Recently I spoke at an event where numerous people asked me to meet with them, have lunch, etc. I responded: Sorry, no free lunch meetings – if you want to meet with me you need to pay my hourly fee.
I mentioned this in an email and got this reply from Dennis:
Perry
I love your stuff, you are obviously a very talented online marketer. In addition I bet your a good person, I don’t know but I get the feeling you are. However one thing really bothered me that you said in your newsletter dated Tuesday October 28th.
As far as I can deduct you where part of a program that went late into the night that people paid for and after it was over several people wanted to take you to lunch etc, to pick your brain. You response was sure, just pay me my hourly rate. Now I’m all for people getting paid for there time, God knows if you say high to a lawyer your going to get a bill. Wlth that in mind there is such a thing as going to far. It’s called GREED. It’s what the me generation did to this countries economy today. It’s the reason our economy is in such a mess.
I have been here for 58 years and have met many successful people, everyone of these people that I have asked to take to lunch and chat never charged me a dime. And myself being a very successful sales person earning over $100 K per year since 1974 have always given freely to others who asked. My opinion regaring your reponse to a request to do lunch was not being a smart business person, it was greed with a capital G. Come on, lets get real here if this kind of greed does not stop this country is headed for the dumpster.
Can you imagagine having to pay everyone who you asked for advice ? Why not put a hold on the greed and give a little back without getting paid for it. Even the blood sucking lawyers do probono work, even high priced doctors volunteer there skill to help people who can’t afford medical care. Even old John D Rockefeller realised his greed and started giving his money away. Then theres Perry Marshall he won’t go to lunch with eager students and share his knowledge without getting paid. You can rationalize all you want, but your response was arrogant and greedy. Let me summarise, what you did was Bull Shit.
Dennis
This was my reply to Dennis:
Dennis,
Thanks for your note and I can appreciate how my comment made you feel. Yes if someone told me 20 years ago I’d be charging people $700 for lunch and turning away people asking for help, I might have felt the same way as you. As you wrote your email I think you felt more and more angry about it all the time.
My wife read your email and said, “Perry, this guy apparently doesn’t know how many people want to take you to lunch.”
Dennis, I have over 100,000 people on my email list. You have no idea how many people email my office and ask questions – hundreds and hundreds every month. I could EASILY spend all day dispensing free advice. The demand for it it ENDLESS. I could spend every single breakfast, lunch and dinner time slot dispensing free advice and the line would never stop.
At the meeting, had I responded to all those requests I would’ve been out to lunch every day this week dispensing free advice. Remember: I’m not a salesman. I’m a consultant. Advice, not widgets, is what I sell. When you were a salesman you didn’t give away your goods for free and you didn’t feel guilty if they expected you to and you wouldn’t feel guilty for saying no.
There are several reasons why I don’t dispense free advice:
-It would be unfair to those who pay for it, and there are many who do
-People almost NEVER act on free advice, especially if it requires them to do something uncomfortable – so what’s the point in dispensing it?
-If people want free information there are hundreds of pages of free articles and MP3’s on my website and it’s good stuff
-If I gave away my knowledge I would not be able to be generous to those who truly are in need.
You accuse me of being greedy and not being generous. You do not know that. You do not know me at all. You have no business making such judgments. You do not know how many people and/or organizations I DO give free advice to. You do not know who or what I give my money to and it’s none of your business anyway.
Just know this: If I gave away free advice I would have no money to give to AIDS orphans in Africa.
So given that I have people lined up to pay me money (for example if you want a 1 day consultation it has to be booked 1-3 months in advance; phone consults are booked 2-4 weeks in advance) why should I allow people to cut in line and pay nothing?
Would that be right?
Finally, most of the questions people would ask me are already answered on my website or in my products. Most of the business ideas people pitch me with are a waste of time. People who have not read my books or website first usually wouldn’t understand the answer if I gave it to them.
I am known all around the world for my expertise and my time is valuable. I am a STEWARD of my time and I am responsible before God for how I use it. To give it away indiscriminately would be irresponsible and wasteful.
I will give my time to people who earn it and that is why I am then able to be generous with people who need it. Hungry children in Africa need help more than well-fed Americans who are trying to solve their business problems. If they want free advice, they can ask someone else.
When people pay for my time, they get value. In life you usually get what you pay for, and when you pay me $725 an hour [note: my rate has risen since this was written, it is now $4,000 per hour] you get your money’s worth. My job is to deliver that value and make sure that knowledge is put to use for maximal effect to ALL involved – my customers, myself, and the causes that are dear to my heart.
