The last 2 months have been the most difficult months in my entire career. I'm going to lay it all out for you so you understand, but I'm also doing it because I really need your help. (I will publish my Profit Pill soon to discuss this more.)

First let me explain...

Since July of this year, I've had a RARE rash of atrocious, pestering, vampiristic, high-maintenance and deadbeat clients. Clients who want everything for free and negotiate like mad, as well as clients who ask for a gazillion rewrites and take advantage of my good nature -- even though my agreement stipulates 2 free rewrites.

But that's nothing when you look at this...

I've had over 7 clients who refused to pay me my fee, disappear from the face of the earth, or test their copy before paying the balance and then use the lack of (or the poor) results to justify NOT paying me, even after I fulfilled my obligations. (And without taking advantage of my rewrite policy.)

It gets even worse...

I've had clients who got FULL refunds (and a few whose balances I've waived) for a variety of reasons covered in this post, and still stalk me for more -- yes, one client actually stalked me, literally, either on the forums or in person, such as at a recent seminar, pestering me for more work I "promised," even though I refunded that person every single penny paid.

(Aside from the refunds and discounts, I still have to pay my researchers, editors and junior copywriters for any help they provided, out of my own pockets! And I'm not talking just a few thousand dollars, here, either.)

And finally, there are clients who change their approach, change the copy themselves or change their strategy entirely (forcing me to rewrite the copy, even several times, before the first draft), etc, etc, etc.

Unless they pay my rush fee, there's no guaranteed turnaround. But they make ridiculous changes, or use their waiting time to make such changes. This slows me down even more and they then react hostilely to my lack of promptitude. (Ugh!)

It pushes my schedule to the limit, forces me to refund/waive fees, and even slows down my productivity on their copy as well as other client projects who are desperately waiting for their copy, and then THEY get mad and refuse to pay, too.

This is just an iceberg's tip.

But here's some of the more backend stuff going on.

In the last month, my family was hit with a few bombshells. First, about 3 weeks ago my wife's brother (living in Vancouver), suffered a stroke. He can no longer take care of himself. Slurring his words, walking with a limp and even lacking bladder control.

My wife's family had to fly out to the West Coast to pick him up, so he can be near his family so we can take care of him -- financially and physically (and of course, emotionally, too). He has no job and no social assistance.

Then, a week ago, my sister was diagnosed with liver cancer stemming from cirrhosis (which in turn was caused by diabetes and lupus, which she suffered all her life). It's primitive, and the doctors will give us more details this week on the prognosis, as well as the corrective measures to take -- from a possible liver transplant, to chemotherapy (likely chemo, as the diabetes and lupus will attack the new liver anyway).

These events have been not only an emotional burden but also a tremendous financial one. But that's far from everything...

Add to that 2 recent "loans" I made to 2 family friends, one to help him save his business from ruin, and the other, to save his house -- again, we're not talking pennies, here.

It's my nature to help and to be generous. I do believe in a surplus mentality, and what goes around, comes around. I never think twice when someone needs help, including and especially my clients. I've been richly blessed in my life, and I do believe I owe and try to give much more than what I got.

But I think it's time for me to swallow my pride. Because...

... All the above is not as important as what's coming up...

My Copy Doctor videos, as well as the recent teleseminar with Gary Halbert, have extended my server's bandwidth to astronomical levels. I just got a HUGE bill for bandwidth overusage.

Even though I have a massive account for high volume, this month's overage has been nothing short of massive. Considering all the audios and videos, and the strain from several hundreds of thousands of hits, I'm in desperate need of a new host.

My current websites are pushing over 35 gigs of traffic bandwidth a day!

And now with another call with Gary, and John Carlton, on the way, I can imagine what the bandwidth is going to be like. Let me give you an example: my monthly maximum is 90 gigs. And at $4.95/gig of overage charged to my account, do the math...

The question is: is there a high volume (and affordable) web host out there? I need your help. Reply to this forum, or send me an email, won't you?

There's got to be a way to work this. I'm not looking for charity, but I am looking for suggestions on a good web host, and any suggestions you can send my way.

Hey Michel,

I am very sorry to hear about your family's health problems and my thoughts are with all of you.

I certainly know how clients can be and I made the very big decision to quit my copywriting business earlier this year and I'm so glad I made that decision. I have NOT looked back. Of course, my rates were modest in comparison to yours, so I didn't give up what you potentially would give up in dollar figures. HOWEVER, the rates I did charge and the income I got from my writing was my bread and butter and I needed it to pay my bills.

Still, I knew things had to change. I had to stop trading hours for dollars AND I couldn't be a slave to other people's demands and schedules. If I wanted that, I could just go out and get a J-O-B.

