Should You Create a Free Sample for New Clients?
The magazine I work for is looking to hire a part-time graphic designer to help the production department with creating print ads. The team has interviewed a few good candidates already, but nothing has stuck.
In fact, there was one woman who the team really liked. She showed us some great samples of her work, she had a flexible schedule, and looked like she would be the perfect hire to join our team. Our art director gave her a take home assignment on a Friday, hoping to see something on Monday. She gave this woman a logo, some copy, and a specific ad size to see what she could come up with in a specific amount of time. We never heard back from her.
Disappointed? Yeah! We were hoping this woman would knock our socks off. But she never sent in her graphics test. This led us to two conclusions: that she didn’t really want the job after all or she was creatively unable to do the work we needed her to do.
When I read this blog post on All Freelance Writing about freelancers providing a free sample to potential clients, it made me think about our situation. In this post, author Chris Bibey talks about a situation where he met with a client who wanted him to provide a free sample, based on their particular needs, within 24 hours. This is something freelancers should expect from time to time, Bibey says, as some companies will trust in your skills while others are more skeptical—especially when they have never worked with you before.
My advice is as follows: there is nothing wrong with providing a free sample to a potential client as long as you feel that it could turn into a paid gig. Unfortunately, there are people out there who collect as many free samples as they can from as many writers as they can find. When everything is said and done, they did not pay a dime yet have plenty of unique content. —allfreelancewriting.com
Over time, Bibey says, you will get better at discerning who is fishing for free content and who is a serious potential client.
If you are writing or designing something for a targeted market—perhaps one you have never worked in before—creating a sample of your work is not out of the question. Would you hire someone to paint your house or take care of your child without researching their background? I wouldn’t!
Providing a free sample of your work is not the same thing as working for free. The sample should be specific and to the point. You should have clear direction, and if you don’t have clear direction, be sure to ask for it. You do not want to waste your time creating something that might be close to what the client is looking for.
Agreeing to create a free sample of your work has potential benefits for both you and the client.
Reduce Risk
A potential new client has just as much risk in hiring you as you do in taking on the project. Not only does the client get to see what you can do, you get to see what it would be like working for them. Perhaps they are disorganized, unclear with feedback, or unrealistic in what they want to pay for your services. Providing a free sample is your way of interviewing them, too!
If any red flags appear while you are going through this process, you can step away without worrying about breaking a contract, losing money, and burning a bridge. While the client is testing you out, be sure you are testing them out as well.
Building a Relationship
You obviously want to work with clients in which you have a great relationship. That relationship has to start somewhere—and many times it can start with a trial or free sample.
As a freelancer, you get to choose who you want to work with, which is a great benefit to a freelance career. If you put your best work forward and start out with a potential new client on the right foot, a good relationship can be built.
If you are not willing to go the extra mile and provide a free sample to a potential new client, you could be shutting the door to a positive—and lucrative—relationship with a great client. And a good relationship with one new client can lead to more through a great referral.
Look, I’m not telling you to give it all away, I’m merely suggesting that you don’t turn your nose up at the opportunity to work with new clients based on the fact that they want to see what you can do for them. Even if it doesn’t work out, at least you have some newly created work that you can add to your portfolio. That way if you have the chance to work for a similar client, you have something ready to show.
How do you feel about offering a free sample of your work to potential clients? Has it helped your business grow?
Photo credit: Some rights reserved by alexskopje.
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Isn’t that effectively spec work though?
I have never gotten a paid gig by giving something for free. I’m not saying it couldn’t happen, but in my own experience, “giving it away” doesn’t make you stand out any more to a client that is serious about hiring you.
I am a firm believer in the idea that, as a freelancer, showing potential clients that there is value in the service you provide is your most important step in getting a gig. No one is going to assume value if you don’t stand up and illustrate that fact. Giving something away should never be a necessary step, and it is in direct conflict with proving your value. That is what a portfolio is for. Besides, you are a freelance resource. If they hire you and they don’t like the work, or it doesn’t jive with their vision, they can easily move on to another freelancer with a minimal loss.
