The Goods & Services Tool

Sounds like maybe some people are wanting their cake and eating it too. If a service is truly "free", then it should not be sold under any circumstances. If they want to charge people to access their knowledge, then they should either stop being success coaches or charge everyone equally for the information. However if you start charging people for something that they originally got for free, I think you will start to see a mass exodus of "fans".
Just my opinion....

Thanks so much for your comments and support Barb. You have made some very valid points here. I see no harm in private tutoring as long as your not an active Success Coach actively working as a Success Coach at the time of giving these lessons.

I am just asking for a little clarification concerning this as I was approached privately by a would be client, that raised these concerns. So I thought I would put it too the community and actively working Success Coaches and get everyones opinions concerning this.

The FanBox community knows that I am not afraid to come forward and air my opinions or ask the questions which invite good answers or opinions.

We as clients are trying to learn the ways of FanBox. Trying to understand how everything works, so if the clients are being charged to learn how to do FanBox, then how are we to learn everything we need to know about the site. Especially if people are just starting fanbox and they are charge to view blogs about how fanbox is ran.
I think if you are a success coach your post about how fanbox runs and how to get successful on FanBox should be free to all members, so we can all reach the goals we set for ourselves.
Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for your comments and truly thought provoking opinions and ideas Lynn.

I am in complete agreement here with Michael as well. There are confusing fes that I am wading through and don't even know who to actually contact to ask these questions of. I do know we are assigned a success coach who earns from fanbox by assisting us. I did not know that some folks are charging for their efforts. This may well turn out to be a conflict of interest and I have no doubt that fanbox will catch up with them quickly.

There is no reason that Success Coaching should be offered as a charge service. The site promotes it as being free. This is a complete conflict of interest and should not be allowed.

Thank you Teresa & Raina for your comments. However, I do want to restate what this article is asking an opinion on...

The question being ask is if it is considered a conflict of interest for success coaches that are actively coaching to offer up private tutorials and charge for a service that is freely given as the ongoing duties of an active coach in private etc.

sir i also noticed from 3 days that some blogs wants to pay for its reading... for initial user if they want guide about fanbox... what they do if they have only few cent in their fanbox bank

Thanks so much Karl for your input and opinion here concerning this post.

Lets keep it friendly everyone and all please remember that this post is here to encourage everyones opinion.

I agree with Barb M , Thanks for sharing

interesting.... just reading those comments and opinions and waiting what to come up:)

Basharat, Thank you so much for your comments. You can still get all the help you need by just asking any Success Coach or active members of FanBox. You can also ask me and I will help where I can as I have helped so many already. :-))

You can also ask any active Success Coach who your Success Coach is if you do not know already.

What I know Success coaching is free here in FanBox. It's surprising to learn that there are coaching done in private for a fee. I guess this practice should not prevail.

Thanks Betty & cArMz for your comments. Please remember though that all success coaches will help you for free if you ask them for help.

The question that is being asked is that if a active sc offering up a service as a private tutorial concerning how to succeed on FanBox is in Conflict of Interest? And should this be allowed?

Thanks for your comments Ophie and I totally agree.

That was truly amazing. Me being a newbie....I didn't know the politics involved. None the less, as each day progresses, I've grown fond to the platform as a noob....so my question is.....is their still an advantage to being a success coach?

I've read the post and read the comments and it's really much ado about nothing.
If someone who is an active SC wants to put their knowledge out there for sale and someone wants to buy their time one on one, why not?
Why would you even need clarification on it?
If you don't like it - don't buy it.
And to date, I haven't seen a single client purchase a learning package from their own SC.
This is really a non-issue as far as this SC is concerned, if my fellow SCs want to share their knowledge as consultants, I have zero issues with it.

I'll keep reading the comments on this blog that i consider one out of thousand if you understand what i mean.(=A very good blog) Very interesting topic.If we are working at one loving growing community,we should have one set of do's, one set of don'ts and free is free and can only be translated as FREE.

