Some People Cannot be Helped.
It's a hard fact and it's a hard lesson. Some People Cannot be Helped!
I was asked by an old friend if I could help her build out a website. Her and her partner were setting up a business and didnt have any extra funds so I obliged to help out. Un beknown to me they had already paid out some serious money just for a snip of a page with nothing on it at all.
I said I would do my best?
I had to do everything including even filling in the blanks of their company. So you can imagine I had my work set up. I took this Website and built out the pages with little help from them. Which was ok at the time altough it wasnt, That meant I basically had to learn every part of their business alone. Which also took my time from my other Businesses.
I did find it annoying but always one to help out, and in return once the website started to convert I would earn a commision for the work I have done. It was a pretty awesome website on all accounts and hit quite a lot of clicks. The analytics and google Console obviously showed me that.
I had just put in the GDPR etc as we have to do it now. I get a call to tell me is it ok if one of her new stafff would be able to have a go at it. I said of course but please do not log me out and I will help out. Not only that the website sat along with my other Websites in google console analytics etc.
Well they logged me out completely and have turned the website into what looks like a childs messy drawing. Not only that all those pages of hard work will now return nothing but 404's and a jumbled up mess. .
The moral of this story.
Do not ever undercut yourself. We all work hard and sometimes helping others for free they might just do what my friend has done to me. I actually was quite annoyed at them at first because this could of affected my new business in a big way.
Lucky for me it hasn't and I haven't the heart to tell them that the pages they have trashed and made differen't and the new ones that they have written with bad permalinks literally stand for nothing. They have rendered what could have been a fablous website into a jumbling mess.
Wealthy Affiliate train us to excell in all our businesses.
We all train hard and sometimes Free is not good at all. To excell in any business we have to trust in ourselves also. Even our friends can treat us bad. My business won't fail because of this blip. However it hurt quite a lot and I am lucky enough to realise I will excell. Yet I know they will fail. I actually hate to think that they might.
Their bricks and mortar business has cost them thousands and it will cost them thousands more. I am lucky it only cost my time. Just in case you want to know about this business it was about a claims management business. Something I obviously learned about whilst building out the website. In fact I could build out my own. I wouldnt because it doesnt interest me at all.
The Conclusion:Do not ever think you are not worthy of anything.
Wealthy Affiliate guide us and teach us to build businesses out in multiple ways. They train us in everything here. Not just being affiliates! Literally the world is our OYSTER WITHIN WEALTHY AFFILIATE. It Has been mine. It continues to be mine.
Do not! underestimate yourself and sign up proper contracts stipulating everything. I feel quite sad in a sense and hurt but I have watched someone totally trash a website. Why because sometimes a freebie doesnt work out good. They always think they know better and actually they don't. I know that because I have trained hard. They could do with Wealthy Affiliate to be honest but they do not listen.
What we are handed here within Wealthy Affiliate is the absolute power to Excel. There are so many of us that do. Yes it takes time for some of us and little time for others, but we succeed. Why? We do not give up! and we are sometimes more stronger than any Bricks and Mortar Business. Well I am in anycase. All It cost me is 98 cents a day. I know her business is bound to fail. Sad I know but not my problem any more.
Best wishes to you all and you will succeed just believe in yourself and this amazing platform. Do not sell yourself short never.
~Debs :)
Recent Comments
93
Hello Debs,
Sorry this happened to you. I know it has to hurt especially being it was a friend. But like you said, you are definetely in the right place here in WA. I can tell you're strong and you'll keep going forward.
You know the crazy thing, I just wrote a blog in the area of brick walls and things. And the cazier thing is, I didn't read your blog till after I wrote and posted my blog.
Strange, HUH?
Take care of yourself.
David
Hi, David,
How crazy is that if your in the Uk then check out the mould sector it's a great niche to be writing about believe it or not.
You too take care also and thank you for passing by.
Regards debs :)
I'm not in the Uk but I sure appreciate that. If you have time read my blog and let me know what you think. Let Them Fall Then Build Up Thank you Debs
Debs, Glad to see a post from you. Missed them. You have turned a bad experience into a teachable moment for us all. This speaks of your character and your desire to help others. Thank you for sharing and know the blip will pass, your knowledge is forever.
To Success!
Sanders
Hi,
Thank you so much. What a fabulous comment and thank you for your continued support.
To Success!
~Debs :)
Two lessons learned.
1. When to say NO. What did you give up or have to delay in order to help your friend. If you have to give up the important stuff in you life it is time to say NO.
2. There can only be one webmaster. Never give control of a website you are working on over to the owner of the website until the website you are working on is done. You were working pro bono so payment was an issue, but the only good reason to do what you did was to be able to add that website to your portfolio.
