There is tons of information available online and a large portion of that information is free for anyone that wants it. Sometimes the internet seems paradoxical. Experts have this knowledge, which very few people have and they give it away for free instead of trying to make a profit. Believe it or not, sometimes giving away content for free is the best thing that you a can do it establish your company online.

I stumbled upon the idea of giving away information for free in a free Parature white paper titled, “The Impact of Social Media on Customer Service and Customer Experience”. I took this message away from a white paper, which focused on social media and customer service. The follow excerpt sparked this idea.

“By becoming the best source of knowledge for their own products and services, businesses have more opportunities to further impress customers. Through integrated multi-channel services offerings, they allow customers to help themselves to support and to choose assisted options should they need to escalate.”

What this is saying is if you publish information on your website for other people to learn about your topic, you can become an information leader in you field. People will look to you for information and expertise. In addition, if they are comfortable with you and your brand they will be more likely to refer others to your or become more active in your organization.

However, if you do not establish yourself as a strong source of information in your area of expertise someone else will. Producing and posting this information may require extra work and may not always yield clear or tangible results, but the increases in brand recognition and credibility are very valuable.

If readers become loyal to you they many donate more money, attend more events or recruit more members for your organization and these results are trackable. I found Parature in a similar manor.

Bobbi suggested that I read a different white paper that Parature produced. Based on the information I read in that white paper I searched the Parature website and found this one. Because I found the content valuable and interesting, I am now advertising Parature to everyone that reads the GMT blog. Finally, based on these two documents I believe that Parature puts together a good product and I am researching their ticket tracking system. The purchase of their software would be a great return on investment for Parature.