Ideally I'd have a site where I can put my email and encourage folks to write me. This has worked better than video chat for me, since:
1) folks rubber duck [1] themselves while writing, so they ask better questions.
2) it's asynchronous, so we don't have to find a matching slot in our schedules (and don't commit to an amount of time beforehand)
I've redirected all my Helpouts schedule requests to email recently and it's worked well.
> Also, why did you do it for free?
I just never considered charging. I don't think I could do so and feel good about it with the amount of free help I've received (irc, SO, hacker school, college...).
Also, why did you do it for free? I've found when I help somebody for 10 mins or so it usually gets me in the mood of programming my own stuff.