Trade Work is Fools Gold
“When people have real idea, they have real funding, and pay you real money.”
Quite often, I receive an email that looks something like this:
Hey there! I’ve started a new company, [catchy name], and [boilerplate compliments, pitch, and feel goods].
This is a great opportunity for you to expand your circle, and get in early on a startup that’s going to be gargantuan. Of course, we can’t pay you, but we will give you stock in the company, notoriety, and all the Turkish delight you can eat.
For some reason, this kind of request always resounds with my entrepreneur side, and I undoubtedly start a dialog about their product and what they’re looking to do. I’ve even said yes a few times! Each time I’ve gone down this road, I’ve learned the same lesson: working for trade or equity is fools gold. Most anyone who’s taken the opportunity will echo a similar sentiment. Of course this kind of request isn’t limited to freelancers; I saw the same applications come through when I worked for a design agency. While it is possible to have a successful relationship, every time you take up the endeavor you risk the bad, the ugly, and the dangerous pitfalls associated with trade work.
The bad: They can’t pay you
It’s painfully obvious, but for a number of reasons it’s never made to be as daunting as it should be. Here it is. They have no money. Take a second to internalize what that really means. You’re about to sign a blank check on your time and talents to a person whose only compensation will be a theoretical futuristic something? It’s a bad joke; don’t get caught on the wrong end.
The ugly: They can’t respect your time
Simple. They can’t respect your time because they know they don’t have to pay you. One more time; they know they don’t have to pay you. This means that you instantly become wholly accessible to every whim that comes to mind, no matter the burden it will place on your shoulders.
Because they’re not paying for your time, they can’t respect that you have other obligations. They (however unintentional this may be) will always try to take advantage of the situation, demanding more time, more revisions, and more priority on their project.
The dangerous: You can’t deliver
The final, and perhaps most volatile piece of the equation is the fact that you can’t deliver. You’ll never be able to justify all of the resources the project demands of you, especially when you have a line of clients waiting to pay you good money for your time. The project slides to your night and weekend pile, then to your airplane travel time pile, and finally you come to the conclusion that there’s no way you can serve the project effectively. Heaven help those who signed a contract.
Trade sucks
Now, hold back your lil’ haters. Again, I’m not saying that it’s impossible to work for trade. There are obscure circumstances where trade really does have mutual benefit, but they are a rarity, not the norm.
When people have real idea, they have real funding, and pay you real money. The world of trading is for industries built upon a foundation of fantasy and bad ideas – not real potential. Don’t get caught in the trap of trade. Instead, work on increasing your value so there’s always people lined up to pay you hard cash for your time. Amen.
Matt
Amen!
Nathan
Spec work under a different name. To not take these kind of jobs is common sense.
Caleb Ogden
To the seasoned professional I’d say you’re right, the choice is black and white, but to a new and talented designer the promise of riches untold and fame beyond measure is tempting, and many times the offer doesn’t appear to be too good to true.
Caleb Ogden
David Bushell mentioned a valid point yesterday about trade work that I’d like to add here: It’s demotivating. Projects that take your time and talents without adequate compensation will always fall to the bottom of the pile for the simple reason that there is no motivation to continue.
My favorite Sunday nights are the ones where I go to bed excited to get to work on Monday morning. This only happens when I’m working on projects I love, and am motivated to move on! :-)
David Kaplan
Very good article and worth it’s weight in gold (not fools’!)
I’m just getting off a 6 month stint working for trade.. or as I called it… “sweat equity”. I was offered a “partnership” in exchange for my work as a web designer and developer. Not long after I began my work, it became obvious that their definition of “partner” and mine were vastly different. I had made it clear, early on, that my definition of partnership included equity in the company and part ownership.
Several months into the job and at the behest of a former colleague and friend, I asked for a meeting to reaffirm the above as fact. It became apparent that there was a skism when, despite my initial and utterly unequivocal declaration that my work was conditional on an equity partnership, they’re notion was more akin to a partnership in a law firm – essentially I would occupy space in their office. Nothing more.
Well, long story short, I stayed on for a couple more months hoping that things would turn around (really, I was in denial). I eventually left and, honestly, I’m glad I did. It wasn’t worth it.
In the future, should I decide to get involved with something like this, I will do one thing and I think your article is missing this – GET A PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT. Make it legal. Get a lawyer. Spell out EVERYTHING. Do it before you write ONE line of code.
There is a risk that the company will fail – you can’t avoid that. But, there’s no reason you should risk all that time and energy for nothing.
David Kaplan
Allison
Well put. I’ve only been involved in a handful of “trade projects” that have gone smoothly and ended well. The rest? Well I tore my hair out…hypothetically of course :)
Unfortunately, your clients that PAY you are also affected by these trade projects. Pour your talents and time into healthy relationships.
Kevin
I’ve fallen for that… more than once. Every time I kick myself.
Caleb Ogden
Very succinct summary! Couldn’t have said it better.
David Bitter
I can’t agree more. I’m never working on trade again. Never. Unless… no wait. Never. For real.
Pete Griffin
http://www.27bslash6.com/p2p2.html
Brandon
Very good article. It’s one of those articles I wish I had read about 5 years ago. In my person experience, I’ve learned to never ever ever ever do work without a.) agreeing on MONETARY compensation, and b.) getting a down payment prior to starting. Even if their venture makes the beejillions of dollars they’re hoping for, I’m ok with only getting my project compensation + design credits.
Atlanta Web Design Company
Caleb thanks for sharing your hard lessons learned. I wish I read this article a few years ago.
Maria
Agreed — mostly. As a writer, I did do some freebies very early on to get the published clips I needed to move forward. But once paying work started coming in, I started saying no to the freebies. You can’t usually eat or pay the mortgage with what they want to trade for.
I still get approached by “publishers” who want me to write for free or for “exposure” on their Web sites. I usually don’t even respond. As a pilot, I get at least one request a month for me to fly in trade for something relatively worthless. I don’t do that, either.
When we do work for free or trade, we send a message that our time and services are worthless. Why would we do that?
Ari Suardiyanti
Now that’s some perspective we rarely can see, nice post Caleb :)
Peter Schreiner
Great advice! Thanks!
Squeaky Weasel
18 months working for a new start-up (that had forgotten to budget for investor relations) a few years ago led to various projects including 5 interim reports and a 100 page annual report – with 8 page fold out cover and special finishes (all negotiated down through my extensive print contacts) that went on to win the newcomer to the Frankfurt DAX award for annual reports that year – everything was produced at inconceivable prices on the promise of future work: resulted in … the client appointing a big glossy agency that would take them to more expensive restaurants to lunch in the future.
The critique: I wasn’t as adventurous. Pardon me, but they were not quoting on work that had the budget restrictions I operated under. I’d like to see them win an award under my budget restrictions (they got a “highly placed” btw with a 5x budget!).
You’d think I’d have learned my lesson but I’m now involved in supplying more award winning work to another company, this time a UK pharma start-up with next-to-no funds.
Guess the moral of the story is: I’m just an easy touch. I’d like to think one of these might work out one day (you only need one after all) but looking at the absence of success stories here on this thread I’m starting to wonder?