Giving Away Your Skills

[Jason]

In some things I want to, but not in others. How do you deal with this question? Well, some people work hard to know things, so why give it away on your site?

 

[Tracy]

Back "in the day" I freely gave away my knowledge of setting up VPS/dedicated server/KVM servers and even some minor customization of XF.. but to be brutally honest... I got tired of it being abused.... and I simply VERY rarely offer 1st party service any longer. I'll usually point you to the direction you need to investigate... but for me doing it... you can't afford what I would now charge.

 

[Jason]

I have some good skills with drums. I'm willing to give it away. However, I really don't want to give away math and science knowledge too much.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I think giving away your skills for free is fine here and there. It shows your potential buyers a taste of what you offer, and it allows you to get your name out there.

 

[otis booard]

years ago i did a lot of voluntary teaching work.

 

[Shortie]

I wouldn't say don't ever not consider giving away some of your skills for free but be cautious about how much you give away. You may have spent a lot of time and also money learning what you know and the skills you have and giving it all away for free wouldn't be ideal.

Give away some advice to give them a taste of what you know and the skills you have so that they can determine if they would like to pay you to teach them more.

 

[SDL]

It's not a bad thing to do in the right circumstances, provided you put limits on it as you don't want to be taken advantage of. You might innocently help someone with something which doesn't take too much of your time but then you'll sometimes end up getting spammed with other questions and requests and it can get draining if you don't know when to say no. I've been there before, far too many times. However it can also be good to help build up a reputation, as it'll lead to more prospects for paid work etc so you could consider it as marketing.

 

[Reverie]

I guess it first depends on the skill and how much time to do the skill. Sometimes giving a sampling and creating samples for a "portfolio" is a good idea. Graphic wise - simpler graphics can be free, but the more complex then I would want to be paid for my time. Posting, creating content, sharing knowledge can all come at a price if you're knowledgeable and well in the area you're sharing in.