One more thing. I'm asking myself if let's say : SC John has 10 persons to couch and he is couching them using all the knowledge that he has(including one on one teaching) and at the same time offers this knowledge to other people that are not of his group , would there be any problem with that?

Thanks so much Jo for your input. I really do appreciate your comments concerning this.:-))

Michael I totally hear what you are saying and here is my input on it. 1st of we do have some really awesome coaches out here and yes the service through FanBox is free. However, no one is forcing them to pay for the service that these coaches are offering and this was set up to be a free market as far as I was told. So that means that I can or should be allowed to do sell this if I want to. I haven't at this time done that but you never know what the future brings am I asking my clients or telling them that they have to pay me for it? No if that is the case where a coach was telling their clients that they had to pay for the service I would hope to see that coach removed. However as long as this is a choice they have then the coaches should be able to sell their services.

Hi Michael, I love your post because I never think it is conducive to good communication if we have to stick to safe subjects or ticking off people. I know many of you are going yeah Gerry, WE KNOW. But I think give and take and sorting things out is good - even if sometimes I or some of you get ticked off. A really GOOD site is a site that understands this. I'll tell you all, I had a problem when I came here with all the girlie pictures and MANY posts I felt were over that gray area clearly into the black. On some of them FanBox agreed with me. But on many, the answer I got back was the TOS and that FanBox does not censor and the post was within the rules if not in the taste I or FanBox personally shared. It took me a long time to accept that but you know what? FB was right. In this age of political correctness and everybody suing everybody because you made me get this from doing what I knew was wrong anyway madness - FB was falling clearly on the side of tolerance and allowing as much freedom as possible. I grew to respect that.
So now for Michael to ask the question about the rules in this case is different - how? It is not different. Someone has a right to ask and the community should be able to discuss it and FanBox's position is their position. Come on SC's - if people are discussing it in private, and you can be sure they are, wouldn't you rather it be discussed openly where you have a chance to also come in and give people another perspective. Rather than make FanBox or the Coaches look bad, it lets them look open and change perceptions.
As to the issue at hand, Michael, I thought about this one long and hard because while I am no longer a Success Coach, I am a Teacher here and teaching is my favorite role. My heart is in it. Many former clients chose to continue to follow me because we had formed great relationships, I know my stuff, I really care about their success.
But here is what I found.... yes, I can put up blogs here to teach and anyone familiar with my page knows I have many teaching posts over several blogs, including the Geek Speak and Ask Gerry series. But because these blogs are public I have to be careful to make them fit as many people as possible. I have to teach very generally so as to be readable and viable for the greatest number of visitors. That's fine and for many people that is all they need. I try to be as thorough and honest as possible, as detailed as I can and we have great discussions in the comment areas. Many people have come away from my posts, which do not shy away from the tough issues, with more respect for FanBox and a greater understanding of the process -- while feeiling someone HAS heard and addressed their concerns. All this is free in accordance with my role as Teacher and I love doing it.
But what about those people who need more? Many people private message me and say you said this and it's true but what about.... and they give me a unique situation individual to them. Many of the questions require hours of one on one work with them. I can't put up a post to show them a video and discuss their private concerns -- I cannot use the FanBox private messaging system to even put an illlustration of a point. Plus, this takes a lot of my time on one person. Do I turn them away?
My solution has been a small private class for those who want personal coaching from someone they believe in. I am able to use the editors in both a group way and privately with graphics and videos to illustrate my point. I'm open about the small $1 charge. I'm not there to make money, I'm there to teach -- but what would be wrong with myself or any Success Coach making money in such a situation? Sports figures, even writers if they really want to earn and be good in their field go for the best coaching they can afford. I say it is NOT a conflict of interest. If the Coach offers free teaching here and gives his/her own time for PERSONAL coaching.

Thank you Ryan for your comments and opinions on this topic! I am glad that clearer heads can prevail. This article was merely asking for an opinion of all concerned and at no time was met to be a personal attack on anyone.

I feel that as a valued member of this community that we as members need to ask question and get clarification on questions that have been asked by others to us. I have erased Aprils and my comments to each other as this was not in good standing to air here.

