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Let me just state that I don't want to be the "negative" post or the one that has a slightly negative tone about pro-bono work, but I do want to offer some real world observations about pro-bono work that we have experienced.

First, we believe very much in giving back to the community and over the years, we have offered both "reduced-rates" & "pro-bono" to some charities & non-profits, but we have also been used and abused by some groups in doing this. This has led us to be more particular about who we actually offer "pro-bono" to and to state EXACTLY what services are being offered.

Very rarely do we offer the pro-bono service now because as it's been stated above, "Free has no value." but instead we offer "reduced-rates." Where it is true that SOME non-profits are limited in budget, it doesn't mean they all are. As we have learned from some of our accounting clients, "non-profit" is a tax term mainly used for IRS purposes. Just because the organization is using it, doesn't mean that they don't have the resources to pay you for your work.

It has been our experience that if the organization is well established in number of years in existence, there is usually a budget in place that has allowed them to stay as such, a budget that can pay for your services.

Don't be afraid of being honest that your services do have value and that you would like to be paid for them. Some organizations will use the non-profit banner knowing that they have the resources to pay you, but will still expect you to give them a break. A sign of being a true business person is to do what you did and walk away from a deal that is not going to benefit you.

Pro-bono doesn't mean that you can't receive benefits from your contributions, so you should make sure that the benefits you want to receive are well stated.

Heck, even our lovely government gives you a deduction on your taxes for being generous with a donation and they're the biggest NON-PROFIT there is!!!

Terrell welcome to the group. I'm on the East Coast as well & I've been running my own company for about 5 years (ok, me & God). Let me know if there is anything I can do to help you or help you avoid any landmines in setting up your janitorial business. I've got a guy working for me now who has been running one for 20 years and is now working with us setting appointments and brokering websites. He got tired of working nights, so he wanted to make more money during the day. I'll be happy to connect you guys if you'd like.

Towards Success,

Ron Pierce Trinity Solutions, Inc.

Lauren, glad you are here and escaped from Corporate. It's nice to have another on the East Coast. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you.

Welcome to the group!!!

Ron Pierce Trinity Solutions, Inc.

Welcome to the community!!! I'm over here on the East Coast, but please let me know if there is anything I can do for you.

Ron Pierce Trinity Solutions, Inc.

Lisa, welcome to community. If there is anything I can do for you, please let me know.

Ron Pierce

Norbert,

I agree very much with your article. When I'm working with clients on Internet Marketing, I remind them that this is really nothing more than an "extension" of their existing marketing efforts. You're not "going crazy" or "rocking the marketing-world boat." You are simply extending what you are doing to reach a larger audience on the Internet.

I also advise them that multiple domain names can be helpful, but that they need to choose ONE that is going to receive the majority of their focus and hopefully it's not only catchy and easy for the customer to remember, but it also contains keywords related to the product or service they are selling.

We've got one client who after doing keyword research on the best terms / phrases to promote their site actually had the right phrase as part of their name for the business AND their marketing URL. They didn't plan on it, but when they found out, they were elated.

I tell customers, BRAND yourself with one name, and then let the additional URLs be for the search engines alone knowing that we are going to target certain pages within the site with those additional URLs.

Simply put, let the customer have what the customer needs and let the search engines have what they need.

Everyone wins!