12 Incredibly Crafty Ways to Become a High-Profile Freelancer
As a freelancer, you’re constantly judged by the work you’ve done and who you’ve worked for.
Imagine if you could add a bunch of high profile names to your list of clients — or add a redesign of a Technorati Top 100 blog to your profile. Too good to be true, right?
I don’t think so.
If you can think of ‘payment’ beyond dollars and cents, all of the above is entirely possible. You can be paid in promotion, or in added reputation to your freelancing business — things that are easy and free for a big-time client to give, but incredibly valuable things to receive. In this post, I’ll be providing 12 things you can do to add value to your freelancing business and build your profile as a freelancer.
High-profile freelancers can charge their dream rates and receive a steady stream of work offers, so these things are all worth doing.
Web Designers
1. Offer to redesign a top blog for free. Nate Whitehill launched his web design business with a bang after doing a free redesign of John Chow’s blog. He got links, thanks and a high profile in return, which no doubt led to new clients and helped the redesign work pay for itself many times over. Source-out a popular blog in need of a fresh design and ask if they’d accept a free redesign in exchange for promotion of your freelancing business. This will also allow you to add ‘has done design for (insert name of famous blog)’ to your portfolio, which will in turn help raise your profile — and your rates.
2. Offer to freely design a new logo for a top blog or website. If you’re a Photoshop ninja and the thought of redesigning someone else’s blog without financial compensation gives you nightmares, this option might be better for you. Source out a popular blog or website with a lackluster logo and offer to redesign it for free (in exchange for a little promotion, of course). Having your logo design viewed thousands of times each day on a well-known blog or website will help take your profile as a designer to the next level.
3. Write an eBook or self-publish a book on web design. This will work best if you have a blog or website to promote it from, though being able to add ‘author of (insert book title)’ will add another layer of credibility to your freelancing profile.
Writers/Bloggers
4. Write a guest post for ten famous blogs. If you’re good enough to be working as a writer, you’re more than good enough to write a guest-post for some of the world’s most popular blogs. Find ten blogs on topics that you know something about and pitch an idea to their editor. Copyblogger might be a good place to start — it is, after all, a blog about writing. One post at a popular blog allows you to add ‘has written for (blog name)’ to your profile. Potential clients will see you as more desirable and valuable as a result.
5. Write posts tailored for the front page of Digg. It’s hard to write posts with a good chance of making the front page of Digg. They often require a lot of effort, or a bright idea. You can increase your chances by befriending a Digg power-user — and that’s not something that will happen overnight, or without a lot of persistence. In short, making the front page of Digg isn’t easy, but it will add immense value to your freelance blogging business. Being able to say that your writing has hit the front page of Digg (or even better, made it multiple times) will help you attract more clients and charge more for each post you write.
6. Self-publish a book. Being able to say that you’re a published author will impress clients interested in your writing work. You don’t even need to tell them that you’re self-published (though having the persistence to write and finish a book is still impressive, regardless of how many copies it sells.)
Photographers
7. Offer to take free photos for a well-known blog or website. Popular blogs and websites tend to use stock photography or images from Flickr, but I’ve little doubt that they’d enjoy a source of custom free photos tailored to each post or category. Even if you only provide them for a week, you can still add the blog to your list of clients.
8. Start a photo-blog with the aim of getting a large following. A popular blog focusing on your photography will add considerable value to your freelancing profile. It shows potential clients that your work is popular with a wide variety of people.
Illustrators
9. Offer to create a free comic strip for a popular blog, website, magazine or newspaper. Freelance Freedom is really cool, right? Wouldn’t you want a professional-looking comic strip for your blog or website? Source out a well-known blog, website, magazine or newspaper and offer to create a comic strip for them. Whether it’s one, three or ten strips, you’ll be able to add them to your list of clients. If you need to make an ongoing commitment, make sure they plug your freelancing business in a byline attached to the strip.
10. Create and market a web-comic. Even if your web comic doesn’t become a money-earner, having a loyal audience and some notoriety online will add value to your freelancing business. You could even self-publish a book of your web comics and market it to your audience. Whether it sells or not, it will look impressive in your portfolio.
Everyone
11. Offer yourself up as a free virtual assistant for a week. Contact a top blogger, author or other web celebrity and offer to work freely as their virtual assistant for an hour a day for one week. Encourage them to delegate the necessary tasks they would rather not be doing. Being able to add ‘I’ve worked for (insert name of web celebrity)’ to your portfolio will be a long-term benefit to your business — certainly enough to make the work required worthwhile.
12. Get a testimonial from ten of your favorite clients. Testimonials are under-utilized by freelancers. A reputable source raving about your skills might just be the tipping point in a potential client’s decision to hire you. On-going clients are your best bet for a good testimonial because they’ve seen your work and like you enough to keep paying for more. They’re also more likely to oblige because they have to deal with you on a day-to-day basis. More positive testimonials = better. I’d suggest adding a dedicated ‘Testimonials’ or ‘Satisfied Clients’ page to your portfolio once you’ve got enough good responses.
I’ve got not doubt that there are many more innovative things you can do to start becoming a high-profile freelancer. Feel free to add them in the comments on this post.
Leave a Comment
Great ideas! I know the free ebook one and guest-posting works from my own experience. Workin’ on the testimonials.
One thing I would add is to relate client success stories on your blog (of course you have a blog, right?). Just make sure you tell them in a way that provides useful information to everyone and that communicates client benefits. Do not make it a brag-fest about how awesome you are. Client success stories clearly communicate client benefits to potential clients and that makes it easier for them to imagine doing business with you.
The image used along this article just sends me off into laugher. Beside that, another great advice.
