Expertise
I’ve always believed in the value of expert advice. Specialists deliver insight and expertise not available elsewhere, saving time, money and delivering the best results. Compared to misinformation and opinion-filled forums, paid ‘reviews’ and pressure to buy often inferior new equipment, our bias and conflict-of-interest-free advisory service is justifiably popular.
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 what they are doing. Trust them, not random strangers, shills and very biased (sometimes blind) owners. Else you can end up with some very expensive mistakes that … Mike can save you from.
Jon S
Expectation
Most people wouldn’t walk into a doctor or lawyer’s office expecting a free consultation, yet many approach Liquid Audio with that expectation. Like other professionals, we are a specialist service provider, not a retailer. People all over the world seek out our services and happy customers remind me how valuable our advisory service is, but keep in mind:
- Every enquiry chews up time and energy
- We receive many more than I can respond to
- The service needs to at least break even
- I need a filter for people like these:
Example 1: ‘G’ contacted me seeking technical assistance with his very valuable Sansui amplifier. I provided some initial advice but when I suggested he purchase time to properly address his various follow-up questions, G wrote:
“F*** you, I’m not going to pay you for a simple question, that speaks to how miserable you are.”
G
Example 2:
‘K’ contacted me wanting turntable advice after I’d already spent ages with him over multiple conversations. When I suggested he purchase a consult for further discussion, he told me he knew someone in the Australian Tax Office who might be interested to know about that (ie that I charge for my time). Imagine threatening someone who helped you because they charge for their time. The ATO is, of course, well aware that businesses charge for their time.
These examples hopefully clarify why I needed to make a few changes.
The Solution
Our pay-per-use advisory service minimises time and energy-wasting interactions, generates mutually beneficial exchanges and ensures fairness for everyone, including me! It helps me filter problematic enquirers and deliver high-quality, high-value assistance to people who appreciate this commonsense arrangement!
Your videos and articles are a terrific resource for people who love hi-fi, but don’t know what is good and what is over-hyped and over-priced. I encourage people to support Mike and his business with a small donation. He is truly independent and calls it as he sees it, which is difficult to find these days. Hi-fi magazines are full of glowing reviews, from brands that also advertise with the magazine…
Tony O