Few days back I was on an exploratory call with an entrepreneur to write a book on them. After talking for almost an hour, he asked my rates for that call, and transferred the money.
I, of course, did not say no, because he offered he was being professional.
Mind you, this was an exploratory call. Not a professional call.
This reminds me of a totally different experience. A paid client of mine took me out of business on the day something I wrote from them got them viral (and featured on media) for the first time. That also happened to be the day I gave them a strategy of how we would go about doing the business.
I have never worked professionally with the first person after that. But I respect them immensely, for being a professional. The second person has referred me (as he claims to) at multiple places, but deep down I do not want his referrals. Not because I am egoistic (the world is small, you can’t let your emotions in the moment drive your business), but because the level of our referrals is the level of who we are. And I am unwilling to engage with unprofessional people.
There is nothing as joyful as giving people their due.
Fun fact: The first person also referred to me someone else (who is as credible as him) even though I didn’t ask them to. And the referral has been one of the people I am learning the most from.
