How to make free work work for you

(This originally appeared in my newsletter. Sign up now to get content like this, for free, every Monday.)

Warning: another business-focussed newsletter. Not much copywriting material in here, more just some thoughts on how I run my business. Tune back in next week if you're only interested in copywriting.

Lots of people got mad last week over this Linkedin post from the CEO of a dating app called Thursday.

Here it is:

You can see why people are mad - Thursday is asking people to work for free. No money changes hands whatsoever. Best case scenario is people see your name next to an ad.

So the comments on Rawlings's post are predictably irate. I thought this one was pretty funny:

But yet, I can't bring myself to get that mad at Thursday. Here's why:

This kind of stuff has been around forever and always will be

There have always been companies looking for free or steeply discounted work from professional services providers like copywriters and designers. And there always will be.

It's pretty cheesy. But getting mad about it is not going to stop these companies. If you don't want to do the work for free, just say no and move on.

There is some opportunity here - if you do it right

At the same time, I think these kinds of things are worth thinking about before you say no.

Let's say you're a copywriter trying to break into this type of work.

You could use this dumb contest as a jumping-off point.

Don't just comment with an idea like they've asked. Rather, write some content around how you came up with that idea. Do some basic customer research and write about that. Talk about the assumptions built into your idea, the frameworks you're using, the positioning you want to highlight. Etc etc and soforth.

Really, you could create a whole series of things that show your approach and competence around this type of copywriting. You could write about it, you could do presentations for Linkedin - you can even do video!

Then, whether they accept your idea or not, you still "win" - because now you have a library of content you can use in your self promotion, on your website, in emails to potential clients. All over the place, really. And you can use it forever.

The key is to look at things like this as a jumping off point, and ask if there's a way to use them to achieve your goals faster - rather than just reflexively participate on the company's terms.

I've done this before

When I launched home page reviews a year or so ago, I put out a post offering free reviews - as long as I could video them and publicise them.

There were quite a few takers, and I was able to quickly get better at reviews, figure out how to structure the videos, and create a pretty solid backlog of marketing content for the new product.

(Here's a review of a job board's website and here's a review of a digital marketing agency's website.)

Also, a decent number were keen for a review, but weren't super keen on having their website put on blast for all the world to see - so they booked a paid review. The free ones paid for themselves pretty quickly!

Wrapping up

I don't think it's that smart to just reflexively rule out free work, just because the person asking for it has annoyed you.

Rather, it makes a lot more sense to think about what you want to achieve in your business - then ask yourself if there's a way to make that free work line up to those goals.

If you can find a way to make it work, then go for it! Business development is part of being self employed, and if you can turn a free project into a business development opportunity, it may well pay off in the long run.

The key is thinking it through a bit - don't just reflexively say yes or no. Rather, find a way to build on it and connect it to your business.

And if it doesn't work for your business, just move on. No sense in foaming at the mouth. There is simply nothing you can do about cheapskate companies asking for work for free, and trying to fight that tide is just going to waste your time and energy.

Have a great week

Sam

PS: Wrote about this on Linkedin last week, and a whole bunch of people from Thursday liked it. Makes me think that perhaps they were just clanging a big metal bucket to wind people up. I guess this newsletter is evidence that it worked! Pretty cheesy strategy though.

PPS: Speaking of free work, home page reviews are not free at all. Rather they cost almost eight hundred bucks. But they're still great value and you should book one.

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