How to respond to requests for information–way too many requests

I was talking with a coaching client recently and the topic of responding to requests for information came up. She gets a number of requests for help and ends up giving away too much advice for free.

Is that you? How much time do you spend in person, on social media, or via email answering requests for your expertise? For free?

So, what do you say when someone asks you for advice? For example, if you make a comment in a LinkedIn discussion group that shows that you are knowledgeable about an issue and then someone sends you a message asking for more information, what do you do?

But shouldn’t I help people?

Of course you should help people! But you need to do so in a way that isn’t damaging to yourself:

• Because you can easily get overwhelmed answering all the requests for help
• Because such requests rarely lead to paid work
• Because you need to focus on attaining your business goals

A better way to help

You can respond in a way that helps the person but doesn’t unhelp you. Here are some ideas:

1. Write a blog post

Respond, “That’s a good question. The answer will make a good blog post. I invite you to sign up for my newsletter so when I post it, you’ll know about it. Here’s the link to subscribe.”

Wow! You just got an opportunity to help many people at once in your blog post, as well as the requester. And you got another person on your subscriber list.

2. Provide a link

Respond, “I have a blog post that can answer your question–here’s the link. I invite you to subscribe to my newsletter so you wont’ miss future posts. Here’s that link as well.”

You just answered the person’s question and hopefully got a new subscriber, all without taking up much of your time.

3. Offer your paid services

Respond, “That would take quite a long time to answer and it really needs more of a conversation than just an email/message.”

Then you can do one of two things:

• If the person just needs help with a task, offer a 1/2 -our or 1-hour session and state your rate.Then tell the person how to get started. Maybe you have an online calendar or maybe you have a sales page where the person can pay.
• If the person seems to need more general help and you think this could turn into a client, say, “I have a program that helps people with just this issue. Are you interested in a 1/2-hour initial consultation?” Then do a consultation, but don’t give away too much for free during that consultation. Give general advice or come up with a list of tasks that need to be accomplished. At the end, offer your services. In other words, turn that consultation into a sales call.

As my client commented when we discussed these options, “It causes respect, because they see that I’m busy.”

I started to think about the amount of time many people spend on social media. Here are some questions to think about:

• What is your goal for being on social media? Are you sticking to that goal?
• Are you networking or socializing? Socializing is for non-work hours; networking is to gain leads and clients.

How about you?

Do you spend too much time giving away your expertise for free? Would techniques like these help you be more productive? Leave a comment!