eh, for me, building a 'personal brand' has been really important, and giving free advice is one way to get that. (well, if you are trying to build a brand as

eh, for me, building a 'personal brand' has been really important, and giving free advice is one way to get that. (well, if you are trying to build a brand as a person who knows a lot about X, giving free (good) advice about X to people who are likely to talk about you is a good place to start.) But then, I'm a product business, and I'm in an industry where marketing is the dominant cost, so having a personal brand monetizes well, and without much extra effort on my part.