Now that we've covered why ‘spec' is a four-letter word in our industry, let's look at what clients, agencies and freelancers can do to minimise this practice.
What should clients do if they want ideas from more than one supplier?
Pay a pitch fee. It shows respect for those who will be putting time and expertise into their submission. This is not uncommon in the UK and Asia, particularly for large corporate pitches, but offering a fee for responses that meet your pitch specification should be the norm. Do your homework up front and create a shortlist of suppliers you want to invite to pitch. Some client use of non-winning submissions may also be negotiated if a pitch fee is in place.
If you must run a competition (and I strongly suggest you don't), make sure the terms of entry are in the entrants' favour (your demanding all rights to all entries is Not On). Offer publicity and promotion for shortlisted entrants and prizes that are fair relative to the effort that the entrants will make.
Learn how to judge an agency or freelancer based on their credentials, CVs, references and portfolios. A really good creative will be able to produce work in any style your brand requires. Look for versatility and fresh ideas rather than something that looks like the mental image you have of your next campaign. And always check references, particularly from past clients whose details the supplier didn't provide. A supplier may have an awesome portfolio but if they constantly go over budget or miss deadlines, you need to know in advance.
Test out a new supplier with a small, low-risk, paid project first. This limits your exposure and enables you to walk away if things don't work out. And if you do like the results, you'll have laid the ground work for bigger things, including understanding how the supplier interprets your brief, handles deadlines and costs the work.
What should agencies or freelancers do if they're asked to work on spec?
Make it a policy not to do spec work. Decline requests respectfully and politely, explaining why. Refer the client to www.no-spec.com or use one of their letter templates if you're not sure how to phrase things. The more agencies/freelancers that do this, the less common spec briefs will become. You really, really won't lose out in the long run. Use the time you would have spent on the spec work to market yourself or on developing your relationships with your existing, paying clients instead.
Ask clients if they are recognising the effort that goes into pitching/spec work by granting all who submit ideas with a pitch fee. That's a hard question to say ‘no' to, and even if they aren't offering a pitch fee, you'll have made them think about it for next time.
Beware of clients who are unable to select a supplier based on their credentials and portfolio. Personally I find it much better to work with clients who know what they are doing and respect my experience and expertise.
If you really must work for no pay, weigh up the risks and rewards, says freelance writer and strategist Pam Sykes. If you honestly think that (a) you're going to be successful in securing the work, (b) that you'll ultimately be compensated fairly for your efforts and (c) that the client is trustworthy and will not use your ideas in any way, then go for it. But just as you should only lend money you're happy not to see again, so you should reconcile yourself to never being compensated for your time and ideas if you submit spec work. Go into it with your eyes open. Building a strong portfolio
‘What about if you're just starting out and need to build a portfolio?' you may ask. Shanghai-based writer Iris Jumbe feels that when starting out as a freelancer or new agency, spec work is a necessary evil to build a client base. “When I started out I minimised my risk by researching potential clients to establish whether they were legitimate and assessing the likelihood of forming a long-term relationship with them. If I felt it was strong, I was more willing to consider submitting work on spec.”
My advice to those new at the game is still: ‘no spec'. To build your portfolio, rather volunteer your skills and talents to a local non-profit organisation or school. They will be immensely grateful, won't exploit your ideas and you'll get the added warm fuzzy of having done something nice for them. Then ask them to for referrals and find potential new clients that way.
More information
For a detailed review of spec work and how it is frowned upon by the international creative community, check out www.no-spec.com or read the American Institute of Graphic Arts' (AGIA) take on it (sample response letters included).
Jo Duxbury has been providing a platform for marketers to find over 4500 industry freelancers since she launched her company, Freelancentral, in early 2006. January 2010 saw her launch Peppermint Source, which offers a full outsourced marketing strategy and management service to companies that don't have the time, skills or staff to handle their marketing themselves. Follow @JoDuxbury on Twitter.
Go to www.ideabounty.com I reckon these guys are close to cracking this conundrum...if there is an economy in spec work it will emerge (hopefully in a win-win way) Posted on 16 Feb 2009 12:05
Companies like CrowdSpring and 99Designs have been doing something similar for a while and are getting a huge amount of flack from the design industry because they are essentially promoting spec work. Google 'crowdspring/99designs spec work' and read some of the articles (and particularly the comments from readers/designers) and you'll see what I mean. Posted on 16 Feb 2009 12:27
I wanted to add our 2 cents. Yes - we are modelled on and do embrace crowdsourcing. We do not however embrace briefs that ask for completed/crafted work (spec work). Its our policy to refuse briefs (and we have turned down 3 to date) that ask for contributions that are ready to be 'cut and paste'. Rather our briefs look for ideas that are conceptual and intellectual in nature, and leave room for the client to interpret the reponses with a production outlet of their choice and in doiing so control the quality of the end product. Hope that clears up our stance :) Happy to discuss further. Matt at Idea Bounty Posted on 16 Feb 2009 14:14
From what I've seen, IdeaBounty's rewards are a *lot* higher than those offered on other crowdsourcing sites, and the submissions are secret (so can't be 'stolen' by the public) so points to you for that. I have raised my concerns to you and the IdeaBounty team previously about protection of intellectual property so won't go into that here.
