Be Friendly (but…)
When you give of yourself in referrals, in being friendly, in helping, that’s a noble and wonderful thing. You are well liked and people know they can count on you.
Make sure you don’t fall into the trap of, “Oh, if you don’t have money ask Sue, she’ll help you out.”
That will make you bitter and old before your time. No sooner will you finish 80 hours of free projects than you will notice new gray hairs you never had before sprouting all over your once-dark hair. Giving away good work for free will make you an insomniac that wonders why other people think people are worth trusting and life is okay.
But how do you avoid falling into the trap?
Boundaries.
My favorite boundaries are time boundaries. They are easy to enforce, and even if you’re non-confrontational they work because you can blame it on time instead of taking personal responsibility for your actions. (You are working on your sense of personal responsibility and realizing your work is worth money, right? Good!) Say you’re going to give someone a sample. How long does it take for you to complete a sample? An hour? Two? Three is a bit much but really the number is up to you. However much time you need to give in order to show someone what you are capable of.
Then make that a baseline number.
No matter how much you like someone, no matter how well connected they are, no matter how many referrals they promise you…stick to your number. Let them know your number up front. “I’d be happy to do a sample for you Miki, but my limit on sample time is three hours. I find that is more than enough time to let prospective clients know what I’m capable of and you will know if our styles match.” Miki now knows your boundary and you can feel secure enforcing it without feeling like you’re being “rude” or ""mean" or whatever word pops to mind when you give away oodles of free work and just feel like a loser the next morning.
There are other ways to set boundaries, be it one free sample of low-quality art that you’re willing to make into vector if they pay you, or one research project where the potential client has to pay for the final documents. Whatever works for your particular product or service.
Just make sure you set your boundaries, because if you don’t you will become a free-stuff giving business doormat, and I don’t want to see that happen to you.
Dislcaimer: No Mikis were harmed in the making up of names for this analogy.
Tags: boundaries, Business Networking, free milk, free sample, giving it away, why buy the cowRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Business Networking, Networking Tips
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