Perry's Greed

Perry,
I think you have every right to charge what you want for your information but this entire situation could have been avoided if you would have responded with a little less arrogance. Maybe made a joke about going to lunch with 100
people. After all, giving out valuable information is at your discretion. Meeting for lunch may have gained you several more customers for your high end coaching program.I think your comment was out of place.
I have been in Business for 25 Years and I can tell you that those who think they are invincible
usually end up being invisible.

I have not yet met you Perry… but I will, and when I do I will be GLADLY paying for the time I have with you!

I would imagine you have spent millions of dollars in literal cash and time to learn what you know and it would be absolutely rediculous to expect you to just sit and map out someones business plan just because they bought you a sandwich.

What could you possibly accomplish over lunch anyway? Geez!

Charge that guy $1400 an hour… AND make him buy you lunch!!!

Perry — sounds like it's time to raise your rates.

Dennis — learn to spell… it might make you a tiny bit more persuasive.

Brian

Sometimes it's not what you say, but how you say it.

I wasn't there, and didn't read your newsletter. Who knows, maybe you came across like an arrogant bastard. And without the context you put in your response above, I can readily understand how someone may have taken offense.

I like your work, Perry. We've never done business together, but I value the obvious smarts you have. And yours are among the few (and I mean few) messages I read entirely… which helps explain why I'm even bothering to respond to your post.

Peace.

I think a man has to stand up for what his time is worth.

That said, the way you said it happened sounded arrogant and abrasive. Kennedy may be able to get away with something like this because he's a jerk and he knows it.

You clearly are not a jerk, but you acted like one.

With a little more tact, thoughtfulness and positioning, you could have avoided the upset, and still got your point across.

One thing that keeps me reading your emails Perry is how much advice you give away every day. But I have some empathy for this guy. I too am learning to have respect for the response that any one gives me when I ask for their time, friendship, or what have you. The point is, if you are needy, you can and do attribute lots of bad stuff to the people who say no to you. But if you are ok in your own apace, a no is just a no…no matter how it gets delivered. But it's not so easy to reflect inward to see that your outward judgements are really you looking in the mirror.

My vote's with Maximillian Sepeda.

This is not the first time Perry's publicly vented over someone who has criticized him privately, without them having the chance to defend themselves. Fortunately it doesn't happen too often. I agree with Perry's logic; he doesn't owe anyone anything. But I don't know why this needed to be done in public.

Perry,

I completely understand your position. I'm nowhere near as successful as you are, but I nonetheless receive coffee/lunch invites on a regular basis.

Often, I say yes because the person was referred to me by a friend or client, etc.

But if I don't know the person from Adam, it's difficult to agree to such a proposal. There are often much better ways to spend my time — for instance, with my wife and kids.

Imagine if movie stars agreed to spend time with anybody who asked. They'd never sleep!

Every business person needs boundaries. Good for you for establishing your boundaries and enforcing them.

Ryan

The spoken word and the written word do not always come across the same way. In reading the remarks it did seem a bit over done and lacked a little tact that could have been exercised.

However, I do agree that a consultant should be paid for their time, albeit at a seminar or lunch. So if the purpose of publicizing this is to gain something, I believe Dennis needs a better understanding of how a consultant earns his money and Perry should use a bit more diplomacy in declining a lunch invitation.

I think one of the most important points Perry made was the fact that it was easy for Dennis to go to lunch and give free advice because that wasn't what he was selling. if someone asked for a free one of whatever widget he was selling, the answer almost certainly what have been an emphatic no! especially if he was asked all of the time. How can he judge you for not giving what you sell away for free?

Greed? Greed is not just wanting but EXPECTING free advice from a busy guy who already gives away a lot, and has worked his tail off to become an authority in his field!

Perry

I bought the book and study all the email stuff you send me all the time and my knowledge of Internet marketing has increased many fold. Unfortunately, I still don’t know everything!

Imagine you were a struggling actor and Robert De Niro offered to have lunch with you if you paid for his time. Would you go? I would.

I would gladly pay you $700 an hour to spend time with you but I wouldn’t waste it eating. How can you talk with your mouth full?

Anyway it would have to be McDonalds as I live in England I would have to make the airfare up somehow.

Chris Lozetsky

I was a customer of perry's Bobsled coaching and iam happy with the way our business is running! So i believe any serious person would so something serious when they need to take a serious business decision. Just picking up brains during lunch is such a LAME and LAZY thought for that matter. I appreciate perry for his polite reply! Imagine how would Donald trump would have reacted to that request! LOL I personally hate to see perry among a group of people sitting fat, asking silly questions, laughing loud, BULLSHIT! They need to pay for what the value of advice is worth!

For that email i'd have fired Dennis from my customer list or any list!