Sincerely,
Perry Marshall
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About the Author
Perry Marshall has launched two revolutions in sales and marketing. In Pay-Per-Click advertising, he pioneered best practices and wrote the world's best selling book on Google advertising. And he's driven the 80/20 Principle deeper than any other author, creating a new movement in business.
He is referenced across the Internet and by Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, INC and Forbes Magazine.
421 Comments on “Perry’s Greed”
Hi Perry,
So here’s a perspective from the other side of the pond.
1)A simple ‘No’ might have been the preferable route, or even “No, I simply do not have the time”. We are not obliged in life to give explanations or justifications for that word.
2)Completely unsure why the incident needed to become a big discussion point though – why humiliate Dennis further? Has he really deserved all this?
3) Yes, there is no doubt as a fellow consultant (in a different field) I and most people who excel in their field have learnt that free advice = wasted breath, whether pro bono / to friends / family etc. People only listen and act upon what you say when they are paying you way too much. That is bizarrly how human nature works.
4) It obviously bugged you / caught you on a bad day, otherwise your own reaction wouldn’t have been so drastic too. Seems a tad out of character from the person we’ve all grown to respect.
You’re made of better stuff than this!!!
Why not move on and close this down now?
Cheers
I am really sorry to say, that if you are not greedy then you are also not to much on the bright side, as far as people skills are concerned. A simple “sorry no time” is more than enough to get the same result. Charging somebody who wants to take you out for lunch is an offensive by any standard, even even if their motivation probably is to pick your brain. I am European and a lunch for me is still a social event and a pleasure. If you have to spend 24hours a day thinking business, I am afraid that you can charge 1000$ and still be a sad person. If you are not able to have a lunch without talking business and if you cannot turn down business questions in a polite and stylish way, then I am afraid you are not half as good as you think you are;-). Do take a look at the big picture sometimes. This advice is for free. And do not ever invite me for lunch, because you could not afford the lessons I could teach you about life (does that sound arrogant ? that’s because it is) :-). Apart from that I agreee with a comment made earlier. This is a clever way to get peoples emails and a pagefull of content.
Well done. And I hope I will get at least a link to my homepage for this.
Hi Perry
Good on ya, that is all I can say. I live in the UK and would love to take you out to lunch, not for free advice but to thank you for all of the free advice you have already given me through your numerous e-mails and your website.
I absolutely understand and accept your position on this. Why should those lucky enough to be able to attend the myriad of awesome seminars have the privilege of taking a proven guru such as you, Ken McCarthy, Dan Kennedy, Jay Abraham or John Carlton to lunch just because they are at the seminar. If they can afford to attend one of these events they should be able to afford your consulting time.
When I paid you $700 for your marketing course I was amazed that I was entitled to your consulting time as part of the deal. I would rather pay you my hard earned cash knowing that a good Christian, generous man like yourself gives of himself and his wealth to WORTHY causes other than the “American dream”.
In my opinion it is those that expect “hand-outs” like this who are taking food from the mouths of starving Children around the world.
Wishing you and your readers a happy Thanksgiving.
Hey Pery. Most probably I’ll never invest a dime paying for you time, but I thank you for all you give us for free, I hope to get profit for it in future learning that I know nothing. I really enjoy following you.
While I agree with your motivation for turning down the ‘free lunch’ and your right to charge for your valued expertise please note, politeness cost nothing.
The tone of your response seemed like a affirmatory diatribe to justify your proposition. There is no need to be confrontational rather it just re-inforces the critism that was placed in your direction.
A very disappointing response for a professional.
I read your reply and the post re your charging for dinner time advice.
I would have once been upset in a similar way to Dennis, but now side with you and here is why.
I have studied the sharemarket in NZ and read many books newsletters etc on investing over many years. I have figured out a few things and have done OK on our sharemarket.
A guy at work approached me asking for me to direct him him to specific investments to build a portfolio for him with $100,000.
I found myself wanting to refuse because I have done the hard yards and felt why should he get the easy benefit of my years of work and never even offer me a fee for my advice.
I had a conversation with another guy who was following a mates investment advice and was investing accordingly. I felt then that this guy didn’t deserve that help as he was bragging about how well his portfolio was doing without any knowledge of the companies or the markets himself and it didn’ sit right.
When you have worked hard to learn you owe noone the fruits of your learning especially as they could have done the same and had the same opportunity. That person who wants a “free lunch” is just being lazy really.
