Are you in construction? Do you want to build up your following? Are you looking to connect with the Architectural, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) community?

You’re in luck!

Joining our weekly Twitter Chat may just be the right thing for you.

Construction Chat is on Thursday mornings at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time.

How to Join a Chat:

1. Follow the hashtag on Twitter (but don’t forget to add #ConstChat manually after your tweet or we won’t see your tweet).

2. Use Hootsuite or TweetDeck and make a column for #ConstChat (but don’t forget to put #ConstChat manually after your tweet).

3. Go to the Twubs page for #ConstChat.

4. My preferred method is using TweetChat. Just go here and log in with your Twitter account. You can even highlight the moderator so you don’t miss questions.

This week’s chat topic is about having our brains picked.

We all have that friend, relative, or business associate that will call us every once in a blue moon to have coffee, lunch, or breakfast.  We cringe. Yet, out of loyalty or guilt, we go.

Five minutes in, “Hey can I pick your brain?” There it is. Another free consultation.

This type of situation can happen with any professional service but seems to abound in the construction industry.

Point:

“I have to protect my investment. How fair is it to me to give away all the knowledge I have acquired that I use to make my living, pay my bills and eat?” Adrienne Graham, Forbes “No, You Can’t Pick My Brain. It Costs Too Much“

Counterpoint:

“I do think that people should do things for free for exposure. I still do things for free and I get very compensated for my time and my efforts. … Money is not the only way to pay.” Gary Vaynerchuk

[youtube=https://youtu.be/hUvjY0T2RkQ]

There has to be a balance between giving enough information away to raise your brand’s value yet not giving away your secret sauce.

This week we’ll talk about striking that balance.

For the record, the irony of me asking your secret tips to deal with brain pickers isn’t lost on me.

The Questions:

Q1: How do you respond to requests to pick your brain?

Q2: Is giving away some information part of your strategy?

Q3: When is giving away too much bad for you?

Q4: How can you turn a freebie into a paying client?

Q5: How do you deal with a frequent freeloader?

Do you have a burning question you’d like answered? Feel free to add it in the comments.

See you at the chat!

See more of our Construction Chat posts here.