Is it ever appropriate to work for free? Even if you’re a freelancer?

If you’re a creative, there is a 99.9 percent chance that you have at one point or another worked for free. Sure, you were “paid” in coffee or some other barter system, but there was no cash transaction. And even if you have never worked for free, it’s 99.99 percent certain that you have worked for less money then you deserved to earn.

It has been said that we are the slaves of the internet, and in a culture of content creation, the value of content has gone down. The market is saturated, and when there are so many wanting to make it and offering up their services for free, the chance that you will get paid for your content goes down.

Of course this is an oversimplification of a problem that ultimately comes down to a vicious cycle: individuals undervalue their own work, which in turn makes other people undervalue it as well. If you want your work to be seen as valuable, then you have to see it as valuable first, especially if you’re embarking on a career as a freelancer.

Should you work for free?

No. Well, sometimes yes. But, no, really you should always try to say no. Except for in those situations where you should say yes.

You can see why this is complicated.

Working for free sets a precedent, and while you may just want to get your name out there, if you’re trying to build a client list and a respectable reputation, taking jobs that don’t pay anything doesn’t help you do that.

On the other hand, sometimes doing something for free isn’t necessarily about the payment, it’s about the promotion, or about spreading a certain idea.

As marketing expert and author Seth Godin says, “The more generous you are with your ideas, and the more they spread, the more likely it is your perceived value goes up.” This means, however, that you need to gauge the level at which your ideas are being spread. Free work for www.noonehaseverbeentothiswebsite.com is one thing, and an opinion piece in a nationally acclaimed newspaper, is quite another.

Need some direction in establishing whether or not you should work for free? Illustrator Jessica Hische designed the Should I Work for Free? flow chart. It’s a bit tongue in cheek and yet I have found myself referencing it regularly. In a nutshell: your mother deserves your free labor, but the established business that promises you “a good portfolio piece” doesn’t.

Talk to anyone that works in the freelance business and the likelihood is that at some point during their career they assessed a situation to evaluate whether or not they should work for free. Often times, when people have weighed the pros and cons, and know what the potential benefits of free work will be, they will go ahead and do it. Everyone has a “well, I did this for free, and then it lead to this and then it lead to this and now I am doing this other great paying project.”

And unfortunately, we live in a society where money equals success.

As Tim Kreider points out in The New York Times, “Practicalities aside, money is also how our culture defines value, and being told that what you do is of no ($0.00) value to the society you live in is, frankly, demoralizing. Even sort of insulting. And of course when you live in a culture that treats your work as frivolous you can’t help but internalize some of that devaluation and think of yourself as something less than a bona fide grown-up.”

Ultimately, it comes down to the value question: do you truly feel that your own work is being valued? And to add on the that question, have you thought about the value of the work of other people in your industry, and are you helping or hindering it?

Decide your value and do your best so that others understand that value as well.

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Images: Jessica Hische, Anonymous

The post The Freelancer’s Dilemma: Should You Work for Free? appeared first on EcoSalon.

The soup got torched, again. Zesty flavored whence removed from the can, the now smoky-flavored Trader Joe O’s went to school, anyway, in a pink thermos in the tin Blow Pop novelty lunch box. This, after a cursory taste test confirmed the impossible: She wouldn’t know the difference. Never mind that the cauldron it bubbled fiendishly in was tortured beyond repair. Never mind that she dissects her green beans to remove the bad parts before eating. I was reasoning with the clarity of Lenny from Mice and Men? Show me the rabbits, George. Nah, better not. I’ll probably burn them critters, too.

“Did you burn it while you were working on the computer in the basement?” she inquired, in that accusatory, sassy tween tone reminiscent of the damaged young stars of twit-coms. “Yes, I did it while working in the basement,” I confessed. “I’m so sorry. It won’t happen again.”

Appallingly, I also was exposed at school upon pick up time. The school secretary reported there was something wrong with the way the kid’s soup smelled. “It smelled off,” shared Juanita, scrunching her nose like my Pug dog, Mr. Jones, when ordering him to stop licking the Bounce sheets. Yeah, lady, what smelled off was my motherhood. Time to set some boundaries, right? Or at least install a kitchen timer in the basement.

Truth is, working from home via the computer is certainly a good way to go, but understand the perks and pitfalls. You save huge amounts of money and fuel by going about your business online. Commuting to work by car and writing it off is still commuting. No, telecommute if you can, even if the mouse in your house is a huge distraction – keeping you from becoming the Alice Waters you aspire to be.

Clearly, more of us are clicking with that mouse to earn a livelihood. The U.S. Census Bureau reports sizable increases in the number of Americans working out of their homes. It shot up from 9.5 million in 1999 to 11.3 million of us in 2005.  Half of all home workers have college degrees and earn at least $75,000 a year, and also work longer hours than the average worker to make that dough, about 11 hours per day.

Studies also show growth in the number of employees telecommuting on multiple days of the week, from 2.3 million in 2005 to 2006 up to 2.8 million workers from 2007 to 2008. Chances are it will keep rising, and want-ads will reflect that rise rather than the sprinkling of telemarketing options available now.

In the year 2010, telecommuting is hugely viable and still not always acceptable to backwards employers, who argue nothing replaces relationships formed at the cooler. Not even forgoing costly commercial rental space.

But those who understand the benefits admit technology has outmoded the need to traverse the country in jet planes and rack up business class frequent flier miles to do business. It has outmoded the need to show up to a cubicle every day with your tail wagging to get a bone. That way of doing biz is up in the air and destined to being grounded for good if we keep it up. I know you know what I mean by keeping it up.

Meanwhile, back to the soup. There are unavoidable pitfalls and some avoidable ones to multitasking in too comfortable of an environment, namely, one that you control 100 percent.

Unavoidable

You will find the cut-off time to be elusive when your office is where you also shower, cook, social network, pay bills, wash clothes and generally manage your own life and or the lives of children and other living things. Yes, plants count.

You often cough up your own medical insurance unless the employer has it covered, struggle to squeeze in exercise which actually is easier to do once you are already out and about, and may decide to screw the housework which you would ordinarily fit in before work in the morning or when you get home. Ah ha. See, you don’t leave and you don’t come home. Hello piles of dirty clothes and towels, sink of dishes, unmade beds. Wouldn’t you rather work than tackle those unpleasant chores? Isn’t it because you hate housework that you dive into work in the first place?

Avoidable

Over-scheduling. Don’t do it. It will lead to overwhelm which will lead to wine with lunch on the couch. You can still stick to a schedule like any office rat, just give yourself a window of completing must-do tasks and prioritize as you go. Then visualize the stop button on the treadmill and push it when the time comes to clock out. Warning. If you devote time to social networking during much of your down time, there will be no down time. Limit that as well.

And do place that timer in the home office. My sister gave me one years ago and when I reorganize the kitchen drawers I bet I’ll find it. No school secretary deserves to smell rotten soup. Sorry Juanita. If I can hyperlink, download images, Facebook and Twitter, I should be able to time a pot of pasta soup on the stove. I won’t give up, won’t  resort to peanut butter and jelly and return to the cold and rigid environs of a corporate work setting.

Keep telling yourself that. Better yet, send a Gmail reminder to your Yahoo account, print it and tack it on the bulletin board in front of your computer. Add the affirmation, Telecommuters rule. Then get out of your pajamas, have some lunch, do a load of laundry, say hello to the mailman, and get back to work.

Images: Fabio Bruna; SuperFantastic; Shari Thompson

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