Comments on: Odd Jobs

By: writtenexpressions

writtenexpressions — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 19:41:00 +0000

#4 sounds suspiciously like an offer I received once . . . he wanted to pay me via his bank’s online billpay system, and insisted that he needed my account and routing number to make the payments. I know better, and told him he could just sign me up as a vendor with my business name and address, and his bank would cut me an actual check.

By: Kirk Petersen

Kirk Petersen — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 23:18:00 +0000

Thanks for the plug, amiga :)

Now you've got me thinking about other fun assignment stories. A client asked me if I could write a business plan for them. "Of course!", I said... the standard consultant response to any question of the form "can you help me with _____."

As the words were coming out of my mouth, it occurred to me that not only had I never written a business plan -- I had never READ one. (The client was a friend, so I disclosed this -- thereby violating the consulting Prime Directive.)

My research assistant (Mr. Google) quickly discovered that the federal Small Business Administration has a foolproof recipe for how to bake a business plan.

Copy and paste section headers, sprinkle liberally with specifics, and microwave until hot. The client was thrilled with the result.

By: Kimberly Ben

Kimberly Ben — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:37:00 +0000

Okay, my weird story pales in comparison, but I had a client this summer bragging about being a millionaire ask me to not nly handle all of his blog posts and marketing material, but run his blog radio program as well for a rate that only a college intern working for a grade and the hands on experience could appreciate. I immediately broke it off.