Almost every restaurant has some sort of secret recipe. Some companies like Coca-Cola hold their recipe in a bank vault that only 2 people have access to. It’s so heavily guarded because it’s considered their life-blood.
On the flip side, you have several chefs like Gordon Ramsey and Wolfgang Puck that give their recipes in their cookbooks. According to Coke, giving away their recipe would drive them out of business, but it’s actually done the opposite by driving more people to their restaurants. Why is that?
Well, in this article, I’ll give that answer along with more reason on why you should give away your secret recipe.
There’s a story I read awhile back that I couldn’t seem to find again so some of the specifics might be a little off, but it goes something like this.
There was this guy that made one of the most famous steaks in all of Texas. He decided one day to give away his recipe. His restaurant was so popular that there was often a line going out the door, so a lot of people questioned why he would do this and asked if he was afraid to go out of business. He simply responded that even with the recipe, people wouldn’t be able to make it as good as him.
This guy figured out that even with step by step instructions, the amount of time he’s spent on his craft and making his steaks, nobody could match him. It’s the ultimate sign of confidence in what you do to give it away for other people to try to do it the same way.
So, because of that confidence, he gains something the bank vault recipe companies can’t get, that’s trust.
Much of what the advertising and marketing people focus on is about making people aware of their product, but that’s one of the easiest parts of the funnel to fill because it’s something you could throw some money at by making a commercial or doing ads on social media. However, those things don’t necessarily build trust.
I talk about it quite a bit in other episodes, but the most difficult step in any sales funnel is to gain the trust required for a person to make a purchase. Think about the last 5 things you’ve purchased, it was likely a result of reading a review, testimonial, case study, or seeing some kind of proof that that specific product was going to help you do something better.
I realize “Authenticity” is one of those buzzwords right now that people are tired of hearing about, but it still very much applies to how trust is built. Doing something like sharing industry or company “secrets” may be difficult, but it makes a huge impact with your audience. It immediately turns heads because people are used to being asked for things rather than given anything.
About 3-4 years ago, I came up with a way to create the look of a stop motion sketch in a super fast and easy way. My first thought was to hold on to the secret, but after a couple days of wondering why I wanted to do that, I decided to make my first tutorial on how I made that effect. That tutorial alone has brought in quite a bit of an audience. After a couple years it’s had thousands of views and was featured on a couple sites. It was that day I learned that sharing what you know is more valuable than keeping it a secret.
So, get out there are start sharing everything you know. After all, nobody has put in the same amount of time into their craft as you, to be able to make it as great as you do.
