Have Great Ideas? Here's Why the Best Thing You Can Do Is Give Them Away. Will people just steal your work?

Want to attract new business? Here's one of the best ways: Give away your knowledge.

This may sound dumb. Won't people just steal your work and abuse your time? Nope: When you give away knowledge, you build trust and authority — and people want you more!

I've experienced this myself, and I see many smart entrepreneurs do it too. I'll explain how, so that 2025 can become your year of giving — and receiving.

Let's start here: I was recently talking to Dan Norcia, who heads partnerships at Pilothouse, which I do some work with. They improve brands' e-commerce and have driven more than $500 million in business for clients. How? They'll tell you! They publish tons of instructional materials, like a newsletter and podcast (named DTC), and host events like livestreams to help founders improve their websites.

Related: 5 Proven Strategies for Turning Your Knowledge into Income

"When we give away our knowledge," Norcia told me, "people are grateful, and they trust our thinking. Then they try to implement this stuff themselves and get overwhelmed, and that's when they want to hire us." In fact, this is Pilothouse's greatest source of user acquisition.

Just imagine giving someone a penny — and then it turns into a $100 bill. That's like knowledge! It's cheap for you to share (because you already know it), and valuable for them to receive (because it can transform their business). That's powerful.

Here are three ways you can do this now.

1. Use LinkedIn and newsletters.

LinkedIn's algorithm specifically values "knowledge and advice," and I've validated this: My posts used to be promotional or inspirational, and got little engagement. Then I switched to sharing tactical marketing advice, and now I'm past 200,000 followers.

What do I do with that audience? I drive them to my newsletter, where I share even more free advice! The result: People trust me, share my work, and reach out with partnerships and other opportunities.

Try it yourself. Think about the last time you gave advice to a peer. Did they find it useful? Turn that advice into a LinkedIn post — then keep going.

Related: How to Filter Good Advice From The Bad

2. Take the call.

Do people ask you for advice? Give it to them. I mean, what's the harm? You lose a little time? It's a small price to pay for potentially enormous value.

About a year ago, for example, an acquaintance invited me to lunch. He had an interesting new project and wanted my thoughts. I had many. He then asked if I'd talk with his team. I said yes. Over time, relationships were built. Fun was had. Now they're paying me for monthly consulting.

Of course, this doesn't happen all the time. Most meetings go nowhere. It's why I've come to treat time the way a VC invests in startups: You put a little cash into a lot of things — and while most flop, a few produce life-changing ROI.

I'm busy like you, so I can't take every meeting. Before I agree to anything, I always ask myself: Do I see how this relationship could be additive? And I define additive. Sometimes it's about money, but sometimes not. Maybe they help me think better — or just add joy to my life!

3. Proactively teach or trade.

Don't just wait to be asked for ideas. Start offering! Here are two examples from friends who left their media jobs:

TEACH: My friend Sam got a job at a law firm. Lawyers are notoriously bad writers, so Sam started hosting writing workshops for his colleagues. Demand was large, making him extra valuable there.

TRADE: Annie started a cookie company. She needed branding help but couldn't afford an agency, so she approached one and said, "I'll help you get PR, and you help me rebrand my cookies." They agreed.

Remember what makes you most valuable: It isn't just your knowledge. It's your unique ability to put that knowledge into action. Knowledge is simply the evidence of your greatness — so when you give it away, you only become greater.

Related: How to Transform Your Idea into an Empire in 5 Steps