You deserve awesomization.

Why I’ll never say I’m booked

sparkyfirepants | February 1st, 2010

I’m writing this in the middle of crazy. Overflowing, messy desk. Full calendar, tax prepping, phone call at eleven, the baby just fell off his motorcycle, what-do-you-mean-the-washer-is-flooding-my-office… crazy.

So I’m really busy. Really really.

With all the new relationships I’ve made over the past few months, old relationships that are being refreshed, and partly due to my mid-January Special I’ve started off 2010 with an avalanche of new business. It’s the dream, right? When things are slow, I see posts on twitter about how busy someone else is and I have pangs of envy. Hey, can I be busy, too? How did they do that?

One thing I’ve seen a lot of lately is service providers who bill themselves as “booked.”

“Sorry, I’m booked.”

“Booked until August.”

“No inquiries, please. You should have hired me before I was internet famous. Now I can’t possibly help you.”

I’m helping a very large number of people right now. I’m slammed, my calendar is full this month. Yet I refuse to say “I’m booked.” You won’t get me to say it, even with Hershey bars and nylons. Last week a client called and asked if I was available. Staring down my calendar, without hesitation, I answered, “Of course. What do you need?”

Am I stupid? Insane? Is it that I just don’t care about work/life balance? Gee, maybe I’m not “doing it right.” Well, I’m definitely not worried about that, since I’m the one who decides how to do this anyway.

Sorry we’re closed!

Wouldn’t it suck if you went to your favorite coffee shop on a Tuesday morning and you found a locked door and a sign that said, “We’re sorry. See all these people in here enjoying hot beverages and free wi-fi? That’s about all we can manage for now. Please come back in March.”

There’s a jazz club in New York City called Smalls. They’re not kidding, either. It’s a tiny basement of a place. The first time I went, my friends and I waited in a line that stretched the whole block. Whenever someone left, the dude at the door let an equal number of people in.

I wondered what would happen if they just locked the door at capacity and said, “We’re full.” After a few nights of finding this sign, how many people would keep trying? Would they just find another jazz club? You can only trudge out in a cold drizzle so many nights before finding a place with jazz that maybe isn’t so great but is… open. And warm. With drinks.

Creating Demand

Ever heard that before? If a service provider says they’re booked, they’re creating scarcity and demand. Bully, but I still need help. I needed your particular brand of help. You know, the kind you’ve posted all the testimonials about and described in great detail, which sucked me up like a spider in a vacuum but… you’re booked.

I still need help.

I know you have twelve kids. I know your husband can’t do his own laundry, or your wife wants “hubby time” tonight. I know you’re internet famous and your email is just overflowing with love, appreciation, sex offers, and insults you have to try and ignore, but…

…wait. Why are you posting cute Elmo videos on twitter? I thought you were busy.

Anyway, the Elmo video was a hoot, but I still need help.

So you’ve created demand. Awesome. Now what? Do you just sit back on the couch and enjoy the demand? How does this work exactly? Do you earn 3.5% interest on all that demand? What are you doing with my demand? I demand to know.

Quantity vs Quality

Okay, I admit it. There are only 24 hours in a day in my universe, too. So I fit in as much work as I can, spend time with my family, fix the washing machine, blah blah blah. I fit sleep and yoga in there somewhere.

I run a creative business. My entire job relies on me being creative and whimsical. If I don’t get rest, if I don’t have times during the day where I’m working out “Eleanor Rigby” on guitar or enjoying some tea and biscuits, my creativity is going to die like, well, Eleanor Rigby.

I can only work on so many projects in a day and still do my best work, it’s true. I’m a one-human shop so I’m limited by that pesky thing called time. I envy robots, who don’t have to stare at iCal when they talk to a client about deadlines. “You need it in the morning? Beep. Whhirrr. Shhhhhh-pop! It’s done.” No loss in quality, either! Creativity… another story).

It’s important that I’m able to set realistic deadlines with my clients. I would rather deliver a proof early than send a “Sorry, but…” email. Of course. But quality and creativity over time, every time.

So sometimes we’ll need to set a longer deadline to make sure it comes out as good as it possibly can. But that means I have to keep myself open for the discussion, right?

