The funny thing is, having met her a handful of times, something always felt off about her. Maybe it was because each time I see her she has a totally different look, so it's hard to maintain a mental image of who she is. But I think it's that I sensed the narcissistic control freak hidden beneath the every-changing facade.

Wendy, you seem to be having an alphabet attack. 🙂

Careful of that one, Paula. I know someone who has new businesses and partners every few years because he scams them and runs.

You must be dying to do that project, Jake. LOL I don't blame you. Unless he pays upfront, no way.

So now, he has the cojones to email me and ask for help with a end-of-week deadline project? Sorry, sir, you'll need to queue up behind 1) re-sorting my sock drawer, 2) adopting a cat and giving it a bath, and 3) cleaning the lint out from behind the dryer.

My most recent lost cause is one of those casual-friend-twice-removed deals. This woman I know through someone else is a self-styled CEO. Yeah – a wealthy suburbanite who starts a new business every few years and names herself the CEO or president. (Sometimes her husband is an officer, too.) Even after speaking with her, I can't decipher what she actually DOES. She "facilitates," "troubleshoots" and "manages" … but she has no employees to manage. Who are her clients? I don't think she even knows. It's impossible to write anything of substance when there is no substance to begin with. She wants to position herself or her company as an "expert in the field" but can't clearly define what that field is. It's like she wants to be everything to everyone, to "leverage" her "platform" (or something like that. I'm not fluent in businessese).

I tried. I really did. She ceased communication. The third party told me she'd been "disappointed" in what I'd come up with because it didn't sound like her. I know it was unprofessional of me, but I told the third party, "That was the point, since she sounds like a rich, controlling, untalented narcissist!"

Hope the surgery goes smoothly and you're 100% again soon, Lori!

I've had several people seem extremely interested during their free consultation, promising to send outlines of what they want and we'll get started this week, blah blah blah. Then I never hear back. Even people that were OK with the price and had seen my work (which is why they contacted me in the first place).

I follow up a couple of times, but I try not to waste too much time on it because it's a lost cause. If things change in the future, maybe they'll get in touch again. If not, I can't waste precious marketing or writing time on them if they decide they aren't ready after all.