This afternoon, another person asked me if they could work for free, just to get some experience in digital marketing.

I said NO and here’s why…

If you’re doing work, even as part of an internship, you should be getting paid something.

Even if it’s not much money, even a token payment shows that they and we are serious about projects.

Our experience has been that when we’ve let people work “for free”, they often flake out and do not put priority on the projects.

When our clients are unhappy, their excuse is that they were working for free.

If you’re going do a job, do it well. That said, we hire a lot of young adults with zero experience. So our company pays for their education, much like you’d pay to provide someone a master’s degree in marketing plus one-on-one coaching.

If you went to study digital marketing at Stanford and get coaching, you’d have to pay them– Stanford wouldn’t pay you.

So we must strike a careful balance– to have a high bar that only lets through the highest quality folks worthy of the effort that is a big expense in the short run, but a great investment if they produce in the long run.

So do pay your people– no free work!

Dennis Yu

Dennis Yu is a former search engine engineer who has spent a billion dollars on Google and Facebook ads for Nike, Quiznos, Ashley Furniture, Red Bull, State Farm, and other organizations that have many locations. He has achieved 25% of his goal of creating a million digital marketing jobs because of his partnership with universities, professional organizations, and agencies. Companies like GoDaddy, Fiverr, onlinejobs.ph, 7 Figure Agency, and Vendasta partner with him to create training and certifications. Dennis created the Dollar a Day Strategy for local service businesses to enhance their existing local reputation and make the phone ring. He's coaching young adult agency owners who serve plumbers, AC technicians, landscapers, roofers, electricians in conjunction with leaders in these industries. Mr. Yu believes that there should be a standard in measuring local marketing efforts, much like doctors and plumbers need to be certified and licensed. His Content Factory training and dashboards are used by thousands of practitioners.

Dennis Yu