Releasing the Pressure to Work for Free
25. May, 2012 
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What you are an artist or a crafter, it can be a bit too much for someone to wrap their heads around the fact that you actually need to MAKE MONEY. To do things, like, you know, EAT.
Hematite Jewelry Set
Most of the times it’s your very own friends and family who are the WORST when it comes to this kind of a thing. “Can you make me this?” “Can you fix this?” “Can you design me this?” “Can you critique this?”
Considering that I have SO MUCH FREE TIME, I respond, “Well, of course! I’ll get on that right away!”
So my list of freebie jobs for friends and family builds and builds, until I don’t have time for the jobs that actually pay the bills. I’m not going to tell you to NEVER do some favor jobs for people you care about, but I am going to warn you that if you give an inch, people tend to ask for a mile. So…
Know where to draw the line.
One favor for a friend is one thing. For example, if your a knitter and your friend’s hat is starting to fray. Go ahead and fix it for her. When she brings you a box full of hats that need fixed, tell her you charge by the hour. Period.
Let them know your favor counts as a gift for an upcoming event.
Right now I’m designing invitations and bridesmaid jewelry for my friend who’s getting married, along with a dozen other favors for her wedding. These favors are going to count as her wedding gift, not in addition to. Same thing when I design announcements for my friends who are graduating, and so on.
Don’t be afraid to name your price.
When a random co-worker asks me to make a pair of earrings for her, I’ll say right off the bat how much that will cost. I’m not about to make the earrings, and then hope she’ll ask me what she owes afterwards. Chances are, she’ll just say “thank you!” and think that they are free of charge. I’m NOT exaggerating, this has happened to me before. Save yourself the trouble and give your quote ahead of time.
Let people know how much you NORMALLY charge.
If you DO agree to work on a project (as a gift) for someone, for free, be sure to let them know how much it will cost next time. This will also help you in the matter of other people seeing your work from this person and making inquiries in regards to it. It also doesn’t hurt to inform people just how valuable your time really is. Maybe they’ll think twice before asking again.
This blog post originally appeared in blog, Megan’s Creative Blog, on February 8, 2012.
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Oh thank you for this post. I can totally relate to what your are saying. I get people coming to me all the time asking for help. I have a problem balancing the free projects with the paid ones, sometimes I get so much more reward from the free jobs because they it relieves me of some of the pressure to be perfect. it also allows me to put all the love into the project versus a business arrangement. I need to find within myself how to bring the love into a business project as well. I have had to tell myself that my time is valuable and what I do has taken many years to learn and Mayer that it deserves to be paid fairly. Thank you, you have helped me put things in perspective.
Glad I could help! Thanks for the comment!
Great article! Very helpful ideas for handling the various freebie requests.
Great advice! I’ve even had compete strangers convo me on Etsy & ask for free advice in the guise of inquiring about services or products(‘I wish to have a shop banner made & want to include these photos, how would you combine the pictures into a banner’ ‘How does the closure for this piece work?’ they then proceed to make/sell the items themselves generally for less than it actually costs to make the item.
As far as friends & family go, my sister in law used to give some of her pieces away, just asking the recipient to then advertise it for her whenever someone commented on it. This worked out pretty well & helped her to grow a more targeted market, so a win, win situation for both the recipient & the artist.
I’ve done that with several friends and family. It works best when you make it clear that you are doing it to advertise though. Instead of “here, I made this for you!” Go with “I’ll give this piece to you, but please tell people where they can get one like it if they ask. And if they ask how much, it normally costs $$$.”
Great article, and very pertinent. Thank you!
Great article, on an issue so many of us can relate to! We want to show kindness to family/friends, but bottom line, this is our livelihood, and for every piece we find ourselves obligated to give away, we have to work double hours and incur double cost to make up that loss. Yet it is always tricky to turn down requests, particularly from family.
I used to make and give the things as gifts for people. Stopped doing that because of the money I am spending to make those things. If the gifts are appreciated, and valued, then I would give another handmade gift.
Learning to charge for repairs and mending though.