Cutting Your Teeth — How to use Free Work as a Strategy Build Your Network and Experience as a Freelancer

When you’re getting started in anything new, especially something you want to do for a living, almost everyone encounters the classic “chicken and egg problem” — you need the experience to get the work and the cash that you need from it, but you need the work to get the experience. And unless you’re at the very beginning of the road, it can be hard to be willing to cough up your precious time and energy for no money in return. But… in terms of the long-term value, it should be a no-brainer when you consider what opportunities that work can lead to.

Don’t see it yet? Check out this example I used early on to cut my teeth, start shooting real “professional” looking work, and gain access to a community inside a company that I was dying to do work for.

I had just moved to Austin, TX, and my goal was to shoot content for clients in the fitness space. My sights were set on Onnit, a nutrition and fitness company I had heard about through their supplements and a few of their trainers I saw on Instagram. What I didn’t have was a connection — how do I get access to that awesome facility and impressive group of people?

Well…. I had to start in the DM’s. I found every trainer that worked there I could through instagram, and reached out to each one offering a free photo shoot to each one. I reached out to about 5, and got a response from just one… but that was all I needed — I was in. In exchange for a one hour-long photo shoot and maybe an hour of editing time on the back end, I was able to get inside the Onnit facility and shooting with a trainer on their staff… even if it was for “free”.

After that session, I met a guy who knew a yoga instructor affiliated with the same company, who also needed content for their marketing but no budget. I hadn’t shot any yogis before, so I thought it valuable to give her a session as well. It was during that second free session I dolled out that I landed a paid shoot with a third trainer I met at Onnit, who needed some content even more and had at least some money to work with.

Boom. For about 4 hours of time expenditure, some patience, and willingness to “work for free”, I landed a paid client, but more importantly filled my previously-empty fitness portfolio with a bunch of new pieces that had a variety of both the subject and training styles. On top of that, I now had some connections within Onnit, and proceeded to build upon that until landing one of our biggest clients ever — who would go on to be one of Onnit’s most successful influencers on the ‘gram. It was a win-win-win.

Now, let’s be clear — many stories about doing “free work” don’t go like this. It can be painful, frustrating, and sometimes downright demeaning to not get paid for your work, especially for someone who disrespects your time or value. It’s obviously a case-by-case basis, and you can get taken advantage of. It’s important to recognize what your value is and demand it. That doesn’t mean, however, that you can’t use it in moderation as a means to an end or a tool to propel your career or business forward.