'Choosing beggars' and the best way to say 'no'
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This situation sucks. I've been guilt-tripped but never had people been rude to me that much yet.
My go-to response is the old 'You wouldn't ask a doctor, a plumber, or an electrician to work for free (unless you're helping people in the slums or something charitable). You also wouldn't say to a builder "Do this job for free and if I'm happy with it I'll use you for future jobs", and other such rubbish comments that are used on artists. I politely try to educate them to see illustration as a valued skill worth paying for, and if that doesn't work I insult them about whatever work they do, haha kidding.
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You can start by coughing then put your hand on your forehead and ask them how to tell if you have a fever. Beyond that - I get this all the time with my goat grazing business. People act like it's some huge favor to allow me to clean up years of neglect on their property. Sometimes I say, sure, I'll bring my goats over for free if you'll paint my house for free. Or, When you go for a trail ride at the park do you invoice the livery stable for exercising their horse? Or, if all I wanted to do is break even, I'd sell the goats and get a hammock. Throw out a few zingers then sneeze and say, I really think I'm coming down with something.
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I haven't had anyone guilt trip me, but I usually just say sorry that my plate is too full and I can't take anymore work on.
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Sure dude! Here ya go,
Don’t let the bastards get you down.
Lisa Burvant
www.lisaburvant.com
Instagram & Twitter & SVS: @burvantill -
@Braden-Hallett lol! You have got to share the whole message. My usual turnoff is when they state their budget. It usually goes something like, “Will you illustrate my book for 100 bucks?” Lol
I live in the Philippines but I can’t even live for a month on that budget. -
@Braden-Hallett I think I would go with @carlianne's advice. I can not imagine they can keep bugg you if you tell them you do not have time for their whatever project. If they still trying, then just ignore them.
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Hi @Braden-Hallett, your work demands top dollar!
As a suggestion, maybe you can say that you would love to provide a piece for free, but you are booked solid on paid work.
Either way, treat it as a compliment that someone is willing to beg for your art! Kudos brotha!
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@burvantill I agree with this being the best way. You still deliver a free drawing
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@burvantill Haha YES!! "Ok, here's what's available at that price point."
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lol thanks everyone!
What I'm hearing is mostly 'don't be so polite'
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@burvantill I just laughed out loud at this! Thank you for making my day.
And... @Braden-Hallett your work is brilliant and you deserve to be paid for it! -
In seriousness, I find that "I'm sorry, that's just not possible" and leave it at that closes the door pretty well. It isn't rude, but it doesn't leave any room for argument. If they come back after that, they are just wasting your time. Don't respond further to their nonsense. People like that aren't worth your time. They will never value your talents.
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@Braden-Hallett said in 'Choosing beggars' and the best way to say 'no':
What I'm hearing is mostly 'don't be so polite'
It's probably difficult for you, being Canadian and all.
Lisa Burvant
www.lisaburvant.com
Instagram & Twitter & SVS: @burvantill -
@burvantill That pic is hilarious. With my luck he would still make a mint off of it and not give me any credit.
Also rudeness is against @Braden-Hallett 's religion. -
@burvantill said in 'Choosing beggars' and the best way to say 'no':
It's probably difficult for you, being Canadian and all.
IT'S SO HARD
(I was going for the smiley face, but you know what, I'm gonna leave the dog. )It's more that you never if if the bridge you just burned is gonna be one you need to cross in the future, so it's better to burn no bridges if possible
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@chrisaakins said in 'Choosing beggars' and the best way to say 'no':
Also rudeness is against @Braden-Hallett 's religion.
lol, I say! LOL!
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@Braden-Hallett I hear you. I make light of it, but if anyone I didn’t know personally asked for something free I would probably have the same dilemma as you. My extended family and friends have finally learned that I’m worth something at least and have stopped asking for free stuff. They pay me now, I give them huge discounts tho,
[edit: sorry about the language. I forget sometimes that people here don’t really know me and visa versa and may be offended. I shall try to keep my shenanigans PG from now on. I just thought it was funny because I’m a Guardians fan
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@Braden-Hallett I might respond with:
Thank you for the opportunity to work on your content. Please understand that the time I spend on working for a free project actually costs me money in the form of time that I could have used to work on a paid project. Those paid projects are the ones that sustain and support my livelihood.
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I had someone contact me for free work recently. It was just 'something small, no big deal for someone like me to draw..'
I said I was swamped and couldn't take on new projects at this time. I told them to certainly ask me again in three months.
They won't. -
That sucks and unfortunately is very common. I've had that a good few times ranging from, I just need a simple sketch or it doesn't have to be great! I had someone ask me to 'rough out' their graphic novel as a non-paid trial to see if they wanted to hire me to do the graphic novel, I ran so fast!
My polite response would be I do this for a living and don't have capacity to take on free work at the moment as my paid contracts are my priority.
My non polite answer is a lot shorter and aggressive lol but I very rarely go there tho, I try to stay as polite as possible.
My main advice is don't get sucked in to a big email exhange, it can suck up so much valuable time. So when you get a sniff of it being dodgy just bail. Some big warning signs I've found are when they avoid discussing money at the start and just jump into project specifics and it's very close to their heart. I always throw out the question 'and have you a budget and timeframe in mind?' in the very first email. Saves a lot of time.
Hope that helps.