As it happens I do give my time and skills to help people and to human rights causes but that is my business as you say.
All the best Perry ignore the wingers and carry on , there are plenty of better people to work with in this world. regards, Claude
The issue may be more to do with the target market, and this may be an ongoing issue with internet marketing.
Internet marketers want to get a large cache of readers so they can send offers to them with the expectation that some will purhase products. The apple used to gather these people are often frebies, which puts people in a certain mindset and attacts people with that mindset.
I have no issues with people wanting to charge for their time. To be honest, I agree with it. People often exchange time for money. Its how most people make a living… By going to work and exchanging their time for money.
Its unrealistic to expect everyone to live by your expectations. You expect people to value your time and information. Its simply not true. People do what’s best for themselves, for their own reasons. There is no reason for me to care about you, unless there is something in it for me.
Combine the two. People who focus upon themselves and people who are given free things. Its a recipe for this to continue to happen.
Do what you think is right for you and they will do what they think is right for themselves. If I choose not to give up my time for free, that’s my choice. I don’t care if you respect my position or not.
If internet matketers are going to continue to dispense free information, they are setting themselves up for the majority of people to not value them or their time.
Hi Perry,
I’ve been getting your emails for a few years and they contain lots of free advice. You are always offering promotions and deals and most of the questions I could ask you over lunch can be answered myself by reading your published information. So, I can get most of what I need for much less than $700. In my book this makes you a generous businessman!
Too many people want a fast free ride without putting in the effort. By charging them for your time you weed out the time-wasters and get to people who will really make use of your expertise.
David is clearly upset and maybe on reflection he will acknowledge he is wrong?
Thanks
Bill
WOW!
great response but more interesting is the amount of responses on the response!
My time might not be worth $700/hr yet but it’s certainly better spent counting all these posts.
However it’s just a sign and tribute to the success of Perry. It just shows that his books, emails, courses and everything else totally works!
love the emails, been reading them for years.
Congratulations Perry
Hi Perry
Yes, this is one of those cases where you can expect flak from people. Dennis has a point or two there – regarding the willingness to also plough back knowledge and time. I also believe in the same principle.
However – I think the part he did not give enough thought to is the fact that this can very easily get out of hand if not managed correct. And the fact remains that, the more successful you become and the more visible your personal profile becomes – the more people will demand your “free” time.
I will just take a bet that a certain Mr Trump has this same problem!
And I am also willing to bet that HE manages the how, why and where of his free time and advice very, very carefully.
Your second point Perry, about people almost never acting on free advice is absolutely spot on. Everybody wants to hear that what suits their thoughts and plans best. So if they are willing to pay for your advice, at least you know they are pretty damn serious and they might just implement some of what you tell them.
So I fully agree with your decision here and, for what my opinion is worth – I think you did the correct thing under the circumstances.
Keep on with the good work!
Regards
Riaan
Perry,
I agree with others that have posted earlier saying that you should charge what you feel your time is worth and agree with your own comments regarding why you are justified in doing so. The great Earl Nightingale once quoted a evergreen phrase from the Holy Bible that says it all “as you sow, so shall you reap,” however, reason and common sense have escaped some of your readers.
As I put on my marketing hat, I also think you are employing savvy marketing here to get your fans to “rally around the enemy” and stand up for you. It only polarizes your true customer base even more and you are smart to have realized this and to be commended for taking action to share his comments with your list.
Since we all know that Dennis is just a whiner and was never going to invest any money in your advice or in your products anyway, it only makes sense to do what you did.
Best wishes for continued prosperity, happiness and health. Also, wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving!
Ryan
This reminds me of the story of the furnace repair man who was summoned late one night, in the dead of winter, to repair a furnace that wasn’t working.
After examining the furnace for a few moments, he delivered a blow to the side of the unit with the bottom of his fist, and low and behold, the furnace started right back up.
When the $1000 bill was presented, the incredulous homeowner asked, “what is this for?”. To this the repairman replied, “it was $1 to hit the side of the furnace, and $999 to know WHERE to hit it.”.
I’d just like to go on record here saying: “I too am pretending to have an opinion here because I too am officially procrastinating doing any REAL work this morning.”