There’s nothing “crafty” about free work. People have been trying to get free work by offering fame and fortune from the publicity for time out of mind. Doing free work in situations like this is totally ill-advised unless the client is WILDLY successful, in which case they can usually afford to pay. I can see offering an exchange involving some money and some advertising, but free? That’s just terrible advice.
Yeah, I’m also on the “this is pretty terrible advice” side of this one.
You don’t have to be a freelance “rock star”. But you do have to do the things that will make you successful for the long-term. Offering your services for free usually turns into a bad way to make money.
I used to write for a few very popular trade magazines. Was in almost every issue for many of them. Got exposed to literally hundreds of thousands of readers. Averaged about one contact a year from it and the contact never led anywhere.
Instead of trying to find the instant gratification score to make you wildly popular, freelancers are better off doing great work for paying clients and get those clients to talk about you to their business buddies. Better than working for nothing with the hope that someone notices you.
“I can see offering an exchange involving some money and some advertising, but free? That’s just terrible advice.”
I’ve picked up some regular clients by offering free work. Admittedly the work has just been a bit of CSS troubleshooting rather than a whole redesign, but the fact that you’ve extended a helping hand without asking anything in return is seen in a positive light which then opens the door to a longer-term relationship.
You should never offer your services for free.
If you don’t ask for money, then ask for a huge shout out (publicity). If you don’t ask for publicity, ask for money.
There are very few exceptions to this rule, even if you’re the new kid on the block.
As a photographer, I think free work is great…for leading to more free work. In the end, it devalues what you do and leads to that customer expecting some other guy (or you) to do a little more free work.
A number of photographers I know like to say the only people who read photo credits are other photographers.
Some pretty great ideas, and I’ll even give one lucky reader a chance to put one of the ideas into action immediately! I am no good at logo’s, and my company is in desperate need of one.
If you are up to it, http://www.phazm.com/ is the addy! My alexa rank is below 200,000, and I get around 700 unique views a day currently, so I can drive a lot of traffic your way! The promotion would be a banner ad in the side panel of the blog (which is where the traffic is going) http://www.phazm.com/notes/
Let me know if you are up to it!
- Jon Hughes
I think the idea of work in exchange for something of equal value (or “perceived value” like advertising) is acceptable sometimes.
For instance, when you’re wanting something new or different for your portfolio in order to attract that kind of work more often. Occasionally I’ve found that there are projects out there that I know I would be extremely capable of doing, but that lack of an example of a similar project in my portfolio, means that work is not forthcoming. So it’s about taking that first step.
Also contra-projects where you get full creative control can be great things to add to your folio and hopefully attract similar work.
Otherwise, I agree that too much ‘free work’ can be damaging to your career and to the industry.
Admittedly the work has just been a bit of CSS troubleshooting rather than a whole redesign
There is a HUGE difference between offering the occasional quick favor to show off your skills and make a connection, and doing free logos, redesigns, copywriting and so forth. These types of projects – if done properly – take time, effort and expertise. Telling people to give free services in situations like this is terrible, terrible advice. Words cannot express…
Many people who are just starting out in freelancing read these pages, and like all of us when we started out, they will be approached by people saying, “Do this free website/illustration/database for my band/company/whatever, and when we get rich/famous you’ll be a star, too!!” It’s the oldest one in the book. As experienced freelancers we should be advising people against this type of thing.
@ Michael: Thanks, and good points.
@ Tuan: Thanks!
@ Mave & Andy: Not all the ideas involve doing something for free. When I’m offering the suggestion of doing something for free, I’m suggesting that you do it for a high profile client/website and add it to your portfolio. In regards to your bad experience, Andy, it’s possible that you didn’t pick the right magazine or didn’t leverage your work in the right way. Alternately, you could have written one article, added it to your portfolio and moved on. One bad experience with the free model does not necessarily mean it’s flawed for everyone in all situations.
Nate Whitehill built a successful design business by doing something free for a high profile blogger. Leo Babauta has now got a book deal because he gave his content away for free. I could cite countless more examples.
@ Mave, re: your second comment: Adding a quick favor to your portfolio is not the same as being able to say that you’re responsible for the design on a popular blog, or you’ve worked for such and such high profile client. It adds immense value to you as a freelancer.
By doing free guest-posts for ProBlogger.net I was then offered a staff writer position there. I now do freelance writing for one of the most popular blogs in the world. This has built my profile immensely.
I’m not suggesting doing free work for the sake of it, but doing it in controlled situations when you know it will add long-term value to your business.
I get a sense that you’ll never see the wisdom in this, but it also appears that you’ve never tried any of the suggestions made in the article. All I can say is: look at the success stories before you pass judgment without personal experience.
it also appears that you’ve never tried any of the suggestions made in the article.
How so? I don’t think I discussed my own experience with this in any of my comments.
I’m sure there are people who have found value in taking this approach. Most things in life offer a wide variety of results, so there are bound to be some good as well as bad in just about any endeavor (and anyway – anecdotal evidence isn’t terribly reliable). The challenge is in finding the right balance and making the right choices to ensure you have more to gain than you have to lose.
These types of relationships should truly be partnerships, and should be entered into with great caution, foresight and a strong contract. There are almost no situations I can think of where a person cannot negotiate a small fee to cover costs and a concrete advertising agreement. This post covers none of the practicalities or pitfalls, and that is why I feel the advice is ill-conceived.
@ Mave: I agree with what you’ve said — you need to ensure you’re entering into a worthwhile arrangement. I didn’t include information on that sort of thing because the article is already very long and I had hoped it would be common sense: don’t get ripped off. I doubt there are people who are going to read the article and decide to redesign a popular blog without putting a lot of thought into the process and what they stand to get out of it.
