When I was growing up and training myself in web design and video production, one of the ways I began getting my name and talents exposed was offerring my services for free by doing several projects at no cost for a local church I was attending. This is a great way to promote yourself if you are looking to begin a profitable venture, although it does not start off that way, you may unlock monetary possibilities as you expose your work.

However, several large problems can develop with this method of exposure and people may/will take advantage of you.

Today I write this post as practical advice to help newcomers (and ‘old comers’) avoid some of the tough situations that I’ve found myself in throughout the past.

When you are doing something for free, i.e., offering a creative service, make sure that what you are doing does not become an ongoing expectation, at which point your free love gift becomes a burden to you. When you are forced to do something that you used to do out of love, that thing that you used to love doing becomes a great burden and eventually a bitter memory.

You may quickly find yourself right in the middle of an ongoing stack of tasks you barely have the time or the resources to complete. With nothing to gain but gray hairs and high blood pressure, the demand will eventually lead you to a point in which you are looking for the perfect excuse to be dismissed from the tasks that have now become an obligation.

Removing the encumbrance and stepping out of what you got yourself in to, usually never comes without loss of sleep, nervousness and relational damage.

Avoid letting yourself get to this point at all cost.

One thing that I learned about offering creative services is that if you are doing it for profit, it can make you bitter quick, if you aren’t making a profit.

You SHOULD have pricing, and it should reflect your worth.

Here are a few practical guidelines to follow when providing a service for free to an organization (church etc.), or individual.

Show them the cost.

Make sure to have your normal pricing available so your contact knows you are serious and that you will eventually require compensation for your services in the future.

Show them the value.

Make sure to verbally explain the discount/deal for the service you are providing with the contact/person in charge.

Everything in writing.

Create a document stating how much your services normally cost, also state/explain how you are doing what you are doing at no cost. Visually show the discount in some form or fashion. Keep this for your records. (use an invoice if possible)

Deal with the right people.

If the people who have power and say in an organization don’t know the awesome deal and service you are providing to them, or even who you are, you’re work may go unnoticed, and may not achieve maximum publicity within that community.

Do an amazing job.

The truth is if you don’t do your best from the start you may be wasting your time all together.

If you have been feeling burdened and don’t want to do what you’ve been doing anymore, you’ve been doing free work far too long.

Get yourself out of the endless tornado of free work and do things the right way!