A strategic choice

You've got to see the decision to work for free/cheap as part of your overall career strategy.  I think the critical foundation of that strategy is this simple equation:

Significant amounts of talent/time/energy given + little to no pay = A bad thing

Yes, I understand in this business that it's a common thing.  I understand the reasons and rational behind it.  But that doesn't change the initial assumption.

And for the record it's a bad thing both for you and for the organization asking that of you.  Once an organization gets in the habit of underpaying, it's a damn hard habit to break.

But my point is that you have to make your decisions in the context of your overall career strategy.

Which means, of course, that you actually have to have a overall career strategy.  Making the decision to work for free/cheap is a lot easier when you know what you want out of your career and how a particular opportunity may (or may not) help you to get there.

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Alright that's the last post until next Tuesday.  I'm going to need to spend a little time preparing for my work this weekend at the Creative Chicago Expo.

I'll be doing my presentation at 10:30 in the Claudia Cassidy Theatre.  It's going to be a new presentation that uses one of the concepts I mention in Authentic Arts Marketing and also a new concept that didn't make the e-Book.

I'll also be working a vendor booth at the Expo.  I'll be giving away candy, selling copies of my e-Book for $10 and helping people with their arts marketing challenges.

If you'll be in at the Expo I hope I see you there.  And if you're a fan of my work, feel free to spread the word about the presentation.

New post on Tuesday.

 

Comments

[Jesse Gaffney]

I recently had to make that strategic choice. I work a lot as a freelance designer and when I moved to Chicago was living by the mantra "work breeds work." I was getting some good contracts at good theatres, but I was also taking projects that paid far too little at smaller theatres if I had time for them. I figured anywhere I could meet new people and make new connections was a good move for my career.
I have slowly realized that there is a certain tipping point in the pay-vs-work scale when that ceases to be true. At a certain point the small amount of money for the large amount of work starts to get to me. I become frustrated and becuase I'm frustrated I don't end up doing my best work. Work only breeds work if I am doing work that I'm proud of. It is better for my sanity and better for the company if I just turn down jobs that don't pay enough.