Professionalism has a price, stop giving free advice casually
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As a Corporate Consultant and Professional Lecturer, one of my jobs is to answer various professional questions from clients and students - from how to write an eye-catching Brand Story, product copywriting, to how to design a sales page with a high conversion rate, are all within my scope. Of course, people usually ask me questions through Facebook fan page, LINE or email, hoping to seek some advice.
In the past, I would be happy to help, offering all kinds of helpful advice. But now I’m less likely to do this, and not only that, I also sincerely hope that you’d better not just give free advice.
The truth is very simple, let me explain it one by one:
As my friend Liu Yiyou said: “[Professional has a price, both value and price.](https://medium.com/@yiyou/%E5%B0%88%E6%A5%AD%E6%9C%89%E5%83%B9-%E6% 98%AF%E5%83%B9%E5%80%BC%E4%B9%9F%E6%98%AF%E5%83%B9%E6%A0%BC-ba3701e5d481)” Respecting the profession is not just talk. If you cannot express respect for the profession with actual actions, it means that you cannot recognize the value, and then everything will naturally become empty talk.
Valuable advice or information cannot be obtained out of thin air. Even if there is no monetary consideration, some feedback or respect should be given to the person who provides the advice. For example, in recent years, some lecturer friends have received invitations to teach through the “[Lecturer Club] (https://www.lecturer.info/)” website I run, but only a very few lecturers are willing to give back in the form of profit sharing or meals, etc. Sometimes they don’t even say “Thank you!”, which makes me feel a little sad!
Therefore, I very much agree with the views mentioned by the interpersonal insight expert Xiong Taihang in the column “Relationship Strategy” of GetApp. “Anyone seeking free advice is a hooligan,” he said.
If you also agree that professionalism has a price, please remember that you must show your sincerity in the future. It seems that many people like to seek consultation from my friend [Lao Cha] (https://www.facebook.com/bestguy) - even if it is just a casual chat, a reasonable price must be paid. The reason is very simple, because when Lao Cha was executing the “Uncle Rental” business, he did not neglect it just because of “chatting”. He also devoted his own time and effort, and even provided a lot of professional advice.
Of course, if someone wants free advice, maybe we can provide some basic direction without going into detail. After all, people who don’t know how to respect professionals are not worth our efforts!
Furthermore, many people don’t really want to listen to other people’s advice. They may just want to confirm their direction or strengthen their confidence, or they may just want to obtain free information. For example, a friend once chatted with me through LINE and wanted to meet me. I ask the other party if there is anything important? But she smiled and said that she just wanted to exchange some intelligence information… Well, this will make people feel troubled.
Because, if we just “talk”, we can actually chat anytime and anywhere! There was really no need to waste each other’s time, so we made a special appointment to meet up. Unless there is something urgent, or you are willing to pay to rent my uncle!
Of course, that doesn’t mean you can’t ask me for a cup of coffee if you have nothing to do, but things have their own priorities, and catching up with friends is certainly a great thing… Sometimes, I actually want to chat with you too! However, we must also cherish our time and resources, and should not confuse “important and urgent” things with other “unimportant and not urgent” things.
Some friends will also take the initiative to help relatives and friends ask questions on their behalf. This situation is also very common. For example, people often ask me questions such as “[Content Marketing] in the B2B industry (https://www.contenthacker.today/search/label/%E5%85 %A7%E5%AE%B9%E8%A1%8C%E9%8A%B7?&max-results=6) What to do? ”, “Which e-commerce platform should I choose?” and other questions, I used to help collect information very seriously, but later I learned smarter…
Because when I looked into it carefully, I found that it was usually not my problem. What’s even worse is that sometimes the person involved doesn’t really have a need to ask questions, but he can’t bear to go against his friend’s good intentions, or he has a “don’t ask, don’t ask” mentality, which makes people feel that they are not taken seriously, and therefore feel a little discouraged.
Askers who are willing to spend money are the ones who are sincere.
Seeing this, do you think that I value monetary gain? In fact, this is not the case. Although I advocate “user pays” and “professionalism has a price,” whenever there is a real need for my assistance, I will help based on the situation.
It’s like a friend got in touch with me through the “Vista Writing Companion Program” fan page. Although he was a stranger to me, he also took the initiative to mention that he wanted to apply for a job in the media, but he did not have the money to enroll in my course, so he asked me if I could provide him with some advice on writing and interviewing skills.
If I only focus on serving my customers, or only focus on the revenue aspect, it seems that I don’t need to pay attention to this kind of demand, or wait until he signs up for the course… However, I am still happy to provide assistance - because this friend has a very clear goal and is very polite when asking questions, so even though he did not pay me half a cent, I still spent time to help him read articles and provide a lot of suggestions.
You know, a person who really wants to listen to advice will feel grateful even if he cannot give back money now, and may even give back in various ways in the future. Just as I am grateful to my teachers, friends and classmates who have helped me in the past, I also hope to use my major to repay everyone.
Many people will not cherish things that can be easily obtained. This mentality is wrong! If you don’t want your profession to be trampled upon or abused, start valuing everything from today on and stop giving out free advice!
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💡 Photo Credit: Frame Harirak