I am also a firm believer that free work should be limited to clients who have a legitimate need. If you’re looking to build a portfolio, offer your services to a non-profit organization. But I strongly discourage going the “freebie” route. In my experience, it sets a bad precident in the mind of the client. Stand up for yourself and your work.
All I can say is bravo, exactly!
Your company asked this potential employee to work for free over the weekend. Maybe that sent up a red flag to the potential employee. If you are asking that of potential employees, would the company actually value the work of a designer and the personal time of employees?
Was it crystal clear and in writing that the potential employee would retain the copyright to the sample ad and that your company would not use the ad except as a sample unless you paid the potential employee for their work? No? Another red flag–the potential employee can’t know if your company is truly trying to see a sample or if they are asking all applicants to give them free work.
Was someone at your company available over the weekend in case the designer had questions about the brief, or was there any way for the designer to ask questions at all?
If a portfolio and a reference check isn’t sufficient to determine if someone is good employee material, how about a short (30 minutes or less) in-office test as part of the interview? Or offer to pay the potential employee for 2-3 hours to create the sample ad. Or hire the potential employee on a freelance basis for a short trial.
I will give a free sample if I think it will turn into long-term, lucrative work and I think it will take an hour or less to do. However, if a prospect asks for a 24-hour turnaround or to provide the sample over a weekend, those would be huge red flags for me. In my opinion, those are both signs that a potential client disrespects me and my time and has unrealistic expectations of a freelancer.
I agree with Betty. Asking someone to work for free over the weekend in absurd, especially if it’s someone whom you have no professional relationship with. Even more, that super-short over-the-weekend time frame is disrespectful to your potential future contractor. How can she be expected to work non-paid assignments into here schedule on extremely short (and again, poorly timed) notice.
That being said, I very, very rarely agree to spec work/free samples: in the worst-case scenario, you’re being ripped off by a scammer, and in the best-case scenario, you’re basically working for free. I make an exception in very rare and extreme circumstances if 1) I can 100 percent verify the legitimacy and honesty of the company asking for spec work, and 2) the eventual payoff could exceed the risk and headache of spec work, either in prestige/reputation or actual dollars and sense.
If you’re not bringing something big for me to the table, don’t ask me to work for free.
That being said, I strongly understand the need to screen your contractors. That’s why properly vetting freelancers is invaluable. Look at the portfolio, check for testimonials or referrals, do a Web search and see if “THIS GUY IS A JERK! DON’T WORK WITH HIM!” pops up on the first page.
One arrangement I’ve found to be successful (from the freelancer’s point of view) is a low-paid sample, rather than a free sample: toss me $50 or $100 and your sample proposal and let me go wild. (More if you’re looking for a sample that takes a lot of work.) I get to keep the cash whether or not you select me as a contractor. That way, the freelancer’s time isn’t wasted or devalued, and you signal to the freelancer that you’re serious about the potential relationship, as well.
I’ve agreed to this type of thing several times, and in fact suggested it once or twice, along with my reasons for not writing free samples. After explaining my position, I find many would-be clients willing to attach a stipend to proposal requests, and the ones who won’t are either usually people you wouldn’t want to do business with, anyways, or big-name publications who you should just suck it up and write a free sample for.
I don’t provide free samples to potential clients. They can look at my previous work and contact my current clients. And if they still not sure, they can start off by doing a small project, before moving on to bigger things.
I don’t go to the doctor and ask for a free consultation and design should not be any different.
She showed you a portfolio. You talked to her. Then you wanted her to work for free? No. At some point, you need to take the leap. Sure, your company wasn’t just trying to get free work, but how does she know that?
“Would you hire someone to paint your house or take care of your child without researching their background? ”
No, I’d look at their past work and get references. What I would NOT do is insist that the house painter paint a room for free to prove they have skillsif they’ve already come to the interview with photos of work they’ve done in the past and several references from past clients.
