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Writer's pictureJohn Brandt

I. Am. Seething.

I want to thank the same Gen X Marketer I warned you about a couple of days ago. While she is the absolute worst “marketer” I have ever worked with, she did help me turn into the Hulk today, and I’m seeing red everywhere. 


Here’s what happened: 


Last week, we were supposed to have a meeting with her tech guy to solve the Zapier problem we’re having. She told me she’d send a Zoom link around the time of our meeting. Well, after waiting around for hours (I finished my day early, but the meeting was scheduled for 6 pm), 6 pm comes and passes without a Zoom link. 


I tell Peanut this, and we decide to go get dinner instead of waiting around any longer for a meeting that shouldn’t even have to be a meeting if she was good at her job. 


Peanut and I leave. And while we’re on the way to dinner, I get a Slack notification with the Zoom link. 


I told her that I have already left for dinner since the Zoom link wasn’t sent on time. And I woke up today to find her blaming me instead of herself for my missing the meeting (when I was ready and prepared at 6 pm, unlike she was). 


If she was my client (instead of simply someone I’m forced to work with on behalf of my client), I would’ve fired her. 


There are a few reasons why I bore you with this story yet again: 


First, anger is the most potent productivity hack, if you lean into it instead of shying away from it (something most people do because anger is usually considered a negative emotion). It isn’t always negative, and I’m gonna get twice as much done today as I would’ve if I wasn’t seething. 


Second, having basic professionalism is something that most freelancers and agencies lack. This grinds my gears as I know it grinds the gears of biz owners who have got “got” from freelancers and agencies before. But I don’t play these games. If you’re 5 minutes late for sending a link you promised to send before the call, then, you can’t blame me if I have other plans. I became a freelancer, in part, so I could control my own schedule. I’m willing to meet any client at almost any time, but if you don’t respect my time, I’m not gonna respect yours. 


Third, there’s no bigger red flag than blaming everyone else for your mistakes.


And fourth, if you’re a freelancer making these same mistakes in your client relationships, be prepared to be fired. If you’re a biz owner on the other side of a relationship like this, cut ties with them as soon as possible. While anger is a potent productivity hack, it’s a short-term hack that could have devastating consequences over a longer period of time. 


There are plenty of good freelancers and agencies out there (even if there aren’t as many of us good’n’s as there are of bad’n’s).


Anywho:


If you’d like to leverage email to double, triple, or even quadruple your biz by this time next year, hit reply and let’s chat.


John

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