should you ever work for free?

my answer may surprise you… Hey {NAME},  I got a question about working for free from a copywriter named Drea Fecht a few days ago. And I actually don’t know that I’ve shared my thoughts about the subject with you before.  So I want to go on the record today and share how I think about free work. Because you may be surprised to hear that I do not always think it’s a bad idea.  In fact, [working for free is how I landed a client worth $163,360](.  So let me share the question I got from Drea, followed by my response.  Drea asked:  “So I have a potential client looking to hire a full time copywriter (contract position) and they want me to write a sales page as a test. They haven’t off[ered] to pay me for my time.  I haven’t asked for payment (yet) but I want to because I do have another client and a side hustle while building my business.  Would love your thoughts on this.”  And here’s how I replied:  “Hey Drea, that's a tricky one.  First, how good is the opportunity? If it's an A+ position that pays great and you would enjoy, I would just do the test for free. (Assuming it's a typical sales page and not a 10,000 word sales letter or something.) Show them that you're interested in the role enough that you will happily invest in the relationship and doing the test for them, since the reward of getting the position will more than make up for it.  If it's just an okay opportunity, then I would probably tell them you're okay to do the sales page as a test, but that you explicitly do not and will not transfer the rights to the copy to them. You will continue to own the rights to the sample and they will not be able to actually use the copy — since the project is only a test. Then tell them if they do want to and plan to use the copy from the test project, then it's not a test project. It's an actual project. And in that case, you would ask they respect that writing copy is your profession and you would expect them to pay for your work.  Good luck! Let me know how it goes.”  So now I want to ask you, {NAME} — what’s one thing that stood out to you about my answer?  Hit reply and let me know. I read every message.  Talk soon,  -Brian [Unsubscribe]( | [Edit your details]( Freelance Like A Pro PO Box 281 Bloomingdale New Jersey 07403 United States [Powered By Kartra] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -