Great read with some tangable actions steps to "saying no".

Jeff, have you ever used the Clarity tool he talks about? http://clarity.fm/

He was looking for a solution that:

1. Keep all meetings as short and efficient as possible. An hour into many coffee meetings, no specific request has been made.
2. Eliminate all unnecessary components. The travel time to and from the coffee shop doesn’t help anyone.
3. Filter those who really want advice from those who just wanted to meet me. Lots of people are happy to buy a coffee for the chance to get to know you.
4. Seamless scheduling. The back and forth scheduling often takes as long as the meeting itself.
5. Seamless payment and collection. No invoices. No contracts. No hassle.

I'm still not sure that limiting advice to those willing to pay is a good strategy.

This is a good script:

Hey (name),

Thanks for reaching out. I’d love to help but I’m really focused on building my startup Spindows right now.

If you want, feel free to book a phone call with me via my Clarity profile. There is a per-minute charge that I donate to charity: water to help them bring clean water to people who need it.

Thanks.

- Clay

are you going to sign up for this Grand Panda?  

Thanks for sharing this article Jeff. I love it, and I completely get Clarity in a new way now.