Missed Opportunities

There’s a big difference between announcing to the world, “I’m booked” and turning down a project after you’ve heard the deadline. Saying, “I’m booked” is locking your door until August. Then what? You open the door, peer out and wonder aloud, “Where did everybody go? I’m ready now. Heeeeyyyyyyyyy!”

What does it cost to listen? How much time does it take to let someone in your shop (figuratively speaking) and ask you for help?

Besides, when you hang that cute little “Shut” sign on your door, you’re missing an opportunity to build new relationships. Say you’ve taken on as many projects as you can handle for the month without affecting quality. Someone makes an inquiry. Consider two scenarios:

A. They won’t even be ready for you until August. They just want to secure your services for later in the year.

B. They need it asap. You could refer someone else, which means you not only helped a client, you helped a fellow service provider who will now be looking for a way to scratch your back when the opportunity comes around.

I think it costs a lot more to lock the door.

Busy, but not Booked

So, yep. I’m crazy busy. Am I booked? Never. I am never booked. Please call, please write, please ask. I know there’s something I can do to help you.

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Posted in: sparkyfirepants Comments
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  • sexynomad
    This post came at the right time for me. I work 20 hours a day, I got personal projects that need attending and my agent has just called me for a go-see tomorrow. Argh! I am fully booked! But okay, I get it. This article is indeed a big light upon my dark clouds. Thanks for a great post!

    Jen Adams Juan
  • kiran
    lovely post!!!!
  • reese
    Hey Mr. Pants,

    You gave me a lot of good food for thought both here and in your follow up piece. I admire the heck out of you and think you made great points here.

    When I put up our booked sign late last year, it was a reflection of being slammed. Our work/life balance was off kilter, and the time spent just managing inquiries was taking time away from our current clients. I knew I needed a break, and kind of like what Charlie alluded to--that break helped put up a boundary so I could get myself re-aligned.

    I think boundaries are important, and each of us can only define for ourselves and our businesses what that means. Your goals and boundaries are bound (ha!) to differ from mine or anyone else's here :)

    What helped me here was seeing that the semantics I used may have inadvertently made us look like we were forcing scarcity or don't want to help people. And those are two things I absolutely don't want to come across. Your entry here helped me finesse my wording a bit to be more welcoming.

    I can't help everyone. None of us can. But I think we're all interested in doing the best job we can for the people we do work with. For me, letting people know, realistically, our available openings for new work leaves enough time and energy on the table for me to do the very best job for the folks whose projects are currently in progress.

    Thanks very much for this. I appreciate very much thought-provoking pieces like this.
  • yolandafacio
    I know the 'booked' feeling well. Being heavily involved with three businesses will do it to you. Mostly I feel mentally 'booked'..."mooked" really. (My own new word)

    Now, there are times when I am booked for one of my businesses but I don't hang a sign out front and I don't think you need to. And I think you are getting to this Mr. Pants... and that is... while I am booked I may not be booked solid right? So I take the call and feel the customer out, some times they really can wait a bit and sometime not. For emergency situations I do my best to move things around and non-emergency situations I work out what will work best for the customer. Rarely does it not work out. But then I'm willing to work til 3:am if necessary to make it work out.

    So using the idea of 'booked' to create scarcity isn't a bad idea, people want to work with people who are busy...it adds to the idea that they must be good. No one generally goes to the restaurant without cars in the parking lot...

    Best advice is to help everyone you can in every way you can and when you can't let 'em know. And I agree that advertising 'booked' might not be the best strategy!
  • As someone who spends most of his days embroiled in semantics, I think how we talk to ourselves and each other is of the utmost importance. You knew that, didn't you! (Reply baiter! ;p)

    "So you're booked in the sense that you can't do a session, but you're free in that you acknowledge a person's needs and presence. Important thing, acknowledgement. It's amazing how much the smallest bit makes people feel awesome."

    It's amazing, indeed. This is the thought that really sums up so much of our funk around "booked."
  • I have another thought about this to add. Not saying we do this, but what about when you use it as a filter? Kind of like, I only want to work with people who are willing and motivated enough to wait to work with me.

