I grew up driving to baseball practice with my father who was a talk radio junkie. He would listen to someone rambling on and on about mutual funds, home improvement, car repair or gardening. I can remember being bored stiff listening to these shows but as I grew older I can remember becoming fascinated by them.

The question that was raised in my mind was this — “WHY ON EARTH ARE THEY GIVING AWAY ALL THIS INFORMATION ABOUT STOCKS AND BONDS FOR FREE!?

The answer has since become clear to me. The owner of a home improvement contractor business will talk for hours about dry wall, leaky basements and weather proofing your deck to establish themselves as an expert in that space.

The next time you have a leaky basement they will be the first person that you think of and they may get your business.

Never before has it become more critical to establish yourself as an expert than in the age of the Internet.

We are bombarded daily with marketing messages that we never asked for. It’s all SPAM. Direct Mail, radio, television, email and billboards are all SPAM. You didn’t ask for any of it. It is forced upon us and therefore it is SPAM.

Consider the alternative. Share what you know. Give a little and see what comes back. All of us have information that is useful to consumers and giving it away will gain their trust.

Establish yourself as an expert and the next time your customer has a leaky basement they will call you to help them fix it.

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