Comments on: Don’t Let Them Undervalue Your Work http://www.matthew-long.com/2006/07/03/dont-let-them-undervalue-your-work/ Matt Long's Blog About Programming and Stuff Mon, 13 Oct 2008 01:32:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.2 By: perlmunger http://www.matthew-long.com/2006/07/03/dont-let-them-undervalue-your-work/#comment-11216 perlmunger Wed, 31 Oct 2007 18:19:26 +0000 http://www.matthew-long.com/2006/07/03/dont-let-them-undervalue-your-work/#comment-11216 Hey Gary. I have experienced all of these scenarios as well. I just laugh any more. Had a guy who was promising me a bazillion dollars. I told him that sounded great, but I still needed paid up front. He gave me the first two payments and then realized he didn't have enough cash to realize his bazillion dollar dreams. He stopped paying. I stopped working. I could have gone after him, but I'm pretty sure he was truly already over spent. Wasn't worth it. At least I got paid something out of the deal. Thanks for your comments even though it's an old post. ;-) Hey Gary. I have experienced all of these scenarios as well. I just laugh any more. Had a guy who was promising me a bazillion dollars. I told him that sounded great, but I still needed paid up front. He gave me the first two payments and then realized he didn’t have enough cash to realize his bazillion dollar dreams. He stopped paying. I stopped working. I could have gone after him, but I’m pretty sure he was truly already over spent. Wasn’t worth it. At least I got paid something out of the deal.

Thanks for your comments even though it’s an old post. ;-)

]]> By: Gary http://www.matthew-long.com/2006/07/03/dont-let-them-undervalue-your-work/#comment-11214 Gary Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:34:11 +0000 http://www.matthew-long.com/2006/07/03/dont-let-them-undervalue-your-work/#comment-11214 I know this blog entry is very old, but I can't help but respond. I've seen these sorts of help wanted ads before and it makes me laugh. Some other common types of "help wanted" ads I see that amuse/irritate me: 1. "I paid my brother-in-law/friend/neighbour to build me a website, cuz he said he knew how to do it. Now it's half done and it doesn't work, and he took off to Mexico. I need to hire a programmer to fix and the problems with the site. Oh, but the other guy blew my budget, so I only have a little bit of money left". 2. "I have a great idea for a business, and I just know it will be worth $10 quazillion in five years. But I need a programmer to build the entire website first. Oh, and of course I have no money right now, so I need you to build it up front for free, then when (if) the business succeeds I'll give you a cut." 3. "How much to have you build a website exactly like [Amazon/Ebay/Google/Facebook/Insert major website here] . It's hard, especially early on, but it's important not to reply or encourage these types of "clients" as they are only taking advantage of the desperate and undermining the industry as a whole. I know this blog entry is very old, but I can’t help but respond. I’ve seen these sorts of help wanted ads before and it makes me laugh. Some other common types of “help wanted” ads I see that amuse/irritate me:

1. “I paid my brother-in-law/friend/neighbour to build me a website, cuz he said he knew how to do it. Now it’s half done and it doesn’t work, and he took off to Mexico. I need to hire a programmer to fix and the problems with the site. Oh, but the other guy blew my budget, so I only have a little bit of money left”.

2. “I have a great idea for a business, and I just know it will be worth $10 quazillion in five years. But I need a programmer to build the entire website first. Oh, and of course I have no money right now, so I need you to build it up front for free, then when (if) the business succeeds I’ll give you a cut.”

3. “How much to have you build a website exactly like [Amazon/Ebay/Google/Facebook/Insert major website here] .

It’s hard, especially early on, but it’s important not to reply or encourage these types of “clients” as they are only taking advantage of the desperate and undermining the industry as a whole.

]]> By: Long Pointers » When Marketing and Technology Collide http://www.matthew-long.com/2006/07/03/dont-let-them-undervalue-your-work/#comment-11 Long Pointers » When Marketing and Technology Collide Wed, 02 Aug 2006 23:01:55 +0000 http://www.matthew-long.com/2006/07/03/dont-let-them-undervalue-your-work/#comment-11 [...] I like Amazon as a online retailer and so I can’t really be too upset. They are pretty reputable and they usually have pretty competitive prices. I’m sure they’re always improving their store software so maybe we’ll see this as a new feature in the years to come. Of course, if you think about it, if the feature did exist, no one would ever know about it. It would just be seamless. You would never see a sale price that was higher than a previous price when you added something to your cart. I suppose that’s one of the reasons why we developers are often so undervalued. We create invisible features that no one understands until the feature is missing. [...] [...] I like Amazon as a online retailer and so I can’t really be too upset. They are pretty reputable and they usually have pretty competitive prices. I’m sure they’re always improving their store software so maybe we’ll see this as a new feature in the years to come. Of course, if you think about it, if the feature did exist, no one would ever know about it. It would just be seamless. You would never see a sale price that was higher than a previous price when you added something to your cart. I suppose that’s one of the reasons why we developers are often so undervalued. We create invisible features that no one understands until the feature is missing. [...]

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