Subscriber DC writes:<\/p>\n
“In my many years as a freelance copywriter, occasionally a
\npotential client has asked me to write a free ‘test piece.’<\/p>\n
“I’ve always refused but today the marketing director of a huge
\nEuropean logistics company contacted me with this request:<\/p>\n
“‘I am evaluating external support for various projects. One such
\nproject is for small to medium-size enterprises (SMEs) and
\nlogistics.<\/p>\n
“‘Can you give me some draft ideas of content (blogs, white
\npapers, etc.) that would appeal to SMEs who are looking to
\nbroaden their horizons and get more involved in international
\ntrade?'”<\/p>\n
“So he wants free editorial consultancy work with no guarantee of
\na contract or payment, and of course he could just take my best
\nideas!<\/p>\n
“This is a variation of the infamous free test piece and it shows
\nhow careful we must be about speculative projects.<\/p>\n
“I’m sending you this story partly to help other freelancers and
\nI hope it’s useful in your excellent newsletter.”<\/p>\n
I agree with DC: Avoid working “on spec” — writing for a
\npotential client with no promise of getting paid.<\/p>\n
In spec work, if the client likes what you do and decides to use
\nit, they pay you something.<\/p>\n
If they don’t like it, the project is over — and you don’t get a
\ndime for your time and effort.<\/p>\n
The idea of working on spec to me is patently ridiculous and
\ngrossly offensive.<\/p>\n
Try driving to your local gas station today and telling the
\nattendant: “Fill my car with gas, and if it runs well, I will pay
\nyou for it … but if not, I owe you nothing.”<\/p>\n
Order a meal at a local restaurant and say to the waiter: “Bring
\nmy steak and baked potato; if I like it, I\u2019ll pay the bill; if
\nnot, I won’t.”<\/p>\n
So if someone asks you, “Write my ad for free, and I will pay for
\nit only if I like and use it; if not, I won’t” — well, what
\nwriter in his right mind would agree to that?<\/p>\n
Samuel Johnson said, “No man but a blockhead ever wrote for any
\nreason other than money.”<\/p>\n
So if you write on spec for a potential copywriting client, you
\nare the blockhead.<\/p>\n
And when you don’t get paid, you have no one to blame but
\nyourself.<\/p>\n
After all, you asked for it.<\/p>\n
Are there ever any exceptions to the no-spec-work rule?<\/p>\n
Answer: Precious few.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Subscriber DC writes: “In my many years as a freelance copywriter, occasionally a potential client has asked me to write a free ‘test piece.’ “I’ve always refused but today the marketing director of a huge European logistics company contacted me with this request: “‘I am evaluating external support for various projects. One such project is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1848,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1250","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1250","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1848"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1250"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1250\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1254,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1250\/revisions\/1254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1250"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1250"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1250"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}