Although I’ve signed up for weekly blogging (the One A Day Lite package), I may sometimes write more than once per week. Gasp!

Alright, so on to the update. I’m working on several projects at the moment. Unfortunately the one that is nearest completion is one that I cannot discuss in detail as it is for a friend and he is keeping the project under wraps for now. But hopefully he’ll make an announcement in the near future and I can show you what I’ve been doing.

What I’d like to talk about, though, is friends and money. When a friend comes to me and says “I’ll pay you to do this,” I insist on doing it for free. And then a negotiation ensues.

Here’s why I don’t want to charge my friends:

1. I really desire collaborating with other people on creative projects and I don’t want anything to hinder the chances of that happening.

2. Like a lot of clients, they don’t actually understand what is involved in what I do or how long it actually takes to design something. If I billed them normally, the project would cost way more than they anticipated and they’d be disappointed. Or, I charge a flat fee and end up doing way more work because now, as long as they pay, they get to do whatever they want. Doing it for free eliminates possible resentment.

3. There is a high degree of anxiety involved. They aren’t just some random client. They are my friend. Now, on some level, I feel like my friendship is being evaluated along with how well I can do the job. If things go wrong, I don’t want them to go away. I want them to still like me.

4. A true friend would not charge money to help someone out.

Here’s why my friends want to pay me:

1. They are adults capable of distinguishing a professional transaction and a friendship.

2. They know and trust me. I am less likely to flake out or do a poor job.

3. Their project is important to them and putting money into it is part of being responsible to their ideas.

4. They think I’m worth it.

To be honest, I never really thought much about why my friends would want to pay me until I wrote those four reasons. They sound like really rational and reasonable reasons, don’t they? Maybe I should get over myself and respect their judgement. I think that my desire to not ask for compensation is that, on some level, I don’t believe I deserve it. I’m afraid to acknowledge that what I do and create is important because doing so manifests vulnerabilities as well as a responsibility to my art.

Maybe I should look into that.