Comments on: WPQuestions A Paid Problem Solving Site For WordPress http://stuartduff.com/wpquestions-a-paid-problem-solving-site-for-wordpress-08122009/ Web Designer, Media and Tech Lover Sat, 14 Apr 2012 12:20:33 +0000 hourly 1 By: Lawrence Krubner http://stuartduff.com/wpquestions-a-paid-problem-solving-site-for-wordpress-08122009/#comment-608 Lawrence Krubner Wed, 03 Nov 2010 22:07:08 +0000 http://stuartduff.com/?p=336#comment-608 Actually, we'd be interested in advertising the site here on your site. I see that you have some ads. But I don't see any contact information for those ads. How do we sign up? I tried to ping you on Twitter but didn't get a response. Actually, we’d be interested in advertising the site here on your site. I see that you have some ads. But I don’t see any contact information for those ads. How do we sign up? I tried to ping you on Twitter but didn’t get a response.

]]> By: Some responses to your questions and feedback http://stuartduff.com/wpquestions-a-paid-problem-solving-site-for-wordpress-08122009/#comment-342 Some responses to your questions and feedback Tue, 06 Apr 2010 23:36:53 +0000 http://stuartduff.com/?p=336#comment-342 [...] Stuart Duff wrote a thoughtful post about what we are trying to do. He made this interesting point about the pricing: One of the things I noticed is currently the minimum price you need to set when asking for help is $20 (£12 UK) which seems a little on the high side to me. I know $20 isn’t necessarily a huge sum of money but it may be high enough to deter many from using this service, after all your only asking a question which could be available with a search on Google for free, right?. Alternatively you could ask for free help on any wordpress related support forum and probably receive the correct answer or be pointed in the right direction if you don’t mind waiting a few hours. On the flip side of this you do need to make the service worthwhile for people to participate and answer the questions in the first instance, a kind of catch 22 balancing act I suppose. [...] [...] Stuart Duff wrote a thoughtful post about what we are trying to do. He made this interesting point about the pricing: One of the things I noticed is currently the minimum price you need to set when asking for help is $20 (£12 UK) which seems a little on the high side to me. I know $20 isn’t necessarily a huge sum of money but it may be high enough to deter many from using this service, after all your only asking a question which could be available with a search on Google for free, right?. Alternatively you could ask for free help on any wordpress related support forum and probably receive the correct answer or be pointed in the right direction if you don’t mind waiting a few hours. On the flip side of this you do need to make the service worthwhile for people to participate and answer the questions in the first instance, a kind of catch 22 balancing act I suppose. [...]

]]> By: Lawrence Krubner http://stuartduff.com/wpquestions-a-paid-problem-solving-site-for-wordpress-08122009/#comment-333 Lawrence Krubner Sat, 20 Feb 2010 01:08:53 +0000 http://stuartduff.com/?p=336#comment-333 Phillip, you make some good points. I'd like to respond and clarify what Darren Hoyt and I are trying to do. You wrote "there are certain questions that sometimes I cannot answer with Google searches and Codex documentation". We feel that our site is mostly for those who face a deadline. When a person has the luxury of time, then of course they can rely on Google to track down the information they need. But if they are suppose to meet with their deadline early tomorrow morning and it is already 11 PM, then they might be willing to pay to get fast, good answers. There are a lot of free forums out there. We are different from them, mostly in that the use of money allows more urgency and speed. You wrote "I’d happily pay $5-$10 per month to a rock-solid support team as sort of a disaster insurance policy for if/when a client’s site goes down." That model is tricky. For one thing, it is similar to the pricing that Experts Exchange is already offering. But more important, the question comes up, how does the money get divided among the experts who are trying to help? That is a problem that we largely avoid by leaving it to the asker to choose the winners (most of the time, with a few exceptions). But, truly, we appreciate your feedback. Our business model seems have had some small, modest success, so we are now ready to start rolling out new sites, targeting other technologies. Starting this Monday, we will be rolling out similar sites for CSS, Drupal, Symfony, MySql, and Javascript. If they do well, then we will go after a much wider range of technologies. Phillip, you make some good points. I’d like to respond and clarify what Darren Hoyt and I are trying to do.

You wrote “there are certain questions that sometimes I cannot answer with Google searches and Codex documentation”.

We feel that our site is mostly for those who face a deadline. When a person has the luxury of time, then of course they can rely on Google to track down the information they need. But if they are suppose to meet with their deadline early tomorrow morning and it is already 11 PM, then they might be willing to pay to get fast, good answers. There are a lot of free forums out there. We are different from them, mostly in that the use of money allows more urgency and speed.

You wrote “I’d happily pay $5-$10 per month to a rock-solid support team as sort of a disaster insurance policy for if/when a client’s site goes down.”

