How to do pro bono work right?

General purpose discussion about gaming and emulation.
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cube_b3
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How to do pro bono work right?

Post by cube_b3 »

I had a great passion for the Dreamcast Scene and flushed countless billable hours with indie developers.

If I reflect back to the last decade it was not a complete negative experience, it just ended in the worst way.

Goat Store, RedSpotGames, Hucast and Senile Team all gave me free merch and back then that felt like something.

I also learnt a ton, that was the best part about pro bono work. I am/was a fan of everything Max Scharl, his artistic sensibilities are/were unparalleled to any industry professional I have ever met to date. Having him record tutorials to teach us, wikipedia and wordpress is the reason why I am in the digital marketing field.

In these forums, I met Dan Loosen and badgered him in the most immature and rude way to be as good as RSG. Some how, he was able to turn around my broken communication skills - he saw that I had the best intentions and turned me into an asset and we started working to improve the GSP brand.

We relaunched the GSP website, I proof read his press releases - imagine that - my communication skills were terrible and yet I was able to proof read. I even started assisting in business deals. I was the catalyst that got Goat Store games stocked on Play-Asia. I also bridged/mended his relationship with Senile Team and they were both able to do business together. I do have great memories therefore it isn't fair to say I flushed billable hours cause I was enjoying and learning simultaneously.

The purpose of this discussion today is pro bono work; it allows me to keep my skills up to date without having to do mock projects. Unfortunately, the last time I tried to do that, I can not help but remember Falco Girgis. Those are not pleasant memories. Then again most people who worked on his project would say that. Writing this post has been cathartic, Elysian Shadows may have ruined the end of the journey, but as I recalled all that I had learned, I am proud. That said, if I had a time machine I would have stopped myself from volunteering for any Kickstarter projects.

Anyway I digress, more recently. My goal of having my own marketing firm are closer than ever to being realized. I've actually not had a job in months and have just been freelancing. Tentatively, 02-02-22 is the target date to formally register CubeB3 as an LLC. I have been busy working so please don't judge my work based on cubeb3.com, it has not been updated in close to four years. As a digital marketer, I always need to keep my skills sharp, I prefer to engage with pro bono work than mock projects, just to illustrate to a potential client that I am experienced in what they might need. It also allows me to do whatever I creatively want to execute and the client has minimal executive input.

Recently, I have discovered a new passion; "going green". It is something I am not extremely proficient in, but I want to support these start up businesses who are trying to make a difference. I do not want to repeat the Dreamcast mistakes though, so I have been brainstorming on how to do it right.

The plan is to treat them like actual paid clients, with a contract and job responsibilities clearly defined. Additionally, I was thinking I bill them. A standard quote would be submitted prior to them commissioning me - It will simply waive off the payment with like a 100% discount or something. I think it is extremely important that these small businesses know just how much billable work goes into creating brand identity, web design, seo etc... Thoughts?
Last edited by cube_b3 on Fri Nov 26, 2021 7:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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RyoDC
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Re: How to do pro bono work right?

Post by RyoDC »

Falco Girgis
Oh yeah, this guy.
I recently read a full thread on reddit in r/HobbyDrama about ElysianShadows, interesting enough, it got like 1000 upvotes or even more.
How do I try to build a Dreamcast toolchain:
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RyoDC
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Re: How to do pro bono work right?

Post by RyoDC »

Lol, to everybody who invested money into this project, here's his finger: https://www.instagram.com/p/CSX1HmRnvac/
Seems like Falco turned into ultimate giga-chad version of himself.
How do I try to build a Dreamcast toolchain:
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