Working for free
Photo by Étienne Godiard on Unsplash
Almost as divisive as Brexit. Working for free has its obvious cons, but in our opinion, it has pros too and you can come at it from a few perspectives.
Within The Arena team, we’re all creatives. We’ve all been self-employed, and we’ve all worked for free and we’re no strangers to mates rates.
We’re taught during our education and training never to work for free. And the pressure to find a well-paying job with ‘financial stability’ hangs over you like a dark cloud, whether that be from your parents, mentors or peers.
There will never be an industry-wide consensus on this and everybody is entitled to make up their own mind on whether they’re willing to work for free or not...but for what’s it worth, here’s our take on it.
Working for free is 100% OK
When…
The client has no budget, but the project will really increase your chance of future paid opportunities. Maybe your portfolio doesn’t reflect your best work yet, or it’s limited to a field or industry that’s not where you want to go. Without a portfolio, you won’t get any work, but without work, you won’t have a portfolio! (The ultimate catch-22).
You have spare time and you’re happy to spend it supporting a cause you are genuinely passionate about (e.g. pro-bono or charity work). This can also benefit your portfolio and feedback into the previous point.
There’s an equal exchange of services (e.g. You create album artwork for a musician and they record you a podcast jingle in return). This isn’t a monetary transaction, but as long as you’re clear and happy with the exchange of services, it’s fair.
It’s for a friend or family member, you have time to and want to support. Consider perhaps just reducing your rates though, or securing some form of equal exchange. Your family and friends should also respect the value of your time.
Working with the brand or person will elevate your status or reputation significantly, but there are some conditions with that…
Working for free is not OK
WHEN…
Regardless of the exposure, that brand or person has money to pay you and will be commercially gaining from the project
The project doesn’t enhance your portfolio or provide you with any additional experience in a desired field
You have to turn away paid work in order to take on the unpaid
The same friend or family member is repeatedly asking for favours (especially if it’s for commercial gain)
It’s all well and good talking about it though, so let’s run through some scenarios for context...
The drone photographer
A great example I saw recently on Facebook was a guy who’d just got a commercial license to fly a drone. Now he wanted to start a business as an aerial home photographer, to provide videography and imagery as a keepsake for families of their home.
You are legally not allowed to do this unless you have permission from the owner to fly your drone and film that house, so for him, selling his services with no showreel would have been a tough sell.
So he put himself out there and offered a free aerial photoshoot to the first 10 families that got in touch! And low and behold, well over a hundred people bit his hand off for it. Yes those people got a great deal and he may have to invest both time and energy into delivering those free services, but here’s where he really hit the jackpot:
Those first 10 clients will be chuffed to bits to have been the exclusive first recipients of this service - and they didn’t pay for it! So assuming the guy knows what he’s doing with a camera, they’ll sing his praises and recommend him far and wide. That’s free marketing.
He now has a solid body of work and examples on his showreel to use as a sales tool and probably command a higher asking price from the off for his services.
He gets a much better idea of the work involved per client, editing time and the best way to deliver the service, streamlining his future delivery and giving himself a good base for pricing.
And there’s 90 other people on that Facebook post keen to see how they turn out who will potentially pay full price for his services down the line.
The independent artist
Another scenario for you - Lauren here, hi! I’m a singer-songwriter, musician and generally underpaid creative. The music industry isn’t really set up to create sustainable income streams for us, but let’s talk about gigs in particular.
In the early days, it’s widely accepted that to get your name and music out there, gigging is the way to go. Until you’re able to sell upwards of 20ish tickets, you’re unlikely to take headline billing anywhere and therefore if people won’t yet pay to come and see you play, a venue is going to struggle to pay you either.
Now obviously in an ideal world every small venue would be bustling 7 days a week, drinks would be cheaper and musicians would always be paid to perform! But right now small venues are in danger of closure and they’re really one of the only organic ways remaining to grow a fanbase. Instagram is saturated as hell and playlists are owned by the majors, so I know that working for free in this scenario...is an investment in my career I have to make.
The graphic designer
Hey, it’s Dom! I have been working for free, collaborating with one of my old lecturers from university. He quickly became a great mentor and has invested a lot of time in helping me develop as a young designer.
Since graduating I have done both paid and unpaid work with him. The unpaid work allowed me to start my journey in sharing my ideas and helping other creatives. I recently completed two workshops with the class that he now teaches in Bangkok!
This has always been a passion of mine to teach, and now having done two workshops I can feel confident doing more and have some experience in this field. This connection has also opened up further possibilities for The Arena…
Our final thoughts
It’s also worth mentioning that with unpaid work you typically have more control as a creative over the final output. You’re less at the peril of the client’s (sometimes absurd) demands and you don’t have to create something you’re not happy with. The choice is always yours to walk away.
So, always ask yourself: If not money, what am I getting from this?
Don’t be afraid to push back and get exactly what you want from the partnership. Make sure it’s all in writing from the off and there’s a fair and equal balance between benefits for both parties.
Everybody’s situation is different and it’s impossible to create a blanket rule for the industry, but fundamentally if you’re happy, keep it up.
