I’m so popular! A few weeks ago, I got a call from a woman proudly representing a $6 billion company. She mentioned that twice. Let’s call her “Jaime Sommers.” They had a CEO conference and wanted me to come speak for the low, low price of … no money at all. I would get “exposure.” Yay, I just love exposure!!! No, I don’t. … In fact, I hate exposure. Well, not really. But the last time I checked, my bank doesn’t take “exposure” for my mortgage payment. Even so, this woman, working for a $6 billion dollar company, wants my work for nothing. 
Some would say Jaime is just an exploitative hack who doesn’t want to pay. Other people would want to scream and yell at her. They would want to call her an exploitative hack directly to her face. Fortunately, you and I are above all that. We wouldn’t even think it.
And yet we would want to respond. We would want to understand why what she’s doing is wrong, and help her understand it too. And we would want this young woman to stop and think about the ethics of what she’s doing. (Failing that, we at least want her to feel like crap every single time she looks in the mirror for the rest of her life. Like the Queen, we are not merciful, except in extraordinary circumstances.)
Why Her Request Is Unethical
Her request is unethical for a number of reasons. First, she’s valuing your professional work at $0 when it comes to payment, yet clearly she is getting value from it or she wouldn’t be asking for you to work for free. That’s just skeezy.
But even more so, chances are really, really good that she doesn’t work for free. So she’s being a hypocrite asking you to work for free. That’s also pretty skeezy.
Furthermore, she’s somehow claiming that her company is making $6 billion a year, and can’t afford to pay for one speech. What happened to the $6 billion? Apparently they made it by not paying anyone fair value for their labor. That’s really skeezy.
And by the way, we live in a capitalist society, not an exposurist society. Ryan Reynolds gets great exposure when he stars in “Deadpool,” especially if you use freeze-frame to watch it. Yet he still gets paid for his work. It was career-making exposure for Jennifer Lawrence to star in “Hunger Games,” yet she was still paid for her work. Why? Because it’s her freaking job. And in our economy, when people do a job, they get paid. Otherwise, it’s just skeezy. Skeezy, skeezy, skeezy.
Who’s Taking the Risk?
But when someone asks you to work for exposure, the most heinous thing is that it puts the guaranteed work on you and gives you only an uncertain and highly unreliable reward. They, meanwhile, have almost no risk and get all the upside if your work turns out to be high quality.
To respond to the exploitative hacks of the world, don’t say “No!” Instead, respond with a properly-structured counter-proposal.
I’m taking the time to come speak for Jaime. I’m giving away my work for free. That’s a guaranteed 100% downside for me in time and cost, not to mention the value of my material. My upside is this wonderful, ephemeral “exposure.” It’s like a Unicorn, without the rainbows.
Jaime, the 6-billion-dollar woman, has asked me to provide known, high-quality work. She has ample evidence that I will deliver, proven by tens of millions of podcast downloads, packed auditoriums for speaking engagements, webinar attendance records, and paid books and articles.
She is taking no risk, and gets guaranteed upside. My presence will help make her conference a great success and make her look like a star. And if the exposure turns out not to be very valuable, well, too bad for me. It’s no skin off her bionic back.
You Can Measure Outcomes
But exposure can be measured. We can use surveys, click-throughs, repeat visits, lambs sacrificed, all kinds of measurements. But Jaime is offering “exposure” without measurement. Indeed, if she measured the value of her exposure, she might find out it’s worthless. Then she’d have to face the fact that she’s an exploitative hack. The fear of this knowledge keeps her from even thinking about measurement.
But we are fearless! We can structure a deal that lets each of us bet on the value of what we promise. If we both do what we claim, everybody wins. But if one of us falls short, they’re the one that takes the fall.
Don’t Get Mad; Make a Counter-Proposal
To respond to the exploitative hacks of the world, don’t say “No!” Instead, respond with a properly-structured counter-proposal where they take the risk they’re asking you to take. If you’re nervous about sending a counter-proposal, don’t be. They’ve already valued your time at zero, so you have literally nothing to lose.
Let’s turn to Jennifer Lawrence for inspiration. She signs a contract for Hunger Games 9: Just Desserts. The movie company promises pay in return for her acting. If she flakes, the movie company doesn’t pay her. If the movie company flakes, she still gets paid. We can apply this to “exposure.” Because capitalism. Because fairness. Because ethics. Because J-Law.
The restructured deal is simple. Jaime pays me, I give a great presentation. She claims the exposure is worth something. So we agree on a measure—number of CEO business cards acquired, number of follow-on coaching engagements that come from the engagement, etc. If she meets the measure, then I return the cash and take the exposure. But if the measure doesn’t get met, then I keep the cash, I’m fairly paid for my work, and she gets to accept the fact that her exposure isn’t actually worth anything.
When you propose this to Jaime, she’ll almost certainly say “No.” After all, she isn’t really trying to be fair, she’s trying to exploit you, and she knows it. That’s why you also end the proposal by saying, “If you would rather not take this proposal, then that will, of course, be a clear demonstration that you don’t truly believe in the value of your exposure. In that case, I urge you to look in the mirror every morning and be filled with self-loathing because you’re nothing but an exploitative hack.” No, just joking!
You really say, “In that case, I urge you to reconsider making this offer to others in the future.” Because you would never want to be as crass as she is.
If you’d like a copy of an actual civil letter that lays out this counter-proposal suitable for using as a template, just visit getitdoneguy.com/exposure. Please use it to your heart’s content, and then some.
If my rant wasn’t enough, check out science fiction writer Harlan Ellison’s rant on the topic of “Pay the Writer.” It’s a hoot.
Next time you get a request for free work, don’t say yes. Don’t say No. Make a counter-proposal that makes each party responsible for delivering on their half of the promise.
This is Stever Robbins. Follow GetItDoneGuy on Twitter and Facebook. I run webinars and other programs to help people be Extraordinarily Productive, and build extraordinary careers. If you want to know more, visit SteverRobbins.com/
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