Your request is fine if the person is inexperienced or their portfolio is all in a different area. But if they’ve shown you work that is substantially like the work you’ll be asking them to do and can provide references, then it’s out of bounds to ask them to produce real work for free (on the weekend yet…). Reducing risk is one thing. Employers like you seem to want to eliminate it and that’s just never going to happen. Both parties take a risk when entering into a new job.
I’d have to agree with what everyone is already saying.
I’m sorry, but this article is giving very bad advice. Designers have enough trouble trying to engage clients and compete against cheap design, and now we’re supposed to be willing to do spec work for free in HOPES of getting paid? No thank you. This only further cheapens our work. I’m appalled that such an amazing site like Freelance Switch would advocate such a practice. Spec work harms us, the client, and the industry.
For the record, AIGA strongly recommends that designers NOT engage in spec work:
“AIGA, the professional association for design, believes that professional designers should be compensated fairly for the value of their work and should negotiate the ownership or use rights of their intellectual and creative property through an engagement with clients.” http://www.aiga.org/what-is-aigas-position-on-spec-work-and-ethical-standards/
Perhaps we’re misunderstanding the situation, but when I read this article, a big red flag popped up that had “spec” written all over it. Good for her (the candidate) for not complying!
I should have clarified. We interviewed first thing on a Friday morning and asked that they have something sent to us by the end of the day on Monday. For a small ad with all the components (that was not to be used in publication without payment) our art director thought this gave the person enough time to create something specific to our publication. Had this person had a portfolio with samples of work that fit our style and publication, a “take home test” would not have been necessary.
It is a touchy subject for sure, and if you are an experienced individual with a long resume of happy clients and killer work, creating something on spec for free may not appeal to you. But should you rule it out completely? Especially if this client could be a potential source of income? I don’t know the answer, and it will be different for everyone for sure.
If someone asked me to do a weekend’s worth of unpaid work, I have a whole array of free cusswords I’d share with him/her. You know, like Harlan Ellison in that “Pay the Writer” video.
“Had this person had a portfolio with samples of work that fit our style and publication, a “take home test” would not have been necessary.”
here’s the issue with that: if your candidate doesn’t have samples that match your style and publication, then they’re not the right match for you. every designer gravitates toward a style that they cultivate over time, and any company or client is best off hiring a designer with a style that matches their own, or shows they know the hiring party’s industry. that’s one of the criteria you’re hiring for in the portfolio viewing, not something you should test for when you don’t see a match.
of the conclusions drawn, i’m surprised this one wasn’t included: that she was offended, but maybe not ready to start a discussion about spec work in the middle of an interview, thought it over and passed. best practices would have been that she tell you it’s not her policy to perform a free design test but would be open to talking about other ways you’d be satisfied in testing her skills. i realize this may just be a difference of opinion, but a free sample shouldn’t be necessary if the candidate is a match for you on personality, motivation, portfolio and experience.
instead, i’d suggest some test options with limited commitments before hiring full-time. in the past, i was hired for a 1-week on-site freelance project that got me the in-house job. i have also taken a small fee for a design sample covered by a non-disclosure agreement, insuring that all concepts remain under my ownership. another option is to hire them on a temp-to-perm basis with a review milestone so you can openly decide together how the fit is working out.
Melanie, the person whom your magazine interviewed was smart to blow off the “test”. For a part time job? Are you/they kidding? It’s more of an insult than anything else.
I say to your management: just make a freakin’ decision and get off the fence and hire someone. Your management sounds broken.
It’s spec work and 99 out of 100 times it’s a con job. And 100% of the time there are civilized ways of determining the quality of a potential contributor without bilking them out of free work and time.
