Don't be afraid of asking for compensation for your travel time and expenses. If they are not willing to pay you for that, guess what kind of client they will be?
Alternately, with all the web based remote control options available, why travel there at all? Dennis McGrath Software Developer QMI Security Solutions 1661 Glenlake Ave Itasca IL 60143 630-980-8461 [email protected] -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jim Belisle Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2014 10:45 AM To: RBASE-L Mailing List Subject: [RBASE-L] - RE: OT - consulting travel? Mike, I like especially the last paragraph in your response. Charity should be freely given not expected! Good advice. James Belisle Making Information Systems People Friendly Since 1990 -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of MikeB Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2014 10:32 AM To: RBASE-L Mailing List Subject: [RBASE-L] - RE: OT - consulting travel? Abraham Lincoln: "A lawyer's time and advice are his stock in trade" If you have been asked to come for a consult, then yes, but that should be established before you set out. You should never expose yourself to someone picking your brain if it is to head in another direction. I see this in the various NewsGroups all the time. (You should look up "Vampire" as how it relates to NewsGroups) Someone too lazy to do the work themselves, constantly banging the NGs for solutions that they are going to charge their clients for (someone else's work product). You have paid the price for years of experience. You should be paid for that experience if someone else has need of it. If you don't have already, you should have a fee schedule to send in a cover letter, so the client would have some expectation of covering the value of your time. Ben Franklin: "Lost time is never found again" If I was going to do something with my time that benefited someone else, it should be either a gratuitous endeavor on my part, or for hire. Otherwise I would rather waste my time on myself and family. > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Karen > Tellef > Sent: Wednesday, February 05, 2014 10:07 AM > To: RBASE-L Mailing List > Subject: [RBASE-L] - OT - consulting travel? > > I've driven to places before to talk about a potential project > (someone you've never worked with) and I usually do not charge > anything. But for the first time this client is a 3 hour drive away. > So obviously an entire day will be taken up even if the meeting is just a half hour. > I'm not expecting to do any actual work there, just let them show me > their app, talk about > the upgrade process, etc. For the first time I'm thinking of > asking for maybe just my gas expense? I'm not sure what the standard > is, if the business would expect a charge like that or whether they > would be insulted. > > What do you people think or do? > > Karen >