It’s just a list of ideas — it’s up to individuals to apply them to their own business if they like them, and to make sure they do that in a safe way. I think most FSw readers are pretty intelligent. They’d be more than capable of negotiating a fair exchange without hand-holding from me.
I see where you are coming from, but I think you are a bit too optimistic in your assessment of people’s needs. Many people come here for tips/advice, not just to talk shop, and even experienced, intelligent people can get lost or make mistakes. I’m of the opinion that “Do it for free!” is the kind of advice that should never be given out without certain caveats.
After all, anyone capable of negotiating a favorable deal in a situation like this probably already knows that doing work for high-profile entities – even at a financial loss to themselves – can lead to good publicity.
Wow. You give this horrendous advice and then defend it?! Yikes. Giving away work for free, even to these supposedly ‘high profile’ clients, is a bad idea, period. If your FS readers are intelligent, then they’ll be removing FS from their daily reads, just like I am. Buh bye: I don’t have time for blogs that peddle bad advice.
About a year ago I designed a website for a mate’s music studio for no charge. A month later, a band recorded a set there. They mentioned his website, he mentioned me, I got a job. Three months after that, the same thing happened. Now, one year later, I’ve made a ton of connections, money, and friends by giving away one website. One website that I enjoyed creating.
I’m not defending the author of the entry. Nor am I backing the torch wielding mob. Generally, giving away business is not smart. But, you should consider it if you see yourself benefiting in the long run.
Feel it out.
This is the most patently ridiculous advice ever. Work for free. Yeah. You go ahead and do that. The rest of us have bills to pay.
The people who are saying this a horrible idea need to re-read the article. Skellie is not talking about giving away thousands of dollars of work or hours of your time. In every example she talks about doing something small. Except for the blog redesign many of the suggestions are only a few hours of total work.
What people need to do is weigh the amount of work with the possible results. I am in no-way a designer, I specialize in production, prepress and VDP. But I am always having friends and friends-of-friends asking me to create something for them. I refuse every time because I know I gain nothing from doing their work. Plus I hate trying to be a designer.
But, I had a friend ask me to write an article for his blog about variable data printing. Now I knew his blog was not widely read but also knew that in my field he knows a lot of people. It took me a few hours to come up with something (I am definetly now a writer) but from that one article I have had four leads and landed two consulting gigs.
If I was a photographer and Time Magazine asked to use one my images for free on the cover I would jump at the chance. That kind of exposure is hard to come by. It’s not about giving away your work it’s about getting exposure to your work, which you can not always do on your own.
Work for free? When I got my MA from Stanford in 1966, my first job was – ha-ha – washing dishes at a seafood restaurant on the Belmont Pier in Long Beach, CA. Second was letter carrier while I did student teaching. Couldn’t imagine working 9-5 to pay for a trimmed lawn and picket fence, so stayed at the Post Office. I had recently recovered from 2 1/2 years of being paralyzed from the chest down and was exulting in the joy of being first a jogger, then a distance runner. Ran Bay to Breakers and learned about Runner’s World. Back in 1970 it was a great magazine, very difference from the “Fast Marathon Women,” written-by-PhDs-for-yuppies-in-Spandex organ it is now. I was stoked about the mag and volunteered many hours of photography, translation, and writing. Got a job as an assistant editor – okay, it was not a great job, but it led to a career. The RW experience was invaluable – Joe Henderson, a true editor’s editor, taught me 80 percent of the skills that I use today. The key point is: no one asked me to work for free, or promised me the moon if I would do so. I followed my heart, and it led me to a better place.
My advice: check the caste of the individual who’s asking you to work for free. Most are absolute jerks: they’ll use you, smirk at you, and then drop you the moment they begin to make real money. Yeah, they’ll cut you loose and hire a “real professional.”
Working for low-range rates for a startup can be a completely different story. If you’re young and your new boss, Joe Blow, the CEO of PCEndeavor, is transparently a decent guy, likes your work, pays you $25-30/hour, and gives you your first great professional testimonial, or – heavens! – a referral, in addition to a good learning experience, then you’re absolutely on your way.
Check the feel, check the fit. A bad deal ALWAYS feels contractive – seriously, you’ll feel a cold foreboding in your heart. There are clear signs that a deal will be expansive. There will be energy, intelligence, and an emphasis on making the best possible win-win deal RIGHT NOW, not “when we do our IPO” or “after we finish our business plan,” when “the deals I’ve got lined up begin to break,” blah blah. Run away! Run away!
I think this post sort of comes off the wrong way. It sounds like the author is encouraging spec work, when he’s just saying that landing the right connections can really help a freelancer out.
Creating quality content on your blog or flickr account or whatever for free is not the same as giving away your time. Creating quality content and a strong online presence is about branding and strategic marketing, and it pays off. Giving away your time is usually simply a mistake.
I personally have yet to give away any work that actually gets appreciated by the client, or leads to any extra work, but if you can find that one person with enough clout to make a difference and (perhaps) trade services, rather than the usual services-for-money, I could see how it would work for some. You just have to be very careful to find somebody who will uphold their end of the bargain. Most people put exactly as much value on your time as you do, and giving away time generally leads clients to not value your time at all, so one must be very careful.
Free work = horrible advice. Even for people just starting out. My very first web design client earned me $1200. This was even before I had my own website up. Free… HA!
@Vincent: I could not agree more with your sentiments about people valuing our time as we value our time.