Hi Perry,

"Let me take you out to lunch"… Dennis (and Federico) made it sound like picking your brain for advice wasn't on the agenda or even a consideration.

Ol' Abe said it best: "A lawyer's [consultant's] stock in trade is his time and advice."

You gave an honest and thoughtful answer to an emotional question.

Frankly, the value you provide in your emails and newsletters continually astounds me.

Tricky…yet beautifully designed. I believe this is less about the eithics/reasons of charging for lunch and more about the tools to use to get people to click and give up their email address….just a thought.

They're not going to see it this way, but the greed is on the part of the folks wanting to pick your brain for free. You just got done speaking to them, sharing your expertise, and yet they think it's your duty to continue to give for free. I think their offer should have been just lunch, without any of their own (greedy) ulterior motives, as nice gesture of thanks. Now that would have been class. But that's not how things are done any longer in our cheap, self-entitled Walmart society. And you had the audacity to be perfectly honest with them and assertive about your boundaries. You absolutely selfish beast, you (NOT!). The greed is in their expectation that you are obligated to them. It's THAT kind of greed that is heading our country "into the dumpster."

Perry,

I read all your emails and learn more from those than any other marketer out there. So, you are giving free advice but as you said most don't follow it. As Dennis I guess knows, it is a free country and you can do what you please. The government being so wasteful is the reason we are in all this trouble, has nothing at all to do with the small business owner.

Hey Perry,

You've set boundaries for yourself, and you enforce them. That's to your credit and it is harder to do than most people realize.

David Olgivy talked about how his partner left the office everyday at 5 p.m. no matter what was going on. That takes some b*lls, to follow through and be consistent.

And, you are being consistent.

Sure, it'd be easy to roll over and bend the rules, but it goes against how you've chosen segment your time–and I'd imagine when you have "free" time, you'd just as soon spend it doing things of your choosing.

(marketing lesson: 80/20 anyone?)

You've earned that, and it's something many of us value: time and resources to give toward people of our choosing, with a healthy dose of self-direction.

What other people think of any of us is none of our business, as the old saying goes, and if you fall for everything, you'll ultimately stand for nothing.

Good on you, Perry. I think it's called "tough love" in the old school…

All the best,

John

Dennis, 58 years on the planet and you never found it important enough to learn how to write proper English? It makes you seem, well, uneducated. With 58 years under your belt, you must realize that you have less time ahead of you than behind you. Same thing with Perry. Time is money. Why would you give it away indiscriminately? Something tells me that you are railing against somebody else's greed - maybe your own.

Perry,
You are a professional and entirely within your right to charge your regular fee for a luncheon session with a client or prospective client. I don't know what conversations or negotiations ensued prior to your lunch, but if this charge had been made clear to the person prior to the lunch, it's fair. People don't like surprises. This issue is not about greed. It's about communication-communication-communication.
All the best,
Donna

Perry -

I meet people every week for lunch (not from a 100,000 person list, but from a 300 person list) and can point to $1000+ in business every month for the restaurant that hosts those lunches.

I've never done 100 people for lunch, but our peak is something like 31. Everyone pays for their own lunch and everyone gets introduced and everyone is out of there by 1:15pm.

It should not be hard to generate $700 worth of value over lunch, if you have the right format and the right people. It's an awful format for one on one consulting, but you do have to eat, and there's some joy in not eating a sandwich alone at your desk.

Greedy? It's called supply and demand. Simple. Greed is when you try and get more than the market can bear. This is not a case of greed.

First, Dennis, our economy's trouble has less to do with greed than sloth. The principles upon which our nation is founded have been treated like some quaint relic, occasionally to be dusted off. Oversight and management of our financial and economic affairs? Practically non-existent. The blame is bi-partisan. The People? Fit to be tied. And tie us up the enemy will! Our Treasury is being PURPOSELY bankrupted.

And, Perry, those persons who wanted to take you to lunch… Could they have become your first-line managers who, promoting the "Perry Marshall Way," could one day bring your business orders of magnitude more revenue? Was it Perry Marshall who missed out on a great opportunity to build a dedicated sales force? Seems an Amway guy might see the value in having such an asset … particularly when there's something of extraordinarily unique value to sell.

Now, here's something controversial… Screw the AIDS orphans in Africa. Your money would be better spent getting rid of those political elements in our own country who leave Africa in its vulnerable, condemned state. In other words, how are we behaving any differently … any better … any more benevolently … than, say, the British Empire? Has our nation's principle, indeed, been subverted by this Empire's continuing tyranny (most notably by those same commercial interests who animate its being), as much now as 232 years ago?

Keep your money here, Perry. Get rid of the aristocracy-loving scum running our country, who sell out our Treasury to the filth on Wall Street and their controllers in the City of London.

