I’m not going to ask you, “Do you have a blog on your business website?” because the answer is apparent and it has proven over and over again, that if you want your business to grow, you need regular content, which typically comes in the form of blog posts, videos, infographics, etc.
What I’m going to ask you – or rather, what you are going to ask me – is this: If you are someone who wants to leverage your time by recruiting others to create content for you, how do you ‘pay’ your content creator?
If you asked me, the answer is obvious: Money always works, but it’s not the best way. What if you don’t have much in your budget to offer? What if you are not sure about how your content creator will roll working for you? What if you have the scale in which you can give considerable exposure to those who work for you? In those cases, offering exposure will work.
Gary Vaynerchuk, an epic social media expert and prolific entrepreneur who runs an 800-people media company, explains that the best way to recruit great talent is by offering exposure.
Gary mentioned that one of his business development team members, D-Rock, was recruited because D Rock created videos about Gary Vaynerchuk for free. Not long, as Gary sees value in his work, D-Rock was pitched a job offer. Due to Gary’s exposure, D-Rock has the opportunity to work with several high-profile public figures, such as Chris Brogan and Ted Rubin.
Why work-for-exposure is better than money
Offering work-for-exposure is a win-win arrangement for both the business owners and content creators.
For business owners, this means that they don’t have to deal with money-related recruitment, as well as the legal that comes with hiring formal employees. Not stopping there, they can actually ‘test the water’ before committing for a long term relationship a.k.a. full-Time employment.
For content creators, this means that they can get exposure for their work, which can lead them to more opportunities on the side. Getting paid often mean that you get your reward in the form of money, not recommendations. But if you show off your skills by paying it upfront, you may not receive a monetary reward, but be sure that you have plenty of exposure from recommendations of your work.
But how to know that paying upfront will work? I don’t know about the others, but if you created a great content for me free of charge, I could guarantee you that I will give a shoutout everywhere I go – and on social media. Just my two cents.
Now over to you…
So, how about you? If you are a business owner: Will you recruit by offering work-for exposure? Why? If you are a content creator: Will you work for free for exposure? Why?
