Do You Work For Free?

No paycheck for you!

Do you work for free?

Do you have a money tree planted in your back yard?

An epidemic I have noticed on the internet, in the social media community, as well as the blogging world is people who work for free.

Now don't get me wrong. I think there is a big difference between volunteering to post something, and being asked to, or hired to.

When I first started blogging, I did it because I love to write, and I needed an outlet in life to vent. It isn't good to keep all that stuff in right?


About 2 years into writing I started writing a column for free on our local newspaper website. It was great, and it was an amazing resume builder, but the difference was... I volunteered to do it. For me I was honored to be able to write for such a large local publication.

As things took off, and I got offers to write for money, or handle social media campaigns for pay... I jumped on them. Who wouldn't right?  I mean getting paid for something you love to do... there is nothing better than that!

Now I am at the point where I get so many offers, so many requests, and so much already on my plate that writing for free is just something I don't have time for. Especially when I have a full work load.

Let me give you an example...

Say you worked for a graphic design firm. You would get paid on average $30 an hour for your design services, and then someone comes along and asks you to do it for free. Or maybe they would give you a $5 product for two hours of your service giving you a whopping pay cut of $55.

You would jump on the opportunity right?  Yeah!  I thought so!


Blogger are the same.

Some days I would just appreciate if people would stop and think about the proposals, and e-mail requests they would send before they actually send them.  Are they really worth this bloggers time?  Make it worth their time!  They will appreciate it!  I promise!