as anwii said, there are people willing to do free work. I'm one of them... but its mostly because I'm to lazy to set up a paypall or something so that I can get paid...

Seriously though, I love doing free work as I can put it in my portfolio. I also love the chance to use my skills and abilities.

hackers, you definitely should have given out a little more information. Otherwise, agreeing to work for you would be like buying a used car without having its background checked.

This post has been edited by KansukeKojima: Dec 16 2007, 10:43 AM

Yeah but he is offering part owner, if there are people who do it for free to perfect their skills, they want to be told straight up what its for, and what they are going to be part owner of, any are they really gnna be part owner, or is he going to edit the layout and change the name and use for a diff site completely.

Asking for a free layout is better.

Honestly, I think we can all quite posting now.... it doesn't look like hackers is coming back any time soon..... haha.... oh well.... we scared him off.

There are too many scammers out there you just gotta be careful no matter who you are dealing with. There are people who will try and rip you off if your too trusting. As for doing free work for your portfolio thats not a bad idea but whats better is doing that free work for yourself and use that as your portfolio, why do you need to do free work for someone else unless the job depended on them giving you the work or you have no idea what to do on your own.

this guy wasn't a scammer. he said up front you wouldn't pay. that's not being a scammer. that is being honest. he left his email so others can get in touch with him. he probably knew he might not be back so he did that. nobody scared him off like the other poster mentioned. to answer your question quite simply in why not just do the work yourself to build a portfolio, the answer is real life solutions can not always be predicted. so to prepare for real life answers, you need real life problems. it's good practice to solve problems for others and it helps talent, knowledge, and you are also giving to another. it works out both ways and everyone is happy.

i don't know if anyone has ever heard of an internship, but an internship is basically working for FREE. the company getting the extra help benefits while the one doing the free work benefits while perfecting his skills and training. win win.

also note that in the united states, this country was built on giving. if they got something in return, great. if not, the act of giving was unselfish and that should count for something.

on a smaller note, trap17 promotes free webhosting. although it's not really "free". you either have to put a advertisement on your site or post. but basically it's two entities getting what they need in a give and take situation. everyone wins.

this guy simply posted about a partnership in which he couldn't pay. he wasn't clear, but he left his email. people called him a cheat and a scammer and good for nothing basically. i thought that was VERY harsh and unfair in judging without ANYONE trying to contact him through email to see what his post was all about. in my opinion. the people calling HIM are the cheats....cheating him out what he probably once had which is a good reputation.

now it's obvious this guy probably wont be returning and if he does, i will feel sorry for this guy with all the critisism he faces here when it was a pretty basic and simple post. all he wanted was someone to help him out with php. sheeeesh....

not really directing all this at you sonesay, it was just you were the last replier and you had a legitimate question in why not just do it ones self rather than help another build what they already have.

from my own experience, i have general knowledge on alot of topics only because i like to help people and i've done a lot of research because i like to help people. by helping others for free by finding solutions and answers, it helps me with the other people i need to help in the future. either i will already have the answer from previous research and learning and can provide that answer that much quicker, or, i have already honed my research skills where if i don't have the answer, i can get it quick. so in my own experience, i could only gain if others had problems because i am not going to try and think and make a list of all the real life problem scenarios and how to go about fixing them. i would rather concentrate on what is actually needed right NOW by others. help them is helping myself and we both win.

so it's just the basic concept of if you have to do it, might as well help someone along the way. the only matter that would ever be in question is if it were a conflict of interest in a business sense. i mean. i own a little hamburger joint so if someone came to me and asked me how to cook a hamburger, i am not going to give them my secret recipe . if i were to try and start a web design company and i had to car dealerships, i wouldn't have the same design template as it would be a conflict of interest. what i would do is go around to different businesses to see if they needed a website built for their company and build one for free to build on my portfolio. if i were to do it just for myself, then i would get little exposure. if i were to build it for a real life person or company, i would get more exposure, built up my portfolio, honed in on the skills required, and made myself that much more well rounded in my knowledge.

so this concept makes good business sense and even if you didn't need to build up a portfolio, it's nice to help people out once in a while. eventually it will come back to ya. if it doesn't, you still get the satisfaction and pleasure out of helping someone who would otherwise be stuck. i hope everyone sees the benefits to this concept because maybe YOU(in general) will be the one that needs help next and nobody will be there for ya. i personally wouldn't want to live in a society like that but that's what our society is coming to when all this man did was ask for help.