation/respect/authority or whatever success metric you want to use. That’s the whole goal of blogging, right? Sharing what you know and at the same time trying to stand out so that your blogging can open new doors to you. By the way, share with us the reason why you blog, I’m really curious about that!
Most people simply watch…or it doesn’t apply to them!
I will just throw random numbers here, but I feel pretty confident to say that maybe 90-95% of people are watchers, 5% are considering taking action and 1-2% will really take action. This simply mean that for every tip, advice, step-by-step guide you provide, most people will simply think “it’s a very good method, thanks for sharing!” and go back to what they were doing without even thinking how what you provided could really help them. Then, you have that other 5 or 10% that really want to take action, but for a lot of different reasons will not do so. These reasons can be a lack of time, motivation, money or skills, but whatever that reason is, we end up with the same result. Then comes the 1-2% that will really take action and this is not what will kill your business! It’s not like 95% of the population will jump into your business sector, so if you are already well established, it is absolutely no problems for a couple of other person to join. You might even build new relationships and and bring your business to the next level.
Other thing that will is that your advices won’t apply to everyone and some persons will just gather ideas. From these ideas they’ll eventually build something and that’s great because it involves creativity and innovation. You can’t take action on every tip and trick you read and you might not want to because they don’t necessarily apply very well to what you do. So that’s another good reason: from the people you give advices to, some are gathering information to eventually unleash their creativity and this is really not a problem to your business!
Last point is that some people really don’t care about what you have to say! 
They might end up reading your blog for whatever reason, but don’t really care and will move to something else. You know, can’t please everyone!
Overall, because most people won’t go forward, giving away or selling your knowledge probably won’t bring you a lot more competition. Surprisingly, what you think is competition can turn into something a lot more interesting than that: partnership. Also, not everybody will see what you talk about as useful to them or are simply gathering ideas to eventually wrap them up and do something.
This is as simple as that
I won’t try to make this a 1,000 words article just for the sake of it. This really is what I had to say and I don’t want to go over the subject of “take action”, because It has been covered a lot before and you all know guys how I feel it is important to take action instead of watching things happening.
Are you a watcher, ideas gatherer, action taker…?
I’d like you to be very honest with yourself. You don’t have to comment and go public by saying: “I’m watching things happening without doing anything”, but be honest with yourself. Also, you don’t have to comment and say: “I take BOOOOLLLDDD ACCCTIIOONS all the time buddy” if that’s not true. It is OK because you might be an idea gatherer and eventually do things your own way or you might simply don’t care about what I say for whatever reason!
So, what’s your approach?
39 Responses to “Why sharing your knowledge is not a problem”
What do you think?
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I am mostly collecting ideas. It’s not realistic to think I will act on every good idea I encounter so best are bookmarked and when I have extra time I go through them.
It’s not very often but it’s efficient to have a pool of stuff to do instead of thinking what to do all the time.
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But the problem is.. most people used to claim that the idea is theirs’ and they don’t give any credit to the real author of the ideas.
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You have to be innovative. If I adopt some blogging tips from Ben, I need to mold it according to my blog theme. I had to add my personal touch to make it beneficial for me. So, the idea of sharing knowledge or tips on blogging is not going to create a competition,etc. Rather, as Ben said, you build a repo and brand online. People look forward to you for new tips and upcoming ideas. So, start sharing and see the difference!
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@Rarst: Good point Rarst! In fact I edited the post a little bit to include “ideas” gatherer in it. As you say, you might simply gather ideas and eventually wrap things up to unleash your creativity!
Good point.
@Hussein: That is a valid point. Especially when blogging about blogging, everybody think they are unique while some subjects have been covered hundred of times before!
@Rituraj: Cool, you’re right! You probably can’t apply every single tip just by “taking” ideas, you really have to add your personal touch, make it personal, etc. Thanks for sharing your opinion!
I can safely say I don’t belong to “90-95% of people who are watchers”. I might consider myself in-between the last two groups depending on certain occasions. I’m not too sure if you are keen to know why I blog but here’s why – money aside, I derive the most satisfaction from knowing that “what I share” make a little difference in someone’s else life and blogging (or sharing) allows me to do that.