Quite frankly, I find the advice of this article extremely dangerous for beginning freelancers. One of the greatest mistakes I ever made starting out as a freelancer was giving away my time, my creativity, and my efforts at little to no cost for the mere hope of reciprocation.
Flies flock to prey, and when some clients, high profile or not, realize that you will do something for free, they will not only take advantage of that but also bring their buddies into the mix. This is part of the reason I prefer to have my clients spread out across the globe rather than grouped into one single location or group of cohorts.
Word of mouth travels faster than the wind, and if you demean yourself by giving away your time at absolutely no cost, you better believe that you will be taken advantage of by everybody and their moms. I’d rather bet my bankroll on a roulette table than give away high quality work for the hope that some “high profile” professional will reward me for it.
And let’s be real here. Top blogs, top websites, and top professionals have the money to afford a redesign. I’m sick and tired of celebrities of the web and real world getting things for free that the rest of us have to work our behinds off for. It just does not make any sense at all. Not a rant, I assure you – just a dose of realism for anyone seriously considering taking the advice of this article.
On a more positive note, this website still rocks. But, sadly, this particular article ensures around a 1% success rate if you take it to heart. Just my two cents.
Laura,
Why don’t you tell us what you really think.
You wouldn’t ask for free food at the grocery store, you don’t get free work done on your car at the car shop, so why would you do your work for free…advice like this just makes the clients think that your work isn’t as valuable as other lines of work. Maybe you will get some contacts but in the long run you just create an image of yourself as someone that believes that his work isn’t worth anything. And if you don’t respect your time and efforts, how can you expect others to do so. Bad advice.
@Skellie,
As I said: the magazines I wrote for were the industry leaders… ones that in the IT world were one of the top two or three that every person related to info technology would have read at the time or you would have seen it on their desk.
And I didn’t do it once.. this is over a period of 10 years with nearly 300+ published articles during that time. I published a book on computing that sold in book stores, went to trade shows and had people asking me to sign the book. The whole (admittedly weird) sh-bang.
It just didn’t do a thing for my consulting business. That’s the problem with spec work: it’s a crap shoot. Better to spend your efforts on finding paying work and building a real business model based on finding good solid clients.
As to your assertion that not all of your advice was to give away free work: go count the number of times you use the word “free” or advise the reader to do something without the expectation of payment and tell me which way you think the advice was skewed toward or away from free work.
As a frequent reader of FSW, and a graphic designer who is only just about to get into the market of freelancing, I’m finding this contradicting to most other things I’ve read on this site. If I’m getting the point right here, it’s okey to give away free stuff, as long as you’re giving it to someone filthy rich and famous?
Only last week I refused to take on a job after the client didn’t meet my standards (like had been adviced earlier on this site) and I actually lost the client because he didn’t want to pay 100€ more in total than what he thought was a fair price. I still want to believe I did the right thing, because I’m really just a complete beginner at freelancing but not having any money in my pocket sorts of make you question your decisions when it comes to working for free / cheap.
I agree that Spec Work is bad – but in CONTROLLED situations – its a risk worth taking — especially if you are in need of that jump start for your business. At this point in my business’s life I would not take on free spec work – it’s just a very dumb idea. If this was a year ago or 2, then yes – I would have done it.
Why?
Because I would have needed the free publicity/advertisement in order to get more work. I was without freelance work for sometimes weeks, so I completely agree with Skellie on this one – but it will only work in certain situations.
Good post Skellie…
Bookmarked, I won’t be using all 12 but there are two or three here that I certainly could and will research doing. For example, I would love to write a book / photo blog and I would love to guest post on some of the top photography blogs.
YouTube video tutorials and slideshows is something I have also seriously being considering, but I have enough time management troubles with one photo blog post per day let alone one video tutorial per day!
Thanks for the advice and I look forward to reading more about how to make my business successful. I have already started signing up to photography forums and posting as much as time allows me too.
Skellie,
I think it’s a great article. While others may not agree with your tips, they may work for some people. We should continue to keep things positive and polite here:)
I have done the odd free job (or a major discount) on websites that I predict will have high volume of traffic, and the client has a small or no budget, and those sites have paid back very well.
One of my own personal art websites has brought me countless work, simply because it wasn’t for a client and I took an open-canvas approach. Sometimes you may need to stipulate that you want free-design approach to the free job and go all out, show off your skills – and this will definately get you jobs.
The advice is good, but people would need to be very careful who they do free work for and always make sure you have a link back to you and or promotional mention.
Yes, common sense that most of us will have already tried before, but another great post from Freelance Switch.
Keep us the good work!
Thanks for the good tips!
I think that it is good that the clarification be made regarding working for free. Free work can and probably will get you paying work down the line, but high-profile work will pay off much better in the long run, whether or not its done for free.
hot topic, damn. i think if you do something for free, make damn sure its not for some janky band or people claiming to “get rich soon”. Thats common sense and most people get that. I mean seriously, its like, this guys opinion. I’ve had jobs as favors for 3rd parties where I offered low rates, and then got worked to the bone and came out with what the client wanted after not knowing what they wanted (looked like shit)…not something i would ever add to my portfolio. I was embarrassed. But… they were a janky startup. I never should have done it, and if i didn’t learn then, I would have learned it later…. and freelance switch is awesome. there is over 120 pages of material in the last month. thats free. free advice. it has been invaluable to me as I started forming a collective freelance operation out of DC. power to the people!
I agree that offering free work isn’t necessarily the best decision, but it can work if you’re smart about it.
I do a lot of work with non-profits, and have occasionally offered to volunteer my services to both help an organization I care about and occasionally add interesting work to my portfolio. Volunteering always gets me a great new reference and often leads to new work. Plus I feel good about it.
