Something for Nothing: Not a Good Business Principle -- Or Any Other Area of Life

Gary North - April 14, 2017

I have found over decades of dealing with Christians who are trying to be successful in business that they want free advice from me.

They don't just want free advice. They demand it. And when I refuse to provide it at that price, I get a piece of their minds that they really cannot spare.

Their problem begins with a theological assumption: they are not required to tithe. They treat me the way they treat God. God and I owe them a great deal, especially God.

I have never had a problem explaining to tithers the principle that a laborer is worthy of his reward -- another fundamental principle of Christian business. But non-tithers are adamant: since God does not ask them to pay, neither should I. They are convinced that God has given them the right not to pay for services rendered by Him, and they expect the same from Christian businessmen.

How they expect to be successful in business, I do not know.

AN OFFER TO BUY A DOMAIN

Years ago, I bought a domain: www.CommonGrace.com. The asking price was $2,000, but I offered $1,000, payable immediately. They seller agreed. I doubt that he had ever had an inquiry.

I wrote a book, Dominion and Common Grace (1987). I wanted a URL for it. Not many people have written books on common grace. Of those who have, most are dead. The rest are not online marketers.

But then I got sidetracked. I forgot to link the URL to the page for downloading my book. Then I forgot about it. This is not good business.

I received a request recently. Someone had come across the URL. The page promoted nothing. It looked as though I was not interested. Fair enough. It was worth a shot.

Greetings. I am interested in this domain. Is it for sale?

I replied:

Send me a bid. Make it real. I will not counter-offer. I will take it or leave it.

I thought this was clear: "I will take it or leave it." But he did not pay any attention to my words. He thought the negotiations were still in progress. Actually, I knew this would happen. I have seen it before.

He replied:

Thanks for the reply. To be upfront, Im not sure what a real offer would be in terms of buy-out and what we would do to actually transfer once we agreed to number. I hope you will guide me a little.

I have purchased a few websites over the years for my businesses and for a couple other ideas I have had as well. Those, however, were not taken so the registration was simple and pre-priced and I just picked them up on Go daddy.

I have not purchased one directly from an owner before. Basically, I am thinking about opening a retail store. I do like the name Common Grace. It will be a retail store specializing in minerals,stones,christian items and other gifts. My grandmother and great-grandmother had the name "Grace" and I liked that it obviously has biblical links as well.

So with that, will $250 buy the site and a bit of guidance on how to transfer and how process works?

Thanks for your time

His offer was $250. I had paid $1,000. I sent this reply: "Offer rejected." I knew this would be clear. I had said that I would not counter offer. But I knew from years of experience that the answer would not suffice. People with zero business experience never take no for an answer. He replied:

How do I buy it? Please give me some guidance. I have no idea what I'm doing.

Here are the inevitable words: "Please give me some guidance." The operative word is "give." As in "free."

Obviously, he had not sent me a real offer. He was testing me. I knew he would. That was why I told him that I would not counter offer. My answer was clear: he could not buy it. This is what "offer rejected" means. He would not accept this answer. They never do.

At this point, I always up the ante.

If you want my advice, subscribe to my site and post questions. www.GaryNorth.com

He has to pay to get my business advice. In 11 years, I have had about three people do this. Dozens have not.

I just tried to but it wants me to sign up for a subscription.

I cannot afford a monthly subscription. I am trying to scare together every bit of money I can to start this business.

Im asking for is some direction to purchase a product from you. I dont know how much sites are worth. I dont know how much you value the site.

Im trying to give you money, but it seems difficult to figure out what you want.

What I wanted was for him to stop begging me to sell what he was not willing to pay for. I had made this clear, but these people cannot understand basics. Why not? Because they don't want to pay the asking price for anything.

I wanted to see if this guy could get the message.

I paid $1,000 for this URL. I had to argue to get this from $2,000.

The last site I sold was $14,000.

You are in way over your head. Find another business.

You are a typical newbie. No money. No experience. No chance.

