Despite my thirteen years of working online, my desire to help people sometimes hurts my bottom line. It is something I have battled with on many occasions. Whenever someone asks me for help, I always tried to email them back and help them out when I could. Sometimes all I do is point them in the right direction with a useful link, other times I have exchanged a few emails and gave good advice.
There have been a few rare occasions when someone has emailed me a few years later and said thanks for the help I gave them. Sadly, it is a rare occurrence. In fact, it has only happened twice. Considering I have probably helped thousands of people over the last several years, that is quite a sad statistic. Most people soon forget who it was that helped them. They simply get what they need and move on.
I soon realised that helping others eats up a lot of my time. I used to reply to two or three “Can you help me” type emails every day. Five minutes here, ten minutes there: It all adds up. To quote the old cliché “Time is Money”. As I get older, this cliché seems to be more true. I love my work. I really do. I love writing and I enjoy helping others. However, I love spending time with family and friends more. I want to make the time I do sit at my computer more productive so that I have time to enjoy myself away from the computer.
Charging for My Time
Every business needs to deal with time wasters. It is just the nature of business itself.
Not a week goes by where I do not a few emails from potential advertisers and website owners who want to hire me for a project. A few emails are exchanged and we are all set to move forward….and then…nothing. No more emails. They either change their mind or they had no intention of working with me in the first place. It is kind of bizarre in a way as they are wasting their own time too. If they do not want to work with me for any reason (rates too high, not the right fit for the job or whatever), all they have to do is say thanks but not thanks. Instead, they drag things on for a few emails and then disappear.
Before, my habit of helping people attracted more time wasters. I soon started advising people that if they wanted my help, they had to pay for my time. I recently reduced my consultation rate to a very affordable $50 an hour. In future, I plan on raising this rate, however at the moment I feel that it is a fair price. I can make more money per hour writing articles for others. Plus, an hour’s consultation via Skype does not just take up an hour of my time. In order to help someone with their project, I will always have to spend time before a call familiarising myself with their project. Specifically, I would look at what their problem was so that when we do chat, I can offer them a solution.
Two recent consultations have made me realise that I need to charge for consultation from the very start. Both guys were nice people and I wanted to help them. The problem was that I was not 100% sure if I could. Due to this, I ended up wasting my own time.
Let me explain.
Potential Client Number 1
The first guy explained that he wanted a Digg or Reddit type website for a very specific niche. He was very knowledgable about the subject and there were no existing news type websites that were active. I was not 100% sure if I could help him as his explanation of the whole project was a little vague. It was not clear if he needed a website designer or just someone to guide him when he launched the website.
The client wanted to pay for a consultation right away, however I did not want to take his money if I could not help him. Plus, if I could help him, I thought that it would be good if we chatted a little before making a plan of action. Our conversation was about an hour-long and through our discussion I realised many things. Firstly, he was not sure what he wanted to create. Secondly, he was very inexperienced in building websites and really did need someone to help him. At the end of our conversation, his project seemed to have changed from developing a social media news website to wanting to develop a blog.
I advised him what he should do next and suggested some websites to check out. He thanked me for my time and then suggested we book in ten consultation sessions (10 hours total). That is how we left it. He never got back to me.
Potential Client Number 2
The second potential client wanted help with a discussion forum he was developing. Again, his explanation of what his project was about was not 100% clear. Therefore, it was not apparent right away if I could help him with his project.
This time, I was not 100% sure whether to do a call first to establish exactly what he wanted. What swayed me to suggest a quick call first was that (a) His website was getting huge amounts of traffic, and, (b) He has spoken at conferences such as Ted and has a lot of good contacts. The client was making good money on the internet already. So in addition to being an additional client for me, it could also have been a good contact for me in the future.
We spoke for around 40 minutes and then I had to leave as I was going out with friends for a run. We discussed his project in detail and we agreed to speak later. I did not see him online later that night when I logged on.