I have also donated my services at silent auctions used as fundraisers. Most recently I donated a logo design that I valued at several hundred dollars. It was risky, but I hoped that whoever had the heart and money to give at this fundraiser (knowing they would be working with a professional designer, and agreeing to a contract that protected me from days of work) would not be a needy client. Turns out I was right– he was a wonderful and savvy client and I got to design the logo for a new restaurant opening in an up-and-coming area of Milwaukee.
Skellie,
Thanks for the wonderful advice. Your blog posts never cease to amaze me – I really don’t know where you get all your ideas from.
I’m just starting out as a freelance writer, so I’ll definitely be putting your tips to good use.
And if you’d like a virtual assistant for a week, just let me know.
@ Chris – I couldn’t agree more.
The ‘torch wielding mob’ are forgetting is that up to 60% of a freelancer’s time is spent marketing their brand and their services, especially when just starting out with a small (or non-existent) portfolio.
As someone getting ready to start out in freelancing…and worried about having a decent portfolio and profile…I found this helpful.
I think choosing a few projects to do for “free” to raise your profile is brilliant. I doubt you’d get labeled as “the freebie guy” and have everyone start coming to you asking for favours. And if they do it’s a good chance to practice those “No!” skills.
As another example, I’ve been running a netlabel for a little while. The creative commons netlabel scene is huge. Here are producers putting out music for the love of it. To give away for free. One track takes a lot of time to compose, let alone ep after ep. But we get satisfaction of putting out quality work that people can enjoy…plus getting our names out there.
I think the same is with design. Why not redo a website that looks average simply because you know you can make it better and as a bonus score a bigger profile in the process?
Still, thanks to Mave etc. for their concern about us newbies getting dodgy advice. That’s what makes FSw rock!
@Mave I agree with you, but this advice should only be given out to a new freelancer either just coming out of college, or just getting into this industry as they need to produce materials for their portfolio. I would never suggest doing free work for a large high ranking website when you have been freelancing for more than 3-4 projects unless if it is a very large website and the owner is a friend of a community you regularly keep in connection with.
And what surprises me about this article is how each of the 12 points is overall the same point in general, do free work make BIG MONEY!… Yah right…
Really in the freelancing world there is no quick easy tips, it is all hard work for people that love doing this stuff. The only piece of advice I can give out, is that you have to personally enjoy this type of work to keep doing it. If you are getting into it cause it feels easy or you are hearing it makes better money then you are kidding yourself. It is like saying that if you get into stock investments you will make it big. But we all know it takes skill, determination, and the love of the business to be successful. Just my 2 cents (even though it is kinda off topic… sorry).
This conversation made me think of another aspect to the whole “free” debate … I am writing copy for a Web site. The client is on a tight budget, and she can’t really afford for me to go way over my initial estimate. I’ve finished the copy, and I’m super-proud of it. This will be a GREAT addition to my portfolio. (I’ve been a communications gal for 5 years, but this is my first large Web site.)
Anyhow, because I care so much about how the finished product looks, I want to communicate with her Web guy and view the site before it goes live so I can catch any edits. This is something that I will probably offer to do for free if she declines. In this circumstance, it strongly benefits me to make sure the site is perfect, since I plan to add this to my portfolio. In my opinion, that’s one instance where offering something for free is in my best interest. Otherwise, if the site is published with some errors or wrong formatting, etc., I won’t feel as confident including it in my portfolio.
What do you all think?
Jessica Satterfield
http://www.TheSatterfieldAgency.com
This is not a black and white issue. Whether and how much “work” one does for free depends on many factors, including how much paying work is on your plate at the moment or whether you have relevant samples to show a prospect.
It also depends on what service you’re offering. For designers and writers, getting to the stage of actually producing something takes lots of time. Instead, you can provide a taste of your style and perspective by offering a critique of their existing materials and an idea or two about what you would do if you got the project.
BTW: I offer a free 1/2 hour phone consultation as a way to give people a taste of what they’d get by working with me. Besides speaking engagements, it is my number best marketing tool!
My readers often email me for advice about writing for free, and, in line with much of the other freelance writing world, I roundly discourage it. The only exception I make in writing for free is for NON PROFITS.
If you’re helping the world, I will help you. If you’re Mr. Big Old Head Honcho, you’re on your own. I dunno, maybe my attitude would change if my work dried up. Maybe I don’t want or need to become well known- simply well-employed has worked out well thus far.
On another note, when hiring others, graphic designers, etc, I am not swayed by big names. I know how big names get there. I throw around big names too. What does impress me- those willing to help others through their craft. One of the contractors I hired to work on my graphics had done brochure work for Habitat for Humanity in Atlanta. I like that. That turns my head.
As a so-called “famous” blogger (thanks for that, Skellie) and a serial entrepreneur who has now left my freelancing days behind, I still routinely offer to do things for free to establish new relationships. In fact, I can remember two instances in the last month where I offered to help for free or waive a fee in order to begin relationships with two prominent potential marketing partners.
Ironically, they both said, “No, we’ll happily pay you.” It’s the *offer* to help someone out that means the most, rather than the free work itself.
Sure, when you’re just starting out, people will take you up on the offer. And as Mave points out (and Skellie practices) you’ve got to be smart about what you offer and to whom.
But the tips in this article apply at all levels of business. Always holding out for your fee can cost you a lot in future returns if you miss out on the right relationships and profile-building opportunities.
I am shocked to read this article, Free why???? What are you teaching young designers?
It is advice like this that has destroyed our industry and has made people want work for cheap.
Does your dentist provide free filling, how about your lawyer or just walk in a store and ask for a free gum. Tell them that if you do this for me then I will come back and buy it from you.
