For Networkers, the Sharing Economy evolves into the Gift Economy

It's better to give than receive. At least, that's the strategy for many business professionals today.

I’ve been told dozens of times over the years, “Don’t giveaway your products or services, share your specialized knowledge, or waste your valuable time. Charge for it! You need to make a living!”

I’m not talking about giveaways like swag, promotional items, or inexpensive freebies.

Rather, I’m referring to giving away your valuable products, services, knowledge, and skills.

The idea seemed to spark with the onset of the sharing economy.

The Sharing Economy

The sharing economy involves sharing access to goods and services.

Sharing economies have existed throughout history, but today's sharing economy is often conducted through the use of online platforms that connect owners and users.

The platforms are simply the matchmaker between somebody that wants to share assets and someone that wants access to assets.

The initial idea of the sharing economy was to make use of idle assets.

The Sharing Economy has sometimes been associated with the:

• Gig economy
• Peer-to-peer economy
• Collaborative economy

But these days, the growth of many sharing economy services has led to a model that is organized less around sharing.

Instead, contractors use sharing platforms to create full-time businesses, becoming similar to the commercial services the sharing economy was initially meant to replace.

Examples include:

• Uber
• Airbnb
• Zipcar

Some of its participants appreciate the freedom and flexibility that has been made feasible as the sharing economy has grown.

However, this also allows businesses to shift away from hiring full-time workers to hiring more contractors.

The result?

A decline in the number of jobs available that offer stable benefits such as regular pay, health insurance, sick leave, and paid vacation time.

In response, more and more professionals have begun to give away, or gift, their assets.

The Gift Economy

The gift economy, in which participants do not charge each other money for the things they share or do, has arisen in response to perceived failures in the sharing economy.

This model is organized around principles of community support and sustainable reuse.

Examples of the gift economy include:

• The Buy Nothing Project - Local neighborhood groups that give each other goods and services for free.
• Little Free Library - A nonprofit that enables participants to create book-sharing boxes in their front yards where neighbors can leave or take books.
• Online communities like Reddit or Digg - users can gift each other virtual items or points in exchange for their contributions to the community.

Doing Things For Free

For content creators, influencers, and social networkers, “giving away” their value and time has become a way of life.

“Do things for free. You’ll get paid 10X more.”

I recently came across a post by LinkedIn influencer Jasmin Ali? that caught my eye:

So, does a giveaway strategy = a profitable business model?

Yes … and no.

SOLUTION: Strategic Giving

For many of us, giving has become more of a critical strategy than ever.

After all, we’ve seen giveaways for a long time:

• Complimentary sessions
• Free estimates
• Samples

But today, giving things away has become more of a norm.

Almost expected.

That poses a serious dilemma.

Won’t people take advantage of us?

Won’t we eventually go out of business if we giveaway the value we offer?

Maybe, but only if we aren’t strategic with our giveaways.

For example, here are some professionals I knew that had tremendous success with the following giveaway strategies:

A course creator who gave away a mini-course he created.

Why?

Because he calculated 15% of those who took it would purchase his flagship course.

Result: He generated over $1.5 million in revenue.

A financial planner offered to give away a 1-hour personal consultation and analysis.

Why?

Because he set the criteria that the respective person must have a net worth of at least $1 million.

Result: He doubled his clientele within 18 months with high net worth clients.

A social networker who would give away all his secret strategies and valuable tips to his followers.

Why?

He wanted to help people and establish himself as an expert and authority in his field.

Result: He tripled his consulting clients and generated over 250,000 followers.

Don’t be afraid to giveaway your value.

Just be strategic about it.

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