One of the things I love about having this blog is that smart people come and talk to me. Check out the comments there.

I've also had some interesting comments in email and on Twitter about this post and the idea of saying you're booked. There's been some confusion about my message. This is, of course, my fault since I'm the one who wrote the damn thing and wasn't clear enough.

Apparently it sounded a lot like I was saying that even when you're busy, you should take on more work. It may have sounded like I was saying that even though I'm really busy, I can handle it and you can't – you lame excuses for productivity, you.

Negatory, Good People. Nope-ity nope-ity no.

I get why you post "Booked" on your site. You're full up. You're swimming in work – which is completely awesome and I applaud your ability to create that situation for yourself (you're doing something right).

I also get that the idea of taking on more projects and inserting a Monster Energy drink IV is not something you're keen on doing. Me, neither. Taking on more work when you're full to the brim is just insanity. It's a dollar-chasing, panic-driven, I'll-never-be-this-busy-again, plain ol' life-damaging strategy.

Don't. take. the. work.

Don't take it. Turn down the work when you're full. Push the plate away. Focus on the people who got in line first and deserve (paying for) your full attention.

The Acknowledgement Business

I don't have a magic email or phone call strategy. I have some systems in place that work for me and I'm always improving them. Stuff falls through the cracks. I can't get to everyone in 24 hours like I try to. I miss stuff, I screw it up.

But not everything begs a fully-developed answer in 24 hours. Sometimes people just want to inquire in a general way. The Facebook updates can wait.

Simple priorities.

But I've spent a lot of energy creating a space where people can contact me when they need my kind of help. My phone number is there. My email address, twitter handle... everything short of my Driver's License number is on the site.

I want people reaching out. I want to hear about their projects. I want to know!

Can I create graphics for them all? No. Never. Simply not possible. It's not always the right fit, or I'm slammed with other projects at the moment.

The point is, my figurative door is never locked. Not in a way that allows people to poke their head in when I'm illustrating and interrupt my flow. Unlocked in a way that allows me to acknowledge that they need help and I'm going to figure out how that can happen. Maybe they'll be helped best by one of my designer friends who I trust to help them as well as or (gulp!) even better than I can.

I get it. Even that level of acknowledgment is difficult when you're buried. So what do you do? You may need help weeding out the "Can you help me with my project?" requests from the "I love your work and just wanted to say hi" emails.

Not easy. Nope.

But I'm not in the business of graphics and animation. I'm in the business of communication and acknowledgment. Silly drawings and movies are only the vehicles. It could be anything – knitted caps, coaching, iPhone sleeves, tofu burgers, whatever.

You can't always make more tofu burgers. I can't always make more graphics. Sometimes we just can't take on any more.

But we can acknowledge. To me, a person looking for some help, a sign that says "Booked solid" expresses, "I don't have time for you. Go away."

That may not be your intention. What you're feeling is, "Oh my god. I am so slammed. I just can't handle any more work and create my grand, epic, planet-changing stuff."

Of course! You can't.

Your ability to recognize when you're at your limit is probably hard-won. Awesome. Trust it.

My suggestion is to simply change your message from one of "Booked. Can't help now. Sorry." to something that says, "Tell me about your thing and I'll get to you as soon as I can."

People want to talk about their projects, even if you're too busy to do anything with it. They want you to hear them. That's acknowledgment. That's powerful. It means more than you might suspect.

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.