Come on, really…..!!!!!!!!!
The article was not particularly clear, but I don’t think the author’s intent was to suggest working for free in the sense many people seem to be taking it.
I think we can all agree that spec work is generally a bad thing. Working unpaid on a pitch with no guarantee of landing the job, or businesses trying to get a free site out of you in return for x, y and z is not something that anyone should encourage.
However, the author is talking about you, the designer, propositioning a business or blog that you have determined will help raise your profile. People aren’t trying to get you to work for free, rather you’re soliciting others because you need what they can give you. There’s a big difference.
I am just starting out in the writing business. I have just signed my second authority to go to press. The problem today for writers they have to, must, and hove no choice but to self promote. I found the article interesting and very informative. That still means I have to plough through a pile of books, how to set up deals.
I believe I have done more than most to build a promotional base. With perhaps a few more months before launch I still have to perfect my website http://www.lookman.co.uk, get illustrations drawn and jump across the great gulf from a children’s author with three contracts to a published author.
I hope my author’s voice will enliven future generations of young readers between 9 to 16.
yes very well said- For Web designer article that was a nice idea your redesign logo is being viewed by millions of people of a popular web blog, very that makes your profile to the highest level, that was nice.. thats for the thoughts right there.
I agree that with Brian Clark with the point of establishing new relationships with future clients. As someone who has yet to establish myself in the real world of visual communication, I would definitely do something for free that I could put into my portfolio. If I couldn’t use it in my portfolio I would not do it. When you’re working your way up you do things here and there that may not pay or pay little and in the end you’re smarter, more experienced and you could charge more to clients because you will be worth it. You are worth it now, but I am seeing that I need to experience the real world for free or for a small fee before I go into something larger. Even when you’re bigger and if you are now maybe you help a friend or family member, but not if you can’t afford it right. You need your clients, they don’t need you. That doesn’t make the best of sense, but they could go to someone else. With that in mind you sometimes work for free to establish your career and client relationships. But if a job is going to take you 8,000 hours then you probably wouldn’t work for free.
As a freelance designer, web, photography, illustration, fine art and such, it’s so easy for you to have fun and you’re so able to work for free because you’re you and only you. A soul creative with the power to do something awesome for free and feel good about helping someone who needs you, getting that experience and making that client relationship.
Some good advice, no doubt about it.
I absolutely agree with doing something for nothing to either break into a market or to raise your profile, back in 1997 – 1998 I worked voluntarily for 3 different companies in order to get experience and learn skills that I other wise would not have done, as a result of the skills I learnt I got offered my first proper job running liverpool.com and from there I started my career that has kept me busy and my kids fed ever since. However I still volunteer my services if I think that a project will open doors into a sector I would rather work in, or I think its a great idea and I do not have a great deal on or if its a charity and I have been recently working for multinationals, I call it ethical offsetting as the big guys pay me lots so the little guys that are saving the planet don’t have to.
Very nice!
Hey, here’s another way . . . do what YOU’RE doing . . . BLOG, BLOG, BLOG Just don’t expect overnight paydirt.
Jeff Yablon
President & CEO
Virtual VIP
http://virtual.answerguy.com
Oh, by the way . . . we’re hiring . . .
Jessica – I think that’s a circumstance where offering free services is totally justified. I will often throw in extras like that to ensure the quality of the final product and maintain a certain production value in what I do. That goes back to what I said earlier about weighing what you have to gain vs what you have to lose.
Offering totally free services right out of the gate, on the other hand, despite what the OP would have us believe, is never a good idea. The notion that we can all get rich/famous from offering free stuff to high profile people is just absurd. Yes – it’s true that there are benefits that may be gained by some people by taking this approach, as a rule most people will not gain from this approach. Offering this up as blanket advice to the freelancing community as a whole, with no clarifications or qualifications at all, is brazenly irresponsible.
This is a great article! I only have one disagreement, and that’s with the idea of self-publishing necessarily helping a writer’s freelance career. Unfortunately, so many people self-publish these days that it’s really not impressive anymore. And clients can easily look at who your publisher is to see if you’re self-published or not. Now, if you’re one of those people who are REALLY good at marketing and can market your self-published book to sell thousands of copies, then you’ll: 1) make good money, and 2) attract the attention of regular publishers who might want to take your book over.
There’s nothing wrong with working for free provided you get something out of it. Business is exchange, whether it be money-for-services, money-for-products, products-for-products, etc. Skellie’s right on the money with this one. It can help build a portfolio, help gain exposure, build alliances…the list goes on. What’s being missed in some of these comments is that there is an agreement that takes place whether you’re working for money or working for free. In Skellie’s world, the agreement is “I’ll do it for free if…” Not “I’ll do it for free.”
Sure, it’s a problem if you do it all the time because it’s likely you’ll starve. It’s also a problem if you suck at what you’re doing and nobody likes what you did for free. That’s not the kind of exposure you want. And the argument that “dentists/lawyers don’t work for free” doesn’t really hold much water. Different business models, first off. And second, it’s not true. I got free work from an orthodontist once and he made me promise I’d come back. And I did. For $2000 worth of braces. It was well worth the time and effort for him. Much like Skellie is suggesting it may be for us non-M.D. types.
Wow… the work for free debate rages on! I think you really have to be starting from zero to offer your work for free. Or if you do it for a friend who agrees to stay quiet about the whole payment thing, maybe just once, to jump-start things for you.
But I would certainly never go from having a fairly well-trafficked freelance business that charges typical rates, to suddenly saying “Hey, everybody… I work for free!!” Seriously bad move I think. People are just going to wait around for your next freebie. I think!
