I have always maintained that there is a group called the National Coalition of the Weird and Strange, and that one of the things they have to do to qualify for membership is to come and irritate me.
Yesterday somebody suggested we stop selling our CD with our seven guides to free campgrounds, fairgrounds camping, casinos with overnight RV parking, etc. and give them away as e-books. He said that there are auto-responder programs that would automatically send the e-books out when requested, so there would not be any cost or effort to send them out, and it would be a great public service. I replied that the CD is one of our best selling items and is responsible for a large chunk of our income stream. The reply was "Stop being so greedy. Everything doesn’t have to be about money." Yeah, actually, it is about the money. I consider myself be a cute and charming fellow, but those skinflints at my bank insist I make my motorhome payment with cash, not charisma.
What is it with people these days? When did profit become a four letter word? We have never made a secret of the fact that we are business, and as a business we need to turn a profit to survive. I wonder if these kind of people were willing to work for free at their jobs?
This kind of thinking seems to be everywhere. The other day I was talking to a vendor friend who said he was not going to a big national RV rally due to high rally fees, the expense to get there, and low sales. He said he told the rally honcho that he couldn’t afford to pay money to travel to a rally, pay their huge price for a vendor booth, and then lose money. He said the response from the rally vendor coordinator was “We get that crap from all of the vendors.” Well, duh! What does that tell you? How about actually working with the vendors to make the rallies more affordable?
Another one we get quite often is people who ask for free or deeply discounted prices on our products because they are living on a fixed income. I always ask them if they can fix my income, because the darn thing is broken. It just never stretches far enough to pay all my bills, buy all the toys I want, and support me in the lavish lifestyle I would love to become accustomed to.
Fortunately, these dullards really are the minority, even if they’re the ones we notice most often. But there are a lot of great people out there too, including Bob and Dee Fisher from Van Wert, Ohio, who came by yesterday to renew their subscription, register for our Ohio Gypsy Journal rally, and even brought us fresh homemade apple pie! Now those are the kind of visitors we like! Thanks, Bob and Dee!
I’m rushing hard to get the new issue of the paper ready to send to the printer by 3 PM this afternoon. I only have one more story to finish writing, and 2 pages to paste up, plus the front cover and I’ll be done. Barring any unexpected delays or major equipment malfunctions, I should make it.
Thought For The Day – Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.
Nick Russell
World-Famous, New York Times Best Selling Author, and All-Around Nice Guy!
Nick – the person you were talking to is a fool. Why shouldn’t you make a profit for your labors. If you fairly price your products (and I think you do) people who are interested will buy them. Right now, the product in question isn’t of interest to me but I bought the Kindle versions of Meandering Down the Highway and both Big Lake books. I thought they were worth the money. Sure, I would have preferred the low, low price of free but I can’t blame you for charging. Keep up the good work.
If I start a subscription can I get a discount?
Terry and Nick;– Making a profit is not a problem, I suspect your profit is not very great. Keep at it. Roger and Lorna Scott.
Maybe you should have asked the guy if he was willing to support you and pay your bills.
Great Rant Nick !! Just think! you are part of the great majority in the great USA.
US POOR FOLKS…. we got em out numbered>>>those rich bastards …..
Glad you enjoyed the pie! Bob and I are happy to help support someone who provides a great service like you and Miss Terry. Keep on keeping on!
Yep, we never understood the free business anyway. Businesses have to make a profit or they go out of business. DUH!!!! We all want the best deal but free – not realistic.
FMCA is one organization which charges their vendors too much and treats them pretty shabbily too. We have worked security at FMCA for years. There are fewer and fewer vendors each year. And FMCA wonders why they are in trouble!!!!
Sounds like Bad Nick jumped onto the wrong page today. He has been in hidding a long time.
Well, no one is forcing those nutty folks to buy anything from you!! My brother has gotten a ton of that type in his business…and further business possibilities simply become too expensive for them to come to his shop (for THEM)!! I realize you are not in a business where the price can vary. But you can choose where you wish to do charity, where you wish to give or not!! As does everyone!!
Well…you could write a book of your experiences no doubt, with this type of folks. They probably feel that anything is worth asking for..heh!!
We feel your pain. I can’t begin to count the number of people who ask if we can lower our price for our services…which we are now in the process of closing down our business. We’ve always stayed on top of what other businesses like ours charged and we’ve always stayed in sync.
We’ve found in the past that when we’ve given a discount that these same people whine that it’s not enough. We’ve always given discounts for military, teachers and seniors. If we did anymore, we’d be working for free after we paid our inspectors. It’s a no-win because there’s no satisfying people who want something for nothing.
I’ve ordered several things from you in the past and remember emailing you back thinking you forgot to include postage and handling. Your response was, “That’s all included in the price.” I was shocked because I felt the price was already somewhat low. Keep on keeping on because you obviously are doing something right.
That was like a Bad Nick post. Rock on Bad Nick!
Bless your heart Nick! We live on the road without any entitlement or trust fund, like you, by our wits, talent and constant effort. Judy handles all our business,because retires want to view the world differently and don’t like a guy who comes straight to the point and is completely honest about the FACT that America is a business and life here is about what you can afford.
I don’t like it any more than you do.
We both try and make it fun for everyone involved because recreation and entertainment are the trades we are in, by choice. It’s a free country right?
As an un-retired senior, I say “God bless any of us who can still find and earn an
income”, and lets do what we can to HELP ONE ANOTHER in that direction.
The buyword (sic) on the internet is “free”. It works when there are no goods to change hands, no inventory to maintain, no packing and unloading etc, and tens of thousands of people may see you. When exposure to customers is measured in the hundreds, every decision is critical, every penny counts.
Thank you for being honest. Good luck with that!
XOXOXO,
Whitt
Where do I buy the cd?
Oh boy, you struck a chord with us! These are usually the same kind of people who will spend $3.50 at an event on a coke, without thinking twice,but balk at spending $7 on a book that will help them for years.
My advice to the fellow who wanted your camping guide for free is:”Go ahead and try to put one together yourself. You’re obviously retired and have LOTS of free time, type accurately and you probably know where to find all this info, document it, compile and organize it, and will set up a really great website to dispense said information– free!” (Please don’t forget to let us all know when and where it’s available, how to access it and alert us of any updates or changes on a regular basis, and remember, “It’s not all about money!” It’s also about the days you get to live and what your time is worth to you.”)
Mike, here is a link to our RV bookstore, scroll down toward the bottom for the CD http://gypsyjournal.net/gypsy_journal_book_store.htm
I measure what I spend against what I will drop at a Casino– 😉 Works for me! Here’s what I don’t understand. You and Terry work hard to provide the tools–and invest your cash–so someone can have the experience for nothing? Fortunately, these folks only make up 1% or less of your faithful followers.
glad that bad Nick is back I missed him.
As I have said before, the cheapest people have the biggest mouths. If we business owners succumbed to them we wouldn’t get anywhere.
All I have to say is right on Nick, keep up the good work and don’t give anything away for free. We all work hard for what little we get. We here the same thing in our business!!!!