A few weeks back Ray Schiel and I were kicking around some topic ideas and he brought up the issue of free. Ray asked the sentinel question, “if we expect things for free, how will ever expect to be compensated for what we do?”

Now Ray is not alone in pondering the negative ramifications of free and Chris Brogan also pondered the issue in his post the Audacity of Free and Making the Ask.

Obviously we all like getting a good value and it might be argued there is no better value then free. Then again other would say you get what you pay for.

The real issue is that there is value being transferred and as Chris points out, “Where things get harder to understand are when they are intangible.”

If you call up a friend and ask for advice that is generally free even if the advice is of value. However when do you cross the line between acceptable favor and professionally mooching?

There are conferences all the time and people are always hoping to get a free ticket to such events and often do not think twice about it cause they do not think about the cost equation. Even if all the speakers spoke for free (and at many conferences they do) there are costs for the facility, advertising, audio equipment, projectors, etc. Not to mention the time of the facilitator who might be doing something else if he were not busy create event for weeks prior to the actual date.

So getting back to Ray’s original question when is free wrong and how do we move past the request and restore an appropriate trade for value?

Here are my thoughts for what they are worth:

A) be upfront about what you are willing to do for free and more specifically what you charge for your valued services.
B) if you are comping something you would otherwise charge for be clear and upfront about that as well and I always think sending a 100% discounted invoice after the fact is a great way of showing the value of what you did for free.
C) Be firm in communicating what value you are giving and what you expect in return. Do not be wishy washy in communicating your expectations of compensation.
D) Treat others as you would wish to be treated.

Chris Anderson in his book Free: The Future of a Radical Price, talks about the negative implications of free and how often people do not care as much about things they do not pay for. He in fact relates a story about a charity which provided people down on their luck with free bus tickets (which cost the charity $30) and were frequently lost until the charity started charging $1 for each ticket and suddenly less tickets were lost.

Ultimately it is all about defining value for your service or goods without feeling like a you have done something wrong in the endeavor to get fair pay for fair value.

Join us as we explore the world between free and paid products and services.

As always, there is no better way to meet and connect with other executives then over dinner and conversation. $21 in advance via PayPal or $25 at the event gets you a full dinner, drink and the best networking around.