Where in the world am I today?: North Vancouver, BC, Canada

I’ve had a call the other day from a friend inquiring about a show at a social function that they were helping organize for a group of about fifty people. We walked through the formalities of talking about the wheres, the whens, the expected audience, all the stuff I inquire about before talking about price, but inevitably the question of price is where the conversation leads…

So… How much will this cost?

Over the past couple of years I’ve been working more for cruise ships, multi-day festivals, trade shows and in situations that are quite a bit different from what this friend was asking me to come and do and I was a bit stumped as to what I should charge… Now it should also be mentioned that this particular friend is well connected with a fairly high profile company with whom I’ve had a connection since 1992 and I’ve enjoyed numerous benefits as a result of this connection so in the bat of an eye and with out really thinking too much about it my answer to the question – “How much will this cost?” my answer was –

“Free!”

I went on to say that because of my long term association with various people at the company and all of the benefits that I’d received over the years that I’d be happy to come and do the show for them. No need to worry about money… I’m sure I’ll continue to benefit form my association with them so consider this favour or perhaps just a deposit into the karma bank…

Our conversation continued after the details were more or less in place and not two minutes later we were talking about an opportunity that, were it to pan out, would more than compensate me for my time and effort for this upcoming show that I’ll be doing for ‘free.’

Never underestimate the power of giving things away. If you’re trying to impress a potential client or have a particular cause that you feel strongly about then contributing your talents in a pro-bono fashion can have huge spin-offs and help get a the ball rolling on what may end up becoming a very profitable long term relationship. Short term loss for long term gain trumps short term gain for long term loss every day of the week, so the hidden benefits of giving a few shows away are quite often worth more than what you might have charged in the first place and long term be worth more than you might even imagine.