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Free Samples? Paid Samples? What Say Ye?


eoinfinnegan

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Thanks @tee_hi, in essence, that’s what I am thinking although in a different context.

If I made a post about how I spent an hour on promoting my business and got a sale of $100 from it, people would probably say well done. But if I spent an hour doing 4 free samples and then got an order of $100 from it, it seems like people might say that I shouldn’t do free samples.

@jamesbulls and @deluxewriting it is easy to say that we don’t do work for free but in reality we all do. Any promotion, advertising, etc is all work that you do for free in the hope that it will bring orders. Aren’t free samples the same except possibly more direct? Granted, writing a blog post (for example) is likely to reach more people and a sample will not be any use to anyone other than one client BUT it is also potentially more effective. This is the crux of my debate.

I do want to differentiate between the idea of “Free Work” and “Free Samples”. A sample in my line of work would be of limited use and this should be the case for any sample - a custom V/O should not be usable for anything other than judging sound, tone, ability etc. For example, one thing I have done in the past is that I insist on picking the part of the larger document they want proofread/translated, rather than the client to reduce the possibility of being taken advantage of.

I am still debating the whole thing, my comments above are me playing devil’s advocate to hopefully stir some more debate and reasoning behind the “No Free Samples - NEVER” type answers.

For me, the distinction between free work and social media / advertising / blog posts / etc. depends on the answer to this question: Would this (THING) that I’m producing undermine my ability to sell something to the buyer? So long as the answer is “no” and I’m not undermining my sales efforts by providing a service that satisfies the buyer’s desire to purchase something from me, then it’s okay. But if I’m producing something that satisfies the urge which motivated the buyer to read my blog or contact me on Fiverr, then the answer is yes, and I refuse to do it.

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You’re a writer, you’re not supposed to write unless you’re getting paid to write. If a client wants to see samples, just show him what you’ve done for other clients.

Yep, fully agree with that. Samples should only be useful for evaluation. With my gigs it would be a small, random portion of the larger text.

If a client wants to see samples, just show him what you’ve done for other clients.

Anything I write for someone else does not belong to me any more. I tend to send some people to the forum to check a few posts of mine there to show I can write. For other gigs, which are more what I get asked for samples of, it is a bit more difficult.

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Yep, fully agree with that. Samples should only be useful for evaluation. With my gigs it would be a small, random portion of the larger text.

If a client wants to see samples, just show him what you’ve done for other clients.

Anything I write for someone else does not belong to me any more. I tend to send some people to the forum to check a few posts of mine there to show I can write. For other gigs, which are more what I get asked for samples of, it is a bit more difficult.

Just because the work belongs to the clients doesn’t mean you can’t show it. Suppose you have a real estate client, you can show him a blog you wrote for another property, your new client won’t use it and your old client won’t care if you show it.

Maybe my perspective is different because copywriters and art directors always have work samples (portfolios), that’s how we get jobs. Article writers and others also need to have writing samples.

Of course, a happy medium might be to create something just to use as a work sample. I once had a voice over artist hire me to write a radio commercial, just so he had something to read.

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Thanks @tee_hi, in essence, that’s what I am thinking although in a different context.

If I made a post about how I spent an hour on promoting my business and got a sale of $100 from it, people would probably say well done. But if I spent an hour doing 4 free samples and then got an order of $100 from it, it seems like people might say that I shouldn’t do free samples.

@jamesbulls and @deluxewriting it is easy to say that we don’t do work for free but in reality we all do. Any promotion, advertising, etc is all work that you do for free in the hope that it will bring orders. Aren’t free samples the same except possibly more direct? Granted, writing a blog post (for example) is likely to reach more people and a sample will not be any use to anyone other than one client BUT it is also potentially more effective. This is the crux of my debate.

I do want to differentiate between the idea of “Free Work” and “Free Samples”. A sample in my line of work would be of limited use and this should be the case for any sample - a custom V/O should not be usable for anything other than judging sound, tone, ability etc. For example, one thing I have done in the past is that I insist on picking the part of the larger document they want proofread/translated, rather than the client to reduce the possibility of being taken advantage of.