So, I gave it up...flat out quit writing for others. This gave me the time to concentrate on building a more passive income and I tell you I did it...I did it quickly. Now, I've long since surpassed what I was earning as a copywriting slave (sorry -- no offense to anyone -- I just felt like a slave )...and things keep getting better all the time. And the most beautiful part about it is that I don't have to work all that hard to earn my "pay checks". I love working, so I work hard...but realistically, I don't have to.

Of course, I'm not suggesting you quit...but realize the focus you'll get if you switch your direction to building that passive income. I know you're already building this with your membership site and you have so many other things to offer people that won't require you to trade hours for dollars. You have the resources, the knowledge and the connections to make something decent happen quickly. But if you keep taking on clients, thinking you can't afford not too...I respectfully think you are making a big mistake.

And finally...here's a big ol' (((((((HUG))))))) from me. Here's to an awesome 2005. I know it's going to happen.

Alice

P.S. And hey, I gave you my hosting suggestion earlier, but I'll post it here, in case others are looking for info. I have a VPS at http://www.servint.net/vps/ -- the prices are great; unlimited domains; support is INSTANT and you get lots of space. They also get top ratings on all the web hosting review sites.

Michel try,

www.esolute.com,

excellent web hosting, and great price too. Jason

Michel,

That's a mountain of problems you've got there. Very sorry to hear about them, but I'm confident you'll beat your way through this.

Onto your question, because I'm sure you're looking to solve your financial problems more than anything else. I have a lot of experience in high bandwidth sites and let me tell you, the prices you are paying are absolutely *INSANE*.

Have a look at Isprime - You can get an account for 900 gigs a month (10 times what you have now) and pay only 400 bucks, while overage is 45 cents a gig - That should definitely put your costs way, way down. It comes with 18gigs of free storage

http://www.isprime.com/hosting/shared.html

Oh man, if only I know that this is what you were paying... Isprime is a very professional host by the way. I've hosted with them for about half a year and they provide excellent support that no other host has matched thus far for me. I haven't had a minute of downtime and they were always available for questions, 24/7

Please don't ever pay such insane amounts again (or anyone else for that matter... For a cheap low-bandwidth host check out http://www.realitychecknetwork.com/)

Hi Michel,

You might want to contact Thomas at http://www.hoverstudios.com/

The JibJab people who made the parody video "This land" had a similar problem when their video got downloaded millions of times. They couldn't pay their bandwith fees and had to take their site down until Thomas helped them out and created a mirror site on his servers.

I've met Thomas only once, and actually don't host my sites with him (I get no where near that much traffic yet) - but he gets bandwith really cheap. And he is a great guy.

I don't think his website tells much about his hosting services, I don't think he primarily even sells hosting, but he may be able to help you out. And save you a lot of cash.

Hi Michel,

That's interesting you started having problem clients around
summer, I did too. My problems were very similar to yours.
It nearly burned me out.

I feel for you man. You're an awesome copywriter and you
deserve much better. I'll certainly remember you and your
family in my prayers.

Mike Jezek
www.MikeJezek.com

Mike,

You're so kind. I appreciate it so much. Deadbeat clients are not as problematic as stalkers and vampires who suck the life-energy and time out of you, 'causing you to sidetrack on other projects with genuinely good clients... A vicious cycle, nonetheless.

By the way, a little sidenote...

Folks, if you need a high-caliber copywriter who can write collar-grabbing copy that sells, someone who knows, understands and uses powerful sales psychology in his copy, Mike Jezek is definitely, without hesitation, one of the handful of copywriters I highly, highly recommend.

Go to this website and get his free ebook, "Sales Letter Super Weapons." Awesome read. My 10 thumbs up.

Hey Mike J!

I missed your emails.

BTW, I don't know if you got it, but I emailed you once to change my opt-
in email from davezanATspymac .com to davezanATgmail com. Hope you
got it and did.

Or should I opt-out then opt-in again?

Michel, re: host: is that why I'm unable to download any of the seminars
you made with GH recently?

I'm praying for you too, Michel. And remember Gary B's bullet # 8.

BTW, Michel, will posting like a special offer either here or at the Warriors
help if you need additional funds?

And I second Michel's recommendation for Mike J's SLSW. Awesome!

Good news. (For those interested.)

My sister just got the results back. The cancer is at stage 1. (There are 4 stages with cancer, and usually stage 3 is when a liver transplant is required, and stage 4, death is imminent, where chemo is only used to slow down the cancer and used strictly for the individual's comfort.)

At this stage, my sister will get checked every month, and will need some very serious medication. But the good news is, the doctor is giving her 10 years.

Now, this may not appear as great news, but for now, it's a heckuvalot better than what we originally anticipated.

I'll keep you all posted.

By the way (some people asked), my sister is 5 years younger than me. I'm 37, she's 32. (It's a darn young age to get cancer, let me tell you.)