Almost every creative person has, at some point, been asked to do work for free. I know I have. If you’re the creative type, there will always be people who will approach you and ask you to submit your work to them in exchange for experience, exposure, future jobs, and basically, nothing. People will ask you to give them your time and effort - and in return, they will give you a pat on the back. My advice to you - ask for payment. If you can’t get that, turn around and walk away.

Who am I to talk though? Let’s hear from other, more respectable types.

“How many people do you know, personally, with the talent and skill to perform the services you need? A dozen? Five? One? …none?” This was a question posed by an anonymous author on craigslist several months ago. I admit, anonymity doesn’t exactly equate to respectability, but it doesn’t take away from the veracity of the article either. Of course, the emotion infused in the whole tirade makes it just a tad less credible, but it definitely makes it way more entertaining. Take this excerpt, for example:

Graphic artists, illustrators, painters, etc., are skilled tradesmen. As such, to consider them as, or deal with them as, anything less than professionals fully deserving of your respect is both insulting and a bad reflection on you as a sane, reasonable person. In short, it makes you look like a twit.

The quality of this piece, no doubt, is what made the NO!SPEC campaign pick it up and post it on their own site. If you’re not familiar with the campaign, here’s a brief introduction:

The NO!SPEC campaign: Serves as a vehicle to unite those who support the notion that spec work devalues the potential of design and ultimately does a disservice to the client.

Our mission: To educate the public about speculative, or ’spec’ work.

Our target: Those who use creative services, as well as creative professionals (designers, photographers, illustrators, typographers, writers and those in marketing, branding and advertising).

What you can do: Place a “NO!SPEC” logo on your site. Sign the NO!SPEC petition. Distribute the “NO!SPEC” posters. Contact us with your thoughts, comments, articles and insights.

Requirements: The only requirement for participation is putting the appropriate value on your profession.

Of course, the requirement set here doesn’t preclude working for little or no cash. In fact, the requirement is that you put “the appropriate value on your profession.” If you’re a beginner, this is especially difficult. Thankfully, the (thoroughly experienced) people over at Adphoto, Inc. have been kind enough to share their tips on The Business of Photography. In a recent article, they shared their Top 10 Tips: When You’re Asked to Work for Free.

With all that said, forget for a moment everything you just read. Forget about payments, discounts, renumeration, and other such things. Just think of these two questions:

1. “What’s in it for me?” and
2. “What else can I get instead of cash?”

 
These questions were only briefly mentioned in the introduction of Adphoto’s 10 tips, but they pretty much cover the idea of putting the appropriate value on your profession. If the rewards you get are commensurate to the work you put in, then the cash is simply icing on the cake, right?

Tags: creativity, creative professional, creative work, creative services, NO!SPEC, speculative work, value, Adphoto