That model is tricky. For one thing, it is similar to the pricing that Experts Exchange is already offering. But more important, the question comes up, how does the money get divided among the experts who are trying to help? That is a problem that we largely avoid by leaving it to the asker to choose the winners (most of the time, with a few exceptions).

But, truly, we appreciate your feedback.

Our business model seems have had some small, modest success, so we are now ready to start rolling out new sites, targeting other technologies. Starting this Monday, we will be rolling out similar sites for CSS, Drupal, Symfony, MySql, and Javascript. If they do well, then we will go after a much wider range of technologies.

]]> By: Philip Downer http://stuartduff.com/wpquestions-a-paid-problem-solving-site-for-wordpress-08122009/#comment-218 Philip Downer Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:38:00 +0000 http://stuartduff.com/?p=336#comment-218 While $20 would deter many, if the quality of the answers is really sufficient to demand that price, I'd be willing to pay it. While I'm certainly a more advanced WordPress developer, there are certain questions that sometimes I cannot answer with Google searches and Codex documentation. Also consider offering a true support service for WordPress, rather than a per-question fee. I'd happily pay $5-$10 per month to a rock-solid support team as sort of a disaster insurance policy for if/when a client's site goes down. While $20 would deter many, if the quality of the answers is really sufficient to demand that price, I’d be willing to pay it.

While I’m certainly a more advanced WordPress developer, there are certain questions that sometimes I cannot answer with Google searches and Codex documentation. Also consider offering a true support service for WordPress, rather than a per-question fee. I’d happily pay $5-$10 per month to a rock-solid support team as sort of a disaster insurance policy for if/when a client’s site goes down.

]]> By: Some responses to your questions and feedback | WP Questions http://stuartduff.com/wpquestions-a-paid-problem-solving-site-for-wordpress-08122009/#comment-75 Some responses to your questions and feedback | WP Questions Wed, 09 Dec 2009 21:11:44 +0000 http://stuartduff.com/?p=336#comment-75 [...] Stuart Duff wrote a thoughtful post about what we are trying to do. He made this interesting point about the pricing: One of the things I noticed is currently the minimum price you need to set when asking for help is $20 (£12 UK) which seems a little on the high side to me. I know $20 isn’t necessarily a huge sum of money but it may be high enough to deter many from using this service, after all your only asking a question which could be available with a search on Google for free, right?. Alternatively you could ask for free help on any wordpress related support forum and probably receive the correct answer or be pointed in the right direction if you don’t mind waiting a few hours. On the flip side of this you do need to make the service worthwhile for people to participate and answer the questions in the first instance, a kind of catch 22 balancing act I suppose. [...] [...] Stuart Duff wrote a thoughtful post about what we are trying to do. He made this interesting point about the pricing: One of the things I noticed is currently the minimum price you need to set when asking for help is $20 (£12 UK) which seems a little on the high side to me. I know $20 isn’t necessarily a huge sum of money but it may be high enough to deter many from using this service, after all your only asking a question which could be available with a search on Google for free, right?. Alternatively you could ask for free help on any wordpress related support forum and probably receive the correct answer or be pointed in the right direction if you don’t mind waiting a few hours. On the flip side of this you do need to make the service worthwhile for people to participate and answer the questions in the first instance, a kind of catch 22 balancing act I suppose. [...]

]]> By: Stuart http://stuartduff.com/wpquestions-a-paid-problem-solving-site-for-wordpress-08122009/#comment-71 Stuart Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:45:09 +0000 http://stuartduff.com/?p=336#comment-71 Hey Lawrence, Thanks for the comment I feel if you could get the entry price down a little this project could really take off for you guys, but hey that's just my opinion and I completely understand how hard it is to achieve a balance that appeals to both Askers and Experts. It's good you guys are taking pricing into consideration though, thanks again for taking the time to comment and good luck with the project.. Hey Lawrence,

Thanks for the comment I feel if you could get the entry price down a little this project could really take off for you guys, but hey that’s just my opinion and I completely understand how hard it is to achieve a balance that appeals to both Askers and Experts. It’s good you guys are taking pricing into consideration though, thanks again for taking the time to comment and good luck with the project..

]]> By: Lawrence Krubner http://stuartduff.com/wpquestions-a-paid-problem-solving-site-for-wordpress-08122009/#comment-69 Lawrence Krubner Wed, 09 Dec 2009 07:11:28 +0000 http://stuartduff.com/?p=336#comment-69 Thanks, Stuart, we really appreciate your feedback. I think you raise a good issue about the minimum pricing, and Darren and I are going to consider that carefully. Thanks, Stuart, we really appreciate your feedback. I think you raise a good issue about the minimum pricing, and Darren and I are going to consider that carefully.

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