I have been a software contractor since 1993 and there has always been an abundance of freeloaders who exploit the desperation of the “unknown” out there by waving around a prospect of possible work. A scam that is somewhat common in the software/internet world is the “big name” internet entrepreneur who posts a request on Craigslist for sample code that will ostensibly lead to “bigger and better things.” I tried such an ad exactly once. The guy was evasive, hiding behind an administrative assistant while treating me like a peon or leper at arm’s length.
An entity with a real requirement that is willing to pay and CAN pay can do the following:
Ask for samples, ask for references, and ask for a guarantee or money back policy. The last item is almost at the level of ridiculous but I do it myself.
And if the business is “for real”, the risk of spending a small amount of time and money unfruitfully with a new hire is pretty low.
So… nah.. this doesn’t fly.
This is a very difficult topic
In my work as a freelance graphics designer I rarely create a sample for free. In most cases my portfolio is sufficient – and it should be. But I don’t charge before the work is complete. Only on bigger projects I demand 50% of the amount in the middle of the process. But I will be willing to create a sample if we are talking about a big project or long team relationship. Especially if the client is unsure if my skills.
Melanie, thank you for adding the extra information about the candidate not having portfolio samples that were relevant to the job. In the case of a full time position that would make a difference for me as a job seeker if I felt it to be a great opportunity worth the investment in time. That being said, for a part time position I would certainly not consider taking my time to complete a test. There is no significant investment by the company being made in a part time employee and so if they insist on getting a sample they should consider hiring through a staffing agency to see how everyone fits together or possibly freelance as Betty suggested.
When I first entered this field there were no in house or take home tests for any of the companies I interviewed with, but now it seems to be popping up everywhere. I find it very disturbing to see how distrustful employers have become in regards to new hires (especially considering the low pay that often comes with many jobs).
First of all, thanks for mentioning All Freelance Writing. I own that site, and while I respect Chris immensely, this is a topic we seem to disagree about strongly. I’d never suggest that a freelance writer submit a free custom sample.
I’m kind of surprised that you equated it with hiring a painter or someone to watch your kids. I’ve yet to meet anyone who’s gotten a painter to do a free room or even wall so you can check their work (or a free portrait if that’s more what you had in mind). And not only would I never ask a babysitter to work for free to test them out, but frankly I’d have no reason to trust them. If you want someone’s best work, you better be prepared to pay for it.
You mention checking backgrounds. I agree with that completely. You should check the background of anyone you hire. But there’s a huge difference between checking their background (which is the equivalent of reviewing their existing samples of past work) and asking them to do something unique for you for free. As a professional, I find it disrespectful at best. And when a prospect asks for something like that, I kindly let them know they can review existing samples or pay for smaller custom project (like a single blog post to see if they think I’m the right fit as opposed the my usual minimum order requirements).
Remember, the best freelancers probably already have more demand than they can handle. They don’t have to do free work to get your commitment, and most that I know wouldn’t even consider it. If you’re looking to hire a beginner who doesn’t already have a portfolio for you to review, that’s one thing. Perhaps they prefer doing the spec work to build their portfolio than building it through other means. But for most pros I know, free work is only considered when it’s for a charity (and one they’ve offered to work with as opposed to one that solely solicits freebies).
Just my $.02.
And I completely forgot to proofread that comment before submitting it. My apologies. You’ll have to forgive my absentmindedness — supposed to be on vacation right now instead of reading blogs.
Most of the commenters echoed my general sentiments regarding free work, but I have a bit to add.
I would consider taking what amounts to a test for a new job or gig. A test is a fair way to judge skills and it’s fair the test taker because there’s the assurance that the work is unusable in a real situation.
Unless the company is extremely noteworthy and the gig potentially extremely lucrative, I would not consider doing any work for free. But if the work is guaranteed not to be used by the company, and it wasn’t too involved, I’d consider it a test, and that might be acceptable depending upon the situation.
