Graphic Design and Spec Work | Should You Ever Do Design Work For Free? - Best Webhosting

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Watch E-commerce Roberto Blake Video: Graphic Design and Spec Work | Should You Ever Do Design Work For Free?.
Spec Work in Graphic Design is something many Designer Debate.
Initially Working for Free or Working for Exposure Sounds Terrible, but What About Working for Experience and Working for Access?

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FREELANCING AND SPEC WORK
I've said freelancing isn't free, but you need to rethink Spec Work whether you'e just starting out or established. What if right now asked you to work on a project for free a.k.a Spec Work, but I was willing to give you an hour of my time for one on one coaching something I charge $300-500 for?

BUT SPEC WORK WON'T PAY THE BILLS...
That project won't pay your bills or put food on your table, but is it possible that it increases your business, or changes your life? So are you going to say No Spec Work, and go back to playing Call of Duty and Watching Scandal while someone else takes the opportunity? Because that is the real deal with Spec work, not working for free, but working to get something you value... not money.

THE NO SPEC WORK MOVEMENT IS A BIT NAIVE
First of all I'm going to say while I respect the heart and intentions of the NO SPEC movement, I think the that the message in and off itself is naive and has no real practicality behind it. It changes nothing for businesses aside from them crossing you off a list of relationships they want to build.

Working for Free sounds horrible, and the initial complaint is that exposure won't pay your bills. But experience is what pays your bills in the long run and working for experience matters because it is the only thing that people writing a check care about, what you have delivered on for them or other people recently or in the past.

If you're an established designer, then you may not have to work for free to get access to the people and clients you want to have the most. But if you're not then you have to compete with those established people, and you have no leverage accept working for free aka Spec Work, to get an opportunity to go head to head with the big dogs and show your stuff.

I STILL DO WORK FOR FREE
Do you know how I get products from free sometimes? Not charging for sponsored videos... and sometimes I do charge or charge less in order to have 100% creative control, or more recently so I can get you guys discounts or do a free giveaway. I trade the opportunity to make more money, to either get something I want, or get something you would benefit from EVERY SINGLE MONTH.

I have told colleges that I will come out and speak for free if they are in the local area or if they cover my travel. Why? because it will help me get more exposure as a speaker, more speaking gigs on my resume and thus let me charge more later to bigger events that can afford it. It is called leverage. So yes I standby taking Spec Work and I still do it. Less on the Design side and more on things that I have charged even MORE MONEY for than design work or that have larger upfront expenses.

SPEC WORK DOESN'T ALWAYS EQUAL WORKING FOR FREE
You do realize that Spec Work could mean working for something other than money. Maybe you can't pay a bill by doing so, but what if you got something you needed that you couldn't even afford in the first place that could make all the difference in your life or business.

Instead of paying to go to a conference where you can meet paying clients or get an hour of time with your greatest mentor, why not volunteer 4 hours of work to the conference for free? You would be giving them less value than the cost of your ticket in most cases. We are talking about hundreds of dollars or even a thousands dollars here. I've even got conferences to cover my flight and hotel by doing this before. This is why I don't respect the NO SPEC WORK people sometimes.

Building leverage matters. You're going to spend money, but opportunities are something you need to make an investment in, and time is the only currency some of you have to barter with. You can't go out and buy ads to compete with the top creative agencies or freelancers. So what do you have that you can use as leverage?

So that is my take on Spec Work and Design. It's down to making it practical for you and making everything work in your favor.

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Disclaimers: all opinions are my own, sponsors are acknowledge. Affiliates are: Amazon, BHPhotoVideo, MyFonts, 1and1, Bluehost and Lumoid.

Published: Sunday, September 1, 2019 9:01 AM
Category: E-commerce Roberto Blake

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