When You Should Work for Free – And When You Shouldn’t

As the economy has gotten worse, I’ve noticed an upswing in the number of people asking me to work for free. I don’t think these organizations quite understand that I make my living writing and speaking, so when I do these things for no pay, I don’t eat. They rationalize that they are paying me in exposure – meaning that more people will experience my work because of them, and therefore more people will click on my website and buy my books. From where I’m sitting, though, in most cases the exposure isn’t worth the time.

I thought it might be helpful to you to provide a distinction between when I feel you should work for free – and when you shouldn’t.