Don’t hop over nickels to save pennies

May 18th, 2009 by Tom

Don't hop over nickels to save pennies I was asked last week, “Why don’t you guys charge for your weekly webcasts?” and that was followed up by, “You could develop a good income steam charging $50 or $100 per webcast – I definitely would not record and archive them – they are valuable and I would get something for the effort.” My response was immediate, “You just don’t get it do you?”

Charging for this type of content in today’s internet environment runs against one of the golden rules of Social Media – contribute to the conversation. The ability to share valuable content among interested parties is fundamental to the use of many Social Media sites like Twitter, Digg and YouTube.

Reaching out in a meaningful way on a weekly basis has value but that value can be multiplied exponentially when you empower people to share that content through social networks, email and word of mouth.

We usually have somewhere between 10 and 20 attendees in each of our weekly webcasts and we have has as many as 50 signed up for really hot topics. By leaving the content open and shareable, that content can reach 100 times as many people – and has. By charging, we are limiting our sphere of influence for that valuable content to just those people who attended – missing the real value of the webcast. We are essentially selling the investment short and taking a short term monetary gain and ignoring the long term benefit of the effort.

Some benefits of sharing content:

A great way to start a relationship – after all, a give and take relationship starts with giving, not taking.
Expands your reach – people you shared it with will share it with others.
Adds credibility to your company.
An educated client or prospect is much easier to work with.

Risky Business?

I realize there is some perceived risk in sharing valuable content to the general public. And that is understandable, as your competitors will have easy access to the information you provide. If sharing information about what you do will put you at a competitive disadvantage, then you have bigger issues with your business model related to how you build relationships.

Stop worrying about opening your company up to the world and start reaching out with shareable content. Give people something to take and they will likely share it with someone else – now you are a making meaningful connections, helping people in a meaningful way and helping to position you and your company in the marketplace.