Chewing Pencils

Today I received a request for a cartoon from a potential client wanting to give a thank you gift to somebody who had helped him through his cancer treatment.

The email outlined much of the journey and how this person had been a source of strength and support. He wanted to put a little package together that expressed his thanks - part of the package being a cartoon that mentioned her.

After reading the story, my immediate reaction was to simply do the job for free. Cancer is a terrible thing and to make a profit from it seems morally wrong to me. But before I sent off an email offering to do the job gratis, I stopped myself.

This guy was wanting to put together a thank you gift.  He wanted it to be special and was willing to pay good money for all the items in the gift. Why should the cartoon be any different? He approached me expecting to pay for my services. Why should I feel the need to do it for free?

After sitting on it for a few hours, I simply emailed back a quote, without any reference to the story he told me. I quoted lower than normal, but enough to indicate that this was a genuine transaction. If he is unable to pay it, I will happily negotiate down.

It’s reminded me that what we do IS a business. We can work for free for charities or friends should we choose to, but should never feel like we have to. This same guy would expect to pay his mechanic to service his car or the plumber to fix his toilet. He expects to pay me too.

So don’t let your emotions get in the way of quoting for cartoon jobs. Working for free might make you feel good, but it won’t feed your kids.