Why you shouldn't work for "exposure"?

One of the biggest banes in my life has to be the emails that I regularly get (or I did until COVID shut down many events) which all seem to go the exact same way. Usually, they would go something like this:

"Hi Madge...

I'm ***** and I work for the "such-and-such company". We're looking to put on an event on 01/01/2022 and we were wondering if you would be available to do a show for our guests? We don't currently have a budget for entertainment, but we were wondering if you could donate your time to us? In return, we would a promote you to our clients and it would be great opportunity to reach new audiences as we are expecting over 300 people at our event where it will definitely lead to further bookings for you or we may be able to use you again in the future for paid work."

Etc etc. There is also a slight variant of this where you get people running "charity events" and asking for your time as a donation to these special events, where they are planning to raise thousands for their causes and your 30 minutes could really make all the difference. Again there's no budget for this but hey it's for a good cause so that's OK right?

Now I know it feels like I'm a bit of a Scrooge, especially with the second type of message, but I'm really not. Normally I do give away some of my time to charities, but is it really worth it, just on the premise of "exposure"? If you've only just started out as a performer it's really tempting to take some of these gigs on, but as a seasoned pro, I feel that I must point out a few details with exposure gigs before you fall into the same traps that I and many others have done before you.

There is always a budget

I'll be blunt. Especially for the first type of email, any respectable company will have a budget to put on events. Whether they are a fortune 500 company or a little shop in Fleetwood, if they are putting on an event they will have set aside some money to put on events. Usually it would be spent on food, the venue, security costs, music etc, and they in reality know that what you provide as an entertainer is one of those costs. What people don't seem to realise is that like with any busines - events and charity work are a business venture their goal is the same; to make as much money for the littlest outgoings possible.

Everything in the business world is about profit. Working a staff awards night? That's to motivate staff to stay with them and increase productivity. A fundraising night by a big corporation? - it becomes a nice tax writeoff or good publicity to say how much they work for the community. People want to realise that maximum earning amount to make themselves look good, but many inexperienced planners erroneously believe that the only way to do this is to reduce the amount they spend to the bare minimum. They think they're on a version of the Apprentice where they are trying to get the most for the lowest price. If they ask you to work for free they are forgetting something critical.

There is a good phrase that people often forget. You have to spend money to make money. People always try and spend the least amount of money possible, especially when it comes to charity fundraising. Which is a fair point. But for people to make their events the best they can be, they need to spend money to get the best. People miss this point quite often. Just picture the difference between two events. The first is a £500 a plate charity fundraiser, the other is a pot luck supper with a band? The only real difference between the two events is the quality of the entertainment (I'm including the venue and food in that "entertainment" as it's about the experience). The better quality event, the more it will cost - but there will be a bigger return. A £500 plate dinner will raise a significant amount more than the cheaper alternative.

So if people can't afford to pay you for their event it is a great indicator of what the event is actually going to be like. The lower the budget, the lower the quality event. But why is it that freelancers often get the brunt of this when it comes to fees?

They don't value your work

Everything has value. And I mean everything. I love my car, but if someone offered me £20k for it I'd jump at the chance. Hell, even £10k... I'd seriously consider it at £5k. Or what about my magic collection? If someone offered me the right price I'd jump at the chance. But what that price depends on is the valuation of two parties. Whenever you book an event or buy anything you are basically saying "How much do you value this item for? I agree..." or "I don't agree".

With freebie gigs, this standard contract doesn't play out like this. Before you can even enter into negotiations they have already placed a value on what you do. And that is practically nothing. Firstly by not being willing to pay, they hold no monetary value to your work and all they are offering in return is something of no value to them. They couldn't care less about how much "exposure" you have, nor are they bothered if you get future bookings out of their gig. They just want to do a very one-sided transaction. You give something of value to them for nothing in return. This is unfortunately true in most of the cases that you are asked to do this, even gigs that seem really sweet. When it comes to amateur freebies quite often the goal (even if it is a subconscious one) is to look good. I've been to enough events to see the organisers doing laps of the room and not really being invested in the event and it's running. They'd happily let chaos occur and things run badly if they could still look good. Unfortunately, in 99% of freebie gigs, this ends up being a one-sided deal where the only winner is the booker. (There is an exception to this which I'll probably discuss in a later post). This may seem harsh but there is a reason this is true.

These gigs don't pay

I've spoken to many performers and I don't think I've found any performer who has actually had any real success come from an "exposure" gig. I've done a few myself (and there is the odd benefit which I may discuss in another post) but in real life there is no real reward when it comes to performing at them for you. Let's set the record brutally straight. You will not get any more gigs from them. I've never had one, most of my friends have never had one. People don't see you performing for free and think "I'll pay you to perform". I've got more work from paid gigs then free ones and by a dramatic amount. And deep down bookers know this. They know full well that their guests probably aren't going to book you, but again that's not the point for them. They just want to look good and get something for nothing.

And to be honest, the gigs that we are involved in for exposure usually do very little for charity. Most people who book these exposure gigs are amateur organisers themselves, looking to raise money for a noble cause. Which is very honourable, but they have these grandiose visions of fundraising thousands which never pans out. The hundreds of people expected at the event end up being 20. And they are all the family of the organiser so really that "exposure" is to 1 family...

The majority of these freebie gigs will not raise huge amounts for charity and that is something that reflects on you working there. This is something you need to consider, as a professional the gigs you work at reflect you as a performer. You want to associate yourself with things that will promote you in a good way as a magician. You need to be seen in the best possible light and small "charitable" freebies that don't raise much do not have much-reward for you in PR (after all that's why you are doing it). I know this seems incredibly cruel and cold, but one of the things I've seen is that a lot of these freebie fundraisers don't raise much money and for very good reason.

These gigs are often a mess

Have you ever had a horror show gig? I'm not talking about a show at Halloween but a nightmare of a show. You know the kind, the organisers haven't got a clue what they are doing, the guests are terrible, rowdy, don't want to be there... or the show is just flat because its not been organised properly... well I have news for you. The majority of these events will end up being freebie events. When I look at the events that I've done in the past the most badly organised ones are often these freebies. I remember one gig I did a few years back. I was booked as an MC which included 2 10 min sets, introducing the bands with filler and running an auction. When I got there I soon discovered that the event was smaller than discussed, the organisers wouldn't give me any stage space to perform or store my stuff which meant I had no safe place to leave my gear, and that my role was changing every 10 minutes as another "organiser" had an idea or wanted to take on a role. I ended up feeling absolutely shattered in what should have been a fun show. It was a nightmare and for good reason.

Most of these freebie gigs are organised by amateurs. They have no idea what it takes to put on an event but think it can't be that hard. They are confident they don't need professional help but don't understand the basic structure of an event. And because of this, they end up being a hot mess. For most of my gigs, I will send out a rider with, you know the typical document outlying everything I need/want at a gig. Most of these freebies look shocked at the sight of these things, even if I pander to them. They're nothing special and straight forward. But if people cant fulfil a basic list of needs (like for example 13A power and some staging) then it's not going to be a great event... A lot of these exposure events are so poorly organised you feel a drain instead of that surge when you perform. So are they really worth doing?

On the whole, no. There is no reason to do the majority of these "freebie" gigs that come up. They will just be a drain on you as a performer and person, and are rarely successful both for you and for the events. But there are a few good reasons why you should take certain "exposure gigs". Which I think would be best to write about in another post, as this "quick little post" is turning into a series...