I’ve been known to give free marketing advice, help people who need a little tweak here and there, and do some charity work using my marketing expertise. Honestly, I think that knowledge should both be shared, and used to do good.
The downside to that is the occasional e-mail like the one I received a day or so ago from a business contact and occasional client.
John, I know you have cancer, but I need your expertise to spread the word for [fundraiser deleted]. It looks like I stuck my neck out to lead this effort and things are dragging. Help push the [event]. See flyer.
Note: the sender realizes that I have cancer, which means I may have other things to do, but still feels the need to solicit my expertise to pull his irons out of the fire. This also probably means that he’s getting in touch with me way too late for me to do anything, but I will certainly share the blame if this effort fails. I also know this event has no budget for promotion, which most assuredly means he’d like me to work for free.
To those of you out there who know consultants – understand that we get paid for our expertise. If we choose to give it away sometimes, that’s our choice – not yours. Call us, tell us your troubles, and let us volunteer if we want to do so. You’re likely to get better results.