The New Year is in Full Swing, Let the Requests for FREE Begin

When to Work for Free Diagram

It’s January 12th and 2011 is in full swing! We’ve thought of our personal and professional goals and hopefully have written them down somewhere, we can glance at every now and then. Most creatives will be in pursuit of adding new work to their portfolios to stay relevant and fresh; all in an effort to get more of the type of work we like to create. In those efforts creatives such as photographers, designers, illustrators, make up artist, stylist, hairstylist, etc, will undoubtedly be asked to work for free. We know this is part of the path we have chosen as a profession. But we have to be smart and strategic when accepting this type of work.

Free work could come in the way of TFP for a Portrait Photographer. Spec work for a Commercial and Editorial Photographer. It can also come in the form of “New Start-Ups” that need imagery for their business’ promotional efforts and website. In Leslie Burns blog, “Burns Auto Parts,” which is a blog dedicated to the business practices of Creatives, she has a chart that illustrates multiple scenarios where you may be asked to perform your creative services for free and the times it is a smart business decision opposed to an emotional decision that yields no reward.

The criteria that should be used when considering such a request is WIIFM, What’s In It For Me? Its not a selfish way of thinking, It’s a Must…If we want to stay in business. There will be times that these free assignments will take up an incredible amount of time and effort, thus taking away from paid clients, so you’d better ask yourself, what’s my WIIFM?