EP 259 - Tracy Marlowe

Ellen Yin50min

Ellen Yin

00:00

You're listening to cubicle the CEO episode 259 is it ever a good idea to work for free? Many entrepreneurs wouldn't consider it, especially after being in business for years. But this CEO makes a solid case for why selective pro bono work pays off, sometimes more than you would have even netted from charging for the original service.

Ellen Yin

00:20

Tracy Marlowe, founder of marketing agency creative noggin, has consistently taken on one to two pro bono projects a year. In today's case study, Tracy details how she's made millions of dollars in ROI over the years with this unconventional marketing strategy, either landing paid contracts with satisfied pro bono clients or referrals from other businesses who were impressed by their work.

Ellen Yin

00:47

Welcome to cubicle to CEO, the podcast where we ask successful founders and CEOs the business questions you can't google. I'm your host. Ellen Yin, every Monday, go behind the business in a case study style interview with a leading entrepreneur who shares one specific growth strategy they've tested in their own business, exactly how they implemented it and what the results and revenue were. You'll also hear financially transparent insights from my own journey bootstrapping our media company from a $300 freelance project into millions in revenue.

Ellen Yin

01:29

Hey everyone, welcome back to the show. Today, we have Tracy Marlowe joining us, and this case study is one of the most interesting ones I've seen come across our desk for a while. It's never been covered on the show, and it's actually kind of rooted in, I think, somewhat of a philosophical debate for a lot of entrepreneurs, which is this concept of, should you ever work for free? Is there ever a time where that's valuable, or should you always charge?

Ellen Yin

01:55

And so we're going to be answering that from Tracy's perspective today, with her experience doing one to two pro bono projects for clients through her agency, creative noggin, usually about, you know, one to two times a year, like I said. So anyways, I'll share more about that case study in just a moment. But first, Tracy, welcome.

Tracy Marlowe

02:15

Thank you. I'm glad to be here. Thanks for inviting me.

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