Share, link: It’s good for business

Why would you invest a chunk of your wealth in a risky start up company when you can get 7% by sticking it in the bank and just sit on your bum?

This was a point raised in a discussion on angel investors. The questioner couldn’t understand the motives of someone who was prepared to take a risk on creating something new and exciting.

I was reminded of that conversation while reading an article about big media websites that refuse to link to anything outside their own empires.

This is the mind set of MBAs, accountants and corporate lawyers obsessed with license fees and zealously protected property rights – but it’s old thinking, and it’s bad business.

While it has some short term benefits, over time it hurts those who are too narrow minded to see where the real opportunities lie.

What these people don’t understand is the value of sharing and that what you get out is often far greater than what you put in.

It’s a similar thing with social media, with the benefits of services like Twitter, LinkedIn, web forums and blogging only becoming apparent when you choose to be active and participate.

In a way, sharing of information is the core of the world wide web. If you don’t share your sources and give out links to the places you found your facts, then the rest of web will turn away from you.

This isn’t to say you should give everything away – as it is most business owners, entrepreneurs and inventors work ridiculous hours, which when translated to an hourly rate often makes flipping burgers look like a smart career move.

Done right, sharing your own skills and those of your business demonstrates how competent and trustworthy you are. When you get it right, it’s worth more than any marketing campaign.

None of this is new though, as it has always been that the more you put into your community the more you get out. The benefits of sponsoring a local sports team, charity or school activity are well known to most business owners.

If anything we’ve gone the full circle and the business model of the last quarter century, with its bean counting, zero sum view of the world, is over – even if the bankers and their mates in Congress and Parliament don’t realise it.

Have a look at where you can contribute. In the current economic climate, such a point of difference is worth its weight in gold.

Paul Wallbank is a speaker, writer and broadcaster on technology and business. He grew PC Rescue into a national IT company and set up the IT Queries website. Paul will be discussing the national broadband network on his next ABC spot this Friday night.

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