You Earn What You Ask For

You Earn What You Ask For I was chatting with a reader not long ago, and she brought up the age-old complaint about entities asking writers (or any sort of artist) to present for freefor the exposure. Her words were these: our culture places little or no value on volunteer work, despite the lip-service given it. So, the covert message is that if you the performer, artist, service provider, etc. do not value your services enough to put a price on them, the client wont either. The lesser the value you place on yourself, the greater the disrespect you receive from your client. Ive written entire editorials on that subject, but she hit the nail on the head. People not only get what they pay for, but earn what they ask for. A few people will get their feathers ruffled. Not me or I know a lot of exceptions to that, but the grand majority of people see free as something of lesser value; otherwise, it wouldnt be cheap. And if something costs more, there usually has to be a reason. Ive turned down conferences and appearances for not compensating well enough. The initial gut reaction is to worry that youve declined an opportunity. We tend to be a group of creators that jumps at the chance to be read/seen anywhere, but that small feeling of panic about In the long run, you deem what you are worth, and the more you give it away, the lower your stock value.