The True Cost of Free

I love being a teacher. But long before I even knew I wanted to be a teacher, I was creating colorful things for others. 

I had forgotten all about it, until a while ago, but I made creative colorful signs for the inside of my friends' lockers. I made things to decorate the typing room walls. I made signs for my friend's weddings. Today people pay someone to make a sign that says The New Mr. & Mrs, Dalton! I did it for fun. 

Today I still create things for fun. They are colorful, cute, and always something that I need to use with my kids. And when I heard about TPT I thought that if others could do it, maybe I could too. Maybe. . . just maybe. . . someone else might like my stuff enough to buy it. 

But sometimes I hear comments from other teachers who don't understand why I don't just give my stuff away.  I do! Sometimes, I do give things away for free. I do that for many reasons, mainly because I too, love a freebie. But my rule is always this.  . . .  I MUST LEAVE A KIND WORD AND THANK THE PERSON FOR GIVING AWAY A FREEBIE.

You might be surprised to know that some of my free products have thousands of downloads and less than 10 people take the time to say thank you. 

I spend my own money to buy the wonderful clipart that is available from Krista at Creative Clips, DJ Inkers, Ashley at School Supply Addict, Beth at Zip-a-dee-doo-dah and many others. They are worth every penny that I spend.  There are fonts that I have purchased, too. With some of the clipart and some of the fonts, there is a license that has to be purchased. 

I spend many hours creating, thinking, editing, and revising each product to be sure that it is just perfect for you and your students. If it doesn't line up with the next page, then it's harder to cut on a paper cutter. If there's a typo, then you get mad. (I would too!) If it isn't perfect then you aren't getting your money's worth. I want you to be extremely happy with it before I put it in my store. 

I want to keep creating for you. It's a labor of love that I am thrilled to do. It's also a job that I appreciate getting a little money on the side to cover my own expenses too. 

I have a friend Laura Candler who has said this better than I can. I'd love for you to read her thoughts on this topic. Click here to read about it. 

If you hear others complaining about not getting enough free things, please send them to my blog or Laura's blog and help them to  understand why we can't give everything away for free.