Do you know what can be frustrating about working in the creative industry? Even after you’ve proven yourself, people will always approach you requesting unpaid work. People typically wouldn’t ask an accountant, builder, cleaner, realtor etc. to work for free. Creatives though...

I get that competition is stiff in the creative industry but it’s unfair that people sometimes exploit that by continuously offering ‘exposure’. Does exposure help in some rare instances? Sure. We can’t eat exposure or pay our bills with it though.

Then there are the people who ask you to work for free because they don’t entirely respect your craft. They want your service but in their mind “it’s not that hard, so why should I pay?”. Well if it’s not that hard...you do it then. You clearly don’t need that person.

Whenever you request anyone to do any kind of free work, ask yourself: “What am I offering this person? Why is this worth their time and energy?”.

Sadly most requests for unpaid work are VERY one sided. The creative usually has more to lose than gain.