I guess that's social proof at work. I've also noticed I get a lot less hassle about my hourly rate with potential customers when I tell them up front that I'm

I guess that's social proof at work. I've also noticed I get a lot less hassle about my hourly rate with potential customers when I tell them up front that I'm already pretty booked up and can't promise when I'll be able to fit them in. This is almost always true anyway these days so at least I don't have to lie about it. I suppose this could be interpreted as a variant of "playing hard to get".