Successful People Work For Free

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

I’ve worked for free for most of my life. I’ve also had friends tell me what a sucker I was for going to some office for 10 hours a day without getting a paycheck. But every single successful person I’ve ever met does a ton of work for free. I’m not just talking about pro bono or volunteer work. Whether its organizing conferences or networking events, or attending conventions, or pitching ideas, or building things or content on spec, or meeting new clients, or just getting your foot in the door, working for free is required.

As Shaw says, progress depends on the unreasonable man. Success comes to those unreasonable men who accomplish their unreasonable goals. The problem is, it’s pretty damn hard to get somebody to pay you to do something they think is unreasonable. Even if you work for Google, they’ll only pay you to work on something unreasonable one day a week. So unless you work for Google, and unless you can not only innovate, but also execute, in 20% of your paid time, you’ve got to do it for free.

Getting a Foot in the Door

This work-for-free principle applies to everybody, all the time, but its particularly valuable for people just starting out. It’s tough even for highly qualified people to land a job these days. Many businesses are reluctant to hire when they’re financially shaky and pessimistic about the future. Add in the fact that it’s expensive to hire someone, both in terms of salary/benefits and in terms of transaction costs, and many companies won’t hire until the workload absolutely demands it. If you’re just starting out, this makes it tough just to get your foot in the door.

Assuming your dad isn’t the CEO, a friend of the CEO, or a big donor, working for free is the easiest way to get in. “Mr. Bossman, [after doing my research] I know your company needs help doing X, and I kick ass at X. Don’t believe me? I’ll prove it to you. I’ll do X for you for 2 weeks, and if I suck, don’t pay me. After I prove myself, you can hire me at my prevailing wage.” You could also say something like “I’ll solve problem Y for you in 2 weeks. If I don’t, it’s free.” This works just as well for jobs, like becoming a lawyer, where the real learning doesn’t begin until after you’ve got your foot in the door (i.e. those jobs where you don’t actually know shit from shinola). In those cases “I’m smart and work hard. I can handle whatever you throw at me. I’ll prove it in 2 weeks. If I can’t hang, don’t pay me.” I’ve done this countless times. Almost nobody says “no” to someone who can make their headache go away for free. Why do you think every reputable company offers a money-back guarantee?

Ramit Sethi, of I Will Teach You To Be Rich Fame, has an interview tactic he calls The Briefcase Technique. This technique involves presenting your potential new employer, during the interview, with a list of problems you’ve already identified and various options you’ve come up with to solve them. This obviously requires you to do a ton of work for free, but its a fantastic way to get your foot in the door. Employers or clients go apeshit over competent people who can actually deliver. And again, what better way to prove you can deliver than by actually delivering? This is why proof of a portfolio beats the promise of a resume every time.

Movin’ On Up

You’ve now established yourself. You’ve landed a job, or a roster of clients, and you’re making money. That’s great. But to continue to provide value to your employer or your clients, you’re going to have to continue learning and acquiring skills. That’s just to maintain. If you want to grow, acquire new clients or get that promotion, you’re definitely going to need new skills. The problem is, the only people who routinely get paid for not knowing things are lawyers. Everybody else gets to learn on their own time. Whether it’s adding PHP skills to your web design toolkit, or Illustrator to your graphic arts repertoire, or learning new sales techniques, or boning up on the latest developments in your field, this type of life-long learning is integral to becoming successful. It’s why all successful people do it.

If increasing your value is the first prong of the work-for-free principle, marketing yourself is the second. If you’re a freelancer, you may not only do marketing work for free, it may actually cost you money up front. Buying ads takes money. Beyond that, marketing yourself includes things like taking interesting people to lunch, speaking to clubs, groups, or at events, reaching out to people you think you can help, and actually helping those people. All of these require a good deal of work, both on the front and back end. Helping people sounds easy, and sometimes it’s extraordinarily easy, but it can be challenging. The good news is, when it’s the most challenging its often the most rewarding. When you really help people out of a jam, expecting nothing in return, they’ll never forget it, and you’ll be paid back ten times over.