Have you ever had a client, prospect—or even an acquaintance—ask to “pick your brain”?
At first, it might feel flattering. But after the fourth or fifth time, it starts to feel like a burden.
You feel taken advantage of.
In this short episode, I talk about how I changed my approach to these requests. Instead of making excuses or feeling resentment, I started charging for “brain picking” sessions—and it completely transformed how I handle these situations.
I walk you through how I reframed these requests into a structured offer, how I set the price, and how you can do the same to ensure that clients and prospects value your time and expertise.
It doesn’t matter what type of work you do as a solo professional. If you get these requests regularly, this episode will give you practical tips on how to handle them with confidence.
The notes that follow are a very basic, unedited summary of the show. There’s a lot more detail in the audio version. You can listen to the show using the audio player below. Or you can subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Key Topics and Bullets:
- Highlighting the time and experience involved in providing advice
- Acknowledging the worth of professional wisdom
- Move from reluctance to structured offer
- Emotional relief in setting boundaries
- Need for higher fees and structured sessions
- Importance of framing expertise as valuable
- Different strategies based on the relationship
- Free exchange with peers
- Charging for non-peers and acquaintances
- Establishing a “brain picking offer”
- Using platforms like fm for easy setup
- Creating effective options to manage requests
- Reframing brain picking to foster respect
- Ensuring professional contributions are valued
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