To get some prestigious assignments and to make their portfolios more impressive, some web-designers work “free of charge” for some time period (a trial period typically). Some people adopt this risky practice to secure new clients, and in my discussions this kind of practice is known as “free pitching”.

There are many web-owners who invite design and content samples from various web designing agencies or professional without intending to pay anything. Such people draft their demand letter with a clause that they will pay only for the approved samples. Every kind of work needs time, efforts and some expenditure. If you design samples for such people, you will earn nothing financially except the assurance of approval or future scope.

Some designers doing “free pitching” say that they will earn sufficient after getting the order and thus will compensate their time, efforts and money invested in creating free samples. But, how one can be sure about getting the order because most of the clients invite web designs from numbers of designers. Secondly, if your design is accepted and even used by your probable client, how you will come to know.

Most of the professionals think that as being new in web designing field, they will have to work for free. Ethically free pitching is wrong. This kind of service reduces the value of your abilities, efforts and time. Besides this it delivers a wrong message to other segments of the clients who don’t believe in getting free web designing service on pretext of samples. Many web designers too don’t like this shortcut method to improve their portfolios. If you continue to offer free pitching, you will lose your good will in your business circle. In long run, it may adversely affect your career.

But, if you don’t have even a single assignment on your portfolio, specially at the starting of your career, what is the other option? Yes, there are many options to come out of free pitching.

You can do some web designing work for some non-profit organizations (NPOs). Many NPOs require the services of excellent web designers at cheaper rates because they don’t have sufficient funds. Do your best to remain on their portal. Within a very short period, you will have enough assignments on your professional portfolio to impress other clients. As an alternative you can create your own samples to put them on your own website. This will help your probable clients to know your capabilities and you can charge standard rates for your service.