Don’t give the milk away for free if they won’t buy the cow.

cow comic

Remember a few days ago I said I tried an XML plugin for a sitemap that I didn’t like? Today the company reached out to me to ask me for feedback. I am not working for free.

If companies were serious about feedback they would say we will pay you X for two paragraphs of why you don’t like this plugin and how we can improve. Why would I work for free for a company I don’t even like?

I said a few days ago that companies don’t truly believe time=money. They believe their time=money, your time=worthless.

Stop working for free for companies that don’t pay you. It is simple.

No more free presentations, tests, or anything that requires effort. You are giving them something of value and they aren’t giving you anything. That isn’t a fair way to start any relationship.

I once had an interview for a company and they asked me what I would do to fix a major problem they had. I went into great detail about how I would fix it, and then realizing the value of what I gave them, asked them for payment. They gave me some of their product as payment. What you offer is valuable and you should never discount it.

For example, as a consultant I offer a wealth of insight and experience about things they don’t know about are important. In one engagement I found out something that could save the company millions if they were ever audited. What I said may seem simple, but the value was tremendous. They acted immediately to fix the issue I brought up.

This is not about bragging. It is simply saying that your education, insight, and experience can make or break a company. Don’t give the milk away for free if they won’t buy the cow.

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