When starting out as a freelancer it is difficult to decide on what rate to charge. Very often you will not have references to prove your bona fides, repeat clients to rely on or an established name. In that case the only way to compete is on price. You can work for free, but should you?
The video below has been doing the rounds for a while and is intended to dissuade people from doing "spec work". In case you aren't familiar with the term, spec is short for speculative. A business may ask someone to do work for free on the understanding that this is a "foot in the door" and could result in more work in future or gain you exposure.
Spec work generally crops up in creative fields, although I have been asked for spec work and no one has ever described me as a creative! Watch the video and we'll talk more afterwards.
This topic came to me as a result of my new favourite podcast, Hello Internet. As an aside, if you have never heard of it I recommend listening, the two guys on there discuss some really interesting topics. On the most recent episode they had a fascinating discussion about this video and spec work in general. You can listen to it starting at 1:12 on episode 61.
Listening to their discussion helped clarify some thoughts that I have had on the subject. I wrote a post at the start of this blog about how to compete with low cost countries. In that post I said that you should "demonstrate your quality and the right clients at the right rates will come." I still believe that and my career is proving it as my rates continue to climb. However, while I never had to work for free at the start of my career I did work for much, much lower rates than I do now or ever had since my paper round when I was 12 years old. You can see how my hourly rate changed during 2015 in this chart:
When you are starting out as a freelancer you will need to think tactically. You need to honestly and critically assess your skills; what gives you a competitive advantage over others in your field? As a fledgling writer you might come up with the following list:
- Experience in the legal industry
- Internship with a magazine
- Punctual & reliable
- Poem published on a well known website
Those are all great but one thing that will almost certainly be missing from this list is an established brand name or reputation. If you do have one of those then start celebrating; the world is your mollusc and you can feel free to charge whatever you like. If not, then you might add to the list:
- Will work for free
I don't want to sound very cynical but I don't believe the people who made that video did it out of a sense of civic duty. I think they are established professionals who do not want young upstarts to work for free and drive down the value in the market.
I'm not saying that you should do it. I have friends who have done it and had nothing come of it. I also know people who have gained a benefit. If nothing else you should carefully consider it but be aware that it is a gamble. It's up to you whether you choose to roll the dice.
Get in touch if you would like to discuss this more.