Hi Perry,
I have greatest regard for you and keep reading your Emails Blogs etc. However I think its was totally wrong on your part to post an Email sent to you by Dennis. The way I see it is that the Brilliant marketer you are, you saw the marketing opportunity with this Email to market your consulting services at US $ 725 per hour and to tout your philanthropy of supporting AIDS Orphans in Africa. I agree that you have the right to charge whatever amount you think is right, but you have no right to post an Email sent to you on a blog like this. You owe an apology to Dennis.
Regards
Raj
P.S: In case you have taken the permission of Dennis to post his Email, my apologies and withdraw my comments.
Perry,
I am a bit older then Dennis, but I do understand his point. I too have had my success’s and down times. Just trying to learn all the internet tech goodies can drive me up a wall. I think Dennis hit the point that many, at least Americans feel today and that is that there is Far too much greed being outed today.
Dennis was on target with his idea. However it seems he sent his understandable bitterness to the wrong party. He assumed you to be a part of the unfortunately bigger picture, un-controlled greed which is a really bad stain on Capitalism
In my book, professionals need to keep their differences of opinion, with others, between the affected parties.
Dennis may have been incorrect in his assumptions, and I too have reaped many benefits from your generosity, but that does not justify blasting a personal email to everyone who is affiliated with you.
Anyone who has read this will tend to speak their mind on the topic… but they will also walk away with that spark of doubt about approaching you with any of their concerns.
It’s a domino effect. For every individual who reads and/or responds to this at least 5 additional people will learn about it through word of mouth.
You may have done more indirect damage to your reputation than you may realize. Let’s hope that isn’t the case.
I think the guy should learn to spell. But I think Perry’s a hypocrite … the time he’s spent faffing around with this he could’ve taken the guy out for lunch.
If he didn’t feel guilty he’d not have written a long letter or asked his wife.
Yes this salesman’s a jackass, but Perry is on a power trip.
p.s. Perry – Update your adwords guide, it’s out of date buddy.
It is incorrect for a person to make such fast judgements based on one comment without all of the information at hand. I do not know you personally but I have followed some of your works in your websites (the business ones the charity ones and the religious/philosophy ones with your videos and all) and just based on what I have seen, I can tell you are a very busy man and I do believe you have hundreds of people knocking on your door, so I see how someone wanting a freebie of your devoted time and atention just for themselves would not be right from anyway you look at it.
I envy your self-esteem. I have failed at three businesses in three different areas of skilled craftsmanship because I could not charge what my skill was worth. Others were charging sometimes ten times my rates for equivalent or inferior work. I just could not write or say the numbers.
I envy your self esteem and willingness to express boundaries, no matter what.
DVB
“BLOOD SUCKING”???
Maybe mister cheapo should get a FREE word checker….
Perry .. I saw you at the Kennedy meeting last month in Oak Brook.. You gave away.. plenty of FREE Great stuff there..
Maybe if your dad owned a bank.. You could borrow him interest free money too???
How much FREE advice… has he given away???
My own definition of greed is when an addiction grows to start causing the person to compromise their sense of ethics (if they even had any) and rational behavior and decision-making. There’s nothing inherently wrong in the quest for money; just don’t start to fall off-balance as a result. I don’t think greed (of money) is some kind of blurry line, simply marked by a dollar value, that can get crossed.
As for Perry’s situation: this is a capitalist society where the market determines value, and if his time is worth at least $725/hour and he’s still turning away business, then good for him. It’s his time and he has no obligation to share it with anyone else if he doesn’t want to. May we all build our businesses up to, and beyond, the point that he’s at.
As for contributing help to others for free, consider his charity work in India and other places previously. Consider all the helpful advice, emails, and teleseminars he’s offered for free. He gives back in many ways, in ways that suit him and his interests. Free lunch meetings just isn’t on that list. (And I’d be willing to bet that he *chooses* to give back in those ways; without feeling any inherent ethical obligation. But I could be wrong.)
Personally I think that the kind of help he offers when giving teleseminars, pithy emails, and the like is even *more admirable* than self-sacrificing charity donations and the like because the former is mutually beneficial and helps both parties. A win-win situation is far better than self-sacrifice, IMNSHO. (Of course, there are many donations that are made by people that don’t take a real bite out of their resources and aren’t self-sacrificing. Those too are better than the self-sacrificing kind.)
Many of the problems in the world aren’t a result of simple excessive desire for money/gold/oil — it’s the chipping away (or outright dropping) of ethics that those in power commit to obtain greater and greater sums of money (or other object of their addiction).
Ok, I’ll get off my soap box now.
Hi Perry,
Obviously this guy either is not on your mailing list, or does not read your e-mails. You inspire people with your compassion, and provide great value with your thoughts. I have a folder with your emails, and refer to them often. And, you provide all of it for FREE! You have every right to place whatever value you want on your time.
You have EARNED that right.
Thanks,
Mike Hutchins
My mother was the CEO of a 9-store retail/commercial/wholesale picture framing company. Consequently, she was always being approached by vendors who wanted her to buy something. Her lesson to me, “Never be rude to people who ask for your time; you never know if they might be a customer someday.” Her company had a high net promoter score before there was a net promoter score. I, too, am in marketing consulting. I, too, get asked to lunch by those wanting to “pick my brain.” My emotional reaction is the same as Perry’s. But I always remember my mother’s lesson when I decline and try to leave the other person some dignity. You never know when they might become a client–or refer one.
Are you kidding me? This is all you got before thanksgiving? Why not spread around some positivity in these current uncertain economic and political times!?!
Here’s an idea(for free which costs you nothing) – How about sending out an e-mail about clients and things you are thankful for rather than singing the – “GOT TO MANY PEOPLE WHO WANT TO TALK TO ME FO’ FREE” blues. I am sure “God” will add this to your “heavenly” bank account.
I mean why vent publicly on a guy who is feeling like a jilted lover, because you will not take him up on his offer? Good for the ego, I guess.
Of course it’s ludicrous to suggest that one can’t run one’s life and business any way that one likes…
It’s also very nice for you to know that there are many people who would happily pay you for your time… Good for you.
To reduce all activities… lunch, spare time, what ever to a dollar value just seems a a bit “scroogish”, particularly in light of your nicely written documents on philosophy and religion.
Arrogance might be a term that comes to mind.
Meeting with other people is not just about what they get from you… but on what the whole group gets from the interaction. Perhaps you see that differently.
Hey… you put the question out there…
Michael
With me it depends upon the situation. If someone comes all the way to Japan and wants to take me to lunch, then I gladly accommodate them. Of course, I don’t get inundated like you do because of my location.
However, if the lunch is meant as a meeting to pick my brain, I would charge for it. It no longer is lunch then. It is work.
Hey Perry,
I have to confess that I tend to avoid these “hey comment on what I said” kind of things because they are typically just gush fests — and that doesn’t really help anyone. Yes, we all love and respect you, yadda yadda yadda. And besides, when a guy in your position asks for posts to his blog, he’s going to get so many of them that he *probably* won’t actually read a large percentage of them, particularly if his time is as valuable and rare as you portray yours to be in your response to Dennis (which I have no reason to think isn’t true). But then, am I actually telling YOU what I think, or am I just taking part in a “instance of marketing”? Well, certainly the latter, maybe the former, who knows? You are good at what you do, and what we’re all participating in right now is… what to call it? “The Digital Theater of Marketing” or something like that. Anyway…
I WILL respond to this little dialogue or spat or whatever you want to call it by saying that I learned a great lesson from you the other day on the Infusionsoft call, when you said the thing about there being $10/hour, $100/hour and $1,000/hour tasks in any business and that our job as successful entrepreneurs is to be aware of which ones are which and make choices from there (as opposed to how most of us – myself included – have a tendency to do it). That was a really valuable lesson that has had a big impact — even just 48 hours later — on how I’m thinking about my business and, specifically, my time. The point is, we all have very little time, really, so how do we want to spend it? I don’t believe in over-scheduling and I think rigidity in our use of time makes us less able to be open to and learn from the weird and wonderful curve balls that life continues to throw our way (whether it’s talking to a stranger who stops by to sell you magazines at your house or someone you meet at a bar). But I also have needed to see more clearly the difference between doing what I WANT and LIKE to do (and therefore what has value to me) and what I do just because it’s in front of me and “needs to get done.” And besides, doing all that $10/hour crap not only takes time out of my day that I could use having philosophical conversations with little old ladies walking their dogs in my neighborhood (or whatever), but it also effectively takes money out of the pockets of people here and abroad who would LOVE to have the opportunity to make $10/hour!
Happy TG, etc. Thanks for the food for thought!
-David
Not sure where Dennis is coming from. The “G” word is an awfully broad brush to stroke with because he doesn’t agree with Perry’s “no-free-lunch” practice.
That said, I thought Perry’s response was about twice as long as it needed to be to get the point across. The rest of the note was emotional–and I suspect that is why some perceive arrogance. Perry could also run a bit too close to “object-too-much” territory. If you know what I mean.
I also questioned the value of making this public, when it came to me that this is likely another example of “free” advice. The admonishment for those of us who set our feet somewhere on “Planet Perry” is to mindful of how we steward our time.
That point is not lost on me–as someone who only recently learned to say “no” every now and then. :)
That said, I would have framed my response to Dennis a little differently.
“Sorry you don’t agree with my practice of not giving away my time . . . Although to make the accusation that I’m greedy is–at best–hasty. If you would care to understand my reasons for such a policy, here they are . . .
To sum, my practice of not giving away my time is a reflection of my wish to be fair to my clients, do the most good for as many people as I can, while balancing the significant demands for my time.
Perhaps upon reflection, you may come to recognize the value of my policy to not only the people who do pay for my time, but also those who would ask for it for free.
All the best,”
Of course, that’s just my opinion.
I might be wrong
I agree with both Denis & yourself Perry, however I belive you are rationlizing yourself on the merry path to self obsorbed hell. Hey go ahead make people pay, but if its just lunch get them to make a donation to a charity as most well respected mentors do. Want lunch with Warren Buffet, sure it’ll cost you around $150,000 BUT all the money goes to a charity not 1 dime to Mr Buffet. Tell me this aint a brilliant plan, gets the buyer to be serious as they paid for your time, plus it actully builds some valuable PR which every half assed internet marketer could do with. So my question to you Perry is this. Are you greedy or smart?
When you subtract people that:
don’t take consistent action
are not bright enough
lacking sufficient experience
don’t have the right mix of talents
have insufficient resources
you are left with about 1 person in 2000.
There is much greater profit in just selling what works rather than dragging someone across the finish line.
I’ve done free coaching, I’ve done paid coaching, the more you charge, the higher quality people you get, the more likely they are to take action, they are usually in a better position to benefit from good direction.
Perry,
I’ve been getting your newsletters now for a few weeks and read most of them. I read through the email from Dennis and your response and I am left wondering what your point was in sending out the email in the first place. What were we supposed to get from this? That your time is valuable? I would prefer that in the future, you just send emails to me that have something to do with AdWords or marketing in general. I already know your time is valuable. Mine is too.
Thanks-
It sounds like Dennis is playing the ‘blame game’ As I’ve followed you for a while, I can attest first hand to the valuable info you dole out for free.
If everyone that was in a ‘for profit business’ gave out everything they know for free…well in no time they have no business.
Isn’t Perry just teaching us a *lesson* about positioning, about knowing what you’re worth and creating enough value to justify what you charge? While not giving in to special situations or exceptions without due thought?
The people who can’t imagine charging clients for lunch are often (not always) the same people who wonder why they can’t get their clients to pay for their time, or why they’re always giving out “free consultations” to prospects who never pay them a dime.
Perry –
I’m a consultant and I too get sick of people wanting to “chat”, or “take me to coffee or lunch or a cocktail” and “pick my brain.” I am amazed at their audacity in telling me that is their intention.
I help authors publish their books in a highly customized, and thus, high maintenance way. Each and every day, I give away a half hour to this person or an hour to that person for a first consultation… then, invariably, I endure days and days of questions and phone calls and e-mails and materials they send for my review.
I work 12 hours a day actually performing the tasks of publishing books for incredibly brilliant, authors who have paid for my services and actually want to start a micro publishing business. And by the way, they expect to use that advice to make enough money in their publishing/speaking venture to pay their own bills and pave the way to their own dreams. I love helping them see their way to those dreams, as I’m sure you do.
Isn’t making more money or being more successful ultimately the reason people seek the advice of consultants? Why is it fair for others to ask for it for free? At what point do the freebie seekers expect to start paying for advice? Isn’t asking for advice a form of product or business development — just like education, training, licensing, testing, etc.? If you were going to a product design firm to help you design a prototype for a new flashlight, you would expect to pay them for their advice and guidance.
For those of you who don’t understand the life of a consultant. Let’s drill down. You own a store. You have 1440 widgets in total inventory. You want to devote 240 of those widgets to something you cared about deeply, 390 additional widgets were useless because you were just too tired to use them, and 50 of them were wasted while you were driving, 40 of the widgets went bad while you were answering an e-mail about some greedy person you don’t even know, 240 widgets were not usable because you were working on something else instead of selling those widgets, another 60 widgets spoiled while you were making sure your widgets were the most up to date and helpful widgets available… and finally you gave away 60 nice shiny widgets each and every day – Now your initial inventory just went from 1440 items to 360 widgets you can actually sell. Oh, and by the way, those 360 expire at the end of each day.
