[codegangsta]

Really good points made here!

I previously worked for a company that empowers entrepreneurs and experts to build a business off their knowledge, and have learned a lot over the years of what's effective what's not so helpful.

The biggest factor for successful knowledge businesses was whether the person self-identified as an entrepreneur. It influenced how they saw their audience and engaged with them.

Ultimately you need to focus on both -- building and audience and a business. But there are far too many "creators" out there that are only interested in building an audience, and I personally believe, depending on the subject matter/industry, that it can be confusing and detrimental to not be engaging in both activities.