That’s a good question. I love to do things on the computer, especially website design and creating graphics.
When someone reaches out and asks for help, I love to say I can help because I have the experience behind me. Never is there a thought of, “Well, I should get paid for this.” To me, that would be the wrong reason to do this to begin with. And it’s not that I don’t need the money. It just that I’d rather know that I’m helping a friend or fellow writer out to where they couldn’t have done it on their own.
The other day I sat in my back admin panel looking up colors for a friend on her new website/blog. Right now she has the WordPress.com free blog. She doesn’t have as many options or the flexibility a WordPress.org installed and self-hosted one does (like the one I have here). So I sat there on and off looking for colors to try to match the color scheme she was looking for. And when it was all said and done she was able to get the ones she wanted that were appealing to the eye. It made me feel good to know that I could help her in this manner whereas someone else might charge someone for something like that. I’m probably not the only one who feels this way. At the end of the day, knowing that you can help other people out there is a rewarding experience.
I partly agree with you; however, the Bible says “a workman is worthy of his hire,” and if he has given you a talent in which you can earn a living, I don’t see anything wrong with charging for it. Also, I’ve found that people tend to look on you as more of a professional if you charge. In my case, I have to do it to earn a living as my husband is disabled. On the other hand, I do help a lot of people who can’t pay, although perhaps not to the same extent. For example, when I go to writers’ conferences, I hold 15 minute appointments with writers and look over their material. I have also read chapters of a book to give the author an idea of if they’re on the right track. Hope this helps.
Donna, I completely agree with you. For me, I have no interest as far as helping teach others about software. At one point I thought about creating graphics and helping with websites but right now I’m just not in a place to do something like that. One day, hopefully soon, I also want to start my own critique business. I’ve come to love doing critiques and would love helping other writers. I still have more to learn before I’d feel confident enough to start the business. However, it will happen given time. And your comments did help. Thank you.
Enjoyed your post. An act of giving and sharing of talents is a wonderful thing. I am a card maker and make a ton of cards for people, and donate them etc, but I do charge for jobs that are custome and take time and supplies. I think it is finding a balance that works best for me.
I 100% agree with you. For me, this would be the case if I didn’t know the person at all and they needed something done. Unless of course it was for a good cause that didn’t have the funds, then I wouldn’t charge. I think that balance is key in almost anything. You have to be able to find that happy medium otherwise you might overwhelm yourself.