By the way, I'm bullish the stock market for the very fact the sell-out has succeeded in setting up the U.S. Treasury for its pending bankruptcy sometime in the next 5-20 years.

The information I just gave you is worth far more than what you charge per hour…

Perry - spot on!

Anything that is 'free' is by definition valueless. That is why the benefits and facilities provided under socialism are so often abused. A consultant's fees reflect their hours of learning and skills development which can be passed on to the requestor, so that they can take a short cut to success.
The guy's spelling and grammar says much about his likelihood of success….
Ian

Perry,

As someone who has been one of your subscribers for over two years, and having purchased one of your $1,000 consulting packages…YOU ROCK!

A relationship consultant once said, "You need to ask for what you want from people, but be willing to accept what you get." I loved that statement. I think this is a prime example of someone asking you for what they wanted…lunch. However, you have every freedom to reply however you choose. It's called 'freedom of choice'. Fundamentally, you were dead on when you spoke of being a steward of your time before God.

Even moreso…when (as one of the meeting attendees stated — you stayed 3 hours beyond your committed time giving free advice) we get to see that you were already giving quite a bit.

Anyone who wanted lunch had that moment in time to ask their questions. C'mon for cryin out loud. Some people want your blood and they're still not happy.

I think you handled it in great way. I'll stop by your office when I'm in Chi-town so we can grab lunch ;-).

Ramon

Perry already gives away plenty of free or almost free advice in his e-mails, newsletters, teleseminars, books, etc. If you want one-on-one Q&A time with him, you have to pay the price. It seems reasonable to me.

When you're just starting out, you might need to offer free consultations and lunches just to get established, but once you're in the position to command $700/hour, there's no reason to start doing volunteer work to help out a business.

Perry,

I think there are two obvious take-aways from Dennis' request and your repsonse:

1) An economics lesson. Supply vs. Demand and what people will (and do) pay for goods or services.

2) A contrast between generations. You don't have to go back very far (past GenY and GenX) to understand where Dennis' expectations stood. This is not an attempt to label anyone or any group, but I believe people are more aware now about their value to themselves (as entrpeneurs) and their employers than they were 30 years ago.

After reading your response and the rationale behind it, I will make sure to have a similar explanation if this situation is presented to me.

I'm often faced with the same situation as what Perry just shared with us (my hourly rate is $175 so a bit more affordable but I get similar guff from someone who buys one of my books or products and then wants free consulting to help them start or buy a business to go with the purchase). That kind of unrealistic expectation does make (or I should say "used to make") for an awkward exchange. When I could I used to give time away but it really became a matter where I just could not meet that demand because I have to focus on producing revenue and not devoting time for "freebies". You have to draw a line.

Perry nailed it. It is extremely rare for a person who I helped for free, to actually go out and do anything. Whereas someone who paid very often goes out and follows my advice, gets things done and accomplishes the goal of what they wanted to pay me to help them with. They appreciate the value that I gave them which is always more than what they paid for. That is a "give back" in my book.

Hello Perry, I read this blog post with great interest. Like you, I could sense that Dennis was getting more angry the more he ranted.

And I have to confess to a certain amount of empathy with some of what he was saying — at least to start with.

However, your polite yet robust response was right on the money. (No pun intended)

It is so indefensibly put that I wonder if Dennis had the grace to acknowledge that.

My own opinion on "advice" is simply that I do not give it.

Talk is cheap, and advice freely given is frequently of no value.

When people seek my advice, my response is "I don't give advice, I'm not entitled to tell you what to do or what not to do. However, what I can say is that if I was in your position my opinion would be (fill in the blank) and what I would do is (fill in the blank)".

In your professional capacity as a teacher, coach, guide, mentor, you are sought out by serious people for help.

They may be at their wits end and desperate for support.

What you are providing is more than advice, it is guidance. And that carries with it a heavy responsibility for both parties.

The giver does not do so lightly, and the receiver is expected to take action based on it.

Otherwise it's a waste of everyone's time and effort.

Since this transaction is so serious it is not at all unreasonable for it to carry a serious financial cost.

If you don’t value your time, how can you expect anyone else to?

I generally agree with the writer. But the issue seems to one of approach. Maybe Perry could have explained himself a bit better at the time rather than just off the cuff refusing lunch.

Perry,

All I ever bought from you was your original Adwords ebook. I found it to be better than some of the $5000 dollar coaching programs floating around. I agree with you: anyone who really wants free AUTHENTIC information should just subscribe to your newsletter. Then they will know whether you give away things or not.

