4 ms·

Should be titled 'When you shouldn't take a client's money'. Or (text from the article): 'Why you might not want to work with a potential client'

by mtae 11y ago

vinceguidry 11y ago
The main problem is that someone isn't a client until you're taking their money. People ask me to take their money to help them solve their website problems, which are actually their business problems, which are actually their life problems. They do this when they find out I'm a coder, that automatically confers upon me a magical ability to fix their lives. This typically happens in the context of a bar conversation. I tell them, "no, I generally don't moonlight unless there's at least $5K involved, but, hey, as long as we're here, tell me what's going on and I'll see if I can help you." So we unwind their problems a little bit. Inevitably there's a lot of emotion stored up and I'll encourage them to release it with some 'tough love', letting them know that without either a good bit of capital or a lot more willingness to figure hard things out on their own on their part, they're not going to achieve their goals, and they need to acquire one or the other if they want to find success. Tears start flowing, catharsis happens, no, I still won't take your money. Accounting headache, you see. Tell you what, if you can do X, Y, and Z, to get this monkey off your back and learn something truly useful, then give me a call in a month and you can buy me a few beers and we'll talk next steps. I call this 'community outreach'. Happens roughly twice a month, ever since I started taking my laptop to the bar. Someone in a bad situation can always count on my Houston air traffic controller delivery of the hard truths of trying to make money on the Internet. Thought about building a business around it, maybe if I find the right partner...

4 ms·

Should be titled 'When you shouldn't take a client's money'. Or (text from the article): 'Why you might not want to work with a potential client'

by mtae 11y ago

Should be titled 'When you shouldn't take a client's money'. Or (text from the article): 'Why you might not want to work with a potential client'

vinceguidry 11y ago
The main problem is that someone isn't a client until you're taking their money. People ask me to take their money to help them solve their website problems, which are actually their business problems, which are actually their life problems. They do this when they find out I'm a coder, that automatically confers upon me a magical ability to fix their lives. This typically happens in the context of a bar conversation. I tell them, "no, I generally don't moonlight unless there's at least $5K involved, but, hey, as long as we're here, tell me what's going on and I'll see if I can help you." So we unwind their problems a little bit. Inevitably there's a lot of emotion stored up and I'll encourage them to release it with some 'tough love', letting them know that without either a good bit of capital or a lot more willingness to figure hard things out on their own on their part, they're not going to achieve their goals, and they need to acquire one or the other if they want to find success. Tears start flowing, catharsis happens, no, I still won't take your money. Accounting headache, you see. Tell you what, if you can do X, Y, and Z, to get this monkey off your back and learn something truly useful, then give me a call in a month and you can buy me a few beers and we'll talk next steps. I call this 'community outreach'. Happens roughly twice a month, ever since I started taking my laptop to the bar. Someone in a bad situation can always count on my Houston air traffic controller delivery of the hard truths of trying to make money on the Internet. Thought about building a business around it, maybe if I find the right partner...