Over coffee yesterday, my friend Jeff told me this story…

Seems his teenage daughter worked very hard on her algebra and, as a result, scored high on a recent test. But the teacher scribbled a note on it.

“Congrats on the 94%,” it said, “but I know you cheated.”

My pal is understandably outraged. And of course his kid’s devastated.

But the incident reminds me of an especially insufferable client I had a few years back.

I’d written a piece of sales copy for this guy’s product, which resulted in his profits rocketing skyward.

You’da thought he’d have said something nice to me about it.

Nope.

Instead, he griped about the fee I’d charged him.

“You know,” he complained, “for this kind’ve money, I could’ve written that copy myself.”

Sure, I was mad.

But I bit my tongue and said nothing.

And as soon as I deposited his check, I fired the jerk.

Yeah, I fired a client.

My philosophy — life’s too damn short to spend trying to make a-holes happy.

No matter what you do, how well you solve their problems, or how much money you make for ’em, there are gonna be folks out there you’ll never make happy.

It’s a lot more rewarding to work with clients who fit your style perfectly, and who appreciate your value.

Where can you find such clients?

I find most of them by chatting with people at my local coffee house.

I just let people tell me about their problems and challenges, then offer them solutions — for a fee.

Simple, huh?