Yan
This really makes me ponder on which category I belong to. I pretty much guess I am the 5% that consider to take action but perhaps in a different way as suggested by the majority.
There are times where I have some solid ideas to test it out but are just too lazy to work on it. Perhaps its time to do something about it.
Wei Liang
Wei Liang | ABloggerBlogs last blog post..Project4Hire – A Freelance Marketplace
@Yan: Oh course I want to know why you blog. We each have our own reason to blog and that’s what keep us going, so why not share it?
I must admit that I also get a lot satisfaction coming from knowing that I can make a small difference in people’s life. Thanks for sharing your thoughts Yan.
@Wei: Cut on the lazyness and start implementing your killer ideas!
Thanks for dropping a comment mate.
My personal blog, the one I’m focusing the most on, is simply an exercise in link baiting and SEO to rub in the face of some local competition.
When it comes to bloggers like John Chow giving away useful information, it improves the industry as a whole.
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@Hussein: Edison’s ideas weren’t original, he perfected them or was at least first to market.
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I usually start to many ideas and never follow through. But lately I have been getting better at sticking with my ideas when it gets hard. I love sharing my ideas and passions and some would say that people might steal them – but the thing I have found is most people dont. And if they do, they dont have the passion you do.
I think its quite cool that you’ve have spoken out about it and not beaten around the bush!
It’s very true that a lot of people don’t take action based on what is written, I think you have laid it out very clearly.
So why do I blog? Well it first started out as a comeptition to make money between me and a friend, however when he ‘gave up’, and then I decided to keep writing to try and keep me going on the money making route!!
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you are right man… some people will read up on your tricks and tips to find out if it will apply to what they are doing.
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@Mike Henry: Yep, it does improve the industry even if I think John Chow doesn’t improve this business. I don’t think he’s providing awesome content…But he has the name.
@Tom: Yeah I know what you mean when you say you start too many ideas at once! I was like that a couple of months ago until I decided to really focus on just a couple of them. That really works well
@Dan: Thanks for the comment buddy! It’s great that even if your friend “gave up” you decided to continue your online business!
@Eric: Thanks for dropping a line buddy. Hope my tips and tricks are useful do you
@Hussein
I have seen that happen many times which I hate so much ,
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The Lily Pad Blogger strikes again!
I think you saw (last night) an example of how I can take an idea and put it into action immediately. Hey…it was your idea too!
Cheers man!
Jay
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I was always starting and leaving multiple ideas at once when I first came online. i have that under control, but totally agree with Rarst also….it’s great to have a storage of some kind…
Just don’t try to start them all at once. LOL
BTW, I don’t remember Bill Gates having even one “original” thought; starting all the way back with DOS which he bought from a guy in a shack for 50K.
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Well, if you are passionate about something, it would be much easier to share your knowledge about it. That’s one thing i learned about blogging
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Thank you for sharing your opinion. I tend to agree with what you said above. Lots of people didnt take any action for a free tips or knowledge they get. They even prefer to pay $100 for a knowledge that they can get free in internet. As for them, free knowledge do not have quality.
But not all people did like that. Some of them did not spend any $$ and they make used whatever they get from internet.
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@SuiteJ Lol@Lilly pad blogger! can’t wait for the next one… hehe
We’ll see how my next idea goes and then you’ll be able to take it! hehe
Yeah, you are dead fast at implementing good ideas!
@Dennis: haha yeah man I was like that too a couple of months ago! Going in way too many directions. Now I focus a lot more and it works much better. For Bill Gates, my video tomorrow talk about something like that so watch it!
@Riyanne: Yep, passion is the key to success!
And believe me, the more you share – the more you gain. I’ve experienced this in almost all the websites/blogs that our group owns.
and you’ve said it very correctly, there’s very less percentage of action takers.
I really don’t mind sharing my ideas on my blog. If someone really wants to steal my idea and not give me credit, the more power to them. Karma is a bitch.
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Well, i agree with you. Competition is healthy, so you shouldn’t afraid if you share tips in public.
