How to deal with requests for spec work without losing your mind
Hi Friend,
How many times have you been faced with this situation: You’ve had a great initial meeting with someone, they indicate they’re considering working with you, and then they hesitate for a moment.
“This all looks really good, we’d just need you to complete some work for us to show us you’re capable of doing the job. Can you write [or edit] a piece for us on X topic by tomorrow?”
And now you’re stuck with a dilemma: you either do the spec work and hope it turns into a paying job, or you don’t do the spec work and risk losing the client. Either way, there’s a chance of it ending poorly for you.
It’s called spec work (or speculative work) and as a freelancer it can be a nightmare to deal with. It’s unpaid work with no promise that it will lead to paid work. Clients introduce it as a way to test your skills and prove you can produce the content they need. Often even without pay you’ll lose the creative rights to that work and the client may turn around and use your work as they like (giving unscrupulous people an easy way to get work done for free).
It’s not always as cut-and-dried as asking you to carry out the activity you’d be assigned when you get the contract. Other forms of spec work include:
Pitching ideas: For example, you’re being considered to write regular blog posts for a company and they ask you to come up with a list of 20 topics you could write about. They can then use this list to generate their own content without actually hiring you. Agencies might also use this when hiring freelancers to get content or marketing ideas.
Bidding on work or writing a proposal: The client asks you to write a document outlining the full scope of the work you’d do, how you’d do it, and other particulars. Freelancers can put a lot of work into work bids or proposals with no guarantee there will be work for them. They may also inadvertently give the client ideas the client can then turn around and use on their own, with no compensation. Proposals can be okay, if they’re on your terms and you’re not putting a lot of free work into them.
Contests: A call is put out for freelancers to submit their work and the winning piece will be used. This is more common in graphic design (such as for logos), but can happen in writing.
On the one hand, you don’t want to work for free (nor should you). On the other hand, you understand that the potential client needs evidence you can do what you say you can. On the third hand (it’s a three-handed beast!), unsavoury characters will use “spec work” to get you to do work they should be paying for, and you’ll have wasted your time for something that was never going to lead to work. You’re left unpaid and demoralized.
What to do if you’re asked for spec work
Assuming you don’t want to work for free (if you do, that’s an entirely different matter), there are some steps you can take to push back on the request.
Have workarounds that make spec work unnecessary
I allow up to two rounds of revisions for my work. This gives the client the security of knowing that even if the first draft doesn’t meet their needs, we’ll have the opportunity to revise the document.
Explain to the client your process of working for them, show them your portfolio and references from clients, and outline your value. Let them know how you can help them if your first draft winds up falling a bit short of their expectations.
Sometimes I’ll offer to show them more from my work samples if they haven’t seen anything that lines up with what they need. I’ll ask what specifically they’re looking for and if I have such a document that isn’t bound by confidentiality I’ll happily share it or share links to more of my work.
Offer to give them less than they’re asking for
If they ask you to write a 1,000 word blog post on the topic, offer instead to write an outline or an introduction to the post. If they want a whole document edited, offer to edit only the first paragraph.
Yes, you’re still working for free but you’re doing far less than they’re asking while still showing them you’re capable.
Ask for a small payment for the work
Ethical clients should be willing to pay something for the work, even if it’s a smaller amount than you would normally be paid. So if they ask you to write or edit something for free, tell them you have a small charge for speculative work and by paying it they then have the right to use that work however they see fit. I’ve had clients ask me to submit a writing sample but they’ve paid me $50-$100 for the sample.
If they won’t pay, tell them you want to use the work in your portfolio. After all, what you do might be brilliant even if it doesn’t ultimately get you the job.
Should you do speculative work?
That’s a question only you can answer. There are times it makes sense and times it doesn’t. Rather than having a one-size fits all policy, consider taking context into account. For example, I recently did spec work for a contract, but all four of the following factors were part of that decision:
The client was a large content agency and I had evidence that other writers and editors liked working for them. They appeared to pay fairly once contracts were signed, had solid payment policies, and otherwise seemed very above-board. There were many signs they are an ethical company to work for and they generally value and respect their freelancers.
The spec work was not related to the work I would be doing for them. It was editing three very whimsical pieces (I was being hired to edit financial marketing pieces). As far as I could tell, there was no way for the client to use my work for free. The document was only being used to evaluate my ability to follow a style guide and grammar conventions.
The amount they asked me to edit wasn’t unreasonable to guage my skills. It was three short articles with different style guides. Had they asked me to edit five long articles, I might have felt differently. But three short articles seemed reasonable. In all it took me no more than 30 minutes to complete the work which was well worth it for the sake of landing a good contract.
The spec work wasn’t the first step in the hiring process. By the point I did it I had already met with people involved in the project and had details about the work I would be doing. My understanding was that I was the only person they were speaking with about the role. Editing the passages was only done to verify that I could edit and follow a style guide. It wasn’t used to rank me against a stable of other editors to see if I’d be better or worse than them.
Ultimately, the decision to do spec work is yours to make. Freelancers at all levels of experience get asked to do it. Some consider it a regular part of finding and signing new clients, while others believe it undervalues their work.
I feel that some spec work is okay, if you have limits for what you will and won’t do, watch for red flags that the client is unethical, and make a rational decision based on evidence that the work is worth it.
If you don’t want to do spec work, you can push back so the unpaid work isn’t entirely on their terms. Try to get something for yourself in exchange for the spec work.
Here’s to your freelance success,
Heidi