I get a LOT of calls from people who want to start their own magazines and small businesses. At first, being the philanthropist that I have been, I gave a lot of information away, then I thought about the times, I almost lost it when I completely finid an entire magazine on my computer and the computer crad and I lost 32 pages. The printers I have dealt with over the years, employees, tips and tricks, advertising etc and I realized, after 12 years, I am a pro at this now. Yesterday, a brother called me here in Atlanta and complimented me on my magazine achievements (I have more magazines than The Industry Dot Biz) and he followed that with, he and a group of business partners were about to start their own magazine and they wanted to get some tips from me. WRONG! He wants me to consult them for free… I now have a rule. I will meet with you and your business partners and I will answer all of your questions for 1 hour for a fee. Considering I could save you thousands in costs, headaches and help you cut corners that fee is a minor investment TRUST ME. I have also found that the way you start off is how you end up. If you start off doing it for free you will never stop working for that person and they will call you for everything. You can usually tell who is serious if they call you back but a woman told me in the beginning of doing Radio Facts, if you give your business away for free, clients will never see the value and they will never want to pay for it. If you specialize in something and people come to you for advice, you also need to be charging them a fee for the information.
