- When you're just starting out.
- When you're still in the "I'm just doing it for fun" phase.
- When you're trying something you're pretty sure won't work.
- When you were planning on doing it for free anyway.
- When it's easier to claim the work on your taxes as "charity work" than it is to fight with the people who owe you a commission.
- When you have a contract that states "exposure now, money later," and specifies a monetary amount, not just a percentage of income or number of shares.
- When you've come to the realization that you'll never be able to make anything off your work, not even the pittance from advertisement impressions, so you might as well get paid in something.
Even still, pay your damn artists. Creativity has a cost, even if you can't always see it, and skill and talent isn't free to build.
I make nothing off this blog. But I still pay people when I commission them for guest articles.
What, you thought Jack did those posts for free?