Maybe I am completely wrong, though I did get the impression that he wanted to chat again without paying for a consultation. His initial email mentioned that he wanted to hire me as a consultant but we had not discussed it after that point. We have not spoken since.
Charge for Your Time
Both potential clients that I spoke to were nice guys. I do not believe either were time-wasters. It was me who handled the situation badly.
I am fairly new to consultation so I am still learning what is the best way to handle clients efficiently. My intentions were good, however clearly I should not be offering my time for free when my time is the service that I am selling.
Let’s assume I did offer everyone who was interested in consultation a free 30 or 60 minute call: A call to establish whether I could help them or not. I strongly believe that most calls would not lead to a paid consultation. Here’s why:
- After an initial call, the potential client may decide that I am not suitable for the job.
- They may only need a little information from me and attempt to get all the help they need in the initial call. That is, if I give them good advice during the initial call, they may not see the benefit of a paid consultation as they have everything they need from me.
- They may be a time waster. Someone who was not sure whether to buy consultation, or had no intention to ever buy a consultation (i.e. a time waster). These people would jump at the chance of a free initial consultation.
Since offering consultation through my blog, I have seen a sharp decline in the number of people who ask me for help. When someone first sends you an email, you do not know if these people present a good opportunity or simply a drain on your time. Most people who contact me for help do not email me back when I advise them that I am available for hire. Without doubt, telling people that your time costs money is the quickest way to get rid of time wasters who want something for nothing.
I strongly believe offering potential clients an initial call for free is not good for my business. I am sure this kind of thing works in other types of businesses, however it is obviously not right for me. I have no doubt that if I did continue to offer a free initial consultation, the people who did go on to hire me long-term would be the ones that would have hired me anyway. So I have not lost anything by charging from the start.
Moving forward, I am always going to charge for consultation. I am not going to rip anyone off. If it is clear that I cannot help someone, then I will tell them straight up from the start and not offer any consultation. If, however, it sounds like I can help them, the client will have to pay for my time from the very beginning. And if it later turns out that I am not right for the project, we can go our own way.
At the end of the day, I am quite open on this blog with where my experience lies. Therefore, if someone is not 100% sure if I am right for a project, it should be them that takes the risk, not me.
Thanks for reading,
Kevin
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Ironically, a few minutes before I was about to publish this post today, I received an email from someone I had helped in the past who needed help choosing the right comment solution for his website. He noted I had helped him before and asked for my help again. With my mum going into hospital today and with me having at least three to four thousand words to write today for other clients, I was swamped with work.
I explained this to him and advised that he can hire me at my normal rates if he really needs help. Or alternatively, he should visit the WordPress.org forums and ask for help there. This is the reply I got:
I was expecting help from you Kevin, But this is an arrogant reply from you.
I am a regular reader of your blog.
Can you believe that someone I had helped before would reply in such a way? Unbelievable!!!
HAHA nice topic for the post and people are really not worth being provided anything for free if they don’t know the meaning of patience.
Hi Kevin
RE: Do you charge for your initial consultations?
NO
RE: Or do you consider it part of trying to get a client?
Yes, I do. I think it’s part of building trust. It also helps me filter people. Because I do pretty much all of the work myself I really need to feel that I can work and communicate effectively and enjoyably with a person. Building websites is a long term relationship and I want to enjoy my work, the people, and pay the bills ;)
I look at it similar to Jay Baer’s Youtility concept, and as a personal investment in my future. This may be naive of me, but for now it’s how I operate.
Even if people can’t fit a custom website into their budget, many still want/need assistance setting up a more DIY option using wordpress with a free or purchased theme.
Cheers!
Jules
Thanks for the kind words Patricia. Thankfully, most people are nicer when they contact me :)
Hi Kevin,
I’ve never gotten the impression that you are arrogant in any way. I believe you’ve always given away a lot of knowledge and advice for free over the years.
I can see offering a 10-15 minute very brief consultation to discuss the requirements of a project, but other than that, see no reason why you shouldn’t charge for more in-depth consultations or services.
I’ll continue to follow your blog because there is a lot of value there.
