I’m not alone in the pursuit of knowledge. There are millions of people out there who want to know more about something. That’s why you are here at this website. You’re pursuing and trying to become the best at what you do. The exciting thing is that over time, even though people change, they still have a desire to learn new things. As they make achievements in life, they generally pursue something that builds on what they already know. This is not something that is new. It’s been happening since the beginning of time. That’s what makes knowledge a valuable asset.
So what knowledge do you possess that someone else would be interested in? You might be thinking that you aren’t really that smart. Why would anyone be interested in what you know? Maybe they wouldn’t, but I’m guessing you just haven’t explored all the possibilities.
If you want to achieve the highest margins on something, then you need exclusive rights to it. You have exclusive rights to your knowledge. It belongs to you. Now you undoubtedly learned it from someone else, but it is something that you possess.
So what do you know? What is your area of expertise? Many people out there are probably thinking there is nothing special about what they know. I like to look at it from the aspect of what could my grandparents or great grandparents do in the world of eBay today. If my Grandparents were alive today, they would be close to 100 years old. What kind of knowledge could they possibly have that would be marketable on eBay? Let’s take a quick look at what I considered special about their abilities (I’m listing the ones that I have actual memories of):
Father’s Side:
Grandfather – Farmer – Grade C Dairy Operation, Crops, Cows, Pigs. Later a very successful Turkey operation.
My Grandfather knew farming and he knew how to do it on a budget (no money). His turkey operation in the latter part of his career was a very profitable operation. After about 7 years, he went from a typical turkey producer to one of the leaders in his area of operation. Is there opportunity for knowledge sharing here?
Grandmother – Farmer’s Wife. Involved in all aspects of the farm.
My grandmother was the brains of the farming operation. She knew the money side of the business. While my grandfather was hands on (as was my grandmother early on), my grandmother knew how the money was and could be spent. She was an expert at the budgeting side of things. She took care of ordering and paying for the seed. She balanced the books. Is there opportunity for knowledge sharing here?
Great Grandfather – Note sure of Profession, but he had a squirrel cage outside of his house that was 3 stories high and about 20’ X 20’ at the base. He also liked to hunt.
I can remember sitting on the steps of my great grandfather’s porch with my toy rifle. He used to call me Johnny Jump Up. We’d always talk about going hunting. Never did as he died from cancer before I was old enough to go, but it was something he really enjoyed. I also remember sitting in fascination as he told about the squirrels that would come every summer and play in his huge squirrel cage. A street person from a neighboring town had helped him build the cage and all of the toys inside. This individual could also make various sound and do what my dad referred to as ‘talk to the squirrels.’ Is there opportunity for knowledge sharing here?
Great Grandmother – Loved to Quilt. Terrific Cook. Has a terrific ‘secret’ family recipe for cookies that only my grandmother could duplicate consistently. I can remember the weekly gathering of ladies at my great grandmothers house as they came together to quilt and share in each other’s lives. The holidays were incredible. The things that my great grandmother could cook were incredible. Is there opportunity for knowledge sharing here.
Mother’s Side:
Grandfather – Loved to Fish. I always enjoyed going to my grandparents on my fathers side more than on my mother’s side. After all, they had a farm. Lots of things for an adventurous boy to do for weeks at a time. My grandparents on my mother’s side however lived in the city. My grandmother ran a boarding home for older folks. More like the equivalent of a nursing home today. It was pretty boring stuff to a grade school boy who lived on a continuous sugar high. When I would ‘have to’ spend a week at their house, I would get bored within minutes. That’s when my grandmother would suggest that my Grandfather take me fishing. We’d head off for Grand lake. Setting up several fishing poles each off of the fishing dock, we’d wait for a bite. Suddenly the people next to us would start pulling in fish. Us….nothing. I’d ask them what they were using for bait and then beg my grandfather for the same types of lures. He’d just say we needed to be patient. The 2 or 3 fish they were catching were just a short term thing. A few hours later, we’d start pulling in about a fish every 4 or 5 minutes. Each time we went fishing, we bring home between 30 & 60 fish. The others around us would just stare in amazement. My grandfather knew something they didn’t. Is there opportunity for knowledge sharing here?
Grandmother – Ran a boarding home and was a terrific cook. I was never much interested in the boarding home side of things, nut it provided a constant source of income for them. But as a cook, my grandmother was terrific. And she knew how to cook all kinds of fish and just the right way to cook them (good thing as they ate a lot of fish). Is there opportunity for knowledge sharing here?
If we look close at each of the examples above, there “is” opportunity for the creation of a knowledge product offering. Of course, additional research would be required to determine if the product would be marketable, but the examples show that everyone, in every aspect of life, no matter how old, or even how technology challenged, has valuable knowledge that can be shared with others. People throughout history have known things that people today are still studying and trying to grasp. Knowledge is important to people if it can in some way improve their life.
A bit back, we asked, “What do you know?” What knowledge do you possess that you can share with others? Is there a way that you can put the information into some sort of “How To” kit? When I did a search on Google for “How To” today it returned 1,740,000 English pages. If you were starting to think that knowledge is not all that important, I believe this will put that to rest. A niche is important here though as there is fierce competition. A search for “How To” on eBay returned over 16,000 auctions that don’t provide VHS or DVD (simply instructions). If you have an idea for a “How To” offering, take a look at what’s being offered, research your idea, see if there is a niche side to you knowledge.
A word of caution. Copyright infringement is a serious offense. To make sure that you are not infringing on a copyright, eBay may question ownership of the material you are putting on their auction site. To avoid problems, be sure to state in your auction that you own the legal copyright of the material that is being auctioned. Also indicate that if eBay has questions concerning your legal right to sell the information being auctioned, that you are willing to discuss any questions they may have. Also, eBay and your customers may have less to say about your auction if you actually provide your information on a CD, as opposed to a simple download.