This is the life of a consultant who sells their minutes. There are 1440 “widgets” or minutes in a day. No more, no less. You can’t manufacture more, you can’t save costs on them, you can’t return them if they are defective, you can’t offshore them.
Way to go Perry – Stay strong and stick up for those of us who have a perishable inventory that greedy pilferers don’t appreciate. However, next time, maybe, don’t let it build up to where you just have to let it all loose on one poor guy – I’m sure all those other “askers” added to this frustration and Dennis alone didn’t warrant all of the blame! No matter how bad he spelt thangs.
Perry,
your evil clearly knows no bounds. Fancy not being able to spare a few crumbs of wisdom from the table of your good fortune.
A more charitable heart would have compassionately embraced this poor beast and his pathetic 6 figure income.
One of the circles of Hell is reserved for online marketers just like you. It’s a place of restrictively high bid prices, terminally low CTR’s and obnoxious, time-wasting, freebie-clawing, serial unsubscribers.
Shame on you.
Simon Strachan
Perry,
At first I could understand where the other guy was coming from, but when I read your response I recognized that you are totally right!
Also, I can’t think of a better way to use your money than to help AIDS orphans in Africa! That is WAY cool. We need much more of that kind of thing. Continue to stay humble, teachable, and a good steward of your time. Thanks for all of the knowledge you’ve already shared!!
Eddie
While I see the point of both parties, I would love to see someone who is so sure of their process that they would be willing to say, “I will help you make money on line, and all you have to do is pay me half of what you make for the next year.”
That way, if the system is really that good, you get to not only prove it, but also anyone can do it since they don’t have to come up with some exuberant fee from the start.
Well, that is just my rant. :-)
Neal
I suspect that Dennis had built up some kind of a relationship before he asked someone to lunch to pick their brains.
There’s a difference in taking a friend or acquaintance to lunch and expecting someone you’ve just heard give a presentation to sit sown and give you a side of free advice with your lunch.
For someone who is not already a client of yours to expect such is crazy. He sounds like he tries to get as much free advice from as many people as he can. Good job.
Hello Perry,
I just want to say I was at that meeting in Chicago where you provided tremendous value for everyone that attended that evening.
In fact you went way over the stated time frame by several hours. (I hope your wife did not send you to the dog house that night).
And this was all done at no additional charge to any one who chose to stay and receive further insights from you.
I just want to say that I was very blessed that night by all the great content you provided!
I stayed till the very end of the session and I had a long ride home that night. As I was driving home I thanked God that I had the pleasure to sit in and hear you live.
It was such a joy to meet someone in the internet world who operates out of a high level of honesty and integrity!!
Keep up the great work that you do! Thanks for over delivering not only that night but all the information that you provide on a regular basis.
Praying that your business will increase a thousand fold so you can bless even more aids orphans!
You, your family and all your readers have a blessed Thanksgiving holiday!
Ron
WOW! What a hornets nest of reaction!
I am a great believer in the fact the market decides whether someone is value for money or not, If you are too expensive then your business will dry up despite the best marketing. Perry is obviously very good at what he does and the market also agrees. Perry is number one in his field. Consider for a moment if you were the number 1 brain surgeon in the World what would you charge? Would you do a few operations for free at lunchtime? mmmm
I am sure though that if you became aware of an orphan who had a month to live in a third world country whose plight was so special and heartbreaking you would help, although you may not crave publicity, the reward would be beyond money.
Reading between the lines I think Perry does his bit for humanity whilst remaining a successful business man and doing his best for his family.
Keeping ones humility whilst doing all this is the secret to real happiness.
As for Dennis, you are the customer and you are free to walk away and buy elsewhere but i guess you will keep coming back and looking in this shop window and wondering what if i had ?????
Andrew
England.
PS I don’t know Perry and have never met him…yet anyway but i am just starting his book and enjoy the mails i get and am new to web marketing. If you really read the mails and think about them we have all had a free lunch already, or was that just an appertiser and the main meal is to come?
PPS no one please pick up on my spelling as we only use the Queens English here which is sometimes different from yours.
Perry, you definitely caused quite a stir with this one. lol
I’ve been on your list for nearly 3 and 1/2 years, and that’s the longest period of time I’ve been on any list.
You consistently give free, valuable information, and I am sincerely grateful.
