sharing your trade secrets with a local professional

QofWands

Hey Everyone,

Can we play with a hypothetical here?

Lets say that you recently had a very creative and quite successful promotion that has never been done in your city. It went really well and a colleague who does angel cards found out through a mutual contact about your promotion, you are both local and read out of office space that is very close to one another. She has been in the business for awhile while you became professional less than 6 mo. ago.

This person cold calls you (you have never met her) and she leaves a VM starting out with some reason to contact you that has to do with the mutual contact but then asks to know about what you did for this promotion that she heard about through the mutual friend.

What would you do? How would you respond? Thanks!

divinerofcards

QofWands said:
Hey Everyone,

Can we play with a hypothetical here?

Lets say that you recently had a very creative and quite successful promotion that has never been done in your city. It went really well and a colleague who does angel cards found out through a mutual contact about your promotion, you are both local and read out of office space that is very close to one another. She has been in the business for awhile while you became professional less than 6 mo. ago.

This person cold calls you (you have never met her) and she leaves a VM starting out with some reason to contact you that has to do with the mutual contact but then asks to know about what you did for this promotion that she heard about through the mutual friend.

What would you do? How would you respond? Thanks!

My... that's ballsy of her. I will think about what I might do and post later... [shhhhh I'm "working"... at my day job

]

QofWands

interesting

Interesting... why so many views but no replies? Would love some more input on the situation, thanks!

AJ

don't know about anyone else but I can't understand the question...

zannamarie

Most people normally learn from others who are more successful than them. It would be your call as to whether or not you wanted to advise or mentor someone else. One doesn't learn unless they ask. I would see it as a compliment.

However, I'm confused as to why this thread is titled "trade secret" when your business appears to be divination readings and not advertising campaigns. She isn't asking your secrets to giving successful readings.

QofWands

response

zannamarie said:
Most people normally learn from others who are more successful than them. It would be your call as to whether or not you wanted to advise or mentor someone else. One doesn't learn unless they ask. I would see it as a compliment.

However, I'm confused as to why this thread is titled "trade secret" when your business appears to be divination readings and not advertising campaigns. She isn't asking your secrets to giving successful readings.

A trade secret usually includes procedures, promotion campaigns in addition to the actual product, for example McDonalds' franchises dont just include the burger the include all of the above...

I have only been in the business for less than 6 months and this person has been in similar work for years... so I am not sure this is a mentoring issue or seeing me as more successful and wanting some help. This felt like a cold call out of nowhere with a request for how I was promoting.

I have already shared with other local professionals some tips I came up with, I don't hoard information... I was unsure how to proceed for a blanket request for information from someone I do not know and have no prior working or any sort of relationship with... but I was not sure if this was a kneejerk reaction on my part which is why I asked the hypothetical above. It felt to me a bit manipulative... I am not sure I would be comfortable doing the same... but again that's why I asked the question to get various points of view before deciding on a course of action.

tarotbear

I was waiting to see what others would post ....

In truth, it could all be quite innocent.

However, I get the feeling that she sees that you have done well for yourself in a short time and wants to know how you did it. This may or may not have a 'dark' side to it; but just giving away your resources at the drop of a hat is BAD business. I would not put all my cards on the table just yet...so to speak.

Years ago when I was working in a retail costume supply business a total stranger came in one day and asked the owner if he would give her a list of all his suppliers and manufacturers - just like that! He replied something to the effect of 'Are you CRAZY??? It took me 25 years to build this business! I'm not giving away that kind of information!'

zannamarie

QofWands said:
A trade secret usually includes procedures, promotion campaigns in addition to the actual product, for example McDonalds' franchises dont just include the burger the include all of the above...

I have only been in the business for less than 6 months and this person has been in similar work for years... so I am not sure this is a mentoring issue or seeing me as more successful and wanting some help. This felt like a cold call out of nowhere with a request for how I was promoting.

I have already shared with other local professionals some tips I came up with, I don't hoard information... I was unsure how to proceed for a blanket request for information from someone I do not know and have no prior working or any sort of relationship with... but I was not sure if this was a kneejerk reaction on my part which is why I asked the hypothetical above. It felt to me a bit manipulative... I am not sure I would be comfortable doing the same... but again that's why I asked the question to get various points of view before deciding on a course of action.

Probably part of the reason no one initially responded and our confusion was that none of your original post sounded "hypothetical". Hypothetical usually means that it didn't happen but it could happen and therefore how should you handle something that might happen.

Based on your response here, it sounds like all of it happened and you are asking for advice on what to do. (Had you stated that up front, you might have received more comments and sooner too.) I don't see anything wrong with asking for advice here. But then again I didn't see anything wrong with her calling you to ask for advice. Many of the business books I've read suggest contacting someone with more success and asking for advice. The person being asked is always free to say no.

Just because an unsolicited caller asks for advice doesn't mean you have to respond. Your time is valuable and you are the only one who can decide how best to use that time.

edited to add: and by respond I mean even returning the call to acknowledge you received it. You are under no obligation to even do that. The call was unsolicited.

QofWands

zannamarie said:
Probably part of the reason no one initially responded and our confusion was that none of your original post sounded "hypothetical". Hypothetical usually means that it didn't happen but it could happen and therefore how should you handle something that might happen.

Based on your response here, it sounds like all of it happened and you are asking for advice on what to do. (Had you stated that up front, you might have received more comments and sooner too.) I don't see anything wrong with asking for advice here. But then again I didn't see anything wrong with her calling you to ask for advice. Many of the business books I've read suggest contacting someone with more success and asking for advice. The person being asked is always free to say no.

Just because an unsolicited caller asks for advice doesn't mean you have to respond. Your time is valuable and you are the only one who can decide how best to use that time.

edited to add: and by respond I mean even returning the call to acknowledge you received it. You are under no obligation to even do that. The call was unsolicited.

You seem to really like to parse language..lol... anyway it was hypothetical because it was a hypothetical for everyone else... what would YOU do... not what do you think I should do... in either case you did not really answer the original question as I asked it but rather started in on deconstructing the language I used. oh well, thanks anyway.

Tarotiana

If somebody working in the same area and the same field as I work in asked me about how I promote myself, I would surely not mentor her. Because why should I mentor my direct competition?

If she lived many miles away and was servicing a completely different market, then I would think about the price of mentoring her. - But only if I was sure that this "secret" stayed with her, and would not travel to direct competitors in my neighborhood.... ;-)

Because I once exchanged info with someone living quite far away from me. That someone...grrrrmpfl... then exchanged info with someone living 5 miles away from me, also servicing the local eventmarket as a palmreader....nooot good :-(

sharing your trade secrets with a local professional

QofWands

divinerofcards

QofWands

AJ

zannamarie

QofWands

tarotbear

zannamarie

QofWands

Tarotiana