You know, I've always been a true believer in common sense and logic. I guess I had to since I was born in another country and bought up in another. Not getting too side-tracked, I believe every single person should try to atleast have a bit of common sense at the back of their heads as one of my motto's is "A little bit of common sense gets you a lon way!". You guys might be wondering why i have written up a thread like this all of a sudden, well the truth is just recently one of my contacts that I made through DP asked me to customise his header for one of his websites, "for free". In the past he has on several occassions made comments on how high commissions he gets. Originally he didn't state that he wanted me to do it for free, he just asked me to do it and when I asked for $5 through paypal he was like WHAT!? All of a sudden he lost interest and stated that he would get someone on DP to do it for free. Now, i'm definitely sure that if i had asked him to sell one of my affiliate programs in return for no commission, he would decline without even thinking. Also think about this, what would've happened if i did do his customisation for free??? He would've most likely thanked me and went on with other things. Imagine, if there was 100 other groups of 2 people with similar situation and they too did the job for free in a matter of 1 week. How much worth of work would DP members or any other designers would lose thinking "oh i'm only doing this free job just for once, it's not like i'm doing it all the time" or something similar to that, 100's? No, Most likely $1000's of dollars worth of work is being lost every week. Even if no one agrees with my post here right here and right now, I beg you all to an extent no other man has begged before. Please ask this person if he would do something for you for "free", most likely he'll either say no or will try to change the subject. That is when you know that, that person is trying to use you, you are NOT an object nor a tool. For God's sake people, even tools/machinery that doesn't have a life, they don't function without oil or electricity do they? (although some people might ask for work done for free because they can't afford it, but they still should be of assistance to you in any way they can) Here's a question to all those people who earn money on the internet yet try to use others to get what they want in return for nothing: Why should I, Spend my time, Use up electricity and wear out my computer when you're not even going to appreciat I do for you? All of those things cost me money, so if I do a work for free, I'm actually paying for the work they are getting done... WHO HERE WOULD LIKE TO DO A JOB FOR ME THAT THEY PAY THEMSELVES? Note: If such charactered person exists on DP, do send me a message so I can send you my paypal details THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FREE!!! Peace...
Well paying jobs are what it is all about. I'm guessing you feel a bit better now after your public rant...lol My advice is not to waste anymore time thinking about this. Dwelling on the subject will only lead to more time lost.
It's not like that, I'm in the middle of a job right now actually and working on a major project as well (as soon as i finish the job). My hopes are that what i've written will get through to someone and they will protect themselves and other webdesigners/webmasters.
I wouldn't so much hate them, I would rather educate them... Asking them if they would work for free for you is a way to get them to understand. Even if they do accept what they think is a bluff, why not give them a list of 400 directories along with details for that person to submit...
I agree with you, while most of DP members are just wonderful there is a few stupid members with no logic here, last day someone refused to pay me after i completed his service 100% and chatted with him 7 hours to support him and explain everything, then he gave me a red itrader without even paying me saying that the service is not what he expected, because i care about my reputation i asked him to report that this itrader is unfair and i'll not ask for the payment he told me he will do that if i promote his web directory in My Sig and post a thread about it, can you believe it ? when i refused he told me enjoy your red. i reported it to DP moderators but i still see his red rep.. its very sad i feel very bad, but what can you do... anyway only people with common sense, Logic, Education , CREATIVITY and dermination will succeed on the internet. the rest will quit after wasting some years of their life. cheeers.
Yes, such is life. Everyone wants something for nothing. Can't really stop it as people don't care to be educated, unfortunately, or they just don't care in general. :-\ Just be careful what you do and you'll be OK.
I agree with you but I also am a big believer that it doesn't hurt to ask. Why pay when someone is willing to do it for free? I think he should have stated that he was looking for free up front. I never ask unless the person gives an indication that he is willing to do a free service. I do not like the people who just go around every time someone post something for sell and ask for a free copy for review. I would not stress over it, it happens everywhere in life. I ran a successful business for a few years and everyone is always looking for something free.
I feel your pain, I was in a similar situation where i was coding a template of a customers, all of a sudden i stopped recieving his PM's and didn't pay me although I had finished my work. So I sold the files, both the coded template that I made and the designed PSD file he gave me: http://forums.digitalpoint.com/showthread.php?t=321720 Some people might see it as a wrong thing that i actually sold his design along with it, but i believe i did the right thing, I did what any other business owner would do, compensate. I think both of our experiences should be a lesson to us, from now on we should be charging customers who wants to use our services with a 50% upfront deposit. If they don't, then it's a sign of an unrelliable customer, especially if you are showing them your portfolio and they like your style. To me it's like, you've proved that you're good enough to do their work by showing examples and they've like it, so they too must prove that they are committed to the project by paying an upfront deposit... Anyways, at the end of the day, don't stress too much about it, people who are true deep in their hearts will prevail.