How to Tell Good Advice From Bad Advice

How to Tell Bad Advice From Good Advice?
Has anyone ever told you that in order to sell something you need to get fans, and that the way to get fans is to become a fan of others? Bad Advice. Has anyone ever told you that if you want work as a writer then you need to work free of charge in order to get exposure? Bad advice. The first is bad advice because the only people who will reciprocate as followers are the ones who are also looking for fans and the reason it’s bad advice to write without pay for exposure is because exposure doesn’t get you any writing jobs. The old saying goes, "Good advice is hard to find." It's perfectly true. While you will definitely be given a lot of bad advice in your life, the real difficulty is knowing how to separate the good advice from the bad advice.

So, how do you tell good advice from bad advice?
I’m going to do this in point form as it is easier to assimilate.

• There’s an old saying that goes something like “Take it from whence it comes.” It means that one should only give the information the same level of credibility that one would give the person. If a person’s success isn’t obvious, don’t take advice from him. Hearing that gold is a good investment doesn’t mean that it is a good investment. In fact, gold is probably the next bubble. Generally, as soon as something is common knowledge, it is no longer a good investment. However, the big thing is that if the person is generally reliable, what s/he says will tend to be reliable as well. And if you have to pay for it, I can give you a 100% guarantee, it's completely and utterly unreliable. The sales person is in it for the profit!
• Be aware that very few people will give away information if it is going to undermine them in some way. Nobody is going to give you a list of top ten markets to sell your products if you’re in competition with them. They may give you some information. However, before proceeding with that information, do a few checks. It’s as likely as not that the information is not the same information that your successful informer uses.
• There’s a difference between data and information. Data is a list of facts that within themselves don’t mean particularly much. Information is the tipping point that turns data into nuggets. It’s the difference between being told how to mine and being given the mining machinery. If you walk away with a feeling that something is still missing, it probably is.

• Good advice is generally very detailed. Bad advice is generally broad. Good advice might go something like this, “If you travel 2.4 miles, you will come to a t-junction. Turn left, and keep going for another half mile. Turn right for 104 miles, and then you’ll find a ramp to a highway with a overhang that says Los Angeles. Take that, and you’ll find yourself in Los Angeles within 49 miles.” However, bad advice will go something like this. “Go a couple of miles, then turn left and eventually you will come to a highway. The highway will take you to LA.” How do you tell the difference? The lack of detail and precision is a great guide as to whether something will work or not. People who really know explain things in detail.
• Good advice is generally unique. If you keep hearing the same thing over and over again, it’s not good advice. It’s simply talk. People who don’t know about something will just repeat what they have heard. Good advice is hard to find, and you don’t hear it often.
• Good advice is also generally not that easy to follow. If it were, many more people would be adhering to it. For instance, it might be good advice to exercise, cut junk food, and/or stop smoking but those who do these things don’t find it easy to follow advice. So, if advice is hard to do, don’t junk it. Consider it very carefully. It’s probably good advice.
• Good advice does not contradict itself or have flaws. Listen very carefully to what someone is saying. If it appears to have contradictions or doesn’t make sense, it’s probably not good advice. Good advice makes a lot of sense. It is logical and without contradiction.

So Now You Know How To Tell Good Advice From Bad Advice.