Personally, i have read many tips and usually i am only watcher, but i am learning by watching, and making my experience wider and bigger in this MMO area. It is impossible to take real action all the time, and that wouldn’t be normal. But you can learn from many sides, and when you combine all tips you can use them and take a real action by implementing them in one project.
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I think its great to share ideas. I was at the gym the other day and ran into a physiotherapist I knew from a few yrs back. My trainer and I sat and talked with her and bounced ideas off of each other because she was considering doing consulting work.
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Sharing ideas has always been a bloggers best friend. A lot of times just by formulating the ideas into words you highlight something that was previously hidden and extremely useful. There can also be many occasions where you learn things from people who are commenting on what you have written.
And then there is the most important reward that a blogger gets from sharing his ideas, the treasured linkluv from other bloggers who have gleaned something from the post.
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@Busby SEO: Yeah exactly, it depends a lot on the person. Some like to pay to get the information straight away and some like to dig and get that for free. I like to dig
@whibb: Yeah, sharing is good and you will get a lot more by sharing than by not sharing! Thanks for sharing that lol
@Judit: You’re right, it is OK to be a watcher as well when what you do is simply gather all the information you can to eventually feel more comfortable with your knowledge and skills. Then you’re ready to take real actions!
@Bruno: Cool! Great life story outside of the online world! it is true that it doesn’t apply strictly to blogging, sharing is good in real life too and will help you just as much.
@Sire: Yes I agree, sharing is also about receiving something back and that something for bloggers is comments. I learn a lot from comments and it also helps me to open my mind on a lot of things.
I agree on the link love, it’s a very cool reward.
I do a little bit of each and every thing you mentioned. I take action, I watch, I gather ideas….it all depends on how the information applies to what I’m doing at the time.
I found out that constantly taking on new ideas and trying to implement leaves me with a bunch of half finished projects. So, if I’m in the mood for some seo, and come across that, then I’ll use it. If not, I’ll register it in the database of crap in my head…give it the ol’ bookmark, and keep it moving
i agrea with “hussein”…. most people used to claim that the idea is theirs’ and they don’t give any credit to the real author of the ideas.
@Joe: Yeah I know you’re taking actions dude and you’re doing well! As for constantly taking action on new ideas I agree it can make things hard to manage. I was like that a while ago until I figured out I wasn’t really achieving anything
@dyamour: Yeah, it depends a lot on the blogger. Sometimes I think you might not realize the idea has been covered before hehe
Nicely written, Ben. I tend to believe that there’s so much to learn and to share, and I’m with you, I’d rather tell people how I’m doing things and, if I succeed, hoping they’ll follow along.
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I would consider myself more of a “actioneer” more than anythimg as I have been mostly working while I have been on the web. I am pretty new to blpgging full time for a blog I really like, which I am now blogging for and working on.
I want to convert my readers into “actioneers” by offering 90% of my great content for free and try to give something away that they can use so they can actually take action right away!
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On my site I feel obligated to share the information.
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I have to share information. It’s in My DNA! Now if I could just figure out how to get people to listen better! LOL
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Nice post and I think the idea of sharing is a challenge for everyone to grow. Most innovators are comfortable sharing ideas because they are confident in their own knowledge, genuinely want to help others, or both. By sharing, the envelope is pushed further and I find it usually helps you in the end.
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I am too not a watcher
everything which i see, if i like something great about it , i adopt it and try to make it work for me.
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I’m a mix of all 3.. I watch for a while, gather ideas from people who are doing what I want to do, perform the due diligence and make a run for it when the time is right. I discuss my ideas with people and most of them are not much help but few do encourage.
I believe for those who really think it works and don't really afraid of trying will definitely do it without any thoughts. I guess I'm a watcher. To anything I do I always gave up half way. I shall do something to it.
Quite informative article. Sharing is what people ignore some time because their is several techniques used in SEO and other web development process. So people really donot want to share it. Thanks for more info
Actually it can never be a problem. Because some of the tips sharers are just gatherers too. You both benefit from the flow.
First off, I blog hoping to make some money one day in IM. I never really have that much passion about what I'm writing about, maybe after I start making some money i will.
I don't really care what is being written about, I care more about how they are saying what they're saying.
Stanley