I had a salesman hang up on me.
They had called me to offer their services to make my website look good.
To be fair, my website was ugly, plain, uninteresting. If you think it looks drab now, you should have seen it then.
I have taught beginners how to install their own WordPress sites from scratch, how to use it, etc. I’ve set up websites for many people and I worked as a subcontractor for people who build websites.
I know how to make a website look good.
I just didn’t bother on my own website.
I didn’t care how it looked. I didn’t want to show off my abilities. I didn’t care about getting more work.
To put it plainly, it was ugly by design.
So they called me offering their services, several times they commented on how my site looked, and I kept replying that it was on purpose.
They pressed on. I held fast.
They couldn’t believe that I knew what I was doing.
I didn’t care.
Finally, he said, “No one is going to read your blog” and I said rather loudly and angrily, “I DON’T CARE”
So he hung up on me.
Even if I had wanted to make my blog look good and hire it out instead of doing it myself, I would never have given my business to him.
He didn’t listen. He didn’t have respect. He was locked in only on what he could do and how ugly it was.
At no point did he ask why I had my site look plain and ugly.
He had no interest in finding out my goals, my wants, my needs.
It doesn’t matter what you want to do to your [potential] client’s site. It doesn’t matter how badly they appear to need your services. If you can’t be bothered to listen and understand what they are saying, you don’t deserve their business.
I would go so far as to suggest that you deserve to go out of business.
I’ve made some pretty sites and some not pretty sites for people.
It didn’t matter what I thought of it.
What mattered is that I gave my client what they wanted, (or as close as I could get if what they wanted wasn’t feasible).
This post enlightens me as to your expertise in the field of internet marketing. During the nearly 22 months of helping me, you often referred to your past experience. However, I have not seen you in the light that this article casts. I am impressed with what you say of your self.
If you have helped others as you have helped me for as long as you have, have you been doing it gratis right along or just with me? Surely, with your background, you could rightly ask for payment–even from me.
Of course, knowing you in high school, I’d like to know the occupational path you took after NCCS to bring you to this point.
With sincere appreciation, Linda
I have done both free and paid services for my help with WordPress and internet marketing. My occupational path is something else entirely.