7 ms·

People are happy to pay for things that are good. Don’t be afraid to charge for your services. "would pay", 5,200 results https://www.google.com/search?q=%22w

by rhplus 14y ago

People are happy to pay for things that are good. Don’t be afraid to charge for your services. "would pay", 5,200 results https://www.google.com/search?q=%22would+pay%22+site:news.ycombinator.com https://www.google.com/search?q=%22would+pay%22+site:news.yc... "wouldn't pay", 38,000 results https://www.google.com/search?q=%22wouldn%27t+pay%22+site:news.ycombinator.com https://www.google.com/search?q=%22wouldn%27t+pay%22+site:ne... (OK, so it's kind of a joke response, but the abundance of free software and services has really driven down the expectations around reasonable payment compared to box software's heyday, even for software developers themselves).

orangethirty 14y ago
Don't drink the kool aid. There is still a lot of money being made. You don't hear about it because only an idiot would talk about his/her amazing sales.
- mijustin 14y ago
  Hmmm. Only an "idiot" would talk about sales? Patio11 - http://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/12/29/bingo-card-creator-and-other-stuff-year-in-review-2012/ http://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/12/29/bingo-card-creator-and-o... Nathan Barry - http://nathanbarry.com/2012-year-quitting-job/ http://nathanbarry.com/2012-year-quitting-job/ Brennan Dunn - http://planscope.io/blog/giving-up-a-million-dollar-consultancy/ http://planscope.io/blog/giving-up-a-million-dollar-consulta...
  - ahoyhere 14y ago
    Sad that I'm not "idiot" enough for you to mention! ;)
    - mijustin 14y ago
      How could I forget about Amy! She's one of the first people I saw publish her numbers: http://unicornfree.com/2010/i-made-216668-from-products http://unicornfree.com/2010/i-made-216668-from-products
  - orangethirty 14y ago
    A handful of people from thousands who prefer to keep quiet. Plus only those who do talk about them do it to help themselves (as a marketing tool). Any time you talk about amazing sales you risk alerting your competition about your niche.
    - tanzam75 14y ago
      Indeed. I read all four of the blog posts. All four of them make the majority of their money from consulting or from training -- books, videos, and workshops -- rather than from products. The split ranges from around 50/50 to almost 90/10. In 2012, Patrick made 20% of his income (not revenues) from products, and 80% of his income from consulting and training, primarily client engagements. (He did not disclose revenues from his second product -- but careful reading of his blog suggests that it probably has not quadrupled his product income.) In 2010, Amy made 32% of her revenues from products, and 68% from consulting and training, primarily workshops. (The 68% has to be split 50/50 with her husband, but even after splitting it in half, it's still 48% vs 52% -- with the majority coming from consulting and training.) In 2012, Nathan made 18% of his revenue from products, and 82% from consulting and training, primarily books. In 2012, Brennan Dunn made 13% of his revenue from products, and 87% from training and consulting, primarily consulting. Interestingly, he took Amy's course and did a 180-degree reversal of direction. They have all discovered that the money is not in gold mining -- or even in selling shovels to the gold miners. It's in giving presentations about gold-mining, and selling videos teaching them how to pan for gold. Patrick wrote about wrestling with his conscience before charging for his expertise, but ultimately discovered that it tripled his income. They have all turned their blogging popularity into cash -- and that's why they continue to blog. The people who are making most of their money from gold-mining are not blogging about the location of their mine.
      - orangethirty 14y ago
        The people who are making most of their money from gold-mining are not blogging about the location of their mine. Perfectly put. But hey, I'm a consultant. I understand why, and how they do it. I'm not knocking on them, because they do provide value and are not scamming anyone.
jere 14y ago
If this worries you: http://www.kalzumeus.com/2009/03/07/how-to-successfully-compete-with-open-source-software/ http://www.kalzumeus.com/2009/03/07/how-to-successfully-comp...
run4yourlives 14y ago
Those 38K people are irrelevant if the 5200 are paying you enough to live on. Your mission in life is not to make everyone happy. This is impossible anyway. (and yeah, I know you are being half-serious)

by rhplus 14y ago

orangethirty 14y ago

Don't drink the kool aid. There is still a lot of money being made. You don't hear about it because only an idiot would talk about his/her amazing sales.

mijustin 14y ago
Hmmm. Only an "idiot" would talk about sales? Patio11 - http://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/12/29/bingo-card-creator-and-other-stuff-year-in-review-2012/ http://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/12/29/bingo-card-creator-and-o... Nathan Barry - http://nathanbarry.com/2012-year-quitting-job/ http://nathanbarry.com/2012-year-quitting-job/ Brennan Dunn - http://planscope.io/blog/giving-up-a-million-dollar-consultancy/ http://planscope.io/blog/giving-up-a-million-dollar-consulta...
- ahoyhere 14y ago
  Sad that I'm not "idiot" enough for you to mention! ;)
  - mijustin 14y ago
    How could I forget about Amy! She's one of the first people I saw publish her numbers: http://unicornfree.com/2010/i-made-216668-from-products http://unicornfree.com/2010/i-made-216668-from-products
- orangethirty 14y ago
  A handful of people from thousands who prefer to keep quiet. Plus only those who do talk about them do it to help themselves (as a marketing tool). Any time you talk about amazing sales you risk alerting your competition about your niche.
  - tanzam75 14y ago
    Indeed. I read all four of the blog posts. All four of them make the majority of their money from consulting or from training -- books, videos, and workshops -- rather than from products. The split ranges from around 50/50 to almost 90/10. In 2012, Patrick made 20% of his income (not revenues) from products, and 80% of his income from consulting and training, primarily client engagements. (He did not disclose revenues from his second product -- but careful reading of his blog suggests that it probably has not quadrupled his product income.) In 2010, Amy made 32% of her revenues from products, and 68% from consulting and training, primarily workshops. (The 68% has to be split 50/50 with her husband, but even after splitting it in half, it's still 48% vs 52% -- with the majority coming from consulting and training.) In 2012, Nathan made 18% of his revenue from products, and 82% from consulting and training, primarily books. In 2012, Brennan Dunn made 13% of his revenue from products, and 87% from training and consulting, primarily consulting. Interestingly, he took Amy's course and did a 180-degree reversal of direction. They have all discovered that the money is not in gold mining -- or even in selling shovels to the gold miners. It's in giving presentations about gold-mining, and selling videos teaching them how to pan for gold. Patrick wrote about wrestling with his conscience before charging for his expertise, but ultimately discovered that it tripled his income. They have all turned their blogging popularity into cash -- and that's why they continue to blog. The people who are making most of their money from gold-mining are not blogging about the location of their mine.
    - orangethirty 14y ago
      The people who are making most of their money from gold-mining are not blogging about the location of their mine. Perfectly put. But hey, I'm a consultant. I understand why, and how they do it. I'm not knocking on them, because they do provide value and are not scamming anyone.

jere 14y ago

If this worries you: http://www.kalzumeus.com/2009/03/07/how-to-successfully-compete-with-open-source-software/ http://www.kalzumeus.com/2009/03/07/how-to-successfully-comp...

run4yourlives 14y ago

Those 38K people are irrelevant if the 5200 are paying you enough to live on. Your mission in life is not to make everyone happy. This is impossible anyway. (and yeah, I know you are being half-serious)