I believe that I have two more free webinars scheduled this year.
And they will be the last two that I give.
I’ve also decided that I’m not going to give presentations at any event in which people are invited to attend for free. I may waive my speaking fee if it’s a group that I want to support, but quite frankly, if it’s a free event, I don’t want to be a part of it.
Why am I adopting this new stance?
Because I think that we, as an industry, have completely devalued experience and expertise by giving away so much for free – and then we wonder why things are not changing. While it is not unique to our industry, it may be most rampant here. Because there are a rash of vendors who have jumped on the “content marketing” bandwagon, there is a near-constant spew of free webinars and events flooding the market.
But you know what they say. You get what you pay for.
Most of it is drivel. Most of it simply swallows up the most valuable resource we have – our time. It does not create engagement, insights or progress.
Now, I know that I’m being pretty hard here and painting with a broad brush. There are certainly a number of vendors who are producing valuable content. But here’s the thing. It has less to do with the quality of the content than it does with the result of the experience.
When you attend something that is free, you automatically go into it with a low-set expectation. If the speaker is horrible, if the event is lackluster, well you haven’t invested that much, so how much does it matter? I know that I routinely sign up for free webinars and either just don’t show up or just have it on in the background. I’m not invested. It didn’t cost me anything, so I do not really value it in any way.
But when I pay for something, I show up. I pay attention. I have an expectation that I’m going to get something back in return. And if I don’t, I’m ticked off.
And it is from that level of expectation that change occurs. Because I’m attentive, because I am looking for some way to get a return on my investment, my mind is engaged in active search for applicability – and that leads to change and progress. Almost inevitably, when I go to something that I have invested in, I walk out with action items and specific things that I am going to do to act on what I just learned.
I think that the rash of “free knowledge” in our industry may, in fact, be killing us. First, there is no such thing as “free knowledge”. Creating knowledge requires us to invest. It’s not free. But because we have all of these free webinars and events, we create the illusion that we are growing and learning. But most of us are not. We are just passively watching things happen in front of us, but have not invested what it will take to actually create a change.
So, I’m not going to be a part of it any more.
I have a lot to offer the industry. There is much that I can share and teach. It is valuable. But it’s a two-way street. For it to be of any value, it must be acted upon. And that takes investment. So if you want to play, you’re going to have to pay. You need to invest – not so that I can make money (although, we shouldn’t be ashamed of being paid for what we do), but so that you commit to doing something with it.
It’s time for the free ride to end. The future will belong solely to those who are willing to invest in themselves. Will you?
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