Giving Away The Farm… Pro Bono Tips
March 11th, 2008 | Posted in Business.Many of us have been asked to do a website for free. Many of us also have the inability to say no. The key point of every business is to make money. So how do you make money by giving away your services for free?
Portfolio Builder
If you do not have a very nicely established portfolio, perhaps maybe you should consider some pro bono work. Building a solid portfolio will allow you to show your future prospects what you can accomplish.
To Make Money, You Have to Give it Away?
Doing pro bono work for a client sometimes can be a great way to get a referral for future work. Although this is not always the case. If a big client wants you to cut your costs or do it for free, tell the prospect to move on, but in a nicer way. Only do free work if you feel comfortable about doing it. Accept it only if you are not hurting for money. This is part of being a good citizen and donating your services. Do work for a non-profit organization or church group that could use a web site. Do it as a donation, by donating your services, you are not only doing a good deed, you are benefiting from a tax deduction.
Doing a Good Deed Can Reward You With More Work…
I was recently asked to redesign a local church group website I was affiliated with. The old site was in a bitter need of some work as it was filled with clipart and information was very difficult to find for the average user. I treated this project the same as any other paid web project. This way it was not neglected.
Yesterday, I launched the new design. One member of the group was ecstatic about the quality of the work, so he felt he needed to send an email blast to tell the entire group, which has a community of around 40-60 people, all about me and the new web site.
So by doing this good deed for my local church group, I got my name out to 40-60 people that might need a website or know someone who does. It also allowed me to gain a backlink and another addition into my portfolio.
What Kind of Free Work Have You or Will You Do?
I want to hear from you! Please post a comment below.
Yahweh
April 11th, 2008 at 9:45 am
I have recently had the opportunity to start of with web design & hosting. I’m no professional, but the quality of my effort is fair enough that I could say it looks “nice”.
I’m currently working on my site, but I have decided that I will be giving completely free web design to non profit and Church groups, even “house churches” where people come together.
I’ve decided that based on the value I am giving the client and the fact that I really will make an effort to do the best job I can, I will only charge the client the monthly hosting and domain fee’s.
The reason I do this is not to get clients for hosting, as some may believe, but to give a value added service. They have the option to choose any of the 6 hosting packages I offer, even the cheapest.
Thank you for this article, it’s a confirmation to me from God that I am doing the correct thing.
God bless
Yahweh Web Design & Hosting,
btw. site is still under development, but should be finished in a week or two
Allan
April 11th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Glad that you found it helpful.