This is good advice. But it is not what he wanted to hear.

Gary,

Everyone has to start somewhere. I am a newbie at this point for sure. Everyone was a newbie.

I was open about that from get go because I saw your forums.

Flipping websites isnt what Im trying to do for a career.

I approached you openly and without intentions of squeezing you for loot.

Now I'm "Gary." Not "Dr. North."

Another tip: when you are trying to negotiate with someone, do a quick Google search. If he has a Wikipedia entry, read it. You might learn something valuable.

He says he doesn't want to flip websites for a career. Neither do I. He did not tell me why he wanted the domain. I replied:

I know. You wanted something for nothing. You will fail.

He replied:

But I didn't want something for nothing. I wanted to know where "something" was. What were somethings expectations? From nothing, I can create a little something and from there more somethings…and on and on until ye ol grand something appears on the horizon. Maybe something was right over hill but is it the hill to the east, west,north, south?

To reiterate, I dont believe in getting something for nothing. Thats not the way life should work.

I approached you wanting to give you something. I understand now that your perception is that I was offering you nothing.

I wanted this to end, so I went nuclear. I mentioned the tithe. This really is always the heart of the matter.

I have created an online course to teach business to teenagers. You need this course.

I will give it to you for free. You will have 90 days to take it.

All I require is a letter from your pastor saying you tithed 10% of your gross income to the church last year.

Send the photocopy to: Gary North
P. O. Box 2778
Dallas, GA 301323.

Saying "tithe" to these people is like flashing a crucifix to Dracula.

I was offering him 90 hours of my lectures, free. It is the course I provide to paying students of the Ron Paul Curriculum: $250/year, plus $50. You can review it here.

My advice: when a 40-year veteran marketer who has generated millions of dollars of sales decides to offer to teach you for free for 90 hours, take the offer. Really, it's a good deal. It's not a typical deal.

He was contemptuous, as was his pastor. How dare I make such an offer? As he described it, this was nothing but a "poorly written class." That's what I do, you see. I have written poorly written books (70 of them) and poorly written articles (14,000 of them), plus 1,250 poorly written lessons for the Ron Paul Curriculum.

Heee. Thanks Gary. I needed a laugh. My pastor thinks it funny too. Lets just say he doesn't endorse that deal….nor your behavior. Instead of the poorly written class as a means of comparison, lets take an IQ test, or do a social experiment, or go for a run, or bake a cake, or jump on one leg, or measure BMIs, or have a beauty contest, or play a game of monopoly. Actually, those in their entirety might be better means of a truly comprehensive review and measurement.

So, why so angry? If you are in the biz of flipping websites, its seems odd. If you are in biz of teaching, it seems odd. If you practice what you preach, it seems odd.

If someone is awful to others, but then gives 10% to the church does that make it ok? …ie..if I give 10% to the church, does it give me license to rage on all those around me. Is this some kind of weird Karate Kid, Mr. Mayagi type treatment?

Look Gary, I can rattle off angry statements and insults with the best of them. I can belittle and intimidate and beat my chest and howl. I could rant and rave about what the hell is going on here. I used to not be a very nice guy. I used to behave with contempt and frustration just like you do. What happen to make you so sad with the world? And if you are sad with it for whatever reason, how does adding to the fire help you make it better? I approached you in peace and you chose to wage war prior to even knowing if I was friend or foe. Is everyone is out to get you?

Anywho, I will take your course though, mainly just to read the part about being a sad grumpy soul who blankets themselves in warmth provided by the anger in their heart. Hopefully it goes into more depth about the despair and angst that is released as the body turns cold and the money erodes away.

Thanks anyway. Sorry we couldnt make a deal.

Ah, Mr. Christian humility: "I used to not be a very nice guy. I used to behave with contempt and frustration just like you do." Got it!

This man does not have a pot to pee in. There is a reason for this. It is not because he has not taken my course. It boils down to this.

"Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes." (Haggai 1:6).

I have written a book on this. It's free. Download it here.