This is a great posting for everyone regarding the economy and pro-bono work. That's what I was trying to point out yesterday. I think there are a lot of good causes out there to do work for, it's a matter of watching out for the guys that will ultimately profit from the work that you do for them for free. No one wants to build someone else's business and not get paid for it. (other than free advice on HT of course :-) ). I think the thing that makes Ad Club a touchy subject is that ultimately Ad Club is mostly made up of the bigger agencies in Western Mass and for a small solopreneur to work on the site for free ends up benefiting the larger agencies as much or more than it does the individual, so while it is a not for profit group it makes it an uncomfortable subject for us smaller guys. But hey if you aren't benefitting from the recession and you have time go do the work, after all as they say there is no such thing as bad publicity. As for the recession, I love it. Well not from a standpoint of seeing businesses close and people laid off, but since most of our clients are smaller companies it means they all finally realize the need to do some marketing and design. No one looks at their website that close when the business is pouring in the door, but now everyone is saying "how do we bring in more customers?" I'm probably taking 3-4 calls a day for new work or extra work from existing clients. It's great. Keep up the recession. :-) I know for designers and web companies that work with bigger clients and budgets however it's hard. Big companies work the opposite way. They start cutting marketing budgets when sales slow, then they start laying off, then they reorganize, and finally they realize the need to spend money on marketing and the work flows free again. So if you do tend to work for bigger clients, hold on, they will be back. If you work for smaller clients, now is the time to grow your company for sure. Paul Stallman Managing Director paul at alias-solutions.com 413.364.6147 alias|solutions www.alias-solutions.com _____ From: hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net [mailto:hidden-discuss-bounces at lists.hidden-tech.net] On Behalf Of Anne Campbell Sent: Tuesday, December 02, 2008 10:12 AM To: hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net Subject: [Hidden-tech] Re: Recession and pro-bono work Hi all, I'm glad to hear that some of you are experiencing the same thing I am: I feel very fortunate to be busier than ever, gloomy economic forecast to the contrary. In fact, this past month was my busiest and most profitable in five years. I'd encourage us all to keep plugging away and not get caught up in the gloom. I keep thinking of Franklin Roosevelt's words that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." As for pro bono work, I think it definitely has its place, and I'm learning the delicate balance between giving my time to a good cause, and not letting people take unfair advantage. I've done some free or low-cost work for nonprofits, and although a couple have taken me for a sucker and tried to squeeze everything they could from me, most have been wonderful. My favorite nonprofit client, Refuge International ( http://www.refugeinternational.com/ ), does amazing work for the poorest of the poor in Guatemala, bringing health care, clean water, and education, and giving deworming medication to millions of children. I feel great about helping them out even though I'm paid very little, and as a bonus, through them I found one of my best clients, who has brought me tons of repeat business (at full fee, I might add). So the karma points do often come around! You just have to support the causes you believe in, and be sure you're not being drained beyond what you can handle. -Anne -- Anne Campbell, acampbell at gmail.com http://www.annecampbelldesign.com/ http://www.riverbenddoula.com/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://lists.hidden-tech.net/pipermail/hidden-discuss/attachments/20081202/2a17df52/attachment.htm