FIELDWORK / FREE EXPERIMENT LAB

Small services.
A useful first client project.

Useful, unglamorous work can be worth testing. Pick one service you can deliver competently, make a small sample and ask a real customer about the task. This lab is free; no paid Fieldwork course is being sold.

Experiment A: clean a product catalog

For a small seller with inconsistent listings, prepare a ten-item example with consistent titles, units, stock fields and customer-facing descriptions. Use synthetic products or data the seller explicitly gives you. Quote a defined number of entries and revision rounds—not a revenue increase.

Fictional worked example: A repair shop has 24 accessory listings with missing connector types. Your sample fixes five entries and flags unknown specifications for the owner's approval. The output is a tidy sheet and a change log; you do not invent compatibility claims.

Experiment B: turn approved footage into one useful clip

Use your own footage or media the customer owns and approves. Create one captioned demonstration, provide a readable caption file and agree on format, duration, revisions and licensing. Never repost others' clips, fake endorsements or promise virality.

Your first test: Ask whether the business already has useful footage it cannot publish consistently. Show one permissioned sample and ask what prevents using it today. Editing competence matters; do not sell a skill you have not practiced.

Experiment C: organize one repeatable admin task

Build a simple inquiry tracker, quote checklist or booking template. Test it using invented data, with a user who actually performs that task. Exclude passwords, payment records, sensitive health data and unnecessary personal details.

Fictional worked example: A photographer loses track of unanswered inquiries. A simple sheet tracks inquiry date, next action and due date. The pilot measures whether follow-ups are recorded, not whether revenue doubles.

A field test with a stopping rule

Choose one customer group and one deliverable.
Document what is included, excluded and needed from the customer.
Make a safe sample and ask permission for a short conversation.
Record actual use, objections, delivery effort and any willingness to pay. Do not count compliments as orders.
Stop or narrow the offer if permission, competence or viable economics are missing.

All three examples are original teaching scenarios, not proven customer results. Local tax, licensing, privacy and platform rules still apply.

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