Should I trust this guy???

Hey MaxwellB thanks for your reply.

Yeah I think he's trying to pull a fast 1 you know.

He also mentioned about me doing S.E.O on the site too & even offered to pay me for it - if it was a reasonable price!!!

Yeah right pal - like I'm going to teach you, inadvertently, all my S.E.O secrets and get paid buttons for it...

Some people are so sneaky!!!

If he want's me to do the S.E.O too I want his domain on MY server where he can't spy on all my back-office magic!

Hi robbie

In a word....no!

You have to earn trust and if you take the risk is has to be a calculated one.

Who expects work to be done for free....seriously?

My response would be, "Hi there Bob, I had a word with my partner and at the moment that's not a financial viability for us. However if we do this project for you, as soon as we get another project (paid upfront) we will refund the original projects fee."

I don't think the issue is with your work as he was happy with your initial work so obviously he is confident you can do a good job on his site.

In my opinion it's either a clever bargain tactic by him or just an out and out con.

tbh it reminds me of my sisters ex who was a car mechanic....he would fix your car really cheap and then make something go wrong on it eventualy a few weeks later. Then the customer would come back to him and this is when he would rip them off lol.

I am not saying this sort of things going to happen to you but logic says its either a con or a clever bargaining tactic either way hold your ground as if he is genuine he can't be that stupid to turn round and say, "fine then no thanks" A good businessman will say okay how much and then try and negotiate.

Thanks Martin!

Yeah I just think he is leading me on with a 'Golden Carrot' to get stuff done for FREE!

Not this time buddy!!

No real need to trust him as you are not going to do it for him. You don't even need to explain it to him. You aren't a charity.

He knows you, he likes you to some degree, he knows you deliver, he likes what you did deliver and he wants the same for his business.

Therefore he will pay you.

If he genuinely will be passing you work he will have his wish anyway. You simply pay him a referral fee for each passed job that you complete, get paid for and is live for 30 days.

He can't argue with that.

Dan

Well said TheWrightWords!

Thanks

Truly words to live by!

Rob,

In part, you said:

" recently (3-4 months ago) met a guy in the bar who owns a media company. They mainly produce school radio, t.v that type of stuff."

You mean to tell me a guy who owns a media company can't get someone on staff to redesign his website. Nah, not today and not tomorrow my friend. He is pulling your leg for another reason. Don't know what it is, but it won't be in your best favor.

Hell, I can get a student out of the local Job Corps to redesign my website and it won't cost me a dime. By law, the federal regs don't permit the business to pay a dime. They pick up the tab. Yes, I know, I just let out a secret that if most businesses knew, a lot of us so called web marketers would be out of business.

Back to the point. Spec ain't where it's at.

Just my 2¢...

Tom

Rob, Like most have already said, he's a freebie hunter, and not worth your time.

To be honest, I've been doing Offline Marketing & Web Design since 1999, and the 'promise of lots of referrals' comes up most weeks, though typically towards a Discount Request, rather than asking us to work for free.

Although we did take the odd one on their word in the early days, we are still yet to se A SINGLE ONE of them to ever deliver on their empty promises.

And if this guy owns a media company but doesn't have sufficient disposable income to pay $1-$2K towards getting a new website designed, with SEO optimisation, is it likely he's for real?

Not only would I not agree to design his site for free, I would also give him and his future attempts to meet up, a very wide berth, as he certainly appears to be a conman.

This person need sympathy and true welfare. don't laugh give sincere advice if you are sincere

agree with that.

trust your gut. Every time my gut says no, i trust it, if not I just get into trouble. but I also have to know the difference between butterflies and my gut feelings

did you get a contract or anything

In another life-time, I used to be asked often for discounts based on the promise of more jobs. "Hey, can you give me 20% off. I've got 4 more jobs and I'll bring them all to you."

At first, I said, "Why, yes, kind and generous person."

And I ended up giving 20% on the only job they ever gave me.

So, I changed. When they said, "Hey, can you give me 20% off? If you do, I've got 3 more coming your way?" I'd say, "Sure, thing, kind and generous person. I'll apply all of that to the last one. So, the last one is practically free." I did not get the 1st one.

It rubs me the wrong way real hard when people ask me to do things for free who've already seen what I can do (I do good work). That's my bias in what I'm going to say.

Why did he ask you do do something for free?
He has a media company. He's a business person. He understands, or ought to, the value of time. He has something he can pay you with that is not money: why did he not offer to produce some tv/radio stuff for you? (I don't know exactly what he does, but if he produces ads, shows, etc. for TV, he can produce ads for you.)

So, no, don't trust him.