Why SHOULD you work for exposure?

In my last post, I spent a lot of time writing about why you really shouldn't work these freebie gigs. And in a general, everyday situation they are my guiding principles when I get asked to perform for free. I admit it makes me look a bit of a Scrooge

(I did a search of Shutterstock and there are some hilarious "Scrooge" pictures, seriously check them out! but as my budget for this is currently 0, Donald Duck pretending to be Scrooge for free will have to do!)

But as I've mentioned before I'm not actually an arsehole. Honest. In fact, believe it or not there are times when I as a seasoned pro will do shows that are free or for "exposure"

"But Madge" you cry "you just spent an evening writing about how working for free is evil and wrong and how we shouldn't do it as we are undervalued. Why have you changed your mind all of a sudden?

Well, I haven't really changed my mind. Believe it or not, I truly believe that there are a few exceptions to my "Screw you for asking me to work for free stance" which as you will see will actually make at least a little bit of sense. (hopefully). One of the things that I take to heart is that each event you are asked to do, whether paid or unpaid should be assessed on its merits. I'm a firm believer that even with paid events you should always think about whether you take the gig on. I'm sure there's another post in here about that so I won't go into detail now but it is definitely an important point, especially for unpaid gigs.

It's so easy to take a blanket stance on unpaid gigs. I see so many performers doing that and refusing to even consider an unpaid gig but this is a mistake. Yes, it costs you time and effort when you could be doing a paying gig, but sometimes it can actually be worth it. And this is how. So why should you do an "exposure gig"?

Because you support the cause

It really goes without saying. There are certain charities that we all find ourselves drawn to. Whether it is because they resonate with you on a personal level, you're sympathetic to the cause, or you or someone you are involved with is connected to the charity it makes sense to donate your services to them. Don't be afraid to do something for a cause you support. My mother works for a children's hospice. Whenever I go and visit her I will always try and bring some tricks along and pop into her work. It's a little thing that really makes a difference and I want to give my time away for this charity. The same can be said of being asked to do an event. For example, if I support Cancer Research and someone from the organisation contacts me asking for a show I'd be hypothetically more agreeable to perform for them at a great discount or for free.

If I support the cause and want to work for free to support them as a charity then there is no problem with that.

Because it's a good PR

This one really ties into the first one, and is more of an extension. This sounds really heartless when I say this, but there are certain cases where you will get a huge amount of good PR for doing it. Think of children's hospitals/wards as an example. There is a huge amount of social credit for doing things for good causes that everyone supports. No one would ever complain about someone performing for sick children or doing hospital visits, nor would people see it in a negative light. No-one could anyone object to you raising funds for your local air ambulance. There are certain charities where you will improve your public image by performing for them for free. This alone can be worth doing the freebie for, as it leaves a positive image of you in peoples minds. But be warned, not all "charity" events will have this recognition. Usually, you'd have to be performing straight for the charity itself, not a fundraiser organised by some random person. Again its basing this on the individual merits of the request. Getting a call from a Childrens Hospice manager asking you to perform to the kids is a completely different ballgame to getting a call from a random person who is doing a fundraiser for the same children's hospice in a pub on a Saturday night.

Because you need practice

This seems like a strange reason to accept a freebie gig, but there is some logic to it. We've already realised from earlier posts that a lot of these freebie gigs won't give you any return when it comes to repeat gigs or payment, but they can provide you with an opportunity to try out new material to a live audience. Depending on the gig you may have a decent size audience of 20-30 people who probably won't be looking to book you or really be invested in your show. As we mentioned last time a lot of these people really aren't bothered who is there as long as someone is performing. You could put on the worst entertainment in the world and they would see you the same as if Paul Daniels had come back from death and performed the most amazing show for them. They'd be indifferent.

I know this is really selling it well to you, but I really wanted to emphasise the point that these freebie gigs really are of no consequence to you. So you can feel free to screw up, do stuff that will flop, do jokes that won't work and not have to worry about losing gigs, wages etc.I've done it before. I remember taking on a "charity gig" which in hindsight I really wouldn't do this specific one. But I was writing a new show and looking for feedback from a real audience on some bits. They wanted 2 x 20-minute sets, which was perfect as I could chop out the bits I didn't want to practice, throw in some favourites as a confidence booster for me and I was left with the perfect place to practice new tricks. It was really useful as I discovered little interesting things like never to let children near an Amazebox (2 kids stuffed papers in causing them to go everywhere inside and out and leave me with lots of "scribbles" instead of suggestions!). I also learned a few other jokes that had to be re-worked, as I discovered that while I liked them they didn't quite hit in their original form. (I think it was puns about forcing Star Wars onto someone). No worries though because the only person invested in how it appears was me and that was only because I was looking for audience responses. The event booker wasn't really watching, she was more interested in chatting with her friends and receiving adulation about the "amazing event she put on" (as mentioned in the last post - they don't really care about the entertainment, just how it makes them look).

So with that in mind, you can use these gigs to practice new material and see what works without having to possibly upset a paying client. Everyone does this, big comedians often go to small theatres before their national stadium tours to try out new material. You see, for them an audience of 300 is the same as a "freebie" for you. The amount of people seeing these shows and their impact on your work is negligible which makes it the perfect place to test new stuff. It's like going to an open mic night but you get to control the venue a bit more.

Because it will pay in a different way

You're probably going to complain at me now saying that I am incredibly contradictory, but there are some freebie events that will actually be of benefit for you. I know, I know... I've spent ages saying that they won't pay out but I did mention in the last post that there is one exception. This is it.

Earlier on in this post I wrote that you have to take each request for freebies on their individual merits. This is no more true when assessing whether it will actually pay out for you in any way. I could get a phone call asking me to do a private event for an Instagram influencer who has 30k followers in return for some public posts about my work. I would turn that down instantly. Because lets be honest - there is no return on that for me. 30k may seem like a lot, but it is probably spread around the world, is probably not my target demographic and may even be bought and not real people. It seems impressive but really holds no value in return for me. There are countless examples of this online where "influencers" demand free gigs because they have a following they could advertise too, and are under this misguided impression that a post to 50k followers is enough of a return for a 3 night stay in a hotel.

But in another call I could get a request to do a freebie for Lime Pictures for one of their acts which they would like to film. After a little bit of thought, even a 20 second clip on TOWIE would be a decent return for 30 minutes of my time. With other 800 000 viewers in the UK it would be stupid not to offer my time for that. The same would be if I was asked to perform on This Morning or even something local like my local BBC Radio Station. When it becomes actual free advertising to a guaranteed audience you would be foolish to turn it down.

Weigh up the pros and cons of each event and see whether it is actually worth it for you to do. In the end only you can decide this. Don't be afraid to say no to someone, but don't automatically reply to every freebie request with a no. You never know, there may be an event that is worth it to you in the long run.

If you struggle to find ways of saying No to these kind of events, or how to deal with them without the typical "why the fuck should I work for you for free?" then keep an eye out for my next post. I'll be talking about how I and other professionals deal with these freebie events as well as some little tips for making the most out of any freebie events you work!