RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany - Celebrity Chef Emeril Lagasse shows the crowd how to properly cook pork chops during a live cooking demonstration at the Kaiserslautern Military Community Center, Ramstein Air Base, Saturday, May 29, 2010. Celebrity Chef Emeril Lagasse visited military family members at the KMCC by sigining copies of his new book and performing an hour long cooking deomostration for over a thousand visitors.
(U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Stephen J. Otero)
The other day I was watching a cooking show with my wife, Kim, and it dawned on me that what I was watching was a teachable moment for small business owners. On the show, there are a bunch of renowned chefs showing you step by step how to make one of their signature dishes. At the end of the demonstration, they even encourage you to go to the website and download the recipe for free so you can make the dish at home and impress your friends. It dawned on me that there are these famous chefs giving you their secret sauce for free. They know that by showing you how and giving away the recipe for free you are more likely to make the recipe for your friends. When your guests compliment you on the dish, they hope you will tell them it was Emeril Lagasse or Mario Batali’s recipe, which spreads the message further and reinforces their brand.
Most businesses would never think about perfecting a recipe and then making it available for the masses to duplicate, let alone for free. Aren’t the chefs afraid someone will take their free information and open a competing restaurant or publish their recipes in a cookbook? Of course not. While a large corporation is wired for secrecy, the successful small business is not. They know that by giving away a great recipe that can be duplicated by the average home cook, they are building credibility in their brand. When the chef opens up a new restaurant or writes a new cookbook, all that credibility pays off with paying customers eager to eat at their restaurant or buy their cookbook.
Sure, you now have the information to duplicate what the masters have developed, but it is very unlikely you will use that information to set up a competing business. The chefs know that in the world of small business, it is not about the product or service – it is about finding and inducing the customer to buy from you.
What things can you give away to build your credibility as a thought leader and create a loyal following?
