Sales, Marketing, and Success Secrets: Are You a Truth Hoarder?

Are you a truth hoarder?

What truths have you shared lately?

Seriously, when it comes to sales, marketing, self improvement, etc; do you give your knowledge away to others or do you hoard it like some great secret that only you have uncovered?

You may wonder why I ask such questions but I recently had 2 very interesting experiences regarding this topic. Just a few days ago I was approached by a lady who is in charge of the National Pool and Spa convention in Vegas. As an annual speaker at this show, she asked me if I was interested in participating in a retail sales panel this coming year that would field questions from an audience of pool and spa retail professionals for about an hour. I responded that I’d love to help in any way, as such a class seemed like a tremendous idea and could really benefit hundreds and hundreds of small businesses in my industry. But what surprised me about our conversation was the fact that this past year was the first time she had ever been able to put together such a retail panel, and the reason was because top retailers  did not want to share with other companies the tips and techniques that had lead them to such great success.

Huh? Are you kidding me?

Needless to say, I was shocked. Why anyone would hesitate to share what had made their business successful was beyond me. I expressed my surprise to this lady and she blamed the phenomenon on the fact that the retailers thought that if they gave away their ‘secrets’ then their competitors might get the advantage.

Although this experience got me thinking about the screwed-up ‘knowledge-giving’ paradigm of most businesses and professionals, the next experience was the impetus for this blog.

As most of you readers know, I have written quite a bit lately about my relationship with Hubspot. After jumping on board with Hubspot, I initiated my life of blogging, SEO, and website design. These efforts have catapulted my company’s website to the top of its industry. Yesterday, a gentleman named Adam from Hubspot called me and this was essentially our conversation:

Adam: Marcus, I have a favor to ask of you and it’s quite alright if you say ‘No’.

Me: Sure thing Adam, fire away.

Adam: Well I have a swimming pool company that is considering using our services and I was hoping that you might be able to tell them about what has happened with your company since you joined Hubspot.

Me: I’d love to.

Adam: But here’s the catch. The company is in your same State of Virginia, but they are about 2 hours north of you guys so I didn’t figure they were your competitor.

Me: Well actually Adam, we do install pools in that area and they are therefore a competitor. But that makes no difference to me. I’d love to help them in any way.

Adam: Uhhhm, seriously? You wouldn’t mind doing that?

Me: No, of course not. I’m sure this guy is handling his marketing and SEO all wrong, and it’s about time he got on board with 21^st century marketing. Have him call me and I’ll tell him whatever he wants to know.

Adam: Gosh, thank you so much. That’s awesome.

As I hung up the phone, my thoughts were, “That’s not awesome, it’s just the right thing to do.”

You see, the whole idea of truth hoarding makes no sense to me. In fact, I find it completely contrary to the laws of nature, especially the Law of Attraction.

When it comes down to it, I think this is the whole reason I started blogging outside of my business’ industry in the first place. I want to share my story as I know there are many other guys and gals going through the same trials and triumphs that I deal with on a daily basis. No doubt, if I could go back 10 years and start my business over again, this blog is symbolic of everything I wish I would have known or what I wish I had done differently.

I would describe someone that shares this same paradigm as having an ‘Abundance Mentality’. Although there are many ways to describe the phrase, I’d simply define it with these points:

• An understanding that there is room on top for everyone.
• Knowing your talents and sharing them openly with the world.
• Having a teacher’s mentality of knowledge sharing without fear of negative ramifications.

My beloved Jim Rohn once asked the question, “How do you fill a glass of water that is already full?”

And what was the answer? Well the answer, as you probably already know, is to pour some of the water out. In other words, share it with others.

That’s what I love about blogging and being a part of the blogosphere. It is chock full of people who share one common interest:

A desire to help others, plain and simple.

Sadly, such paradigms are practically non-existent when it comes to small businesses and corporations throughout today’s world– So many operating with a hoarder’s mentality, hesitant to share the most simple of advice with their competitor down the street or a click away on the web.

But such is not the case for most in the blogosphere. Even though many bloggers are, in fact, competing for viewers and SEO and all that, they consist of people who understand the Law of Attraction. They know that ‘truth’ is something that should be shared. And when truth is given by someone freely to the world, the world reacts with trust, respect, and loyalty.

Glen Allsop and Marko Saric are two guys that come to mind when I think of bloggers that literally give their ‘secrets’ away with every blog post simply because they care about helping others. And what has been the fruits of their labors? Well, they are two of the most respected, and profitable, bloggers in the world. Simply put, they understand this simple statement by Joseph Badaracco, which is the absolute core principle behind this entire article:

 “In today’s environment, hoarding knowledge ultimately erodes your power. If you know something very important, the way to get power is by actually sharing it.”

So that’s our challenge folks. May we share our knowledge. May we have an abundance mentality and trust that what we give to others, the Universe will return 10-fold.

As always, I look forward to your thoughts on this topic and before you leave, don’t forget to subscribe via feeder or email.

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