How, When, and Why You Should Work for $0
A lot of people have an aversion to working for free. I think that’s ludicrous. Working for free is one of the smartest things you can do (for everyone involved) especially when you are starting out, but even strategically throughout your career.
There’s no blanket statement for when to work for free or to be paid for it, but there are a few best practices that help ensure you aren’t ruining the industry you occupy and also ensure you aren’t being (even willingly) taken advantage of.
💰 If Someone Has the Budget, Don’t Work For Free
From time to time, you may find that a particular organization or individual will ask you to work for free (or next to free) when you know they have the budget to afford to pay you.
In this situation, respectfully decline and let them know they can pay you. Even if it’s for work you’ve never done, offer them a steep discount but at least get some aspect of pay.
On that note, never offer to work for free if you know a peer (including competitors) is poised to get paid for that work. It’s okay to offer a more competitive price than a competitor, but jumping straight to the bottom ($0) is absolutely foolish. You burn bridges by doing this and you devalue what you do.
Aside from being cheapos, there’s one big reason that I think you shouldn’t work for free for someone that can afford it:
📉 $0 Doesn’t Equal 0 Value
One of the biggest risks you may run by working for free is letting people believe that the work you’re providing for $0 is similarly of 0 value. This must not be true and you should absolutely set the record straight from the very beginning.
If there’s one really great argument that is hard to refute about not working for free, it’s this one. People will be less invested in this transaction if they have no skin in the game. It’s the difference between being something of great value for free, and having to work 3 extra jobs to pay for it yourself. You respond differently because one came at great personal sacrifice to you; the other did not.
Your job, as the offerer of free work, is to not only state the value of your free service regularly, but to really help them understand it in a greater context. If they are unengaged (or become unengaged), don’t do it. It won’t be worth it in the end.
🍀 The Four Factors of Great Work
There are different factors for different people, but I generally try to ensure I’m getting 2 of the following 4 things when completing any time of work (but especially free work):
Great pay
Great people
Great opportunity
Great work
Obviously “Great pay” doesn’t apply to the “working for free” situation as we’re expecting they have little to no budget. But for everyone else, a great paycheque can be a huge perk to taking on a particular gig.
“Great people” is one I’m rarely ever willing to compromise on anymore. I’ve found that working with or for crappy people is never worth the benefit of the other things. There are exceptions to every rule, but working for subpar people makes the job miserable.
A “Great opportunity” can be defined in a number of ways. It might help you meet someone whom you believe is going to further your career in the direction you hope. It might give you a phenomenal portfolio piece that you can use to attract more clients. However you want to look at it, a great opportunity is something you see leading to more of the same.
And finally, “Great work” is just work you really enjoy doing. It could be a dream project or it could be your bread and butter (we’ll say it’s fresh bread and homemade butter). If you know that you love doing it, it counts as great work.
When you’re working for free, I suggest you aim for as many of these factors as you can. One or two will rarely make up for the missing two or three. It’s your life, but this is a great metric to help you gauge if you should take on a particular job.
⏰ When to Work for Free
This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it makes a whole lot of sense to me and covers the majority of situations you’re going to come up against.
When you’re new and building a portfolio. If you’ve never done this thing before, it’s not a great idea to charge for it if you aren’t certain you can guarantee a particular outcome. Starting out is the perfect time to work for next to nothing (if not nothing at all).
When you’re pivoting your business. Even if you are established with good clients, but you want to branch into something you haven’t done before, that’s a great time to work without pay (or at a heavily discounted rate). Bonus points if you offer it to clients you currently do business with. You will earn rapport with them and likely get pretty willing participants to try things your way.
When work is slow and you need to appear busy. I am telling you: people rarely want the best of the best. They just want to know that they aren’t going to waste their money, even if their return on investment is only so-so. Being well-established and busy is the sign of a healthy business, and people are attracted to that. If you need to give the appearance you’re busy—even if that comes at the cost of working for free—it can occasionally be an investment in your future.
When you’re feeling burnt out. I’m not talking about adding more of the same work to your plate that’s currently burning you out; I’m recommending passion projects. Try stuff you’ve been wondering about forever but can’t quite do with a paying client. This can inject life back into your business.
When you’re swimming in the deep end. If you take on a project where you are confident on 80% of it but terrified of the remaining 20%, at the very least do not charge for that remaining 20%. You’ll have less pressure to get it right the first time, and you’ll learn a ton along the way. That is worth whatever you aren’t being paid for that portion fo the project.
🛠️ How to Work for Free
When you’re contemplating taking on a project for free and leaning towards saying “Yes,” here are my recommendations for how to do it without hating yourself.
On your own terms. Every aspect of the free work should be dictated by you. If you’re not being paid, the client really should not have any control of how it all pans out. Especially considering the next few factors.
On your own timeline. Yes, especially if you have paying client work already in the hopper. Paid work comes first. I recommend you be upfront with your free clients about that. It will shock you how pushy people can be who are getting things for free.
On your own expectations. You determine what the deliverables are; not the client. if they’ve approached you looking for something specific, that’s fine and dandy. But it’s a suggestion; not a requirement.
On your own discount. If you’re hoping this free work might snowball into paid work with this same client (or a referral they might send your way in the future), I’d be upfront about what the cost will be next time. Let them know the value of what they are getting for free, as people can forget and, again, become entitled to what they think they deserve. Don’t let them mistake a $0 price tag as being worth $0 of value.
On your own basis. Piggybacking on the last one, you alone decide how often you work for free; not anyone else around you. Doesn’t matter how many times you’ve done free work for a client (and if they respect you, they should expect that you certainly wouldn’t repeat work for free for them). Never work for free if you don’t want to.
🚶🏻♂️ Three Reasons to Walk Away From a Free Work Situation
If you’re asking me, there are three big situations where you should stop (or cease to start) working for free.
When the client suddenly gets pushy. Again—people are wild! If the client doesn’t like what you’re doing and starts making orders, respectfully wrap up the work as quickly as possible and don’t continue. Seriously. You will only hate yourself if you do.
When the project gets way out of hand. Chances are you may not have a really defined procedure for this free work if it is unfamiliar to you. Don’t let the project accumulate a million add-ons that go on for weeks or months of time. Set clear expectations with your client of what you will and won’t do for them if they start dropping hints they may want more.
When the client becomes unengaged. If they don’t care about what you’re doing, it is nearly doomed from the beginning. Wrap up the work, deliver whatever deliverables you can, and move on. If you can’t get any value out of the interaction without their active involvement, call it quits and move on with your life. There are plenty of better clients out there who would be thrilled with your free work.
🧠 Use Common Sense
Of course, as with all things, there may be reasons I didn’t cover here why you might (or might not) want to work for free. Use your brain and remain diligent throughout the process.
You are in the driver’s seat with free work far more than paid work. Don’t let your clients become backseat drivers.
I really believe free work can be a stepping stone towards awesome things for you. You’ve just got to ensure it turns out that way.