As others have said, references, portfolio work, and the interview is your way to check the background of the applicant. You still don’t eliminate risk with a test because the performance of the candidate might be particularly good on the test, but not otherwise, leading to a false positive. You might also disqualify a great candidate with a test because the particulars of the situation might prevent good work, leading to a false negative. In particular, I need time after the work is done just to give myself creative distance before I come back and possibly make changes. Time is part of the process. You might think a weekend is enough, but the applicant might not.
Another way to handle this, as some have pointed out, is to pay below market value for the speculative work. Just to give something for the interviewer’s/freelancer’s time. In addition, I might want names of previous contractors that have worked with your company so that I can do my own background investigation and make sure that you’re not conning people out of their time.
Finally, your time is precious, but so is the applicant’s. Asking for anything for free has the potential to show a lack of respect for the applicants time, and that’s a red flag. You can scare aware great talent by using your methods. That sounds like exactly what happened. If you had shown more respect for the applicant or hired them for contract work, you probably would have had a great relationship. Companies need to be more wary. In the age of communication and information, word spreads and your reputation will preceede you. Talented people have options and they don’t have to work with you if you don’t treat them like professionals.
Gabriel’s comment is a really good “360″ overview of the situation.
I would like to add the following, which Gabriel alludes to: supply and demand.
The fact that multiple candidates did not measure up indicates that there is not much supply of this “purple squirrel” candidate type. Yet Melanie’s employer is idiotically behaving like there is a mob of such people vying to be discovered.
> Disappointed? Yeah! We were hoping this woman would knock our socks off. But she never sent in her graphics test. This led us to two conclusions: that she didn’t really want the job after all or she was creatively unable to do the work we needed her to do.
A third conclusion that you can draw – which I consider the most correct one – is that she had too much self respect and professionalism to perform a free task.
In short, your team needed her more than she needs you. And by asking for a free demo, your employer probably burnt a bridge with this professional.
About spec work – I personally don’t consider free trial work to be just the freelancer’s business. It contributes to a larger scale problem. Every time someone takes the bait, it sends a bad message to those employers who play this game by undermining our professionalism. It’s indicating the following: “we’re saps, we don’t need to be paid, screw us around.”
Only kids and amateurs do things for free. By definition a professional gets paid for their labor.
I agree with just about everyone that has left a comment and I find the article content insulting as what you are suggesting is spec work, which sends up about a 1,001 red flags to every designer that is asked and expected to create a free sample.
If the resume, portfolio and designer interviewing for the job are not a good match for the company – then keep searching for the right designer.
If the company isn’t sure about hiring the designer on a more permanent basis, then hire the designer for the project and PAY the designer a fee for doing the work.
Design is NOT A FREE SERVICE SO STOP ASKING DESIGNERS FOR FREE WORK!!!
If you don’t have the money to pay us what we are worth and what we can do for your company, then either do the work yourself or create a budget in order to hire a designer.
Stop being so cheap, unethical, unprofessional and expect us to work for free.
No, this should not become the norm.
“Would you hire someone to paint your house or take care of your child without researching their background? I wouldn’t!”
This is what a portfolio is for: background research. Would you make someone paint a room in your house before deciding to pay them? Or get them to do some free babysitting over the weekend to “try” them without giving them any expectation of pay? Would you expect a mechanic to fix your car for free to see if he would do a good job? No, you might get a little discount or introductory rate, but not a free full service. And yet people often expect designers and illustrators to work for free. The industry is struggling for respect and fair pay as it is.
You should do your research, look at their portfolios, interview them, look at their reviews/testimonials and hire based on that. You can always commission a smaller job to test them, but you should always pay for their time because it is usually their most valuable and most limited resource. Honestly, I think she ran because it made your company look unprofessional.
Of course there are extreme cases where free samples might apply but expecting free samples should never be the norm.
The only time I would do free samples is if the company was one of my dream clients/employers who I would crawl over broken glass to work for
This was not a Good Morning article. I am not impressed.
Do you have any idea how long designers have been fighting for their trade to be considered a profession? And then people turn around and write articles like this one encouraging speculative work!
