DON’T GIVE IT AWAY FOR FREE

If you don’t value what you have who else will?

Jeff RiveraJeff Rivera • Following • FollowingExecutive Producer – 3xTelly Award Winner – *We only produce our own in-house projects and do NOT accept outside pitches or requests for funding at this time.Executive Producer – 3xTelly Award Winner – *We only produce our own in-house projects and do NOT accept outside pitches or requests for funding at this time.4d • Edited • 4 days ago

Don’t Give It Away for Free

A president of a major media company reached out to me personally once.

This was one of the top five media companies in the world.

He was launching a Black-centric division and couldn’t find any Black candidates.

His headhunters—highly paid—failed to deliver.

So he came to me, the one person he said “knows everybody.”

In less than 30 minutes, I compiled a list of a dozen qualified candidates I knew.

It would’ve cost him tens of thousands of dollars for his headhunters to do the same.

He thanked me.

I never heard from him again.

Then another president—also from a top-five media company—approached me with the same request.

Her full staff of recruiters couldn’t find anybody either.

She’s known me for over a decade.

But this time, she said, “I don’t expect you to do it for free. I know there’s value in what you offer.”

She understood something important:

My relationships weren’t built overnight.

They took years, even decades, of trust, follow-through, kindness, and relationship building.

Some people think, “It only took you minutes,” so it must be worthless.

But those minutes represent years of effort and connections.

Never give your value away for free.

You’re not winning points—you’re just losing out.

And you’re not going to heaven any faster.

If it’s a philanthropic cause you genuinely care about, that’s one thing.

But if others stand to profit from your expertise, you deserve compensation.

If someone refuses to pay you for your value, that tells you everything you need to know about them.

Greenlight yourself.

You don’t need Hollywood’s ANYONE’S permission anymore.

You can set your own terms and price.

Yes, there will be people who try to sweet-talk you into working for free.

They may even say you’ll get karma points, but karma points won’t pay tomorrow’s rent.

Besides, if you wanted to work for free, you would be working on your own projects on spec, not taking your very valuable and limited time to work on someone else’s.

You have every right to say “no.”

If they try to make you feel bad for asking to be compensated your worth, that also tells you everything you need to know about them.

Respect your worth.

Others will follow your lead.Activate to view larger image,

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