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As someone who's done work in a field where "work for credits" was a common occurrence (freelance web design), I can give some perspective about why this is bad

by lhorie 5y ago

As someone who's done work in a field where "work for credits" was a common occurrence (freelance web design), I can give some perspective about why this is bad: maybe _you_ got the gig and are able to brag about how you're a "award winning photographer", but the problem is that not only you start to attract more people wanting free work in exchange for exposure, but also, these people will also try to push that agenda onto others entering the field as well, compounding the mentality like cancer. It is predatory because there's a lot of insecure upstarts who _will_ believe that free work is par for the course, if someone tells them so while hanging a carrot in front of them. The inconvenient truth that exploiters want to misdirect from here is that your ability to negotiate all the things you mentioned is not negated by a clause to actually get paid _in addition_ to receiving exposure. Another little dirty secret: bylines in your website don't mean shit. The money comes from networking.

aantix 5y ago
Don't conflate all "work for credits" as being worthless. 'Love Is Blind' was "sampled by 30 million member households." If your business's demographic would be in a similar cohort as the show, then this work could be used to project authority. I know of this show. My wife does. If a local photographer demonstrated that they were in the show, their work is great, I would find them interesting. I wouldn't blindly give them my business, but at least they don't blend in like 100's of other photographers. If you can't envision exactly how you would use this as a promotional piece or blindly expect that just by doing the work you'd get a magical windfall of additional business, then this isn't for you. Don't sign. >Another little dirty secret: bylines in your website don't mean shit. The money comes from networking. Empty bylines? Sure. But a byline that states your competency and goes on to display that competency by supporting it with 1) beautiful work and 2) having well known clients? That helps to solidify the case of why they should work with you. "Feel free to reach out to any of my previous clients. I will give you their contact info if you need a reference or two before working together. "
- lhorie 5y ago
  I was doing work for household names such as Sony and Pfizer when I got a call from some dude who wanted to implement some Facebook + Youtube grand idea for $1k and "I could put my name at the bottom". Admittedly, this merely falls in the realm of "annoying waste of time", but alas, reputation can haunt you in unexpected ways and the point is you want to cultivate networking prospects that actually provide real hard income, not low quality ones that think they can hustle you at every corner. Our company actually got paid big bucks to work on these household name projects and they used the portfolio to full advantage to land new contracts. But here's the key thing: there was a business development team reaching out to prospective clients and putting blood and sweat into presentations and proposals. At one point, leadership decided that they were going to try the "let our brand/portfolio speak for itself" idea (which amounts to the same as expecting credits to do the work for you), and in the next town hall meeting, they were very clear that that was the worst idea they had ever tried in the history of the business. So, sure, having a recognizable brand under your belt can serve as leverage, but as they say, a large number times zero is still zero. If a single high profile thing is the only crutch in your portfolio, or if the description of responsibilities looks inflated, people will notice that you're a one trick pony. You're still going to have to invest the time to build a proper network and reputation if you expect to be on fast-dial for household name projects.

by lhorie 5y ago

aantix 5y ago

Don't conflate all "work for credits" as being worthless. 'Love Is Blind' was "sampled by 30 million member households." If your business's demographic would be in a similar cohort as the show, then this work could be used to project authority. I know of this show. My wife does. If a local photographer demonstrated that they were in the show, their work is great, I would find them interesting. I wouldn't blindly give them my business, but at least they don't blend in like 100's of other photographers. If you can't envision exactly how you would use this as a promotional piece or blindly expect that just by doing the work you'd get a magical windfall of additional business, then this isn't for you. Don't sign. >Another little dirty secret: bylines in your website don't mean shit. The money comes from networking. Empty bylines? Sure. But a byline that states your competency and goes on to display that competency by supporting it with 1) beautiful work and 2) having well known clients? That helps to solidify the case of why they should work with you. "Feel free to reach out to any of my previous clients. I will give you their contact info if you need a reference or two before working together. "

lhorie 5y ago
I was doing work for household names such as Sony and Pfizer when I got a call from some dude who wanted to implement some Facebook + Youtube grand idea for $1k and "I could put my name at the bottom". Admittedly, this merely falls in the realm of "annoying waste of time", but alas, reputation can haunt you in unexpected ways and the point is you want to cultivate networking prospects that actually provide real hard income, not low quality ones that think they can hustle you at every corner. Our company actually got paid big bucks to work on these household name projects and they used the portfolio to full advantage to land new contracts. But here's the key thing: there was a business development team reaching out to prospective clients and putting blood and sweat into presentations and proposals. At one point, leadership decided that they were going to try the "let our brand/portfolio speak for itself" idea (which amounts to the same as expecting credits to do the work for you), and in the next town hall meeting, they were very clear that that was the worst idea they had ever tried in the history of the business. So, sure, having a recognizable brand under your belt can serve as leverage, but as they say, a large number times zero is still zero. If a single high profile thing is the only crutch in your portfolio, or if the description of responsibilities looks inflated, people will notice that you're a one trick pony. You're still going to have to invest the time to build a proper network and reputation if you expect to be on fast-dial for household name projects.