I also get this type of complaints from my own subscribers. And I'm in a niche where everyone feels everything should be free. So I give away 61% but I lock down 39%. I used to argue, like your good self, that those who get things for free never use them. Now I'm being forced to revise my thinking. Hundreds of those who REALLY pay attention to the free stuff have been reporting great successes of late. But that doesn't mean everything should be free — for the very reasons that you mentioned.

God bless,
elisha

This person obviously does not know you very well Perry. I am constantly amazed at all the free advice, MP3 downloads, etc., that you send me via e-mail. And NONE of it is EVER junk! Several times I have replied with a sincere "thank you Perry" — knowing full well that you would never get the message. So if you really do read all these replies, please know how much you are valued and appreciated for sharing your incredible knowledge so freely. Thank you!!!

Ironically, Dennis is the one who is greedy for your time and advice, and he's grumbling that he doesn't get what he wants.

Thank you for sharing your response, Perry. Aptly worded with wisdom and understanding. I especially appreciated your wisdom in acknowledging "I am a STEWARD of my time and I am responsible before God for how I use it."

Happy Thanksgiving!
Hebrews 4:13

Hey Perry. How bout a Cubs game next year? I got great seats!

keep up the great work Perry. Love the free mp3's.

Neil

ps: I have a better chance of getting Paris Hilton to agree to have lunch with me than Perry:-)

WOW !

After reading many of the comments, I now know why you have such a following and why people are willing to pay for your valuable advice.

I feel like that I share a group debt to you for all the Free advice you offer everyone.

There are some very caring people and Great Minds or Thinkers who replied with good advice for us all!

Would you consider trying to post a Summary of your Professional prospective on all these comments, without your personal oponion's or an emotional reply back to any of them ?

I think that this has been a very interesting experiment in people movitation.

Perry,
I think Dennis was ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. Someone is being greedy, but it ain't you, it's him. Dennis either doesn't know or doesn't care about all the FREE content you send out via email. That's just not enough for him. He's entitled to much, much more. Not sure why, but doggone it, people just LIKE him.
You could give Dennis ALL of your stuff, ALL of your seminars, FOR FREE, and he'd never appreciate it. No doubt he doesn't appreciate the fact that you gave him a personal answer to an email while hundreds of others have to be satisfied with a subordinate or even no answer at all.
Keep up the good work, Perry, and never, ever let anyone PICK your brain–what if they don't put everything back in the right place?

Perry,

You may well be worth far more than $700/hour, especially to the right client, perhaps even me.

At one time, I estimated my own time at $2000/hour, and it was a stressful, busy time. At that rate, nobody could afford my advice, obviously, but they continued to ask, even pester, anyway.

One of the things my father would kid me about when I first tasted success, he would say, "Your time is worth so much, you cannot even afford to go to the bathroom!" Or, he'd clap his hands and say "Wipers!" to mimic Eddie Murphy in the movie, "Coming to America" to tease me.

But I was still left with the problem of how to properly allocate my time!

I discovered that telling people what my time was worth was nearly always counterproductive, as it led to increased envy and frustration, for both the advice seeker, and me.

I developed other ways for people to tap into what I know, and milder and easier ways to share. I also have 85,000 people on my email list, so maybe I could teach you a thing or two about marketing.

To be honest, I'm the kind of guy you should seek to have lunch with for free, but then again, who would pay who, and how much? But then again, I have not made you a compelling offer, either.

Be careful. What is God's time worth? Be thankful that God does not have such limits on his time, and that God gives to us freely.

In your case, it costs YOU $700/hour just to talk to God, pray, or read the Bible, which can be quite the disincentive for you, if you are not careful, and if you lose your perspective.

I agree that the other man who expected free $700 worth of advice for a $20 lunch was more greedy than yourself, Perry. That was a good insight.

Then again, remember that you are a teacher, and such a man was obviously in need of teaching and correction, and perhaps there is a better way of teaching that does not lead the seeker to anger and resentment, but thankfulness and appreciation, instead, as others have already pointed out.

I don't always get that right, obviously, as many people will always be bitter, no matter how you try to help them, but still, I try.

I'm still learning myself, and I appreciate the opportunity here to share what little I know on this topic.

Perry, you are absolutely right. As a lawyer, I'm always shocked at how people think that buying a lunch is somehow different than paying for my normal services. My product is my time, and I only have so much of it.

Dennis said "Come on, lets get real here if this kind of greed does not stop this country is headed for the dumpster."

I say "Come on, lets get real here if Dennis' kind of feelings of entitlement do not stop this country is headed for the dumpster."

Perry - Two comments:

1) I hope you received Dennis' permission to post his email to you.

