Let’s say, for sake of example, that you are a baker. You spend hours slaving over the most fantastic chocolate cake known to man. You gently place it in your display window. Sooner or later a customer comes in. “Could I try that cake in the window?”

“Well, the cake costs twenty dollars.”

“But I want to taste it first,” he repeats adamantly.

There’s no way you are cutting into that cake unless someone coughs up some cash. “I can’t give you just one bite.”

“Yes, but how do I know its any good?” replies the customer earnestly. “Can you give me the recipe? Maybe I should try to make it on my own first, and then I’ll know if it’d be any good or not.”

“Well, I could give you the recipe, but unless you have all the tools that I use in my kitchen–”

I bet you know where I’m going with this story by now. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying you should pay up-front for every service and never ask for proof of results. That’s not what I mean at all. But the expectation that things should be done for free seems come up more and more often. I’m not just writing this for myself either. Before I typed this post, I did some research. These are all examples of people who get asked for free advice in their field:

• Doctors
• Lawyers
• Photographers
• Editors
• Coaches
• Business Consultants
• Accountants
• Political Campaign Managers
• Programmers

The basis of this post is why you shouldn’t expect your marketers to plan a strategy for free, but go ahead and apply it to any business you work with. Point to Remember: Everyone has rent to pay.

Each person on the list above is a professional. They have credentials, experience or both. Their ideas are valuable. Also, they have rent. Someone pays them because they are GOOD at what they do. And they will probably give you tons of great advice. Many will go above beyond their price tag to give you awesome service. That does not mean you should take advantage of them. Lots of them do give out freebies. They do a cake-tasting just for you by blogging honestly about their industry, speaking for free at events, and sharing tips with you over coffee. However, they aren’t going to hand you the entire cake and say, “Well I hope you enjoy eating it as much as I enjoyed making it!” (That’s your mom, not your lawyer.)

I think one of the reasons I’m seeing more of this give-me-free-stuff mentality is because of the economy. People are looking for things they can do cheaper and faster. I totally understand that, but let me level with you a little. THE ECONOMY SUCK FOR EVERYONE. Yet, I feel, that’s all the more reason why you should pay someone for their time. It keeps the economy going and makes sure one more person gets to have a job and feed their family.

Most of you reading are probably cheering quietly from your office, knowing you are the baker in the story. We all want to think we would never treat someone that way, but its hard not to have the “what can you do for me today?” thought in the back of your head. Really search yourself. Are you always the baker? Who are you using? Are you trying to pull extra time out of a good service? Do you expect to be catered to? I know I’ve done it in the past, when I was just getting started I met with an accountant and he gave me a ton of advice (way above and beyond) in good faith. I really did plan on using his services. But time passed and I ended up just cutting corners and doing things myself. Later, I tried to send that person 20+ referrals to make up for it but I still believe I did him wrong. Take a moment to consider when you’ve taken advantage of someone. If you do catch yourself doing it, at least don’t get angry when someone draws a line in the sand and says “No, you have to pay for that.”

So let me conclude with this. There are lots of ways to get free advice. One of the absolute best ways is through a Meetup. Seriously. Get on Meetup.com and just search for whatever you want for free and go learn it. People are more than happy to share. If you have the time to do everything yourself, that’s a great way to do it. Maybe you get lucky and land someone willing to work for crumbs at those events. I’ve seen it happen. But don’t expect me to draw up a five year marketing plan for your business and teach you all the basics of Wordpress in an hour and then not even pay for my coffee. Buy the whole damn cake.

If you’re willing to share, who have you not bought a cake from and how do you plan to make up for it?

*** Update ****

Sent to me from a friend in reference to this post. Just had to share. Possibly, the most awesome and true video I’ve ever seen.