Don’t ask me to work for FREE, you are sure to be disappointed…..
This is an age old problem and one that has been occurring in the business community since there was a business community. The question is – how will you respond when someone you know asks you to trade your skills in exchange for the promise of a favour returned? Are you willing to work for free if asked? While I certainly would never be willing to trade the services I offer as my way of making a living for the promise of say free advertising, you might be surprised at just how hard it can be to say no.
How Much Do You Really Value Yourself
This may be the most important question of all. As a business owner, you have invested all of your time and money in creating a successful business. Now that your business has reached this point of success you can count on, you’re likely to get the occasional friend or business colleague asking you if you are willing to take part in the barter system. This means that you must be willing to provide the skills you have worked so hard to develop for the promise of a favour returned.
Let’s not kid each other here. What this essentially means, nine out of ten times, is that you must be willing to work for free. Who does this? No one in their right minds, after all, you have invested countless hours and endless amounts of money in developing your skills and building your business. Why on earth would you want to give your services away?
How Are You Going to Say No When Someone Asks You to Work for Free?
The second most important question you are likely to ever have to deal with is: how on earth are you going to say no to that friend who basically wants you to work for free? Being asked this question puts you in a really tough spot. Simply out and out saying, “no, I never give my work away for free,” is certain to ensure that you won’t be giving your work away. At the same time, you are definitely going to offend the person asking.
You have to decide if you can really afford to alienate a good friend, a member of your family, or a business colleague. Unless you are completely heartless or so successful that you are not worried about who you upset, you need to find a kinder, gentler way to let the person know in no uncertain terms that you have no intention of giving away your services, no matter what they might promise in return.
There are many different approaches to solving this problem. One of the easiest ways to avoid having to work for free is to let the person asking know about your current workload and asking them to review your client testimonials. If you tell them that it could be weeks or even months before you could get to their project, odds are good they will withdraw the request. Alternatively, you could explain that while doing their work for free now might gain something in return in the future, your current workload of paying clients is what pays the bills.
In the end, there is really no way not to offend at least slightly, a person asking you to work for free. You just need to be as gentle and practical as possible in your response to their request. While we do not offer our virtual assistant services at Red Apple Virtual Assistant Services for free, our low prices are designed to fit most budgets. Contact us today and see what we can do for you.