The Satisfaction Of A New Find

It's almost as good as walking into your favorite shoe store only to find out that they are having a half off, buy one get one sale. It sends shivers up your spine, and your clicking finger gets itchy and you just have to have whatever it is that you find.

I had one of those moments this morning. And lucky for me- it's a freebie. The Casual Collection by Christie.

I got lucky on this one. Sometimes, I get that feeling only to find out that there was a reason that the item was free in the first place. Not this morning! I drooled, I downloaded, I opened, and I'm happy. And now I'm going to be a Christie stalker.

Speaking of freebies- there's been even more talk around the boards about them. Now- it seems to be a piracy thing. Lots of good suggestions floating around on what to do about it- as well as many saying that maybe the freebies should stop. I don't see that happening. Too many generous personalities involved in this hobby. I really think that the only solution to this problem is for designers to think through their motives when it comes to freebies. My motives won't be the same as everybody else's motives.

The reason that keeps popping up is customer appreciation- we want to give back to the customers that support us or read our blogs or whatever. I think that there are other options that work just as well- coupon codes, free gift with purchase, etc. Another one being tossed around- customers want to sample our work. I like this one- and for this reason, will have at least one freebie available at TDC. But I don't see a need in changing it all that often, simply because it's just a sample of my work. Another option- a designer recently gave out a free sample that was basically one paper from each kit available on a CD. I like this idea. It's free, but it's not a full kit (or even a mini kit).

As for the piracy issues that keep coming up- it seems that the pirates who keep sharing our free kits do so because hey, it's free, therefore- it's not illegal. Wrong. If the TOU says 'no sharing', then you shouldn't be sharing it- end of discussion. I'm also loving reading about blacklists- apparently some designers are being blacklisted because they are standing up and protecting their work. Hey- if we have to be blacklisted in order to get people to stop sharing, that's fine with me.