People’s reactions to my job / business frequently amuse me, but none more so than the responses to various promotional links I place in the places I network online.
As some of you know, yesterday I wrote a list of “10 Things You can Post on Your Facebook Fan Page” – and at the end of it is a promo for a special offer we’re running on setting up Facebook Business / Fan pages.
Last night I posted a status update on Facebook mentioning this, and received the following response from someone:
“Wow, you CHARGE for something as simple as that? Its easy to do for FREE”
Anyone who has read my articles, posts and comments over the past 10+ years will know that I have ALWAYS said that you don’t have to hire someone like me to do your SEO, set up your Facebook fan pages, write your articles, do your blogging etc etc etc – you can do it yourself, and in fact I provide a whole host of articles aimed at helping you to do these things yourself, the aforementioned 10 Things You can Post on Your Facebook Fan Page included.
Recent articles and freebies I’ve published on the site include:
- Free Twitter for Business checklist – to help you plan and run your Twitter account
- Top Ten Tips to Make Article Marketing Work For You – showing you how to pomote yourself with articles
- 3 ways to Increase Your Website Conversion Rate – showing you how to increase leads and sales by changing a few things on your site and NOT hiring someone like me!
- 20 Ways to Website Heaven – 20 FREE ways to promote your website
The list goes on, but one thing all of these have in common is that I tell you you CAN do this yourself – if you want to and if you have the time.
OK, so a lot of the articles I write and the freebies I give DO have a link or promo for one of my services, but this is always the afterthought – the main aim of the article is to tell you that this stuff isn’t that difficult to learn – *I* learned how to do it, so you can too!
However, like anyone, I have to make a living. I give out free advice, help people out for free and even take on work on a pay by results basis on occasion, but at the end of the day I have a family to feed and a shopping habit to fund, so I charge for my expertise and time.
So to have someone (and it happens a lot) come clod hopping over my posts with ‘And you charge for that? But it’s easy to do for free!’ really really gets my goat.
Yes, I charge for my services. I charge for my time. And I charge for my knowledge. It’s up to my readers and contacts to decide whether or not they want to take the free advice I give and do the work themselves, or pay me and my colleagues to do it for them.
As for the person complaining about me charging for something “so simple”? Well, he’s a business coach. I’m thinking of posting “Wow, you tell people how to run their business? And you CHARGE for that? How far into the course does the ‘post unprofessional comments on other people’s posts’ module kick in?”
Grrr….
I totally agree with you Nikki. You can DO ANYTHING yourself but it’s all down to have you have the time and inclination. Also, people may think your work is easy but it’s not. Not for everyone. I’m pretty good on computers and the internet, but I have no clue when it comes to SEO and as for facebook pages, it’s not always the setting up that’s the issue it’s the getting started.
Look at the rise in people who do ironing, would that business coach comment on that fact nearly all households have an iron so does that mean that career field should be redundant.
All companies need help, does he think that the big corporations on twitter and facebook do it themselves? The MD sitting in his office updating the streams…no it doesn’t work like that people are there to do it for them.
I’m with you on the fact as a business coach that’s a totally unprofessional comment to make. Not just unprofessional but rude.
From a business coach? Wow, like you said – he charges for that
We have similar in transport, people think it’s just about the price of petrol (Grrrr, shall save that rant for my own blog) so delivery should be a fiver to Scotland cos that’s how much the petrol costs….
You can do it yourself, or you can get it done properly and time efficiently. People use your services Nikki because they try what you give away for free and know you will drive traffic to their site, run superb social media campaigns for them, and improve their business. They have tried before they paid for services, unlike business advice which you cannot try before hand (it’s more a leap of faith).
