The economics of free or why I won’t do things for free anymore

Last year, my friend John Bollwitt wrote a really insightful post where he mused about when is the right point to stop offering your services for free. You should really read the full post, but the sentence that definitely touched a nerve with me was this one.

The part that gets sketchy is when you are asked for your services and not expected to be compensated for them. [John Bollwitt]

I started meditating about this issue shortly after I received a tweet from Mike Jagger who indicated “you are the Mother Theresa of liveblogs“. That, and the sentence above just absolutely triggered a thinking process around the wrong perception that I give out my services for free. Nothing further from the truth. I don’t want to nor do I plan to be the Mother Theresa of liveblogs. I would like people to appreciate the value of my time, the value of my writing and the value of my research skills. I don’t write “for the exposure“. I *have* the exposure, thank you very much! And bottom line? I write for myself, so whether people read my content or not is not one of my concerns, nor is it being “seen”.

I have volunteered my time for the Vancouver social media/tech community to extreme lengths. I am not self-absorbed or self-congratulatory in saying this, I am just being truthful. I have liveblogged numerous events for free. I have covered many events for free. This doesn’t mean that I have de-valued my own work: it means that I am interested in giving back to the community in the spirit of “paying it forward”. However, I work as a freelancer. I am NOT a freebie. Don’t mistake my generosity for lack of appreciation for my own value.

If people are expecting me to liveblog an event just “‘because” they may probably find that I will decide NOT to do it. Liveblogging, writing content for blogs, reporting on events, etc. are just a few examples of actual services, and people need to learn that they should be paid and rewarded. The perceptions that just because we are bloggers we should feel happy that we get invited to events or that anybody can liveblog an event are completely erroneous. Of course, everybody with some degree of knowledge of computers and technology can fire up a liveblogging event on Cover It Live. That’s not that difficult. It’s the skill required to capture the thoughts and meanings of a speaker that is an acquired, honed and valuable skill. Refusing to pay for a service that is provided is tantamount to trying to get a freebie.

For example, when you go for a consultation with a doctor (medical doctor, MD) or a psychologist or a counsellor, do peoplereally expect to go in, and come out and NOT pay anything? No, right? Then why would people think that they can come, ask me a barrage of questions and expect an in-house, one-on-one, free consultation? I have no clue why, but this has happened to me, more times than I care to remember.

There is a big difference when I deal with my friends. For example, if somebody who is a friend of mine tells me “hey can you translate this short sentence for me” (in any of the languages I speak) I am more than happy to do so. If somebody tells me to spend an hour of my time translating, I’m expecting that either (a) the person asking is a very close friend, and he/she will appreciate what I do and (b) the relationship is so reciprocal that asking a favor back will never be an issue. Or (c) that they are going to pay my translation fee.

I would really like to change people’s perceptions that everything can come for free (or be bartered). That’s not true. As Rebecca Bollwitt noted on her post on bloggers for hire, “bloggers who produce strong, insightful, creative and intelligently content have great value.” Bloggers, consultants, freelancers, researchers, all provide important services, and as such, should be rewarded.

Last year, when I was in the process of establishing more of a consulting practice in social media, I asked how to establish pricing strategies in this field, one that wasn’t really mine from the get-go. Right now, I think of social media as just one more of the fields that I consult on, simply because I have accumulated experience organizing social media conferences, giving talks, testing the tools, writing content, and establishing relationships. I have a PhD in environmental studies, that’s where my initial consulting work is. Social media is my “side job”.

As I mentioned in a comment I posted on John’s excellent post, your knowledge is your currency. I spent numerous years doing rigorous research and becoming a specialist in the fields I have expertise in. If anybody wants my knowledge, it comes at a price. I am wondering how do other freelancers/consultants/writers/bloggers feel about this topic. I know it’s touchy and thorny, but I wanted to put it out there.