Busman's Holiday: Creatives shouldn't be asked for free labor
If you’re an artist or your work entails creativity, and especially if you own your own small business, I can all but guarantee you’ve been asked to work for free.
Usually it’s family.
Maybe they think you just love your work so much you’d rather work for free than not at all. Maybe they think they’re entitled to your free labor because they know you personally. Or maybe they just didn’t think about the fact that you should get paid for your work.
Usually their request for free labor comes with a compliment, so it can feel hard to say no.
“You take such great photos, can you bring your camera to my event and send me the pictures?”
“You’re so creative, I love your art. Maybe you can design this T-shirt for my organization.”
“Can you write/edit this thing for me? You’re so good with words, way better than me.”
I used to (and sometimes still) find it hard to say no or ask for the payment I need to justify my work. When someone compliments me, or has a genuine desire to work with me on a project, I often feel pressured to say yes. But now, I try to stay away from an instant yes, especially if I feel pressured. I do meaningful, labor-intensive work, and I need to be paid for it.
My go-to answer now is “let me see what I’ve got going on that day/time/week, because I don’t usually have spare time for unpaid projects these days.”
If they meant to pay you, or just honsetly hadn't thought about it yet, this will often prompt them to say “oh no, I didn’t mean to ask for free work,” and then you can discuss a fair rate. But, if they expected free labor from you, this may make them say something like “oh well I’ll just ask so-and-so to do it because they’re pretty good at that too.” If they have an amateur who can do it for free, they shouldn't ask a professional to do it for free... especially when creatives are already usually underpaid.
Of course, in special cases when your work is valued and you can afford to offer a family and friends discount, you can choose to lower the price of your services for certain people. Or in special cases you can do pro bono work when someone can’t afford to pay and it’s a good cause.
But your Aunt Gene who wants free wedding photos, or your dad Bill who wants you to design a T-shirt for his plumbing company, or the company asking you to work for "exposure" in the industry, shouldn’t be expecting free labor. Creative work IS WORK. Art is WORK. It takes energy, concentration, materials and supplies, gas money, and time. Creative work is work, and you should be paid for it.
Artists and creatives of all kinds are usually underpaid, and their work is underappreciated. The lucky ones might find their niche and get paid a living wage or more, but most of us small business owners and creatives will struggle with low-paying jobs or have trouble finding enough clients who are willing to pay for what our work is worth.
To my fellow creatives: don’t let your friends and family who can afford to pay you take advantage of your skills for free. If you owned a store, they would still have to pay for their purchases like everyone else. Creatives deserve to have a break from work when they’re not being paid. Don’t let people rope you into a busman’s holiday.