It was obviously directed and addressed specifically to you. It wasn't a blog post or other public posting - it was a personal email. If you didn't get his permission, I would agree that you are just trying to make a public "event" out of this, and try to stay on the forefront of people's attention at Dennis' expense. I enjoy the content of your emails, and your writing style, but at the end of the day, it's just part of a campaign to sell yourself, and this particular email and web link is part of that.

2) I agree with your basic message about the value of your time, but not the way you delivered it. Many of us are busy and get solicited for our time, or our money, or our expertise.

When I think about the people I admire in my life, they are all busy people, and yet can all juggle requests upon their time without belittling others.

Right on Perry!
I have never purchased a single item from you. Yet, I've learned more from you than I have from any other "guru". I look forward to your emails and tele-seminars all the time. I've gained so many tools and value from the free info which have already put money in my pocket…so that's an exponential return on invesment.

You are worth every penny of what you charge.

I think Dennis misses the point that if he paid you that $700 fee, it would probably bring him back at least 10 times that amount if he implemented your advice correctly.

By charging for your time, you also eliminate the time wasters…those who talk the talk, but don't walk the walk.

I'm looking forward to the day that I need to pay you $6,500 to spend the day with you. I'm not there yet, but I know it will be great day when I'm spending thousands just to hear you speak. Because after that day, I know a fortune will be right around the corner!

Dean Teitelbaum

See Dan Kennedy's No B.S. Time Management Book for Enterpreneurs.

Perry's read it… its my time management bible.

Every entrepreneur should read it.

Ben Glass
Fairfax, VA

Perry:

I disagree with you. I frequently attend seminars/events and have spoken at seminars. Meeting people for lunch afterwards is not something I would charge for. It's the civil thing to do and is part and parcel of attending a seminar-especially as a speaker.

You were disrespctful to the attendees and the organizers in my opinion.

Frequently poeple approach speakers for follow up questions after a speech. The civil thing to do is to continue to educate, and if it is lunchtime why not join them for lunch?
Also your response reveals a problematic approach to marketing and presentation. Why mention the children in Africa? That turns me off.

Knowing where to put the "X":

An elderly gentleman retired from his 40-year job as equipment maintenance engineer at a manufacturing plant. He was given a token parting gift by the company - no "golden handshake" or exotic pension plan. After he'd been retired for a few months, he received an urgent call from the plant manager. An expensive piece of machinery critical to operations had failed, and production had ceased as the equipment maintenance staff struggled to repair it. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were being lost each day the production line was down. The elderly engineer told the manager he would return to the plant to look
at the machine, but as an outside consultant. The plant manager agreed, saying, "Anything you want, just help us out."

The engineer arrived at the plant, tested the machine and looked it over for about five minutes. He then walked over to the drawings of the machine and drew an "X" over a small component in the interior of the machine. "Replace this part, and the machine will work perfectly again, " he said. Then he left. The part was quickly replaced, and he was right - the machine began operating and production was up again within the hour.

Two weeks later the plant manager received a bill from the elderly engineer: $50,000 for consulting services. Remembering the engineer had spent only five minutes looking at the machine and identifying the problem, the plant manager telephoned the elderly gentleman and angrily demanded a detailed invoice. The following day the detailed invoice arrived:

Time spent identifying the problem: $5.00

Knowing where to put the "X": $49,995.00

BTW Perry, I am working on a system that is getting good results and has the realistic potential to net 100 million per month. Contact me
kevin7314@gmail.com

Hello Perry,

It has been said a few times already. Maybe if you had said what you did in a bit of a nicer way the whole thing might have been avoided. Also, don't forget, to many people on your mailing list that is a rather large sum, including me.
One more thing, maybe you should pick one or two people every month to have lunch with minus the $700/ hour fee. People who you know are not rich and don't have tons of money to spend. Kind of like winning the Perry Marshal lunch lottery.
And yes, I think you have handled the whole thing well.

Way to go Perry! I always love your responses to crap like that. Why is it that people don't seem to value time the way they do a tangible product, yet the actual value of time(especially yours) is often worth SO much more? I think this Dennis guy just doesn't value his OWN time.

Hey, I'd love to be your next best friend and do lunch just like the other 100K people on your list, but that wouldn't be fair to you or paying customers.

-Susan
Current Bobsledder happily paying for Perry's time

Perry I agree with you.

I have saved clients in some instances almost 50 million annually. Then i get the potential client that tells me all the great things we will do together. They keep asking for more detail and a proposal and i tell the fine pay me for 3-5 days and i will get you one.

If they are serious they will make me a vendor and cut a check before i go any further.

After working in hundreds of companies i know when they are trying to pick my brain for free and intend to do nothing except hang a carrot out. I usually find these people to be the slackers and people that do not add much value to a company but play the CYA and get off of my TURF game.

