Buy the work rather than praising it
Artists, writers and makers get a great deal of encouragement and very little income. One is a great deal more useful.
The BeingKind editorsPublished How this is written
Why it lands
Encouragement is abundant and free, which is exactly why it is worth so little to someone deciding whether they can keep doing the work. A purchase is the only feedback that is unambiguous — it says you valued it enough to give something up. For small independent makers a handful of sales is the difference between continuing and stopping, and most of their admirers have never bought anything.
How
Buy directly where you can, since platforms take a substantial cut. Buy at full price rather than waiting for a sale. Tell them what you did with it afterwards, which is the part they will remember longer than the money.
Related
Tell someone what you actually earn
Pay secrecy is maintained by people like you staying quiet, and it costs the people with least information the most.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Leave a note for your mail carrier
The person who walks to your door most days almost never hears from the people who live behind it.
5 minutesFreeA stranger2 people did this
Ask what the hardest part actually is
We assume we know which part of someone's situation is worst, and we are usually wrong.
5 minutesFreeA friend
Tell a carer what you noticed
Carers watch someone decline daily and lose sight of who they were. An outsider's observation gives that back.
5 minutesFreeA caregiver
Add alt text to your images
An image without a description is a blank space to anyone using a screen reader. Writing one takes twenty seconds.
5 minutesFreeA stranger