Why you should never give your work away for free — or for less than it's worth.

I can guarantee that at some point in your career, you'll be asked to do what's called "spec work" for a prospective client. 

Which essentially means "show me one or more solutions to my problem — for free — and if I like what I see I'll hire you."

I shouldn't have to say this, but I'm going to: this will not ever end well for you. Ever. And although this is an antiquated practice from the glory days of big, pre-Internet ad agencies, it's a practice that still survives to this day. So you're going to face it sooner or later.

Which is exactly why we're going to talk about it here.