I have had a similar thing happen to me twice. Now if they want to turn their site over to someone else, I will tell them about WA. If they join as a premium member, I will answer questions when they get stuck. I use SiteRubix for my test sites. If you had kept your friends site on siterubix You would at least have been able to refer prospective customers to the site as part of your portfolio.
Jay recommends a signed contract, half payment up from remainder on approval and only move your development site to their URL after full payment is received. Even if you are working pro bono a contract can help avoid misunderstandings.
Hi,
this site wasn't hosted here in W.A they already paid out for it via another person if was via W.A then I would have control.
Yes you are totally right also. My time is too precious and because of how and the way she has gone about this situation I shall not be helping any more.
Sad case I am afraid and to be honest she really could do with W.A. I couldn't stress that enough. I suppose now she will learn the power of W.A. and what we do here.
Lucky for me it has freed up a lot of my time also.
This site was also done before Jay had done his training in SEO. As I said to Hugh below. Anyways onwards and upwards.
:)
The training from Jay is excellent and well worth watching so others dont do as I did. Here is Jays training also to help those who are helping others. Local SEO 2018: Earning Income from Clients Not every body respects what you do for them :)
You were kind to help your friend. Sadly sometimes free has no value attached to it. If you charged them even as little as $100 they would not have trashed your work......ehhh....you live, you learn. Thanks for sharing.
Truth be known hunni those who get it for free have no respect. Not all thank fully are like that.
I have a longer standing website that I still earn from. I just decided to post this because I refuse to do any more free websites for anybody.
Its a sad shame but not everyone rolls the right way. Its takes up a lot of our time too.
Yes Like Hugh said Below Jay does some fab training on this about getting a 50% commission up front first and I make him totally right.
~Debs :)
Great lesson and wonderful post Debs! Your time pales in comparison to (sadly) the thousands $$$ your friend's business is bound to lose dealing with cleaning up the mess they made. Not to mention thousands more $$$ from a bad business plan.
If you had charged them $$ from the beginning, they would have SAVED so much money $$$, their website would have never been trashed, ad you likely would still be on.
Instead, using a highly skilled and competent friend's FREE service (YOU) allowed them to make a BAD choice, and HIRE a totally unskilled neophyte staff member who probably "bamboozled" your friend into thinking they were a so-called expert.
Big Lesson: Always charge what you are worth (if not more) even to close friend's. You will be doing yourself a favor, and THEM a favor.
Hi, Kaju,
I already knew the person was no good he was looking up about the appearance part but who am I to justify. As for my friend she had a site many years ago so she was the expert there was no reasoning with her. Shame because it was a pretty good website if I may say myself.
There was no telling her because of her feisty Northern Manchester self and she was to rude but she she was met with a feisty me. I tried to help there was no helping.
I did however ask them not to log me out as they Are in my google console and analytics they thought or should I say she thought she knew better after all she is the super business woman I was a lousy web builder in her eyes. To be honest I do better than she ever could and learning about claims in the UK was no fun at all. I did it though. I did a fab job and my analytics are there to prove it but she doesn't know about all that.
There was no arguing with her there was no reasoning now she knows her mistake.
. Just a blip and I have my parking spaces London that I have secured a deposit for that will pay me a whacking commission.
That unskilled person was actually herself she knows everything. What can I do Kaju. Make her let me run her website No I cant. She was the controller and now she will realise her mistake.
I did try, of course I did. I spent a good 8 months bringing that site up. I never allowed them to do anything but some people know better Kaju.
I cant make them keep me on in that Website. I would never jeapordise my own business that way thank fully it wasn't connected with none of mine. I can only help I cant make them keep me in the site. We all live and learn she knew better I tried to help she wasn't listening.....
Debs :)
Wow, it was Her!! Okay, she is blinded by hubris! I know they type very well.
You are so right Debs, you were too kind from the beginning to these "know-it-all" clients, however in the end they will reap what they sowed. They are the losers, not you.
She realizes her mistake already. You were right to walk away, even if she wanted you to stay in a part-time capacity. Good riddance!
Your 8 months were not wasted however. You gained valuable "on the job" training. You can argue this is time taken away from your own business - and to an extent that is true - but I believe more so this was valuable training to APPLY to your new businesses.
You cannot fix the "unfixable." You post "Some People Cannot Be Helped" hits dead on the mark. Just a blip.
Keep reaching for bigger successes Debs. Love it!
Hi, Kaju,
Thank you for that reply. It was hard graft trying to explain it to her but she wasn't listening. I would never hurt anybody's business but if you had been a witness to our conversation you would have slammed the phone down lol.
