Payment By Exposure is NOT payment! It's a disgrace. It certainly isn't a value exchange. No mortgage company, no gas company, no supermarket, no bus service, not a single bill can be paid for from 'exposure', free work.
No one should be negotiating a ‘payment by exposure’ deal.
It is abuse of the small business sector, abuse of the creative industries and abuse of people less fortunate than you.
The same goes for:
Battering Down Fair Proposals.
Delaying payment of invoices.
Failing to pay at all.
Paying people less than the living wage.
Working people beyond capacity.
Not paying employees their worth.
You need to check yourself and your privilege if you are abusing your position, greedily fulfilling your own needs, and furthering your privilege whilst not paying and valuing others.
As consumers, business owners, and individuals the values we share through ‘brand’ messaging whether that is business or personal should always be replicated and compounded by our actions.
For instance, if say you champion women in business, but then recruit a female led business to fulfil a need under the ‘pay for exposure’, you are not a champion of women in business, you are putting female led business at risk. Worse still if you then don’t even credit the business.
And businesses that celebrate family values whilst staff are forced to work 70-hour weeks to meet profit driven targets. That’s 30 hours free work a week. You are not a family business; you are actually detrimental to workers health and their family.
It’s abuse.
If we say we are one thing but then actually do the opposite, that is a lie! You are a liar.
An unkind business, an unkind business leader, an unkind person. Would you work for free?
Because that is all exposure and working without remuneration is, free work.
And no one can afford to live on nothing.
The benefit is only going one way.
If you need the use of someone’s services, that is your need, you must pay for it.
If your business needs to meet targets, that’s the businesses need, the business must pay for it.
We have this skewed sense in relation to hierarchy, the higher up the chain seem to think they are doing the business or employee a favour by using their service/time. No one is doing anyone a favour!! If we have a need, we need to fulfil that need, and we must pay for the need being fulfilled.
It’s basic business value exchange.
We must remember as professionals and individuals, the essence of value exchange.
People work to live. And people deserve to live a fair life.
In work poverty levels have surpassed out of work levels. Are you adding to this with your actions?
Let’s not be part of the unfairness in society by adding to it, we just need to pay people!
And pay people fairly. A fair value exchange.
And don’t sit drinking champagne whilst you make others work for free. What type of business leader/owner are you?
But more importantly, what type of person are you?
michelle@kindcurrency.co.uk
www.kindcurrency.co.uk