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I didn't understand this quote in the first line: only charge for things that are hard to do I've found this to be absolutely untrue. Don't let implementation

I didn't understand this quote in the first line: only charge for things that are hard to do I've found this to be absolutely untrue. Don't let implementation difficulty factor in the decision whether to charge for a feature or not. The only exception to this is when choosing not to do something altogether because it's too hard. On Obsidian Portal, we charge for some of the simplest things (like the ability to send e-mail notifications of changes), while giving away some of the hardest things for free. In my opinion, it's about providing a useful product for free, while constantly presenting a premium product that would be more useful. The decision about what to charge for should only be made in terms of how useful it is to your users, not how hard/easy it is for you to do.

jamesbritt 17y ago
"The decision about what to charge for should only be made in terms of how useful it is to your users, not how hard/easy it is for you to do." This was a lesson it took me a bit of time to learn. As a contractor/consultant I needed to figure out what to bill. I started out thinking in terms of how hard something was; if I had to bust my ass, then I was going to charge for it, and if something is easy, how can I justify a high rate? Which, as it happens, is idiotic. The real metric is, How much value am I providing? Realistically there are some constraints, such as what are competitors charging (a concern if you don't want to chase potential customers away), but personal effort is not a main factor. There's a belief that hard work should be rewarded, but that just encourages people to work hard regardless of the end value of their efforts. Valuable work should be rewarded. If you can do it with out breaking a sweat, more power to you. You're kind of screwed if you go about thinking that because you worked hard on something that people will ultimately find it valuable and reward you. That only happens in some politician's stump speech fantasy.
patio11 17y ago
Amen, Micah. Just between us geeks, I charge for a one-line if statement. My customers certainly don't perceive it that way, though: they see the paid version as uniquely allowing them to accomplish the task they've set out to accomplish.

jamesbritt 17y ago

"The decision about what to charge for should only be made in terms of how useful it is to your users, not how hard/easy it is for you to do." This was a lesson it took me a bit of time to learn. As a contractor/consultant I needed to figure out what to bill. I started out thinking in terms of how hard something was; if I had to bust my ass, then I was going to charge for it, and if something is easy, how can I justify a high rate? Which, as it happens, is idiotic. The real metric is, How much value am I providing? Realistically there are some constraints, such as what are competitors charging (a concern if you don't want to chase potential customers away), but personal effort is not a main factor. There's a belief that hard work should be rewarded, but that just encourages people to work hard regardless of the end value of their efforts. Valuable work should be rewarded. If you can do it with out breaking a sweat, more power to you. You're kind of screwed if you go about thinking that because you worked hard on something that people will ultimately find it valuable and reward you. That only happens in some politician's stump speech fantasy.

patio11 17y ago

Amen, Micah. Just between us geeks, I charge for a one-line if statement. My customers certainly don't perceive it that way, though: they see the paid version as uniquely allowing them to accomplish the task they've set out to accomplish.