It was sad and it hurt to see the hash they made of it. Like you say I did learn an awful lot and I will put that to good use. Not in the claims area however I have no interest in it.
I am an now quite an expert on claims management in the housing sector when they did a lot of renovations on houses back in the 80's and 90's.
I also learned a lot on mould in the Uk and the causes we can suffer from it. I had to learn all this because they wanted it and I studied it.
Quite a niche believe it or not the mould part of it. I am happy you see how I did try to help. Obviously they knew how good the website was and didnt want to shell out more money. Not that I asked them for it.
Quite a learning curve in more ways than one. It's so true but totally sad I can't fix the unfixable.
Thank you Kaju. I appreciate your reply back more than you will ever know.
~Debs :)
I just counted 4 specific niches there Debs
- Claims management for UK housing
- Home renovations of the 80's
- Home renovations of the 90's
- Mould in the UK
If you were interested, you could create a blog about any of that you have already become an expert in (if you aren't already) and generate a good passive income.
Heck, as you know you can research many other sub-niches directly FROM these.
No time wasted whatsoever!
Especially the Mould Kaju that was one killer post I wrote. I got tons of messages from that one alone. The interest on that alone was outstanding. Its in the back of my mind when I get the time to start writing about it. :))
Oh yeah, that's a topic that all peeps find extremely useful.
Why don't build a niche site and start writing product reviews about "mould removers" or "mould removal experts in the UK", etc.. that topic would take off!
You are providing a solution, and adding great value for people who are looking for distressed properties. Even non-distressed properties that have accumulated mould. Then there are all sorts of related affiliate products you can promote there.
A lot of people don't have the common sense or the ethics tor a successful business. Don't let yours b affected!
Hi,
This so true and to be honest I was totally shocked. The girl can be so rude. It's sad to think that a freebie could turn somebody completely and I am thankful I didnt promote it along side my other Sites as it would have and could have ruined my other work.
I just wished I had a recording of the site before and what it looks like now. Such a shame really but onwards and upwards for sure.
Thank you Mike for your kind words.
~Debs :)
Hey Debs, sorry for your bad experience.
In Jay's local SEO training he mentioned charging 50% upfront, maybe you should do this too, even when you are working with someone you know. It might seem too straightforward to a person you know, but business is business, having an agreement upfront might save your relationship later when something goes wrong.
On the flip side, you learn more about the person and your gain more confidence in your expertise, right? All these things will only make you a better lady boss! :)
Hugh
Hi, Hugh,
Believe it or not this site was done before that training from Jay. I remember watching his training too.
To be quite honest Hugh the girl is quite an abrupt one and I think she thought I was one of her newbies. I obviously wasn't so the conversation got quite feisty.
Its a business she tried before and lost money the girl to be honest doesn't have a clue.
To be honest my point is proven now the state of the site. Shame really. They seriously could do with Wealthy Affiliate Lol. Onwards and upwards and also for others not to make my mistake too.
Hey and great to see you again Hugh too thank you for stopping by again. :))
The old saying "No good deed goes unpunished" applies here.
You were trying to be a friend and put in some major work to help them out. It is always so weird that when you offer something for free it can often be perceived as having no value. Well, we have done the same with similar results. You are a good person but now, you just focus on your own business.
Deb, your kindness will come back to you and send you soaring to new heights of success!
Hi,
So true. It is such shame. I do feel for her because what has happened to the website is terrible. They think they know better. It looks so awful and silly.
Alas we live and learn.
Thank you so much for your comment and also for passing by.
Great to have people like yourself in W.A.
Hope to catch up with you more.
~Debs :)
I’m so sorry you’ve had this experience! I had it many years ago, too. More than once, I’m afraid to say. In different scenarios. As a result, I trust promises very little, like clear expectations in writing and, I will not be guilted into proving my decency through great acts of voluntarism. Nothing to prove. Some people are just casually exploitative. It’s a helpful lesson learning to identify them.
X
Hi, Ivy,
Isn't it awful that we have to go through this. I honestly know though, they know they have made a real mess. I can only help as much as I can.
Lucky for me it only cost my time and nothing more. As for them they will now have to pay out a lot of money to get it back to normal. I shan't be helping NO more freebies from me that's for sure.
Thank goodness I have my other business to count on. Thank you Ivy it's actually great to know although not nice you have been through the same thing. It kind of makes you stumble for a while. It does pull us down but lucky for us not for long.
I think that's why W.A. works as we can all share our experiences.
Thank you so much Ivy for passing By.
~Debs :)
See more comments
Family and friends are often your worst customers.
Just move right along as this is their loss ...
Hi,
sad but so true.
Thank you for passing by.
~Debs :)