Earlier this week I received a request from someone who wanted us to write on “negging”. I of course had no idea what this was but my gut told me it was unpleasant. A quick Google and I had my answer. (It’s essentially playing on the insecurities of women with the goal of getting laid – ick) I promptly sent an email response back to this person and informed him that we were not the right company for him as we did not write on this topic.
He immediately responded and asked that we compromise and perhaps he wouldn’t make the articles so difficult to write. WTF?! I wrote back and said it wasn’t the difficulty it was the subject matter and good luck.
The next day the same guy sends us another request for content on building sexual tension. Now that’s vague enough that I figured we could follow our normal protocol and quote general rates and ask him to fill out a questionnaire. I felt safe in that decision because if in his answers he detailed his needs better then we could determine if it was a topic we felt okay writing on. I have no qualms about writing about sex but do in fact object whole heartedly to any type of manipulation in the effort to get laid – sorry guys.
Based on his answers to the questions, he was in fact looking for more pick up chicks types of articles. I once again sent him a response that more bluntly informed him that we are a female owned and operated business and could not produce unbiased content for him. I told him we do not write any content on how to pick up women and assumed that would be the end of it.
It’s now Friday morning and here he is again with the same inane compromise offered up earlier in the week. He wants to compromise and not make the topics so difficult to write but the subject matter is to remain the same. Beyond screaming in my living room -WE DON”T WRITE ON HOW TO PICK UP WOMEN!!!! I’m unsure how to get the message across without being *&^&%$# rude.
So…what would you do? Ignore the compromise? Send back yet another email that says a version of the same thing I’ve already told him ad nauseum?
I’m pulling my hair out a bit on this one…
Posted under Freelance lifestlye
This post was written by ambcreative on February 20, 2009
I don’t think your have any further reason to communicate with this guy.
He’s asked, you’ve answered. At this point, anything more is spam.
I’d add his address to your blocked-senders list and forget about him.
Good Luck!
-Perry
Hi Perry,
Thank you for your response. You’re right, we should block him from the email and I’ve started measures to make it happen – we actually need to block him from several company email addresses.
Now I am ruminating on why I (and probably most women) feel the need to respond and to be polite about it. Fear of confrontation?!
Or you could tell him:
Sure, we’ll do it. But the rate is one MILLION dollars per article.
Paid in advance, of course.
I think saying no is such a foreign thing for most people in today’s society. You make excuses. You give reasons. But a simple no is uncomfortable. I’ve been practicing for several years now, and I find that it comes easier with time.
“Just Say NO.”