Here are a few random thoughts - no need to respond it does not apply to you, I just post it as general information in case others are asking the same questions :)
My experience is that often only when I offered free help in the first place, I'd get the people to "thank" me by purchasing. But that only applies because it's a shareware thing I'm offering. I don't think I ever hint to those who ask for help that it costs me money to help them. They usually get it themselves (and in my apps or code I have a note that tries to suggest in a friendly way that I'd like a compensation for all the work I've done for them by providing this software already). Of course, in a professional business model, you'll have to include the support costs into your product's price. Do never get the idea to charge your customers for helping them with what you sold them. If they need help, you've usually have done something wrong and it's up to you to deal with it. Even if it's a "RTFM" issue, it's still you who failed to make that manual obsolete. :) Extra charging for "I can't get this working" type of support questions will only upset your customers. Yet, companies like Apple try to pull this one with their paid support. It's awful. _______________________________________________ Unsubscribe or switch delivery mode: <http://www.realsoftware.com/support/listmanager/> Search the archives of this list here: <http://support.realsoftware.com/listarchives/lists.html>
