Exposure Doesn’t Pay – When to Work For Free | Photography Business Help {Ep 012}

In this episode of Business Straight Up – the podcast for photography business help and creative entrepreneurs, we are going to talk about the four letter dirty word… FREE. Yep I said it! You’ve made it! People know who you are! And now they’re asking you to work for free. There’s always a reason, whether valid at this point in your life and business or not, and it can be hard to say no. So how do you know when you should work for free? There’s the debate, right? The conversation that brings out all the trolls on social media, we’re going to dive into it because hey, why not! If you have ever been asked to work for free and you’re wondering if it’s really worth it, today’s episode is for you, and guess what: I have guidelines for you!

This has been one of my most popular photography business help articles and I expanded in this episode with a bonus reason, just for you, amazing listeners!

Key Topics

  • Saying yes to something means saying no to something else
  • There is nothing wrong with turning down work which doesn’t pay

Summary

  • Common situations that come up, where people might ask you to work for free (03:42)
  • The main points that often come up on this topic (05:45)
  • Things to consider about working for free, realistically speaking (06:23)
  • If you are saying yes to working for free, you are saying no to something else (08:39)
  • Guideline #1 – exposure. (09:23)
  • Guideline #2 – charity. (12:52)
  • Guideline #3 – creativity. (16:09)
  • Guideline #4 – stellar customer service. (21:48)
  • There are no black and white answers to this question (23:30)
  • The most important thing is that your time is valuable (24:10)
  • There is nothing wrong to turning down request for free work (24:47)

Now What?

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