Ah yes. We charge £1.95 for orders below £12, free 1st class over £12, free courier/Special D over £50 (currently £30 during strikes), free gift-wrapping, loyalty programme equating to 10% discount…. in fact we are just about the cheapest on the web for what we do & we ship same day/within 2 days tops. Last week a customer rang to order a greetings card & asked what the postage would be – £1.95 1st class. Customer reply: “oh then cancel it, it will cost so little to post I assumed you’d post it for free”. *Sigh* Sometimes, no matter how much we do, ’tis never enough darling. What you do is fantastic and we thank you for it. Have a lovely day
It’s even worse for me … most kitchen showrooms advertise “free” kitchen designs. People don’t seem able to grasp that the cost of the design (and it’s a high one) is included in the price of the kitchen. It’s only free if you don’t buy a kitchen.
People can, of course, design their own kitchens, in the same way that people can do their own SEO. The difference in both cases is not only that you need the time to do it … but that someone who does it for a living, all day every day, has a better grasp of what can be done … and whether it’s a good idea or not.
The very first question in my FAQ deals with freeloaders who want everything for no charge. “This is a business; please be prepared to pay. Even if you think this doesn’t apply to you, actually, this does apply to you.”
Hi Nikki
I am in complete agreement. It riles me too!
Most of us here, I’m sure, offer incredible value – which often means freebies or taking time out to help someone. I do it all the time – and don’t charge for it. Therefore, it is very frustrating when someone makes a rather obnoxious comment such as the one you mentioned, Nikki, as it’s clear that person doesn’t have a clue about the value of such a service.
The same happens when you quote a price and the prospect comes back asking you to drop the price even more – when you’ve already cut corners for them. Just yesterday, someone emailed me saying he wanted me to write him some professional copy but expected me to give him a ‘cheap quote.’ Presumably – if I don’t comply – he’ll find someone who’ll do it for next to nothing.
I do wish some people would respect professionalism and not see everything in terms of monetary cost.
Hi Nikki
I think your comments will strike a chord with many people in the service industries. I’m another one who firmly believes that clients should be able to do for themselves what I do. As I see it, the reason they pay someone, is so they don’t have to go through the time and costs of making mistakes to reach the right solution.
On the subject of business coaches I agree even more wholeheartedly. They seem to be one of the few professions who find it acceptable to use negativity and belittlement as a sales technique – fortunately there are exceptions!
Thanks guys!
Just to point out, I have nothing against business coaches at all, just his comments struck me as a little odd. Would a business coach tell all their clients not to offer something that was ‘easy to do for free’ as a service? I find it quite easy to tell people what to do to grow their business – should I tell them not to use a business coach as it’s easy to get advice for free?
There are lots of things I could do without paying someone – bookkeeping, fixing my car, moving house, delivering packages, cleaning my house, sorting out my garden etc – but because they’re not the best way to spend my time or my core skills, I pay others to do them.
I’m glad it’s not just me though who thought it was ‘off’
You’re right Nikki
I spend much of my time with new clients encouraging them to outsource work outside their particular specialism – There are so many distractions today that we all end up diluting our efforts – Your expertise is highly valuable and anyone should be prepared to pay for the time it saves using a specialist instead of doing it themselves. We all know that FREE doesn’t always = VALUE. Of couse everyone has the choice – if you can do it – then do it – if you prefer to use someone to help you – be prepared to pay…….
Best guidance is concentrate on those who do value what you do for them. I would encourage anyone who needs Internet based marketing assistance to use you, from personal experience you do what you say you will and extremely well. Thank you!
Why charge when it COULD be free?
This morning I was CHARGED for a coffee I ordered at Costa. I can make coffee for NOTHING at home. Why do they CHARGE for it?
Then I bought some petrol. And I had to PAY for that too. Bloody cheek! I can make petrol for free at home using old cooking oil. So why I am being CHARGED for it at Esso? It’s a disgrace and all charging for anything should be made illegal.
I hope you take note and make everything you do FREE with immediate effect. Rip off merchant!
It’s like saying to the gardener “You CHARGE for pulling up the weeds? I could do that myself.”
Do it yourself then.
The point is that if you don’t have the time, inclination, skill, to do something, there is an option to pay someone else…
Not that I have a gardener of course. But if I could afford it, I probably would. As it is, the gardening just doesn’t get done. Which, I thnk, is the point….
I reckon there is a huge difference between doing it……and doing it well.