    It does demonstrate the motivation of the client and how much they'd like to work with you in particular and would help filter out tire kickers.
  • @Mary - Thanks! Definitely something I need to think. I wonder if more explanation would be sufficient such as. We are available to start new projects in April and would love to hear about yours or something...
  • I read that post from Marissa the other day and it made me think a lot too. I often say, "I'll get to it first chance I get." to clients because I want them to know that their stuff is important to me even if I can't get to it right away. But, it is often followed with more requests and creates that expectation that it'll be sooner rather than later. I'd be lying if I said it doesn't stress me out.

    I am good though at setting boundaries. I (almost) never answer work emails in the evenings or weekends. We need space for personal stuff too. And sometimes I am working during those hours, but that doesn't mean I want to or can answer requests at those times.
  • Excellent post David! As one of the people who contributed to your busy, I'm thrilled that you let us into your world of awesomeness. And by being upfront and saying you're busy, people will know that they'll likely have to wait a little bit longer for something. Just like seeing the line out the club door - those who really want 'in' will wait.

    @naomi While I understand the logic behind posting availability, I do think it's a bit of a turn-off. It could be that you might be able to squeeze in a small project if it makes your heart sing, or that you could give someone some interim suggestions. I think posting a date blocks some of those possibilities.
  • @Naomi: It's a funny thing, posting the availability. I mentioned in my comment to Charlie that I considered doing that myself before I wrote this post.

    Marissa Bracke had a great post on Perpetual Availability:

    http://marissabracke.com/the-danger-of-perpetua...

    She was spot-on and I had to rethink my own constant availability. So I don't check emails on certain days or after certain times. I could really go insane and my family would suffer. Is this why I went into business for myself?

    So managing my availability in a way that addresses people's needs and allows me to keep my sanity is something I have to practice. More. Practice.. more. ;)

    It's just that word, "booked." It troubles me.
  • @Charlie Yes, I totally get the framework of "booked." I understand why people do that and the ironic part is that I was about to do it for myself before I wrote this post... whence it came (I probably should have written about that).

    It sounds like semantics, right? You're either booked or not, and even if you call it "busy," there's still a limit.

    Acknowledging that you're full to capacity is being honest with yourself. Good thing for you, good thing for the people you're helping.

    If you're answering email and referring people to resources like a forum or ebook when you just can't fit another session into your week, then you're still helping. Busy, but helping in the best way you can.

    So you're booked in the sense that you can't do a session, but you're free in that you acknowledge a person's needs and presence. Important thing, acknowledgement. It's amazing how much the smallest bit makes people feel awesome.

    If I hang a "Booked" sign on my door (site), I feel that I'm sending a message that I can't be bothered to even acknowledge people who need my help.

    Your point is excellent; recognizing that you're at capacity is key to doing good work in the long run. So unfortunately, sometimes I have to say, "I'm sorry, I can't work on your thing until... However, if you need it sooner, you should talk to my friend... or meantime, you can do this..."

    "Uncle Ernie, Auntie Jin... open the door... and let 'em in."
  • I'm glad to hear you're busy, but I do wonder about the whole "booked" thing. It really does depend on your business model.

    For instance, as I coach, I really am booked - given that I can only serve a set number of people to the level that they deserve and that coaching calls take time, I can't work my voice mojo right now.

    On another level, I'm not booked. People write me all the time, and I help them via email every day. They need a type of my help, but I can't give them my best help right now.

    The problem I've seen a lot of my friends and clients fall into is that they don't recognize that they're over-capacity and their work is suffering until it's too late. And once they've over-committed on one deadline, the domino effect happens - one "sorry" email becomes three, and then overwhelm and stress kick in.

    You might be able to handle that, Mr. Pants. Others need to find a way to say "I'd love to help you, but I can't right now." "Booked" gives them a framework to say that.

    What I do love, though, is your commentary about how "busy" people are while they're posting stuff on Twitter. And since I'm just as guilty of that - or leaving blog comments when I should be writing - I suppose I should go re-prioritize.

    Keep doing awesome stuff. And please make time for guitar noodling.
  • Great article! I'll retweet even though I'm seriously booked ...
  • Hmmm. We're got our availability stated on our website, but I wonder if it's offputting now that you mention it. I still talk to potential clients about their projects, but would like a way to let them know that we can't start on their project until a certain date.

    We're at the point where we need to, especially for larger projects because we can't squeeze them in here and there like you can do often with small things.

    I'm going to have to think about if it needs a little more explanation than what we have right now. Thanks for the food for thought!
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