I want to personally apologize to anyone that may of been offended by her and my outburst to each other concerning our own personal views.

I was going be S.C. but can't come on every day cause of kind work do . So for now just teaching and post ok for me . Think this needs be check into , fine out what deal is .

What do I teach that I can't teach free? How your time zone, your language, your understanding of the overall system affects what you do, when you do it and what you need to tweak to earn more. I can ltake the time to look at your posts and ads and give you specific coaching on what you are not seeing about what you're doing that is not earning for you. I can jump on a video or on Skype and be right over your shoulder as you Cat & Rate and go aha! Here is where you are not picking the best tags. I can help someone who is struggling with English. Success Coaches, nor Teachers can possibly do all that on FanBox during the course of normal working / teaching - they would be neglecting the majority of their clients. But if they are willing to go beyond the general,, to give their personal time and gained knowledge and a client wants that one on one attention to gain the edge - I say that is a legitimate service and the Coach should not be restricted because they are a Coach. Restrict them if they don't do their job. But encourage them if they are and are going the extra mile to Personally Coach someone who wants to break out of the average earner. This contributes to the betterment of FanBox and raises the bar for us all. Thank you I know this was long.

Thank you so much Gerry for your valued input on this matter! I also feel that things should not be discussed behind closed doors and as a community we all need to be able to openly discuss things that have been asked in whispers around the community.

Most these people are afraid to ask questions in fear of having their accounts deleted because they are afraid to upset FanBox.

I feel these things should be asked and a positive dialog formed around them. Hopefully at the end of the day everyone goes home happy and better educated.

Thanks again for your valued input.

Good topic Michael - some things need to voiced or clarified and see what people think. I've read all the comments and my thinking is, just agreeing with some of the comments, that if you are a Success Coach, and some people need more one on one time, then that time should be charged, as there are so many hours in a day, and our time is valuable and FanBox has made an option for us to do so, if we so decide to do this.

Some people may not want to do that, but that is their decision.

Thanks for bringing his subject up!

Thank you Jan K for your comments and opinion on this matter!

wow...nice post ..hope you will happy and good health in the future ok....

Thank you Le Nga for your comment.

So there is such a thing as private coaching. How does it differ with the coaching being given by success coaches for free? Is there added value? If there is then it is safe to assume that success coaches are not giving all the information needed by the newbies to be successful in FanBox.

interesting post!

thank goodness my coach and teacher didn't charge me. I found my coach honest and helpful...

Maybe those who send their emails to me that I ignore. Thanks for this information.

Thank you for your comments Onemore. It is my understanding that the benefits are more one on one and personal. As you can see there have been several opinions being shared here. I personally feel that our coaches are doing an excellent job and they give all the information needed.

However, as has been pointed out by some which have shared their own opinions, there's those that could benefit greatly by having a more one on one experience. No one is being forced to buy private coaching but if they should decide this is what they want, than the coaches should be allowed to offer it up as a paid service.

Let's not forget that a lot of these coaches have over a 100 clients so the one on one personal time is very limited at best.

Thank you Christine & Sandra for your comment.

@ Sandra, I find all the coaches to be honest. This is not what this article is about.

It's about offering up a paid service for giving personal tutoring and if it could be considered a
"Conflict of Interest" If you read through the comments you'll see several opinions concerning this.

Okay, Mike. I understand.

I enjoy the exchange of opinions from the coaches. It goes to prove one point: they are here to help clarify and seek what is best for the rest of us. We all appreciate their unselfish work.

I would never charge my clients for the service that I'm expected to perform. I have people who are not my clients asking me for advice and I would never charge them, but if I made a blog package or offer for one on one call, I would charge for it if it were not my client and they were willing to pay the fee. I would have a set price though... not charge per minute, because sometimes there are issues such as language, bad connections and such as that. I definitely wouldn't charge more than I would be willing to pay for such a service myself. I don't have a problem with other members and/or SC doing this service for a fee. Thanks Michael for providing this debatable topic.

