After seeing the article in Wired Magazine and then this post by Lee Lefever of Common Craft, I started thinking about how long I’ve been recommending this strategy to clients, friends, colleagues, etc. Lee’s point is that they never would have been successful if they took the traditional approach. The funny thing to me is that the free or pro-bono or volunteer work that people or companies do traditionally leads to more business and more success.
Embracing free is a long-term strategy. Unlike sending a post card or making hundreds of cold-calls, you don’t get the business right away. But by finding ways to be a good human and be generous with your time and abilities, when it is time for the business to come, it will arrive in buckets.