I can understand why you feel the way you do about this and I can respect that.
What I don’t understand is why this had to be posted for everyone to see.
I don’t agree with Dennis at all, with how he perceived you to be. I would think that if I consistently made over 100k per year, as Dennis stated he does, then he surely could afford to set up an appointment with you for the $725 per hour fee. So who is being greedy Dennis? Perry doesn’t owe you anything, does he?
Perry, I would like to be in your position, financially, just to have this problem, or can you even call this a problem?
Go back a few years when you were still in “Dilberts Cube,” how would you have reacted to the situation at that time?
Anyway… this should have been kept between Perry and Dennis.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone,
Randy
Back in the day, when Dennis was young and beautiful, gasoline cost maybe 25 cents a gallon; a street car ride cost 5 cents; an ice cream cone cost 5 cents. Today, gas costs up to $4.00 a gallon; there are no street cars, and an ice cream cone can cost $5.00. Older people have trouble adapting to this price increase. A $28,000 house built in 1956 now sells for $450,000. Wow. That is a stretch. Older people get angry about this enormous increase in cost and vent their rage in different ways. A $700 consultation is about worth $70 in 1956. So what is the big deal? Dennis, $100,000 is worth about $10,000 back in 1956. So you better take and apply what you get from Perry so you can make $500,000 a year and not be so pinched for money. Regards, Monte
We have been subscribing to Perry’s methods for some time now and we can assure everyone that Perry is not charging enough!
Cheers
Gift Vouchers Australia
http://www.adrenalin.com.au
Perry, you are ethically and morally justified in charging a fee for your time. From experience, I can honestly say that people who want your time for free don’t value it, and those who are willing to pay for it get the most out of it. By giving away your time to those who are least likely to benefit from it, you would be squandering the only resource you have that cannot be increased or replaced. Kudos to you for valuing your own time and knowledge.
Perry
Time is money but courtesy is free.
Did you have to be so rude?
We do not need arrogance to improve this world. It was also unkind to post that message with the spelling errors, as if to belittle your correspondent.
In my career I’ve met leading physicians, scientists and politicians from around the world and the most accomplished among them were also the most modest. Your work is valuable and has helped me progress – but stop taking yourself so seriously.
Thank you for the emails you send to me. I have a few comments on the letter and the events surrounding it. First off, sometimes it is not what we say that is wrong, but how we say it. Obviously, the man hit a nerve. I think you need to go over the conversation and find a better wording for your response. I understand that your time is valuable and you should not be expected to give it away. Again, I truly believe it was your cocky response the man was responding to. Second, someone who writes an email and doesn’t proof read it, has a problem. That is not very professional. The man should be very embarrassed at that. Third, in you letter you mentioned AIDS orphans in Africa. That is very sad. Why don’t people mention our own children in foster care here who are either orphans or whose parents are in jail or drug users? What about our school teachers who have to buy supplies for their classrooms because of budget cuts, or all the citizens who cannot get medical care? Anyway, that comment of yours hit my nerve. Why can’t we take care of our country also? It is no one’s business what you do with your money, but you brought it up. Sorry – I think I got off the subject. I am just surprised that someone as important as you believe you are took the time to respond to the man let alone ask your readers to give you their opinion. This must be costing you a lot of time and a lot of money!
I am really missing the point of this posting unless the message is that any criticism will be met with complete self-righteous logic. My experience is that if something really triggers me, chances are there is something for me to look at.
HI Perry I have read the letter from Dennis and most of your response. So far I have not purchased anything from you but each week or so I get emails from you with bits of FREE information. I understand you are practicing Attraction Marketing and that as you have such a large list you have worked very hard and spent lots of your time and money to build your business.
Even though I think you did not have to justify not going to lunch or even that you said anything about your hourly rate. I liked your response. Also this is a very reasonable rate for someone with your high level of knowledge.
First and foremost at an event you are running your business and rightly so you are there to earn a living for yourself and your family.Why should some who could get close enough to you to invite you to lunch be able to put themselves in a position to get more information and FREE information then the other probably hundreds who have possibly scraped together the money to attend the event.
Perry you have every right to value your own time.
Blessings Jenny
Perry,
I’ve read a few of your emails and, quite frankly, I can say that you are a good communicator, straight forward and a straight shooter.
I suggest that if ever this ranting rebel Dennis contacts you again, just say:
Your invitation will cost you: $5.00
My time: $720.00 per hour
And say no more.
All the best,
Art