Would You Write For Something Other Than Money?

July 20, 2011

I’m a big fan or having lots of ideas on the go at once, thinking about them in short bursts on a sporadic basis, as I’ve found that, personally, if you’re focused on just one thing at any one time, you can become too obsessed with it and everything else can be neglected.

If I’m mulling over several thoughts and ideas at once, however, I find that they naturally bounce off each other, often producing answers to questions or additional thoughts.

One of those questions that I’ve been thinking about for several months now is whether or not I’d ever write for something other than money.

Although I’d been thinking about this before our trip, this all started properly after a visit to New York. My fiancé and I are in love with New York City and try to visit whenever we get the opportunity.

After our last visit, I remember sitting down and thinking that if the hotel we stay at required some type of writing produced on a regular basis, I’d happily accept a stay in the hotel rather than money.

The same thing happened a few weeks ago when we visited one of our favourite local restaurants. After we’d finished off our food and wine and chatted with the owners, I realised that I’d be more than happy to provide my writing or consultancy services in return for a regular meal at the restaurant.

I even remember having the same thought when I was looking into getting an iPad.

After thinking about this for months, it got to the point where I was about to begin putting together a pitch and package for some businesses, starting off with the usual information about being freelance writer and the services I offer, but explaining that I wouldn’t be looking for payment in the financial sense.

There was, of course, more to it than this, but you get the idea — I was happy to receive some type of reward other than money for my services.

Before I finished drafting the pitch and package, I had a change of mind and the main reason behind it was that as fantastic as it would have been to know that I could have travelled to New York without having to worry about arranging accommodation or be able to book a meal at a favourite restaurant without having to think about cost, it wouldn’t be a great way to live financially.

At this moment in time, I’m not in the financial position where I want to be in my life. I’m not ‘off schedule’ so to speak, but I have somewhat of a loose path that I want to follow throughout life when it comes to money and I don’t feel that offering my services on a general basis for something other than money would be the best option.

For example, lets say I was working with a technology outlet and they were paying me £400 a month to produce their blog posts and rewrite their website content.

If they pay me £400 a month in cash, that’s £400 that can be put towards anything I want to, be it grocery shopping or a holiday.

If they were to pay me in something other than money, such as gift vouchers worth more than £400 or the latest piece of technology every month, as fantastic as that would be, it would be extremely restrictive and it would mean that I was, in effect, earning £400 less each month.

I honestly think that providing your services for something other than money is a great idea and one that could be particularly attractive to businesses. It’s something that I’m not not going to do at all just yet, but what I’d receive in return for my services would have to either be particularly useful to me or be the better option to the traditional financial payment.

Have you ever received something other than money for your freelance writing services? If you have, would you ever consider doing it again? If not, is this something you would think about for the future?