Many years ago when I was a Jr. designer—I was desperate. I wanted to work in my field and I had no experience. The company seemed successful and honest and I felt like I had no choice. I was backed into a corner like a bunny to a carrot on a string. They called it a “test project” and they never called me back. Well, two weeks later I saw MY Poster Design for Big Rock Brewery plastered in beer stores and bars all over the city! I haven’t bought into that bullshit since. The last time I was asked for a free logo design for an agencies client, I politely asked for an honorarium… and then I ran off to the next 3 job interviews I had lined up.
Of course you never heard from the potential employee. She actually has some integrity. She can see through that arrogant, disrespectful, corporate attitude that is praying on the desperate. You really expect someone to give up their precious weekend—take time away form their family/friends/children, to work on a project for free and hope that they will get the job? If you asked a Painter to paint one room for you just t see if you wanted to hire him—he’d tell you to f*%$ off, or just politely state that he “wasn’t the designer for you.”
If you show a company your awesome portfolio that you spent countless hours preparing, conduct a killer interview and have any common sense about your physical appearance and manners, and they ask you to do spec work—it’s a demonstration of their inability to follow their intuition and trust their own decision making skills. They don’t know what they’re looking for. Do you want to work for them? Just think about that and what it could mean.
A company that has respect for designers and our industry, but are having hiring problems will pay a designer to test them out. They pay at least $250 a day for one 8-hr day of work at their studio and up to 5-days. That is the company you should want to be apart of!
Suggesting the designer’s book wasn’t quite right for the job so free spec work was somehow appropriate really only makes this whole mess worse. Freelancers should not bear the brunt of an organization’s fishing expedition, and the Friday/Monday thing is more than a little insulting, especially given the parttime nature of the gig.
After several decades as a copywriter I’m rarely asked for free work, but when I was, my counter — assuming the red flags hadn’t already frightened me off the gig — was an offer to give someone a cheaper rate for one small job. It’s only fair that the organization make an investment equal to the freelancer’s.
Worse yet, posts like this are symptomatic of a plague among freelancers, who in a down economy and glutted markets seem to feel they have little of value to offer, and accept spec/free work arrangements.
If you really can’t offer anything which differentiates you from the herd, then maybe you shouldn’t be freelancing.
Couch free work with any rationalization you want; I’m not saying it never works, but in my experience, the handful of creative projects I crafted for free did not lead to lasting relationships. It meant the client doing the asking considered me a commodity. Which — and trust me on this one — is not a recipe for a long, successful relationship.
Simply put, Ms. Brooks is offering bad advice here, and there are any number of better avenues than working for free over the weekend, especially if the fit doesn’t seem that decisive.
Something that is apparent from reading all of the comments here is that there is a high level of mistrust between freelancers and potential clients/employers. Having only been on the freelance side of the picture, I know the issue stems from deadbeat clients who never pay. It’s fairly safe to assume that every freelancer has had that problem at one point or another. I work in back-end website development, not design, but the red flags raised by a request for free work are the same across all fields. I have fallen for the pipe dream before, and gotten burned. These days, my much more cynical response to such requests is to ask how much the requested work would generally be worth to the client, and then ask why they are unwilling to pay for it.
The word “value” sticks in my head every time similar situations are raised. As freelancers, we are the most important advocate for communicating the value of our work. Providing free work devalues what we do. It sends the wrong message. Portfolios and references are our “spec work” and we need to stick to that idea religiously. I still suggest non-profits, and even entry-level or part-time jobs as a means of building a portfolio rather than becoming a victim of a cheapskate.
Having said all this, I know there is also apprehension on the client side as well. I have spoken with plenty of clients who have had bad experiences with freelancers, some even to the extent of losing money. It’s made even more difficult when the client is a small business. Financial losses hurt both sides. That doesn’t mean we as freelancers bend and accept unpaid jobs as commonplace, but it helps keep things in perspective.
