Dear Fellow Artist,

A good majority of potential clients will tell you the exact same thing: "We don't have a budget right now, but if you do the work for us it will be good marketing for your brand."

The truth of the matter is: If they are coming to you soliciting your

services... your brand is already marketed. Don't get caught in the vicious cycle of doing work for less than your worth in hopes that the client will pay you better on the "next" project. More often than not, there won't be a "next" project and even if there is, they will not

want to pay more than you charged them the first time. You will be sending a clear message that you can do the work for such a low rate which will make it harder to justify charging more in the future.

If your art is your business, then you have a right to treat it as such.

Nobody would go into a restaurant and tell the manager "If you give me this steak for free, I'll tell all my friends about your restaurant and you'll get more business." They'd be laughed at and escorted out of the establishment. You don't have to laugh or escort them out,

but you can surely tell them thank you for contacting you... and then keep it moving.

If you are good at what you do, charge what you are worth. If they don't have a budget to pay for your services, it is not your problem to solve their financial issues. Do you really want to

spend time working for a client that isn't intelligent enough to realize they need to budget for the services they are seeking from you? Some money is too expensive to make.

Your friend,
Mustafa Davis