Comments on: How to Make Money By Giving Things Away

By: Outlaw Design Blog Â» How to Make Money By Giving Things Away

Outlaw Design Blog Â» How to Make Money By Giving Things Away — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:26:30 +0000

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By: Caleb Kimbrough

Caleb Kimbrough — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 19:23:38 +0000

Mmmmm…now here’s a topic worth commenting on

My blog ( http://lostandtaken.com for those of you unfamiliar) is probably one of the few design blogs that focuses on only giving things away…in this case, one thing: textures.

I started the site about 7 months ago and while I am nowhere near making a living from it, It does pay my car payment every month and then some…not bad for only spending a couple hours a week on it.

For me personally, I started giving away for things solely to help out fellow designers…I had no intentions on making money from it. But it developed into a hobby and perhaps in the future it will turn into something more.

I think the key to being successful is giving away quality items, like you said. If you try to be the best at what you are doing, people will notice. I’ve gotten several writing gigs as a direct result of what I do on my blog, including a weekly column on Bittbox (thanks Jay!).

One last thing: when you give away quality free resources people really are grateful for them…which is something you can capitalize on. Donations are my second biggest source of income

Take care!

Caleb

By: The Make Money Videos. | 7Wins.eu

The Make Money Videos. | 7Wins.eu — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 15:13:27 +0000

[...] How to Make Money By Giving Things Away | Outlaw Design Blog [...]

By: patternhead

patternhead — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 09:50:33 +0000

It’s an interesting topic. I started a new site a couple of months ago that gives away quality (hopefully you’ll agree) free vector patterns. Initially, I created the free site to draw attention the the premium patterns that I offer for sale. Will that strategy work for me? Not sure yet. I’ve had a big increase in daily visitors and generated a few new backlinks to the site. I guess the jury is still out for a while.

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 22:47:19 +0000

Very Cool, thanks.

By: atommedia

atommedia — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 09:20:12 +0000

Basically it’s about giving quality and using affiliate networks that are alot bigger than yourself, it’s also the oldest sales technique, give something to get something.

By: HipHopMakers.com

HipHopMakers.com — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 02:40:49 +0000

Thanks for the video. I think you made some good points. I’m actually working on a free wordpress theme to give out for music makers ( http://hiphopmakers.com/ree-wordpress-beat-selling-theme-coming-soon ), and i’m trying to figure out what to do to get any value out of giving it out for free.

I was initially thinking about having a limited free version, and then for a little bit of cash get a more advance version with more color styles and more features. But i’m not sure how that will work. So just working on the theme still, and trying to figure out a plan.

By: elcodigodebarras

elcodigodebarras — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:44:53 +0000

Giving away is a viral adv. concept to expand your skills, your knowledge and at the same time sharing get more friendly Internet for all. For exemple I gave a twitter background for an small restaurant changing with this action an uggly restaurant promotional face ,with no waiting for nothing; they were unknown for me, they were in other extreme point of this world and I think why not ?; they got a need and I the answer…Your work moves ! Think about it like a design practices…

Definitely,this action is a boomerang… always back…

By: Paris Vega

Paris Vega — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:27:35 +0000

I gave away a free wallpaper on my blog and somehow became #1 in google image search for something random like “high resolution wallpaper background”. The traffic to my site spiked for about 2 weeks. Didn’t get any work from it, but it’s cool to see that this giving away technique definitely brings results.

By: liam

liam — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 16:52:29 +0000

Great stuff. And completely agree, I think the point that stands out the most is “Donâ€™t make giving away stuff your only way of getting work.”

I think setting up a blog where you spend you time creating free resources and doing nothing else, you’re going to definitely be wasting your time.

Working on free resources as a way of promotion & keeping your visitors happy. But it’s not going to make you rich unless you can use the popularity of your resources and visitors to your benefit.