I'm sure most HN'ers are the resident geeks in their wider circle of friends and get a lot of requests like:
* Can you set up a WordPress blog for me?
* Can you migrate my website from sharedHostX to sharedHostY?
* Can you help me pick an e-commerce service to use to put my store online?
* Can you fix my slow/crashing computer?
I get a lot of these (from Non-Tech friends) and stacked up they take up a fair amount of my time. I've never accepted money for doing stuff like this, even when offered, but now wondering whether for anyone that isn't family or immediate friend whether I should.
I'm wondering how you guys handle these kinds of requests?
EDIT: On the point of learning to say "NO": I guess I've always seen doing requests like this as 'paying it forward' or participating in the gift economy.
But when it comes time for me to need help I'm more likely to Google something/work it out for myself then really ask for help.
* Can you set up a WordPress blog for me?
* Can you migrate my website from sharedHostX to sharedHostY?
* Can you help me pick an e-commerce service to use to put my store online?
* Can you fix my slow/crashing computer?
I get a lot of these (from Non-Tech friends) and stacked up they take up a fair amount of my time. I've never accepted money for doing stuff like this, even when offered, but now wondering whether for anyone that isn't family or immediate friend whether I should.
I'm wondering how you guys handle these kinds of requests?
EDIT: On the point of learning to say "NO": I guess I've always seen doing requests like this as 'paying it forward' or participating in the gift economy.
But when it comes time for me to need help I'm more likely to Google something/work it out for myself then really ask for help.