There are still many people who take time to come up with an idea and submit it on spec - and get nothing in return. You're saying it's OK because you're not asking for execution - just ideas. What if it took days for the person to come up with an idea? Are ideas worth less than the actual execution of them? Isn't a concept valuable? Without a concept, there's nothing to execute.
My standpoint is that whether you are submitting an idea or an execution on a crowdsourcing site, you're still giving away your expertise for free. Something which experienced, business-savvy creatives are unlikely to do. So that begs the question, what is the calibre of the submissions on crowdsourcing sites like? Have a look at some and draw your own conclusions. Ultimately you get what you pay for. Posted on 16 Feb 2009 14:55
Ideas are free, and anyone can come up with them, even your pool guy. pitching keeps stagnent cash-cow agency/clients on their feet.
10-20 yrs from now, a lot of software will be free, teenagers will be creating global campaigns from their bedrooms, and the typical model of any current business, will be outsourced, global, and instant.
agencies and companies are still run by benign mangers, not willing to intergrate into the global community, and foster true gobal intergration.
this little battle of whether we should accept or particpate in free pitches, will have dissipated before the turn of the next major human advancement. Posted on 16 Feb 2009 15:29
very stoked with ideabounty on these counts: 1. big reward 2. you don;t have to enter if you don;t want 3. the site works 4. the concept is so simple and focused 5. big brands are on board (I wonder how there agencies roll with that)...what a pleasure..but hats off to freelancentral as well Posted on 16 Feb 2009 16:51
@shame - I agree that pitching keeps people on their toes - I just think that free pitching is an unfair practice. I'd be interested to know how you see freelancers fitting in with your outsourced/crowdsourced model of the future? I believe freelancing is the way forward, but freelancers do need to get paid. I also think that spec work hits them a lot harder than agencies. A pool guy coming up with ideas for a brand campaign? I'd like to see that :-)
@jacksparrow - I'm sure the agencies aren't worried about IdeaBounty & Co - after all, as far as I know, they are the ones who get to implement the ideas. The beauty of the internet is that it offers up all sorts of models and options - and it's up to each of us to pick which works best for us. My point with my two articles was to raise awareness of the dangers of spec work for both those who do it and those who commission it. (Thanks for the props for Freelancentral BTW :-) ) Posted on 16 Feb 2009 19:46
I'm a regular contributor to crowdsourcing projects, and have submitted a number of brilliant ideas (many of which are current finalists in various competitions).
So why do I contribute if chances are I'm not going to be the single winner? Firstly, most of my ideas need to be implemented by a big brand / manufacturer (due to constraints of scale, etc.). So if the idea sits with me, it is worthless. Sure, I could probably make much more money if I proactively took the idea to a suitable brand, and tried to sell them the idea. The reality is that this is easier said than done (finding the right person, fighting the 'not-invented-here' syndrome, competing with other priorities, etc.). This is very time-consuming and usually not worth the effort. So if it takes me a few hours to put something together that will be looked at by the right person and who is open to new ideas, I'm prepared to go for it. Much better use of my time, and who knows, I might make some nice money out of it.
Secondly, I enjoy it - it keeps me sharp. And the process of coming up with ideas for other businesses means that every now and then I think up something that I do need to keep to myself to develop further.
Finally, there is a big difference between submitting an idea (which still needs to be executed) and submitting a design logo (which already has). Also, this is a hobby of mine - if I was a professional designer, I would be silly to waste my time doing proper work with a very small probability of getting paid (unless I really believed that I was that much better than everyone else).
IdeaBounty is a nice site, by the way (though the rewards are still quite small compared to some of the overseas sites that I participate in). I wish them luck! Posted on 16 Feb 2009 22:30
Freelancers should not be tied down to one resource or freelance site and another thing i've noticed is that South africans are very sceptical about outsourcing work due to the fact that there are so many scammers out there but with the escrow payment system that my freelance sites has been intergrated with, http://www.outsourcedjobs.co.za eliminates the risk of being ripped off, which im hoping will be well used by a community of freelancers only problem is it is in dollars, but works with Paypal which recently got launched in SA via FNB Posted on 14 May 2010 18:01
LEGAL DISCLAIMER: This Message Board accepts no liability of legal consequences that arise from the Message Boards (e.g. libel, slander, or other such crimes). All posted messages are the sole property of their respective authors. The maintainer does retain the right to remove any message posts for whatever reasons. People that post messages to this forum are not to libel/slander nor in any other way depict a company, entity, individual(s), or service in a false light; should they do so, the legal consequences are theirs alone. Bizcommunity.com will disclose authors' IP addresses to authorities if compelled to do so by a court of law.
Angola
Botswana
Malawi
Mozambique
Namibia
Zimbabwe
Cote D'Ivoire
Ghana
Nigeria
Kenya
Uganda
Tanzania
Mauritius
Seychelles
Algeria
Egypt
Morocco
Zambia
