There is no magic in business.

It is mostly the perfect mix of brilliant strategy, back-breaking hard work, exceptional timing, more hard work followed by long hours of smart work.

There is no ‘Secret Sauce’ in business.

Of course every company has some ‘trade secrets’ or technologies that can seem like “secret sauce”. But it seems that when you talk to many Social Marketing Agencies there is this aura of “magic” about what and how they do what they do. This is fantastic marketing to keep your value perception high and keep ‘accounts’ feeding at the trough. I am fortunate to work at a radically different social business agency where we share our secret sauce every day. We have a information packed blog that literally gives away the social media secret sauce every day.

I am lucky to work with dozens of companies large and small every week on building comprehensive social marketing and content marketing strategies. Most businesses truly believe that they have some unique secret that if the competition found out about it they would be ruined. If there is one thing I have learned in 20 years of being an entrepreneur it is that there is no magic, it’s just plain hard work. Not only that but your competition already knows the same secrets you do, they just aren’t willing to commit to them like you are.

Social Media and digital agencies can deliver tremendous value to your marketing by bringing both the discipline of marketing and best practices and the unfettered creativity of a third-party. Bottom line a Social Marketing Agency is a team of tremendously experienced, deeply creative and genuinely smart marketing professionals that you can leverage to enhance, empower or extend your internal marketing team. The best work with you to be your outsourced marketing arm. And it’s amazing what you can get done when you literally have more arms!

to quote the illustrious Jay Baer of Youtility fame on ‘How much of  your secret sauce should you give away?’:

All of it! Give away information snacks to sell knowledge meals. Don’t be afraid to give away what you know, a bit at a time. After all, a list of ingredients doesn’t make someone a chef.

And to quote myself: (read the whole blog article here)

Never Give customers what they want. Only give them what you do best.

Summary: Don’t be afraid to share your secret sauce.