How to Be Generous (And How Not To)
Generosity is a scary thing to pursue, however, because everyone has had their generosity taken advantage of. People ask you to cut them a deal but then their gratitude doesn’t match up.
I used to be a freelancer who was generous in the wrong way. When clients asked for a discount, I gave them one and justified doing so under the flimsy idea that I was being “generous”. This wasn’t the case. I wasn’t being generous. I just didn’t have the confidence to negotiate back, so I took the loss and wrote it off as generosity. This never ended well, because these were dead-end clients who were looking for shortcuts the whole time, so they dropped me after as soon as they could.
A thinker I admire once said that he never speaks for free or for a discount. That part of his business is concrete. He won’t do it cheaper. Sorry. Meanwhile, he’s still one of the most generous creators alive right now. Why? Because he’s been publishing a blog every single day for the past 10 years, and a podcast every week for the past 2 years. And all of those are free.
When we give clients big discounts because they can’t find the budget for our projects, we do a disservice to everyone in the equation. We cheat our paying clients out of the un-stressed-out attention they deserve. We cheat ourselves out of the money and dignity we need to be sustainable. We cheat the next freelancer these clients hire, because they don’t have a realistic picture of the ecosystem.
My advice? Figure out what the main tenants of your freelance business are. Map out a best-case-scenario rate for your services. And then don’t budge on that. Meanwhile, find a gateway into your process and work, and make that 100% free.
Imagine a middle class family who can afford a dinner out at a tasty fast casual restaurant. But instead of eating at Chipotle, this family takes their $40 all the way to the four-dollar-sign-steakhouse and asks for a discount, because they only have $40. The restaurant industry learned to turn these people away a long time ago, and it’s time freelancers did too.
If you’re going to be generous, then don’t be the kind of generous I was. Be really generous. It’s better to do something for free than to discount your $1000 service to $200. If you really want to be generous, then do a set number of non-profit projects for free each year. Film a wedding for a family who wouldn’t even be able to dream of photos in the first place. Paint a portrait for a teacher in the community who deserves it but wouldn’t ever afford it.
Good luck out there!
PS Want to follow two of my favorite, most generous creators? Check out Ian’s work and Melanie’s work.
