Modesty Personified

I
want to tell you about the last time I actively
solicited for clients. I was living in Key West and
informed the readers of my newsletter that, if they were
willing to pay my fee ($15,000 upfront and 5% of the
back-end sales my efforts produced) I would pay all
their expenses to fly to Key West and put them up in a
hotel at my expense, while we discussed their project. I
also told them if they did this, they didn't have to
guarantee they would become a client of mine... but...
they at least had to be a "for real" prospect to whom
price would not be a concern.

Many of those people did become clients. And a few did
not. But there was one guy I especially remember. Why?
Because, in my opinion, he was guilty of fraud. After I
flew him to Key West, put him up in the best hotel, and
discussed his project at length with him, he said,
"Everything sounds great... but... I think $15,000 for
your upfront fee is too much to pay you."

I did everything I could to hold onto my temper but,
what I really wanted to do was leap across the table we
were sitting at, wrap my hands around his neck, lift him
up off his chair and in the air, choking him until his
entire body was shaking and his legs and feet were
dancing around like he was doing the "Funky Chicken".

But, of course, I didn't do any of that.

I simply ended the conversation immediately in a civil
manner, took him back to his hotel and suggested he get
an early flight back to wherever he lived. I think that
man was genuinely bewildered by my sudden lack of zero
interest in him and his project.

See, it's no crime to not be able to afford the
expertise of someone like myself. But, it is obnoxious
to pretend you can afford someone like me... when... you
flat-out already know you can't afford me... or... you
are unwilling to pay the fees I charge.