I got scammed ... [🐝U]

So the ongoing saga with waiting for power (& heat) looks like it’s going to have to continue with another company…

& more money

Yes, I’m still waking up every few hours to turn on a generator to get a bit of heat …

The hope is to keep the trailer’s floor above 5 degrees Celsius so the solar batteries I use camping stay warm enough to charge.
(That hasn’t worked since early November but I keep trying)

If nothing else, they don’t lose charge because it’s too cold… like my truck batteries do
& if I only use them to run the Starlink & charge my laptop during calls, I can make things stretch about a week or 2 … depending on how much client work is scheduled

 At the very least, I trickle in the heat to keep the water (& toilet) from freezing up!
(been there, done that & not interested in catching that sequel, thank you very much!)

 & when those truck batteries start dipping into the 60% range, I drive to the nearest charging station (about 30 minutes away) so I can let it charge & warm up the batteries.

On colder days, that means burning about 15% of my battery just to reach power … before I even get any. That’s the margin between “this works” and “this collapses.”

That means I have to charge as close to 100% as my layers will let me

& when it gets really cold … like a constant – 20 or colder, that’s when I just have to pack up & hope everything that’s on the property waiting to be “up & running” doesn’t leave while I’m not here to watch it.

I’ve come back to the property & seen fresh footprints walking around the barn materials

I’ve even woken up to some fresh tracks that stopped halfway up the driveway … probably realized there was someone here & turned around

This isn’t just inconvenience … it’s real risk.

When errors start attracting more problems

Equipment loss.
More financial damage.
& problems that compound faster when you’re already stretched thin.

Being tired makes you more vulnerable

It’s fair to say I’m mentally, physically, & financially exhausted
& I’m not sharing for sympathy— … it’s because exhaustion’s where bad decisions & bad actors thrive.

It’s not just about asking the right questions
The problem is there are questions I didn’t even know existed until the damage was already done.

That’s the most dangerous gap … when you don’t know enough to protect yourself.
& giant red flags I didn’t see because I didn’t know enough to look for or ask about.

 & you’ve already heard me talk about a potential new plan that doesn’t involve THIS property or even this county.

What’s interesting (to me) is that as challenging as this has all been, it’s just reinforced the need for transparency & authenticity in marketing.

My freelancing journey began with a mission to help people like my dad … he was a phenomenal fully self-taught musician who never went after his dream. 

He didn’t have the support system in his inner circle & he didn’t know how to find those raving fans that would enable him to turn that passion into a paycheck

That’s what got me started.
But it’s no longer what keeps me going.

Since my 1^st client, I’ve been seeing people get promised vanity metrics, charged ridiculous amounts of money (which wouldn’t be a problem IF they got ridiculously good results!), & some even scammed outright.

Silence protects the wrong people

In fact, 2 weeks ago, I heard a story about someone I was in a mastermind with …
he ended up scamming another person in the group.
This person did the work but didn’t get paid

The client’s excuse was that he “did it all”
Even though she gave him the ideas & the strategy & the start.

& just as bad is not feeling comfortable enough with the mastermind dynamic to tell the people in charge what’s going on

The sheer lack of psychological safety & accountability is frightening.
Because when people don’t feel safe speaking up, bad behavior doesn’t just continue, it accelerates.

I’m glad I left when I did.

& while I DID take about an hour with a 1-on1 call explaining to them why I was leaving … they either didn’t take it to heart or figured my experience was a 1-off situation

This person was a potential client of mine. 
That could have been me doing the work & not getting paid for it.

Now in all fairness, I heard the story from someone other than the 2 people involved
But it tracks given my own experience with this person & the group dynamic when I left.

I’m not here to scare you into giving up.
& these folks are definitely the exception to the rule
But it’s important to shine a light on these situations so we can learn from them

You can share the good, the bad, & downright ugly that you see in your industry.
& you can help people avoid having that happen to them
Because you become the voice of truth … & disruption.

Arm your audience with the right questions to ask, the red flags to look out for

I’ve built my business on trust & results
Referrals & recommendations have fueled my business.

This experience made it painfully clear…
Doing honest work quietly isn’t enough anymore.

I can do more to help
Not only get results in growing your business
But in protecting you from those schmucks out to make a buck, regardless of who it hurts

& just as important … ensuring you don’t accidentally look & sound like them
Because nothing is going to turn a prospect away faster than hearing the same thing they heard from someone that left them more frustrated & broke than when they started.

That’s obviously not to say you would …
Marketing doesn’t fail because people don’t hear you.
It fails because they’ve already been burned by someone who sounded just like you.

It’s the whole “if it looks like a duck & quacks like a duck”
In this case, you’re unintentionally looking like someone who’s already screwed them over
So they’re going to run for the hills.

I’m done staying quiet

I’m going to start calling things out … publicly.
I won’t name all the names necessarily
But you’ll become better equipped to know what to look for & what to ask about

For example, in Canada, there’s Mike Holmes, who’s made a career (& TV empire of sorts with Holmes on Homes) by rescuing homeowners that got snookered by shady construction contractors

On the Discovery Channel, there’s a series called Homestead Rescue. It’s about a family that comes in to help homesteaders in way over their head … they had a romanticized notion of living a self-sustaining lifestyle & thought it was going to be easy & fun. In this case, they kinda did it to themselves.

 & in my solar situation, I’ve recently come across a company rescuing people dealing with solar scams … Solar Ninjas

He goes off on mini rants much the same way I do 😊
He’s focused on the people willing to lie, omit, or manipulate just enough to get paid
& leave someone else holding the consequences.
For me, it tends to be about mindset & marketing.

 (Gotta admit, listening to him on calls makes me better appreciate how you feel when I start my mini-TED talks)

But that’s not the only good thing that’s come from this “money pit gong show”
It’s shifted my perspective on my own business.

Let me be the person who helps you see the trap before you step in it so you can avoid the bad & ugly marketing folks out there.

Because (for me) it’s no longer enough to just do the right thing.

I can help (& feel I should) call out the crap that’s happening & help to keep you from falling into those traps.

& to do that, I need your help.

Share your experiences with me
The good, the bad, the downright ugly
What happened vs what you were expecting?
What have you heard from others?

 More importantly, if you’re in the middle of something now, let me know ASAP

Set up a call & email all any information you have that can prep me for the call so we hit the ground running.

The solar guy, never having met me in person, offered up a large generator, for free, to help address the immediate need.

He’s also stepped in to talk to the system’s manufacturer to ensure I have (or get) all the parts to get things running

& he’s even bringing out spare lumber & metal to build a solar mount (albeit rustic & temporary) to address the immediate need of power (& heat)

You may not be dealing with frozen temperatures & drained batteries
But if you’ve ever trusted the wrong expert, you already know this feeling all too well

So let me help you in the way I’m being helped.

In the way Mike Holmes helps homeowners
In the way The Rainey family helps homesteaders

We’re all here trying to do the best we can with the information we have available.
We can’t possibly know it all.
But we can share what we do know
& rescue others from the sketchy traps set by the few rotten apples

Make it a great “ scam-free“ week!
EG

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PS:

📈 Want to talk about getting rescued from a potentially scammy marketing situation?
Find a time that fits your schedule.

🔗 Connect with me on LinkedIn … here 

PPS:
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