It’s a career, NOT a hobby and NOT free

As much as we would like to think otherwise, money is a necessity in today’s world, and it is generally understood people must work to make money. Therefore, work has a value, and this can include both money value and personal value. When working as an employee for a company, there little to no complications with getting paid. You are paid for the work you do or the hours you have worked. I have found it is when you are asked to work outside of your job things become complicated with payment. 

This can happen with anyone in any field, but I have experienced this a lot as an artist and graphic designer. Through my experience, there are two complications with payment when working for someone outside of your work. The first and most common is the client or customer expects to pay little to nothing for your work. The second complication is the client or customer is unorganized in how and when they pay you. This can be very frustrating for the one doing the work because as I said before, work has a personal value and a money value.

In my rants about these clients and customers, I frequently questioned why a person would do this and think it is OK. The more I thought about it, I came up with a list of possible reasons and causes.

1. The client or customer is a relative, friend or acquaintance. I believe when the person who wants your work knows you personally, they do not see themselves as a normal client or customer. Since they have a closer relationship with you, they may consciously or subconsciously ignore the fact your work is work with a price. I have personally experienced this with my family and other clients I personally knew. For example, my brother insisted I made him a drawing of Ohio State football. I told him how much it would cost and after much dispute, he agreed on the price. After the drawing was completed, he refused to pay for the work because he felt I should not charge him since he was family. He withheld the money, and I kept the drawing until my mother settled the dispute by paying for the drawing herself. I do not believe friends, family and other people you know personally are to be treated exactly like everyday clients or customers, but this does not mean they must receive work for free. How you price your work is your choice, and it may vary on the work or situation, but free work should not be expected due to relationship status. 
   
2. The client or customer does not understand the value of the work. In other words, the client or customer does not understand the amount of time your work takes or it’s difficulty. They also may not understand the amount of time, practice and education needed to be able to do the work at the quality you do it. There are also things to consider like the long-term effects of the work. For example, a logo may seem like an easy project. In reality, a lot goes into making a logo such as time, research, brainstorming and development. Also, a logo can create many long-term benefits for a company. A logo can be an important symbol for a brand and can even lead to an increase in awareness and sales.
3. The client or customer sees the work as a hobby. This can apply to work you do which is not your main job focus. For me, this is photography. When you do something for enjoyment, people do not see it as work producing a product. Instead, they see it as a hobby producing enjoyment. Therefore, they may believe their payment is your enjoyment of completing the work. In some situations, this could be OK but not always. When you do work for yourself, you are still paying yourself with the finished work. Although it is the act of what you enjoy doing when you do this work for someone else, the finished work is not for you. Your time is going into producing something that is meant for another person. You also may not like what the person wants you to do and/or would prefer to do something else you would rather enjoy.
4. The client or customer may believe they are paying the worker with experience or promotion. As a graphic design student, this is something in which I am very familiar. If you are willing to do free work for experience or promotion, feel free to do it but generally, it is not an acceptable form of compensation. You may not be a recognized as a professional yet but if you do not begin to treat yourself like one, people will still see and treat you as an amateur.

All in all, what one wishes to charge is their own choice. In my opinion, everyone’s work has value and deserves to be paid for. I would never accept work for free unless the worker absolutely insisted. I believe people generally understand this but tend to forget in certain situations. Therefore, when asking someone to complete work for you, understand all work has value and should be treated as such no matter what the work is or who is completing the work.