It’s so important to me to help others, I want to see everyone succeed in living their dream and pursuing what they are passionate about. I also enjoy helping other parents become financially independent by working from home, however, just because in my heart this is something I love doing does not mean I should be taking my much deserved time to consult with parents for free!
You see time is money and money is time, it’s not being selfish to want to charge someone a consultation fee to discuss the opportunities of blogging for money, starting a virtual assistant business or something else, it’s simply a matter of life. There are very few people in this world who are making cash for a living who will lend you very detailed advice for free, at first I was sad about this, but then I realized my time is valuable.
As a parent who works strictly from home if I am spending just 30 minutes of my time helping coach someone about their skills to best direct them to a work at home position then I am losing some pretty good money during that 30 minutes that could have been spent on a paying client. I am all about helping others but seriously if someone wants me to consult with them, discuss in great lengths their skills to help direct them to a work from home business or job, then reality is I should be paid something for my time.
With so many people being laid off and not getting pay increases it really can be hard to want to charge a person but reality is this is your job, if you are working from home and start doing consultations to assist others in reaching their goals of working from home then you are advising them. Chances are most people will be charging for a consultation and earning some really decent money doing this, so I say even if you feel badly about charging to help lead a friend in the right direction you really should.
Personally I think they would respect you more setting a rate because then they will see that you are doing your all, honestly if someone is doing something for free for me such as a website design or logo design I often do question if my time is considered valuable enough for them to give their all. I do offer work at home consultations for a reasonable fee, but I have bartered services as well. It’s a win win, whatever works for you but reality is please do not be giving away your work at home time for free or you will find precious hours being lost without bill money earned!
Question for Thought: Do you give your time away for free? Why or why not?
New Blog Post Time is Money and Money is Time http://bit.ly/9bpbpp