Electronic Arts, downtown Vancouver, 2008 by me!

Last year I was hired to re-design the website of a newspaper club, and since the group was low on members, the president requested that I take on the additional role as temporary layouts director which meant also being in charge of redesigning the logo, creating an events poster, and proofreading articles with bad grammar: all for free.

It wasn’t until mid october, and the poster I had been constantly revising for up to 6 weeks was suddenly replaced for a stock-image construction without any warning whatsover, that I stopped taking on duties that were not part of my original role in the club. I had realized that my schoolwork and part-time job were suffering because I was needlessly worrying over a design that would never see, or care about, except me.

Aliza Sherman refers to this mindset as “free advice mentality,” where the once-simple act of being free with our ideas and advice is supposed to be a two-way street: “it isn’t… about your own generosity in terms of sharing ideas, advice and instruction, it is also about how others take that information, or if they take advantage of your giving that information.” According to Sherman, finding the right balance of “free” means:

1. You need to decide where you draw your own lines in terms of what you will share and when you should start charging;
2. We all need to understand that when someone is paid to be a consultant yet they are providing ideas, advice and instruction for free in certain forums, we should value their contribution and show our gratitude by offering to pay them for additional interactions.

It boils down to mutual respect: Respecting your readers, audience, followers, peers, friends, and wanting to teach and share information as a service to your communities.

But also your readers, audience, followers, peers,and friends need to respect that you do this stuff for a living. It is your job to define where your lines are and make this fact clear to those who read your blog, fan you on Facebook and follow you on Twitter. And when someone crosses the line, you should call them on it without hesitation.

As for me, I’ve learned to be more outspoken about volunteering my services for free, whether for modelling photoshoots, freelance design work, and also in my personal relationships with friends, generally with those who are bored at home with too much free time, constantly calling-contacting me every single day just for someone to talk to without being a good listener (or any type of a listener, at all).

When Is Free Too Much of a Good Thing?