But getting back to the point of this post, which was creative ways to pimp your talent. I say start a network where people come to learn a trade (for example, a writing network, an SEO network, or hey, how about a network of freelancers like this one? Brilliant.). Run your network impeccably and watch how many people begin to “know you around town” and end up soliciting/referring you for paid client work. Your network can be a blog, yes, of course. But you’ve got to go full-throttle and socialize with other bloggers like crazy! There are far too many bloggers to count who have done that.
Great post – a little controversy to stir the pot! Nice.
I am sorry but I NEVER give away free work, The only exception to this rule I made for myself is that I would donate my time to a charity. It is usually just bad business practice to give away your work, as an assumption that you will gain work in the future from it. This is especially true if the client contacts you asking for free work saying that it will bring you future work. I recently wrote an article on my blog that discusses what you can do to gain needed experience without giving away your work.
I really think this is the first article on this blog that I have not enjoyed
and cannot agree with. At the least you could work at a reduced rate for such a client, however this is still not ideal.
http://www.no-spec.com/ Free work, Spec work, Free pitching, Free free free….
It’s all bad. Seriously Skellie? I’ve read quite a few of your post in the past on multiple blogs, and some are good, but some are just outright horrible advise.
Free anything cheapens the industry. If you are recommending an exchange of advertising for work, then say that, and use the word EXCHANGE, and emphasis that the value of both should be equal.
Nobody needs to resort to doing ANYTHING for free, EVER! Doing so, and telling people to do so, is just ignorant.
I also disagree with working for free…
Yes maybe at a discounted price but when people work for free, everyone else suffers as they expect everyone else to work for free. and the person who worked for free, will 9/10 of the time, regret it!
Apart from that would agree with rest! All about getting your name on something famous!
I am so going to use the “Testimonials” feature in my site when I get it custom-made for my website.
Great advices, really.
I have been doing some free work for small no-profit communities and it really paid back! More connections, more jobs, more money.
The only advices i can add are:
1. BEFORE working make sure the client knows that the work will be done for free ONCE ONLY
2. Tell the client to avoid saying you’ve been working for free, ask them to say they paid a good price (80% of usual price) if others ask them about it.
3. BEFORE working on the project make sure they promise to find you at least 2 full paid projects
4. If you can, avoid working for FREE – Usually even broke companies or communities can get some money, say 2-10€ (or $ or £ whatever) for each person in the communit. It will cost them slightly more than nothing and you’ll get some money (nothing useful but that’s better than working for free
My 2c
Well written, Skellie.
Design, development, programming, graphics, the web… it’s all been the epicenter of my life for as long as I can remember. I picked up BASIC on the Apple IIe and QBASIC on an IBM in the 4th grade (8 years old) and the following year in 5th grade learned HTML and the joys of managing a GeoCities web site. I found Paint Shop Pro (back when it was still shareware) through a friend and began to enjoy designing graphics. My mother worked for a college and I convinced her to buy for me the student versions of Visual Basic 4 and Adobe Photoshop 5.
Some years later—now in high school and realizing the potential income that awaited me—I began to take my passion seriously, and was excited that unlike my fellow students, I could make money doing something I absolutely loved. Right out of the gate I had a few paying projects fall into my lap for friends and family, but a short time later my workload was back to zero.
Out of the blue, an old friend called to see if I was still doing web work and if I would be available that weekend for a quick design project. He was working on a political campaign and their current web design firm had dropped the ball. I designed and built the web site in a single evening, and never asked for any payment. Several years have gone by since and EVERY election cycle this same person brings me 3-4 high paying campaign web site projects. Just a few hours of my time for free have turned into a consistent income.
One thing this angry mob has forgotten in the years since their early days, is that freelancing is about self-promotion. Lending your knowledge and labor free of charge to a project here and there, whether quick CSS or SEO advice or a full-on web site design, is ultimately beneficial to your own marketing efforts as long as you keep your head about it. No one here yet has listed the tangible benefits, so allow me:
1. Design credit – a link, copyright, byline placed on the final product acknowledging your work.
2. Backlink – if the above design credit is in fact a hyperlink, you’ve just boosted your search engine ranking, Google PageRank, therefore your traffic levels, and ultimately your sales.
3. Networking – if you’re doing free work for the right people, your name will be passed along when paying projects come up, your praises will be sung in the community, your name/brand given some credibility where you otherwise may be unknown
4. Portfolio – you can showcase the project in your portfolio, client list, etc. Most people won’t even hesitate to write a one-page testimonial letter praising your hard work.
Mave and the rest of the mob here complain about spec work because they’ve forgotten that in business, in any industry, in any locale, if you aren’t yet a household name, you have to be hungry. You have to fight to win contracts and land clients. Dozens of sleepless nights will be spent worrying about the next day’s pitch, days and days of seemingly wasted time sending out thousands of form letters and making hundreds of cold calls, and most importantly: creating brand awareness. And what’s one of the best, easiest, most cost-effective way to do this for many freelancers? You guessed it: discounted or free work. Not forever, not always, but until you’ve earned credibility, built up a portfolio of work, and are being approached by your clients (and not the other way around), this is absolutely a viable marketing tool to consider. And if you don’t have any other clients or projects, why not spare a few minutes/hours/days on a free project that will benefit your career, spark your ingenuity and creativity, and at the end of the day benefit a client (yes I use the term loosely here as they technically are not your client since they aren’t paying for your services).
Another misconception you’ll see raised is that doctors aren’t giving away free examinations, mechanics aren’t giving away that free tune-up, and masseuses aren’t rubbing free backs. Guess again.
