Go Pro Bono to Build up Clients and Experience

The thought of not getting paid for a job sounds daunting. But offering services pro bono could provide you with a wealth of credibility and experience. You may have heard or read stories of unemployed people who offer to work for a company on a trial basis for no salary as an enticement.

Pro bono services also allow employees to stay busy and avoid becoming rusty. Pro bono can be an opportunity to pick up or build upon a new skill. Why shouldn't companies try the same especially if they work to land the right client that would boost their reputation?

Making Pro Bono Work for You

The Wall Street Journal shares a story of an architectural firm that saw its revenue drop 30 percent from the year before and had 10 projects killed or stopped. The firm started offering 15 to 20 hours of pro bono services on a weekly basis and it succeeded. Its pro bono efforts led to contracts in the range of $16,000 to $100,000.

Making the move to offer pro bono services takes planning, more so for small businesses as they need to manage their cash flow problems. With pro bono, no cash comes in—obviously. But cash may not be coming in anyway. If work isn't coming in and you go for pro bono jobs, you might consider invoice financing to get you through the tough period. The cash you get from invoice financing is yours. You don't have anything to pay back.

Companies need to ensure their pro bono efforts help the company. One business recorded its pro bono work and posted it on YouTube to expand its network.

Gaining Publicity

A company came to a church's rescue and received a big endorsement from the church's pastor. The pastor thanked the company in front of the congregation. Consider doing pro bono work for nonprofits as they can reach many volunteers who have businesses of their own.

Upon completing the work, do a press release with help from the nonprofit. They have the ability to reach large audiences as they need to keep promoting their cause. The nonprofit most likely has a boilerplate press release. Ask them for the boilerplate to save yourself time and money. They will most likely agree as you saved them a ton of money.

Remember to include the project on your web site, blog and social networks. Don't just talk about doing a project for such and such cause. Discuss the process, the problem, the solution. Think of yourself as a customer looking to hire a business like yours. What do they care about?