Expertise

People seek specialist expertise because those offering it often have decades of unique experience vs little to none from many other sources. That said, busy working specialists generally don’t contribute to public forums or discussions outside their professional working environment. Engaging such people directly allows recipients to leverage valuable knowledge and insight unavailable elsewhere.

Get the best advice you can find from Mike, and please, stop quoting forum posts as authorities. Only the guys who actually work, live and breathe this stuff really know.

Jon S

Alternatives like forums, friends, neighbours and retailers often deliver time-and-money-wasting opinion and misinformation, sending people down rabbit holes and leading to disillusionment and disappointing results.

Expectation

I’m always happy to advise people and customers routinely pick my brains for advice, but it’s important to understand that time = money for any specialist.

Unlike most other sources, we provide specialist advice free from conflicts of interest, sales pressure and informed by intimate, hands-on experience owning and working on equipment most have never seen, let alone are familiar with. This delivers many benefits to those seeking a higher calibre of assistance, as medical advice from a doctor or legal advice from a lawyer does.

Our advisory service attracts many enquiries from around the world, but quick questions often become long conversations, potentially adding up to many hours of lost time per week. Most specialists simply aren’t able to give away so much otherwise productive time and energy, and Liquid Audio is no exception.

Examples

In these examples, ungrateful people felt entitled to my time as though I somehow ‘owed’ it to them, a very strange perspective IMO.

Example 1: ‘G’ sought technical assistance with his valuable Sansui amplifier which I provided, but when I suggested he purchase time to discuss his follow-up questions, G exploded: “F*** you, I’m not going to pay you!”

Example 2: ‘K’ wanted KD-600 turntable advice after enjoying my free KD-600 articles. When I suggested he purchase a consult to address his specific use-case, K threatened that he knew “Someone in the Australian Tax Office”. Ironically, K tried to obtain my help several years later, hoping I’d forgotten. I haven’t!

Example 3: ‘M’ purchased a 30-minute consult which led to a game-changing Accuphase amplifier purchase. Rather than express gratitude, he incorrectly claimed he’d “Paid for 60 minutes but only received 20”. I sent proof of his 30-minute purchase and the 50 minutes of assistance I’d provided, but received neither thanks nor an apology.

Mike … you, of course, are a gem. We are so lucky to have someone as passionate, intelligent, ethical and hardworking in little ol’ Perth.

David H

Exchange

Our pre-paid advisory service solves many problems. Advice seekers pre-purchase customised consults tailored precisely to their needs. Extra time can be added as needed, aligned with our core values of maximum quality and value, and minimum wastage.

Fairly paying for a product or service supports hard-working small businesses like Liquid Audio. It also reduces time/energy/goodwill-draining interactions and fosters positive, productive, mutually beneficial exchanges with decent people. Plus it makes people feel good knowing that they aren’t trying to steal someone’s time and effort.

Everyone wins when things are fair because expert advice pays for itself, saving time and money, and delivering game-changing results and those providing it feel appreciated.