Surviving Financial Disaster by Giving Something Away for Free

by Sara Morgan

Last year I had the great fortune to receive not one, but three major personal and financial blows in my life. “Fortune”, you say?  “Are you nuts?” Nah, I just finally realized that it is the biggest challenges in life that give us the biggest opportunities.

Admittedly things have been a little rough. Most of my friends think I have gone mad. No one understands why I will not just give up this dream of mine and go get a “real job”. Some days I see their point, but the bottom line is that all I have left is my integrity. I have sold almost everything else, but my integrity is priceless.

Two months ago, when I realized that no one was buying my book about escaping Corporate America and no one was hiring me for contract jobs due to the Recession, I decided to take a chance and do something I have always wanted to do. You see, I love to help people help themselves. Empowering other people empowers me.

So, I decided to use my skills as a professional technical writer and my 15 years of experience as a software developer and create a do-it-yourself web design guide. The guide would be written in a very conversational style and would only include the bare minimum of what someone needed to know to get a professional web site up and running. I used every minute and every brain cell to pound out what I think is a pretty exceptional guide. My best work yet.

Initially, I planned on selling the guide for $25 each. Certainly a 137 page guide that was this thorough would be worth that. But last weekend, I had a burst of inspiration and decided to go a different route. In the spirit of the Internet and that information should be made free; I am giving the guide away to anyone that signs-up on my web site at www.custsolutions.net.

That’s right. I am giving it away. Most people that have downloaded it so far are amazed that I am doing this, but it makes sense to me. I know this is the only way I can truly reach the most people possible and empower them to reach for their dreams. True, I get no money and I still have no way to pay next month’s mortgage, but I got that integrity. And, that is what life is all about – at least for me it is.

Sara Morgan is a professional web developer and the author of No Limits: How I escaped the clutches of Corporate America to live the self-employed life of my dreams”. You can find out more about Sara and her book at http://www.nolimitsthebook.com. You can download her free Web Design Guide at http://www.custsolutions.net.

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Comments

[Marlan Warren]

I could have written this (minus the web skills publishing part), Sara. What a lovely piece on making the best of a "bad" situation.

Giving away services from time to time is a great way to feel better about oneself and the world around them, I think. It can empower us, as you correctly note. When Sandra Bullock announces that she's giving over a million dollars to Haiti relief, she glows with self-satisfaction. But why should the rich have all the fun? The New Poor can enjoy the empowerment of giving too -- as you so clearly demonstrate.

Over the past 6 mos., my friends have been giving to me in any way they can because I am so desperately poor due to the reasons you state. They say, "Don't you remember when YOU helped me?"

"Faith, hope and charity...but the greatest of these is Charity" the Bible says. And now I know why.

There's a flip side which I discovered: If I upgrade my marketing and firmly charge what I'm worth, the clients will come. Charging is also empowering. That's what I am also learning.

Maybe the lessons of the New Poor are about balance. What to give and what we need to do to keep receiving.

May your generous sharing of your knowledge be your bread upon the waters that will return to you a thousandfold.
And may you always have more than enough food, shelter and cash.

In Love and Light,
Marlan