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08/17/2004: "People Who Take Up Your Time --- Drop 'em!"

For years I got people who would call me on the phone saying they needed copywriting service and they would talk and talk and talk. People love to discuss themselves and their business. I used to listen and not charge for my time. Duh! How dumb was that?

Few of these time-wasters turned into clients. Oh, one out of a hundred perhaps. Not a good thing. So now I charge for access to me and my time. Period. Is it worth it? Damn straight. That is if you're a serious potential client and not a time-waster would-be if you could-be.

People would call and ask my fees. Now I'll tell you a little secret. The fees are on my site. Guess where? Under a very easy-to-see link called (guess what) "Fees"! This is what I call wasting my time. Everything a person could possibly want to know about me and my service is on my site. My site contains many pages but the basic information is on four or five pages, which are fast reads.

So now I charge $1000 for a consultation on the phone. Gone are the free consultations.

I know it's easy for some folks to pick up the phone and make a call. But hey, my time is damn valuable. I don't have time to answer questions. That's why I have a site.

So you call. You pay. And that, my friend, is the Duh of the Day.