The advocates of working for free to “prove your worth” and then “close” deals/gigs keep something important out from you:
That you have to be extremely picky of who you’ll work with.
It’s not simply “I’ll work for free to show you I do great work. Then you’ll pay me.”
That’s a nice fairy tale (or bullshit).
Reality is, it’s about who you’re talking to (or have access to).
If you don’t have the right access, doing work for free is doing whatever you can for whomever shows up. It stenches of desperation “to prove your worth”.
And there are 2 things people can do when they smell your desperation:
- Some run away or
- Some abuse you.
The “Work for free” advice leaves this out, blindsiding you.
You’re free to choose which path to take. It feels better though, when you have all the info at hand.
To increase your odds of success —if you choose to follow this path— pick in great detail who this kind of work will be done for.
You can start small, like…
- How much money they need to make
- What kind of industry they’re in
- What kind of business they are
- What kind of problem they’re trying to solve
- What results they’re after
- What’s the urgency of doing this
- What made them not pay for something like this before
- What kind of specific work you’ll do. (Scope free for unpaid work is a pain in the neck)
This will give you a head start on seeing if they’re worth working for free and you’ll improve how to select your customers.
One principle about positioning is who you do not work for.
One of effective sales (and business sustainability), who is not a right client.
BTW, great clients who value you will pay you no matter what. They’ll actually volunteer for it because it shows respect and appreciation —and they know people don’t live off air.