I have worked 60-100 hours per week over the last 30 years to master my craft (not playing golf and going to sports events all the time) and now if i see the bait and switch i give them just enough to hang themself out there.

They either hire me, call my stuff unworkable because they don't have the missing wisdom to deliver the solution or hang themselves.

You materials do contain most of the information and maybe instead of playing golf or watcing a football game on a sunday they could study the materials and learn something instead of trying to cut to the front of the line.

Hi Perry

As a teacher and hotel owner I make it policy never to argue with customers … I can see how his email was ill-considered … How about, "Dennis thanks for the invite, you may be right, but my schedule won't allow for lunch right now. Best wishes …."

John Wootton

Perry, once more you nailed it. i don't think you left anything out with your response. You completed the circle. Brilliant! It's all about the big picture. Value in the big picture takes a different form…not only value, for that matter. I think it has to do with that victimhood syndrom.

Sometimes you can detect the child or teenager running the show in adults bodies. Sometimes is just a thought. The thought attached to the resentment of a little child, not big enough to see the big picture.

You are a genius

You are a genius

Here are my points on this one:

If I were the one asking to take you out, I may have been offended depending on how your response was structured…

NOT!

I wouldn't have been offended at all, and I would have respected your time even more.

It is cool to have lunch with your customers, and you do that at certain events and occassions, but I can see your side as well.

If I had as many people ask me out for lunch as you do, I would have drawn the line somewhere as well.

It is not that you wouldn't have enjoyed lunch. It may have been a lot of fun actually. But sometime it is necessary to send the message across to all these unecessary requests, so that you could clear up some time and only go to lunch when you ask for it.

(Which, could be the reason behind this post after all )

We all have only 24 hrs in a day, and there is prioritizing that has to kick in.

My hunch is that those who think you acted like a jerk and that you should have accepted the free lunch, have never had hundreds of people asking them for their time. It gets to be too much sometime.

Thank you for your leadership

Nik

Hi Perry,

I can't afford your hourly rates, but I have gobbled up your free advice for several years. Thanks for sharing your insights with small business guys like me. When I first implemented your suggestions, my results from Adwords increased four fold and my monthly bill from Google dropped by 50%. I think I owe you a free lunch.

Thanks,

Jim D.

Way to go Perry! You have a charge rate and they want you to work for food. I get loads of emails asking for personal gardening advice - my response is 'buy my book' - it's only $10 but no, they expect your time for free.
Yep, I'm greedy and mean I won't give my time for free to strangers. I prefer to feed my family and give to real charities.
Good for you.
John

There's no way to charge for an offer of free lunch that isn't going to offend some people.

Run your business as you see fit.

Some gurus suggest some giveaways, others say that when you show up, you charge them. There is no clear answer outside of context.

Perry, the first time I listened to your advice is when you sold a 3 ring binder with audio CDs (probally your first product).. your voice was so shrieky … I had to turn if off for a few minutes and then turn it back on just to continue listening (I just couldn't bear the sound of your voice or the rcoording of it for long periods)…. your information back then (as it is now) is extremely valuable…. if the pain of listening to your voice (back then) was worth anything to understand your strategies …paying your consultant fee today is a bargain… we need you to stay on top…John

Perry,
I don't think that either I or Dennis are qualified to comment on your greediness or lack thereof. Nor are most of the self-righteous commenters in this thread qualified to do the same. However, what I can say is that I have been your customers (in the Renaissance Club) and had to cancel. I canceled because of two things, both of which are no doubt choices you've made about how to relate to people:
1) The information was not dense enough. I was deluged with emails, offers, links to websites that linked to more websites and never came up with the pearls of truth I needed to take advantage of your experience. The common thread was that the information was self-promoting and too story-focused, and while the stories were fun, they didn't help my business.
2) Most of the communications you offered were just gateways to signing up to purchase even more. Instead of paying to get something, I seemed to be paying to get advertisements for something. Sifting through the constant barrage became an irritant.

So, whether you're a giving or a greedy guy I don't know. But your marketing is manipulative. Perhaps that's what works, but it is out of alignment with my committment to win/win outcomes and absolute equality between myself any anyone I deal with. Often, manipulation works, but it isn't clean because sooner or later, you have to pay the piper when someone feels betrayed by your manipulation. You may be a very giving guy (I support African AIDS orphans too!) but if the gift comes with any strings at all, it isn't a gift. The simplest change you can make is to get rid of any kind of signup or committment from someone you're giving something to in your business. As one of the other posters pointed out, when you give from the open heart, it is returned in ways you can never imagine. It is only your expectations - in the form of what you expect or require to get back from your giving - that limit the return.