I am still debating the whole thing, my comments above are me playing devil’s advocate to hopefully stir some more debate and reasoning behind the “No Free Samples - NEVER” type answers.

  • In your line of business
  • When sales are slow
  • & Wasting your time,

I definitely recommend offering some form of samples. You can do samples with a “if you like my work please initiate an order… as promised.” This way, your buyer isn’t directly entitled to purchase from you and you have a “guarantee” they’ll purchase a service from you.

I’ve used something like this in the past.

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I don’t do free work, and I don’t expect any serious seller that I’m thinking about hiring to do free work, either.

Free work is a contagious illness that teachers sellers to devalue their time and buyers to demand unpaid extras.

Kill it with fire.

369e94344187e426acce7550fff566d75ee29e27

I think you are right. But I love your image.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I don’t do free work, and I don’t expect any serious seller that I’m thinking about hiring to do free work, either.

Free work is a contagious illness that teachers sellers to devalue their time and buyers to demand unpaid extras.

Kill it with fire.

369e94344187e426acce7550fff566d75ee29e27

I agree.

I do voice overs and Buyers assume a one minute vo finished recording takes me just one minute. And takes no training/experience or investment in hardware/software (all of which is expensive)…WRONG!

Giving a Buyer a “sample” when they can listen to samples in my demo perpetuates the myth that what I do is easy, quick, worthless and justifies ripping me off. As if the ridiculously sub-market pricing on Fiverr isn’t bargain enough!

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I do energy readings and card readings. I don’t do samples for card readings, but if someone messages me with a question I might give a one minute overview of the energy that’s coming in. I do it because it’s natural and doesn’t take much extra work. But if someone wanted a full on reading for free then I would have to decline.

It all depends on what you are selling and how long it would take to give a sample. I feel like people who do voice overs or logos should have a portfolio already so samples shouldn’t be necessary.

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I do energy readings and card readings. I don’t do samples for card readings, but if someone messages me with a question I might give a one minute overview of the energy that’s coming in. I do it because it’s natural and doesn’t take much extra work. But if someone wanted a full on reading for free then I would have to decline.

It all depends on what you are selling and how long it would take to give a sample. I feel like people who do voice overs or logos should have a portfolio already so samples shouldn’t be necessary.

There’s a similarity between what you offer (readings) and what I offer (voice overs) in that a free sample = getting the work for free.

I used to give free samples by adding an audio watermark so that they couldn’t use the sample. NEVER got one order from that!

It’a all about perceived value! If I don’t value my time, energy, skills, experience, etc. then Buyers certainly won’t either.

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As a writer I have made specific samples per genre to give out.
When people aren’t happy with the samples provided and want me to make them a specific sample for free (which has only happened twice in over a year) I figured they were most likely wanting free work.

For that i told them they can either order the $5 gig, or I give them a disclaimer stating that unless they eventually purchase an order I am am free to share the sample I make for them in my portfolio. Either as a new sample or for advertising on my gig page since it wasn’t a real order.
(However usually they just went ahead and purchased the $5 gig, mind you it’s only happened twice) but still… I used to give free samples but even after I stopped providing them it seems my business is still stable. 🙂

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  • 2 months later...

I never provide free samples and I can’t waste my time when other buyers have purchased my gigs.
According to me this behaviour is wrong because the work must always be paid. Even if it’s a fast drawing or a simple sketch for my category. There is the portfolio.
Those who do it should stop to draw free samples!
They discredit themselves and the others.

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  • 2 months later...

If a potential buyer asks for a sample of my fiction gigs, I lead them to my books on Amazon, where they can read the first few pages for free.

If it’s a potential buyer for articles, I lead them to one of my blogs.

I do not send pdf or word samples. I tell them that I protect my buyers from plagiarism by doing this.

I also mention that all my work is custom-tailored to each client and that I cannot provide a sample as I do not use templates to write my work, and it has nothing to do with how I would write an article for them.

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