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How to avoid meetings where people ask to pick your brain

You receive a lot of requests to “pick your brain,” right? Here’s a way you might consider navigating those awkward interactions:

First, let’s be honest. “Pick your brain” means “Will you give me free consulting?” It’s almost always one-sided, and you’re asked to meet for a coffee/lunch, which means you’re taking time away from your real work.

Let’s get ahead of those requests by following this process:

1.) When you’re running into themes in your day-to-day business, take time to write an article or record a video about that topic. Said another way, take what you have in your brain and put it into some kind of digital form.

2.) Share those ideas on social media. Proactively distribute things as you learn.

3.) When the “pick your brain” request come in, say:

“I hope I’m not sounding like a big shot. I get a lot of these requests, and it’s really tough to take time away from the work I have right now.

I did write an article/record a video about the topic you’d like to discuss, and here’s a link if you’d like to check it out <insert link>. It should answer your questions, and I hope it allows you to take the time we were going to use for our in-person meeting to take some action on those items.”

How do you answer requests for free consulting? 

#efficiency #brainpicking

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About the Author

Spencer helps you save time through teaching digital marketing and social media strategies in plain English, after proving they actually work for himself and his company AmpliPhi first. He also is an instructor at the University of Wisconsin and Rutgers University.

Spencer X Smith

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