I don’t take a request for free work as an insult anymore. Instead I see it as another tool in evaluating whether or not I want to work with a client. It helps to try and understand why such a request is made. In some cases it is simply a red flag that you should avoid a client, and in some cases you might be able to use it as a common starting point to build a long-term relationship. The request may have simply risen out of a previous experience, and you can turn that to your advantage by using it to demonstrate your willingness to keep an open, ongoing dialogue with the client.
david, the points you make in your final paragraph speak to my own experience when i was an employee. when we realize there’s no reason to take these things personally, they become criteria for judging the fit of the job. i tend to see free tests or competitions for employment as the screening process of an employer i don’t want to work for.
i also don’t really buy the idea that the employer has as much risk as the employee in this situation. employers have our resumes and portfolios, if they have an art director on hand they can as industry-specific questions to test experience and knowledge, they can do background checks, and they’re the ones answering most of the questions in the interview. how many times have employees felt comfortable asking tough questions without being eliminated as problem candidates? questions like “have any of my direct potential co-workers been reprimanded for inappropriate conduct in the office?” or throwing them test scenarios “a client calls with urgent changes on a friday afternoon and wants some of the staff to work the weekend. how do you deal with this from a managerial perspective?” the risk is greatly disproportionate in the employer’s favor already.
I found the comments in this post much more educational than the Article itself.
Thank you to everyone, with your insight and experience.
Fortunately, I came armed and ready as a freelancer from reading helpful comments like these.
For what it is worth, to any freelancer starting out, this is the standard “no-spec” response that I use:
Dear Prospect X,
Thank you again for approaching me with this opportunity.
I have reviewed your RFP in detail, and I am confident that under the appropriate conditions I could deliver an exceptional new Y for Company X. Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to work on a speculative basis. My working hours are carefully planned, and as such my time is reserved for paying clients. More importantly for you, spec work is simply not conducive to quality.
My workflow process has been crafted over several years of practice, and optimized to ensure the best possible result for my clients. I am highly strategic; working through the appropriate phases of discovery and blueprinting are integral to preparing an informed and effective design presentation. Your project is important, and its composition deserves adequate time and effort.
I stand by my reputation, the quality of work in my portfolio, and my flawless history of satisfied customers.
If you would like to commission me to create a low-paid sample before you commit to hiring me for the remainder of the project, I would be happy to accommodate such an arrangement.
I look forward to the possibility of working with you.
Best regards
WOW, what a fantastically crafted response, I think I will be stealing this for any future situations!
Clever or studied responses (like Stephen’s) probably do the most good for the freelancer himself or herself.
I’d love to read an account of any freelancer who has turned such a prospect around and caused them to hire you for a limited project.
Usually the dynamic that I have encountered with the “free sample” request is that the prospect is acting like they have 50 people just like you lined up, and they are HONORING you by asking you for a free sample.
If you provide any resistance, my consistent experience has been that they will just cut off communication instantly and go on to the next (as they see it) warm body.
Not saying that there was any legitimate opportunity there to begin with.
Probably a studied response is the best, but expect no turn around. The business that is asking for this is already tarnishing their business reputation with other candidates by asking for free samples. You can take the high road and treat it as just business.
What I love about this article are the comments below it. As a young designer, it is an easy pitfall to engage in spec work and non-paid trial periods. The important take-away from this, is that in an effort to find red flags in your potential contractor, you sent up several yourself. Hopefully, this can serve your business in reevaluating your methodology towards practices that respect your and your contractor’s needs.
Isn’t handing out a business card, in essence giving, a ‘freebie” ? Adding a sample of some type would add extra exposure, right?
However, one thing no one seems to have discussed at any length is the “one woman who the team really liked” taking materials away, but not fulfilling the implied intent of completing the test or freebie/spec. That to me seems a bit less than professional.
So, another lesson embedded in this excellent discussion might be, “If confronted with such a request, have an action plan firmly in mind, and STICK TO IT.”