Best regards,
Patricia
Hi Jules,
Do you charge for your initial consultations? Or do you consider it part of trying to get a client?
It is a subject I am still learning about, so I’d love to hear the view of others in the same situation.
Kevin
Hi Sonny,
It’s a good idea. I could probably create a form that asked questions so that it was clear what they were looking for. Though I do want to make potential clients jump through too many hoops. And so far, most people who have contacted me for a consultation have wrote a lot about what their project entails (if anything, writing too much).
If consulting became a bigger part of my income, I’d definitely consider a virtual assistant.
Kevin
Those damn Buddhist monks. They think they’re so special!!
I can so relate to this Kevin!
As a web developer when I do initial consultations I need to do an hours worth or research before the phone call. in order to be prepared I need to find out what online presence they currently have (website as well as social media), learn about their industry and what type of online presence others in their industry have. Its no small deal and I can count on a minimum of 2 hours for these initial assessment consultations. Even if they don’t work with me they walk away with a wealth of information to help them decide what step to take next.
RE: Thank you’s for misc help — I agree, few and far between.
Nice read, thanks
Jules
Kevin, I’ve known life-long Buddhist monks that were more arrogant than you, so I don’t think you have to worry about a lone malcontent. ;)
Kevin, if you ever contact an attorney who offers a free consultation, your consultation will not be with the attorney but with a lower paid assistant. The assistant uses a questionnaire during the consultation and then gives to the attorney to decide if they can take the case. You should set up a system like this using a vertual assistant (fiverr ?). You will lesson the chance of offending anyone and keep your time for earning the big $’s.
Thanks for the kind words Patti. Yes my Mum is better now. We had to call an ambulance as she collapsed twice and she stayed overnight in hospital. It was nothing too serious. She was not allowed to eat before surgery and she lost a lot of blood…so she was weak. She is back to normal now. She even said she had a great time at hospital as there were lots of nice people in her ward :)
I have no time for people who expect things from you for nothing. Most of the time, a simple thank you is enough for me, however I cannot start helping others for free when I have a lot of paid work to do. At the end of the day, those are the people that are paying my bills :)
I can’t believe someone called you arrogant. I’ve followed you for years, and worked with you over the years too. Anytime I’ve had a question, or I see others pose a question to you, you go way beyond the call of duty with your replies and explanations. Most of your “free help” could easily be turned into tutorials and you could charge for those, but you don’t.
I’ve followed several blogs you’ve created over the years and you could easily charge for access to the content, but you don’t.
Whoever this person is that thinks you’re arrogant, needs a reality check. And if you are arrogant about your knowledge, you have earned the right. However, I don’t see arrogance as one of your traits. ;)
I hope your mum is doing good and it was nothing serious.
I probably should set up an email template just to quick things up a little. I normally just send a quick email back pointing them to my rates :)
I guess that it’s human nature to expect something for nothing.
Maybe you should have a template response email with a link to pay for the first hour of consultation. You would make it clear that people are paying for your time and you may or may not be able to assist them.
If they respond with a payment you’ve then eliminated the tire kickers and window shoppers. Anyway I’m sure that you will figure out the right balance.
At least this article made me realize that you offer consultations, I guess that I was oblivious to that fact, or sleeping :)
Cheers Kevin, my main focus is going to be writing for others. I’m really enjoying writing so I’m going to keep growing my own blog too.
Thanks Lee. It’s comments like that which remind me why I love helping people :) To be called arrogant because I would not put paying clients ahead of someone who wants free help is ludicrous.
Congratulations on launching your new blog. Are you primarily looking to develop your own blog or write for others?
Kevin
It’s such a shame people are like that! I can relate to this, some people don’t seem to realise when they are getting something of value for free.
I always thought you were helpful when I was writing for you. Patient too, despite it being my first freelance attempt! ;) I’ve followed the advice in your book, The art of freelance blogging. Now I’ve got my own site up and running, it should be working fully by tomorrow too. Without your help I wouldn’t be at this point by now, so thanks!