It goes to prove one point: they are here to help clarify and seek what is best for the rest of us. We all appreciate their unselfish work. good job

Thank you Melanie and Mary Mary for your comments and thoughts on this post. :-))

Hello, Valerie thank you so much for you comments. You did not have to come forward I don't mind taking the heat for the article which I wrote concerning your question. You as a member have a right to have your questions answered.

I strongly believe that as a community we should be able to air our concerns an gather public opinion and input concerning them.

As far as the personal attacks and the twisting around of the information concerning me that I in good taste deleted as well as my own replies to those attacks, don't worry. I have broad shoulders.

Valerie,

I admire your sense of fair play and your courage for stepping forward in support of Michael. You certainly do not have anything to apologize or feel responsible for. You will find that FanBox is full of many different people from all walks of life, every shade of opinion and all passionate about their writing. That is why we are here. As in all human relations sometimes things get a little messy. Some people get overzealous or misunderstand and many times we all just plain disagree. We try to keep personal attacks out of it and for the most part, and for most people that works. Please forgive us when we do not live up to the highest standards before all of you. And call us on it! That's how conflicts get resolved - when everyone is willing to let cooler heads prevail.

I'm glad that you did come forward Valerie, so that we can hear your own voice and get to know you and have a chance to show our better sides to you. I believe in.... I know Michael believes in... and I believe FanBox itself believes in an open forum... a venue in which people can not only blog to inform, and entertain but to also educate. FanBox has encouraged the community to be self-governing, self-sustaining and to train and promote from within. The process of education, or Knowledge as we like to call it here, often involves gathering to find out about a specific issue, reach a resolution on a controversial subject, or interact with members, and often, officials and representatives will weigh in to answer questions from the public, facilitate the discussion, and provide information which people may find valuable or useful.

I know that Michael posted with complete integrity toward those ends. I have always found him to be very respectful and supportive of FanBox.com and the entire community; if his personal opinions have conflicted with FanBox.com rules or policy I have never seen that reflected in his writings.

You seem like a passionate and engaged blogger. That is a credit to both yourself and to Michael. I look forward to reading your blog and thank you both for an invigorating and thought-provoking subject. Michael, I thought your moderating was excellent. You pointed out when people strayed from or misunderstood the issue and you kept your personal opinion private and let the community debate.

Well done. FanBox is never better than when we exercise our freedom of speech and show the world it is better to speak freely than to protect small egos and dictaorships.

I'm proud to be part of this community.

All I'm gonna say is this: be careful, don't repeat my mistake. i went to a knowledge blog that was for sale ... didn't agree with any terms, didn't even look into it .. just out of curiosity ... I clicked on buy (knowing I didn't agree w/anything) ... closed it immediately .. I already had all the info ... the blog's cost was 1.48/mo Next morning my bank was ... get this $142 lighter ... yep ... I was charged that amount. So, don't play with it ... don't step on it... I did and it blew up LOL ...

Truth is that, when I saw that some coaches are selling knowledge, I thought about doing the same .. but selling to the romanians .. now, I'm not by any means saying I'm better than anyone, nor putting anyone down .. it's a free country ... but I for one, decided against it. They come here to make a $ and just didn't have a heart to charge them for what I know. But that's just me. Yet I noticed that at least one bought a package ... just because it has a $ price, the same info that has been here and available for a while, suddenly is more valuable. It's just a psychological matter, thinking that if something cost Money must be worth more. People are free to go for it or not.

I am with Justgabm and I am a bit wiser after reading her comment,about the curiosity part.
We have lot of kind FanBoxer here, but i think this new Knowledge that was lounge open a whole new can of worms also.
Thanks for the heads up Justgabm
Thank you Michel and Valerie for this information. This is the first blog post I ever saw with so may lengthy comments.
Lighten up everyone and remember we are a happy FanBox family.

Am back, Michael...I have read Arlene's post 'Clearing the Air'....and everything is clear for me now with her detailed explanation regarding the above subject matter.

Thanks for your comments Ophie and for stopping by. :-))