No matter what you do, don’t offer a free service. Ever. Unless you are prepared to wade through an ocean of ingratitude.
Time is money, or at least, virtual money invested against your very own lifespan. Especially if your time is dedicated to making a living, you should never consider offering freebies.
Since the introduction of the Internet, there is a misconception that information is free; music is free; entertainment and even products should be offered for free.
And that’s just wrong.
The definition of “free” changes when the scale of freedom reaches critical mass.
And that happens, when people start to expect or even *demand* the things your provide; when they display no appreciation for whatever you offer; when they become disruptive of your efforts; when they turn rude, annoying and just plain nasty.
So next time you want something for free, remember that someone spent a considerable time of their lives creating it; when you are upset that a free feature is terminated at no loss to you, remember that its creator or provider decided to allocate their time to something else.
I too, want my MTV. And I pay for it.
Agree.
We’ve had frustrating times with some free sites.
Users expect more-more-more,
and with FREE comes abuse.
If you offer user generated content and free services, expect their to be SPAM and tons of it, and ABUSE whenever someone can.
It’s very frustrating.
It IS rewarding when you know you’re offering a great service, but the frustrations sometimes out weigh the good-will feelings.
Aron
Exactly. The critical mass I talked about.
Acro,
give an inch, they want the whole foot..
You did great. You know that, everyone who matters knows this and that is all that matter 🙂
keep it up
thanks for being you!
Patty
Reminds me of the adage “Liberties shouldn’t be taken for granted” but unfortunately most of the times “Liberties are taken for granted”.
Patty’s social engineering comments above lol
@GR – No kidding! Apparently she left that comment before her scams were revealed. The nerve!