"I'm not a salesman. I'm a consultant. Advice, not widgets, is what I sell"

As a consultant, that one positioning phrase alone (which I got above for free) will make or save me money for the rest of my working life

Your wife could have also mentioned that most people don't realize that you are, in fact, a very generous person. I agree that it's better to charge for what you do to earn a living and give away something else or at least only give away your expertise to charity.
It's well known in my community that I have a lot of valuable contacts and a good reputation. I'm constantly being asked to "network" by people who just want something for nothing. I have a hard time handling that situation. Thanks for the advice.

Dear Perry,

First off thanks for sharing your thoughts and asking for comments. I have unsubscribed from the Renesanse Club and cancelrd my membership. I did that because I am yet to develop my business to the level, where I will apreciate the highest level of your intelligent advices.
You do remind Mr. Dorian Grey sometimes, but just a little) And I do not think it is about greed that you are not accepting lunch invitations-there are so many of us looking for magic advice instead of giving time and afforts to study and then implement what is freely available from you and other genereous marketers.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
Warmest regards from Ukraine!

Reaction:

Well one thing is: I read the reaction of Perry all the way till the end.
This means I found it very good reading: objective with very convincing and realistic arguments.

It is a sign of not being arrogant really..and staying centred under pretty heavy attack.

Good he gave this reaction.

regards ,

Jorke van Eerten, Netherlands

Perry, I really look forward to your emails and read every single word of them. I take the info you give freely and utilize it. I wish I could afford to take you to a "working" lunch! Maybe one day…

As far as for Dennis - first of all he needs help with his spelling and punctuation! Second of all he's way to arrogant and I personally wouldn't want to be around such a man. His whining will get him nowhere in life.

Keep doing what you do because you do it very well!

Sharon

Perry,
Naturally, you can't go to lunch with everyone who invites you. I also think that you were right to refuse these invitations. It might even be argued that those invitations were thinly veiled attempts at getting something valuable for nothing and it was they who were being greedy. Like Dennis I've met some wonderful selfless people and some very greedy people in the busines world, many of whom wanted my money and others who were after my time. Perhaps his frustration comes from the way you formed your response. No one would expect Bill Gates or the president or a famous actor to have lunch with them just because they asked. People understand that this person's appeal outstrips their available time. You may have intended your response to be humorous, but, it came off sounding a little obnoxious and short-sighted. Someone as smart as you should be able to find a more tactful way of quickly explaining that you just can't accomodate all the requests of your time and still serve your clients the way they deserve. Having said that, if you're ever in Central North Carolina and you're up for lunch I'll only charge you $300 an hour =)

Perry, I know the feeling well. Just retired (age 70) and one of the reasons was the number of people who picked my brain and then tried to do what I do for a living. I am a consultant for storefront retailers who want to have a going out of business sale. I got tired of people calling me a number of times probing for information (as well calling a number of other liquidators) and then doing the sale themselves. Result: They didn't know what they were doing and then called to have me "rescue" them. Look, if I am going to give out value (information) then I expect to be paid for it. This is not a pro bono business.

Perry;
Knowledge is a very powerfull and enviable entity. Those of us who seek it read your messages and come away more informed. Never have I thought that you were greedy, in fact just the opposite. Dennis is the uninformed greedy person. He obviously sells a commodity and does not equate the difference. I hope he reads these comments and becomes enlightened without anger.

Hi Perry.
I personally have learned a lot from your adwords book and your programs and believe you have valuable advice to offer. "Valuable Advice!" Yes it has value!
Your site and newsletters are full of great information and have helped me tremendously. However, there is quite a large dollop of ego on display as well. I am not surprised that you were chastised for greed, (although I think in equal measure perhaps you are being chastised for bragging as well). I am surprised that you responded.
"…you mentioned it in an email…" Actually you mention it a lot. I believe part of the problem is that you quite often make it a point to mention how much you charge, how much you are in demand, and how many people you advise. It seems to me that many of the communications you send me include 'oversell' of your value… and in my mind it often seems as if you are trying to justify yourself. Go back over the last 20 emails you have sent out. How much teaching… how much selling… and maybe just a bit — bragging?
PS: I get your free emails in one account, and have paid for the Renaissance Club in another… got your email twice. Seems to me it must really be bothering you if you sent it to both your free list and your Renaissance folks.

truth is a ladder

the level you are on affects how you see the world

if you are on a rung lower than someone else you will find a higher truth offensive

Newtonian mechanics works well, but its wrong/a lie

quantum mechanics works well, but its wrong/a lie

The truth that helps you now is not the truth that will help you when you are more successful.

May I suggest you find the truth that works for you now, where you are now. If you do so and take action on it, you will more quickly travel down your path to higher truths.

some insta quotes:
reality bites
reality is a truth sandwich
let reality determine reality

Kevin Moriarty

Perry, you spoke your truth and set expectations.