Call up your local community college or technical school and ask about their discounted massage clinic. Go visit any medical school and you’ll see their attached free clinic. Where do you think the cars come from that are being fixed in Shop class? Sometimes irreparable junkers, but often faculty and friends who need a free tune-up. Walk into the cubes of any Fortune-500 white-collar business and you’ll see dozens (if not hundreds) of college interns, working for free, trying to get their foot in the door.
Freelancers have convinced themselves they are exempt of this practice. Perhaps the freelancing mob have been successful for too long, and it’s caused them to forget where they came from. Unless you’re wildly talented, and expressly public about what you do, my guess is it will take long hours, some elbow grease, and yes some very hard work without any financial compensation, before you achieve ultimate success.
In short, don’t blacklist this idea just because other more experienced designers are crying about working for free. They’ve been getting paid well for too long to remember what it’s like not knowing if you’re going to get the rent in on time.
Patrick – no need to judge or insult others to get your point across. Like you, those of us here arguing against spec/free work came up through our industries, and had to work hard, pay our dues, etc. Just because we happen to disagree with you, that doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten our roots, or are simply blind to hard work or the challenges and realities of the marketplace.
I think most people here, like me, aren’t against the idea of offering skills trades and discounts in exchange for advertising, etc. in situations where the benefits are clearly outlined and outweigh the risks. I think what we ARE against more than anything is this recommendation of offering free work being put forth in a freelance forum, without any qualification or caveat. It’s simply irresponsible.
Other freelance switch articles are journalistically more thorough, offering pros and cons, options and advice. With an issue this controversial and potentially misleading to newer freelancers, more care should be taken in outlining HOW this type of thing should be approached, what types of pitfalls to look out for and what sorts of demands one should be making in return for their work (and in that sense, truly “free” work is never advisable).
If you really disagree with my position, that is your right. But don’t assume that you know anything about me or anyone else based on our positions alone. Like you, we’ve put a lot of thought into the issue and have just come to a different conclusion.
Great. Writing………….
hhhmmm…. something is missing, set up a website for tutorials, because for a developer, one thing is very important that how much tutorials have you written on a writting site.
I’m keen to become a full time freelance photographer. I’ve sold landscape and stilllife imgaes, but as yet I’ve never done a wedding or even portraits and I would like to. I’m doing my first wedding in Aug ’09. For free! Is that a bad thing then? I don’t see how I could possibly charge when I don’t even have a wedding portfolio to reassure the couple (or myself) with. Instead we’ve agreed that I’ll shoot the wedding as a guest and they’ll buy the prints they want. I’ll make nothing financially out of the deal, but will have my first portfolio of a wedding shots. With judicious use and word of mouth this will more than likely get me at least one paying job as a direct result. And ideally this will grow exponentially. Similarily many aspiring glamour and portrait photographers and models seem to offer their services for free just to get the experience and the all important first portfolio.
I see the sense in the idea Skellie and appreciate it and in fact many of my Redbubble.com contacts have commented favourably on it. Long ago someone told me that the man with open hand receives while him with the fist gets nothing – or something like that!
All the best – GlennB
Great article,
I think especially if you are starting out as a web design freelancer you have to give web designs for free!….your portfolio is ultimatley going to get you more work as that is what people judge you on
The best way to get a large portfolio quickly is by offering your services for free.
I have done a few sites for free when starting out, some have not lead any where, where as others have gained me extra work.
In business you take risks – its exactly the same when giving away a free website… you may get extra work, or you might not, simple as that…but you won’t know untill you’ve done it.
one of my favourite quotes:
“if you don’t roll the dice, you can’t throw a 6″
On a positive note… at least you can build up your portfolio/network
Great piece, Skellie, thank you.
While other freelancers do not think doing something for free is a good idea, you do make a valid point.
All you want to do is to pick the right ‘client’ to do free work for – so that you can have a ‘high-profile’ website or client to add to your portfolio. As a freelancer, if, in your portfolio, you mention that you worked on some famous blog/site, this can open some doors of opportunities for you.
For freelancers who are still starting out, doing free work is definitely an effective way of promoting your name and your skills.
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Thats really the best of the site I have ever seen form with the concept of Blog.Well written posts back up by proper description of facts make everything clear….
As a web designer, i think this idea of working for free to raise your profile is exactly what a lot of designer do and have done. Writing an Ebook and posting it online is a sure way of attracting clients. How about creating a tutorial site – writing tutorials on various techniques?
It has proven by many people that putting yourself out there will aventually with enough persistence, will get you noticed!
Anyone who doesn’t try this will never know.
Really? As a freelancer, this has to be some of the worst advice I’ve ever read. Giving your work away for free is essentially saying that that the services you provide aren’t worth anything. Sure, you may get some referrals from whomever you’ve done free work for, but those referrals are either going to expect more free work or give you a total low-ball pay rate.
Here’s a better idea: Do kick ass work for your clients and charge them a reasonable rate for your services. Be honest with them, meet your deadlines and always remain friendly. You’ll build up your client list in no time and will be doing it in a way that doesn’t take away from your credibility and image as a business owner. Oh, and even better: you’ll actually get paid for the work you do!
We recently ran a facebook competition to give away 3 free websites and it did gather a bit of interest, but not as much as we had hoped in honesty.
I do think if you can redesign a very popular blog or b2b ecommerce site that gets a lot of traffic then it is a risk worth taking. Ultimately if the site is getting 100,000-500,000 visits a month then you have to expect (providing its good work) that you will get at least 5-10 who will look into who designed it in the footer.
Great suggestions for web designers. I will take these into consideration. Anyone want a blog re-designed?