That is something most people struggle with inside themselves.

They aren't 100% congruent with their self-belief.

You are. And from you, I've learned to do the same.

When people call me now for JVs (I get like 5 a day), my criteria is:

- NO risk on my part

- NO time on my part

- NO money on my part

It's fascinating how that criteria brings out the best and most lasting partnerships!

Thanks Perry..your devoted student..

Ari Galper
Creator of ChatWise
http://www.ChatWise.com

Dennis just does not get it… good response, having just forked over another $2,500 to my consultant for work I know the value of it and am quite glad to pay for it.

As you get older (I just turned 40 this year) TIME truly is your most valuable asset. It makes sense to you in your 20 and 30's but it really hits home now, especially having lost a dear and close friend at 39 to cancer last year.

I protect my time like a hawk, and so should Perry, Dennis and everyone else.

The lousy thing with time is that you cannot buy more!

I think your answer to him was right on. And I think he should learn to use spellcheck.

Perry,

I couldn't agree with you more. You could probably cut your "lunch" invitations down by 75% by just stipulating that business/marketing topics are forbidden.

What is euphemistically described as lunch is just a request for a free consult OR the ability to tie themselves with your brand ("you know, I was having lunch with Perry the other day and blah, blah, blah").

The economy may be the worst we've seen in awhile, but "will work for food" isn't quite universal yet.

Give what you want and sell what you want. The only judgment that ultimately matters on whether you apportioned it correctly is– well– you know.

Love Perry, his perspective and his advice (fee and free).

Hated the Thanksgiving message.

Hi Perry,

I think we can all agree that a little tactfulness might have been more appropriate, but then again how else would Dennis have learned the difference between sales and consulting?

Thanks to you I stopped giving free advice two months ago. In one of your newsletters earlier this year you discussed this issue. You even recommended we copy your Marketing Consultation Request Form and use it to start getting in the habit of refusing to give free advice. I hate to admit it, but it took me four months to take your advice on that one.

The day I started using your form (and stopped giving free advice) was the day I called back two prospects I had given advice to just to follow up. I was blown away by the fact that neither one had the decency to return my call. That day my friend was the turning point.

Today everybody has to pay $495 to talk to me and I don't return unsolicited phone calls or e-mails from non-clients… Sound familiar?

It took me a long time to finally "get it" but it really works. In essence what you're doing is "disqualifying" the tire kickers from the serious prospects.

Perry you were instrumental in this breakthrough in my consulting business. The value you deliver is unsurpassed so stick to your guns!

Keep up the great work and have a wonder Thanksgiving.

Frank

Perry, you really need to charge more and stop with the people who want everything for free, Im a graphic designer and webmaster and I get people all day wanting free shit, remember this, there are less illustrator's then neurologists (brain doctors) in this world, so should I start charging 50,000 per project, I wish I could but wack ass sites like "getafreelancer.com" allow people to keep low balling our services so low, that seems impossible to get to the 100,000 mark.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving, family. and food.

I enjoyed reading the cause and effect, and the comments. A few too many, but point made, you have the clients, and the cash.

I hope soon to be able to afford your services and expertise.

Everyone has access to spell-checkers, which check the spelling and grammar, so why do people continue to write embarrassing e-mails?

Let's Make Some Money!

Thanks

There's a great old story about a company who was having trouble with a large generator at their factory - they worked and worked on it but just couldn't get it to start. Finally, they called in a specialist to help.

A few hours later a beat up old pickup pulled up out in front of the company offices and an old man got out and walked into the building. He was directed to the inoperable machine and looked it over. After a minute, he reached into his toolbag and removed a ball-peen hammer and gave a sharp tap on the side of the generator. Instantly the machine sprang to life.

A few days later the company manager received an invoice from the specialist for his work and was shocked to read that the old man had billed the company $2002 for his services. Concerned, he called the specialist and asked him to explain his rationale for the bill. After all, he reminded the old specialist, you were only here for a few minutes and all you did was hit the generator once with a hammer.

The specialist replied that for his time and effort he billed accordingly out at $2. However, he went on, the $2000 charge was for knowing just where to hit the machine.

Every month I read Perry's newsletter and the insight and advice I walk away with makes me feel like I'm taking advantage of him each time.(all this for $30 a month?)

While $700 plus for an hour of somebody's time may seem extravagant, there are a number of other values being factored into that price. It's not that single hour that's being paid for but the massive number of hours leading up to that meeting. Assuming Perry is like most entrepreneurs I know, his life isn't one of casualness and leisure in which he waits for the world to beat a path to his door. Instead he is constantly in motion learning new things and applying them to methods which he can share with his 'team'. Likewise, the value of that ho